Play Weiqi Kiddos, Stay Away From "Go"

Short background:  Weiqi is the ancient game invented in China and became very popular throughout Asia and goes by the name "Go" in Japan.   In western countries, it mostly go by the name "Go" and the terminologies are often translated from Japanese.   Here's a short answer why I could not let my children to learn "Go" terminology.



If my kids ask: "why was weiqi invented in China, but these terminology are
in Japanese?"

I'd have to say "well Japan and China were friends for a long long long time
, Japanese could quote poetry better than me and play weiqi better than me"

My kids would say: " why are you so bad at every thing?"

I'd have to say: "we kept getting axe-murderers trying to rob us, enslave us
 and kill us for 1000 years...  We had no time for these more refined
pursuits, kiddos"

My kids would say: "I like Japanese then..."
http://twodeeprivers.blogspot.com/2013/12/china-japan-400-1200-ad-800-years-of.html


I'd have to say: "hold on... Kiddo....  Actually we Chinese and Japanese had
 a fall out...  so we are hardly talking to each other any more..."

My kids would say: "What?  that beautiful lady from Japan?  so courteous and
 so sweet and looks just like mom!"

I'd have to say: "well kiddo, the beautiful lady from japan attacked us and
defeated us in 1895 and made us pay 2x our GDP for war reparations and
 took Formosa including Diaoyudao from us..."

My kids would say: "But that was 100 years ago man!  you still remember that
?"

I'd have to say: "well kiddo, it didn't stop there.   Then the beautiful
lady of Japan sent us 1000 ninja assassins to assassinate our leaders,  1000
 diplomats to instigate revolution in Russia/China/Korea, then took
Manchuria from us..."

My kids would say: "wow that's too bad...  but it's like 90 years ago!"

I'd have to say: "we thought so at the time too.   so we were busy picking
up pieces and rebuilding.   Shanghai and Yangtz delta in the early 1930s
 were quite an economical powerhouse..."

My kids would say: "great, the story is finally getting better..."

I'd have to say: "Actually, not so fast.   The thing is, the nice Japanese
lady felt threatened by the Chinese rebuilding"

My kids would say: "why? they got a lot from China!"

I'd have to say: "You see, they are scared that China being strong will make
 them give back their ill-gotten gains..."

My kids would say: "hmmm, so that's why you always
say don't take things that don't belong to you?"

I'd have to say: " Exactly kiddo.  But the beautiful
lady Japan doesn't think that way.   So instead of giving
back their ill-gotten gains, they invaded almost the
 entire China..."
http://twodeeprivers.blogspot.com/2013/12/china-japan-1895-1945-feud.html

Now it's my turn to tear up, remembering the 20
million dead bodies and raped women, bayoneted
babies, tortured POWs.  And wondering
how the hell am I going to explain all this to my kids...

My kids would then say: "but that was 70+ years ago?
surely we made up since then!"

Then I will have explain that to this day, the
government of Japan continues to play a game of
"deny-apologize-deny-apologize" with impunity,
claiming self-defense for all murders, rapes, sneak-attacks.
http://twodeeprivers.blogspot.com/2013/12/abe-honored-war-criminals-who-butchered.html

My kids would then say: "horrible... but it's the
government of japan not the nice people..."

I'd say: "good distinction... But the people elected
these politicians twice and supported their activities
mostly.  and the people are scared of kids like you."

My kids would say: "why? "

I'd say: "apparently because you are good at math..."
http://twodeeprivers.blogspot.com/2013/12/15-year-old-chinese-students-threat-to.html

My kids would say: "WHAT!!!!"

I'd say: "Nobody could understand it.  Maybe
they are afraid of the Chinese may be bent on
revenge?   So a little survival tips for you kiddo:
please don't play a weiqi game with the Japanese.
If you lose, you'll likely be used as a doormat.
If you win, you'll likely get a poisoned Fuji apple
packaged all in Japanese smiles."

That... IS WHY I could not let my Chinese kids to learn
 japanese terminologies of the ancient Chinese game Weiqi.
No people could get through that without deep PTSD,
without deep suspicion of basic human goodness.
I do not want my kids