Jing-reed's Musings from Thailand

First Flower

21st-Century Plant Hunter

"Trekking through dense, remote forests in search of rare and wondrous species seems like a Victorian pursuit. But not to Dan Hinkley, a horticulturist who travels the globe today on a quest for exotic plants. As with the great plant explorers of previous centuries, what Hinkley brings back from his expeditions may not only enrich our gardens, it may even shed light on the evolutionary relationships among plants. For NOVA's "First Flower," producer Doug Hamilton journeyed with Hinkley and Chinese botanist Yin Kaipu through the Hengduan Mountains of southwestern China. This interview took place at a site where, two decades ago, Yin's mentor discovered a remarkable "hanging lily."


A short clip of the hour long Nova program 'First Flower.  For anyone interested in the flora of our planet, an excellent program which was first broadcast in 2007.

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New Human Species ?

Mysterious Chinese Fossils May Be New Human Species

"Mysterious fossils of what may be a previously unknown type of human have been uncovered in caves in China, ones that possess a highly unusual mix of bygone and modern human features, scientists reveal.

Surprisingly, the fossils are only between 11,500 and 14,500 years old. That means they would have shared the landscape with modern humans when China's earliest farmers were first appearing.

"These new fossils might be of a previously unknown species, one that survived until the very end of the ice age around 11,000 years ago," said researcher Darren Curnoe, a palaeoanthropologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia.

"Alternatively, they might represent a very early and previously unknown migration of modern humans out of Africa, a population who may not have contributed genetically to living people," Curnoe added.  . . . "

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Happy New Year - 新年快樂

The year of the Water Dragon begins on January 23, so I would like to wish all of my friends a Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year - 新年快樂 !

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The Artistry of Don Hong-Oai

Chinese Photographs Look Like Traditional Paintings

"These images may appear to be traditional Chinese prints, including the beautiful calligraphy and stamp work that decorates such classic works… but in fact, they are all photographs. The serenely peaceful craft of Don Hong-Oai, a Chinese born artist who immigrated twice and never left behind the stunning aesthetic of his homeland.

Don Hong-Oai was born in Canton, China in 1929. The youngest of an astounding 24 siblings, his parents passed away when he was just 7 years old and soon he was sent to live within the Chinese community in Saigon, Vietnam. He would spend most of his life there doing odd jobs until he became a student at the Vietnam National Art University. He remained in the country throughout the Vietnam War, but when conflict broke out between the Peoples Republic of China and Vietnam in 1979 he fled to the San Francisco.

Now 50 years old and speaking no english, Hong-Oai was able to procure a small dark-room in the city and continue his photographic work, returning to China every few years to make new negatives. It wasn’t until the last few years of his life that his work was discovered by the public and became popular with collectors worldwide. The artistic master passed away in 2004, leaving a legacy of beautifully meditative art, the result of a life-long persistence and passion for beauty. You can see more of his prints on flickr."

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"Elegant Bribery" - yǎhuì 雅贿

The Chinese art of elegant bribery [yǎhuì 雅贿]

"There is more than aesthetics and investment in today's demand for Chinese art. Art has become an “invisible cloak” that helps businessmen navigate Chinese corruption

Traditional Chinese art works of the past and present have become increasingly valuable “commodities” for investors of both the East and West. Each year, the Spring and Fall sales of the three auction houses – Sotheby's and Christie’s and the China Guardian – are flooded with gallery owners, artists, buyers and sellers. They are never surprised by the soaring prices and total turnover. Zhang Daqian (1899-1983), Fu Baoshi (1904-1965) and Qi Baishi (1864-1957) are the most frequently heard names in any auction houses. They are like Jackson Pollock, Vincent van Gogh and Pablo Picasso in western businessmen’s eyes, whose works sell for millions of dollars. For example, The painting "Lotus and Mandarin Ducks” by Zhang Daqian has just set the new record for Zhang at Southeby’s for 191 million Hong Kong dollars (over 24 million USD) this May.

Apart from appreciation and investment, it might be an alien concept for laymen outside the Chinese system that one of the most essential functions of art works is corruption. The concept of “elegant bribery”, or Yahui in Chinese, refers to the action and process of a systematic corruption that only involves cultural products and artefacts: antiques, rare plants, paintings and calligraphy as a medium of the crime. Art works, in particular, have become no more than tools of corruptions among officials, merchants, art dealers and sometimes even artists.

The history of elegant bribery can be traced back to ancient Chinese dynasties, and arguably, it has been an intractable problem since the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). . . . .

Every society manifests that it is a crime to bribe. However, when it is done repeatedly and discretely on a daily basis with offenders getting away with it, people might no longer be sure whether it is morally acceptable to do so. Corruption is the hidden golden rule of China. Bribers are very eager to satisfy the desire of their targeted bosses. They would all look at the issue neutrally by stating that it is an inevitable “transaction cost”. In this sense, art may mean something else in China. They may no longer be individual expressions of someone’s concepts or feelings. They may no longer be the vital essence of human beings that bring impacts to society at large. For any businessmen, art is no more than a profitable commodity that feeds their families. However, as for the elegant bribers and bribees, art is the most convenient “invisible cloak” that helps them survive at the era of Chinese corruption."

Chinese Male Cheerleader 风骚哥

A video of a Chinese male cheerleader has hit the web and instantly became an Internet sensation. The identity of the person is yet to be announced, but some assume him to be a student from Shandong University of Science and Technology.

The student, dressed up in a skirt, hopped, kicked, threw his pom-pons in the air, and moved just like the other girl cheerleaders. He was also given a solo moment toward the end to steal the show for the night.

My favorite comment, "Sure, he might be gay. OR he might just be the smartest motherfucker in the entire school."


First posted on YouKu, Chinese equivalent of YouTube.

[Male cheerleaders are nothing new (remember America's last president), but we haven't seen a male cheerleader with moves quite this good. This guy has got the pep, the attitude and even the sequined skirt and skimpy top--and totally steals the show away from the girls. The cheerleaders are performing a half-time routine at a college basketball game, and Ministry of Tofu has translated a number of funny comments to the video--and they are generally positive.

He's now know as Coquettish Brother [风骚哥] in the netizen world. But what's so awesome about the video is that the cheerleaders made the decision to have this effervescent guy the star of the squad. Check out his solo moves to near the end of the video.]

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新年快樂 — Happy New Year

Chinese New Year is celebrated today.   The year of the Rabbit has begun!

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European Mummies in Chinese Desert

 

A Host of Mummies, a Forest of Secrets

"In the middle of a terrifying desert north of Tibet, Chinese archaeologists have excavated an extraordinary cemetery. Its inhabitants died almost 4,000 years ago, yet their bodies have been well preserved by the dry air. 

The cemetery lies in what is now China’s northwest autonomous region of Xinjiang, yet the people have European features, with brown hair and long noses. Their remains, though lying in one of the world’s largest deserts, are buried in upside-down boats. And where tombstones might stand, declaring pious hope for some god’s mercy in the afterlife, their cemetery sports instead a vigorous forest of phallic symbols, signaling an intense interest in the pleasures or utility of procreation.

The long-vanished people have no name, because their origin and identity are still unknown. But many clues are now emerging about their ancestry, their way of life and even the language they spoke.

Their graveyard, known as Small River Cemetery No. 5, lies near a dried-up riverbed in the Tarim Basin, a region encircled by forbidding mountain ranges. Most of the basin is occupied by the Taklimakan Desert, a wilderness so inhospitable that later travelers along the Silk Road would edge along its northern or southern borders. ....."

     
 

In Memory of Leslie Cheung - 張國榮

Born September 12: Leslie Cheung

"Leslie Cheung, whose birthday was on the 12th of this month, was a pop superstar, a movie idol, and he had a loving boyfriend named Hok-Tak Tong, so his millions of fans were stunned on April 1, 2003 to learn he had jumped off a twenty-fourth floor balcony of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hong Kong. His suicide dominated the headlines of Asian tabloids for more than a month, searching every aspect of his life for clues. The youngest of ten children of a Kowloon tailor, he was educated in England and returned to Hong Kong to sing. 

He released more than twenty-five very successful albums and his hit “Monica” was named Song of the Century. Two years after his death, China Central Television named him The Most Favorite Actor In 100 Years of Chinese Cinema for his work with directors John Woo, Kaige Chen, and Wong Kar-Wai, among others. Unlike many closeted actors in America, Cheung enthusiastically played gay characters, notably in two of his most famous films, Farewell, My Concubine and Happy Together. He came out in 1997 and his career thrived. His albums from that year onward were extremely popular, as were his concerts, and many of his movies." 

Cheung tried to kill himself in 2002 and succeeded the next year, when he was forty-six. His suicide note read, "Depression! Many thanks to all my friends. Many thanks to Professor Felice Lieh-Mak [his psychiatrist]. This year has been so tough. I can't stand it anymore. Many thanks to Mr. Tong. Many thanks to my family. Many thanks to Fei-Fei. In my life I did nothing bad. Why does it have to be like this?"

Витас [Пекин] — Vitas [Beijing]

29 июля 2008, Пекин, "Мечта Столетия - Добро пожаловать на Олимпиаду 2008" (10 дней до открытия Олимпиады)

July 29, 2008, Beijing, the 10-days-before-the-Olympic-Games-countdown-ceremony "Century Dream - Welcome 2008 Olympics"

Vitas singing Opera No. 2, one of his compositions as a vehicle for his outstanding vocal pyrotechnics.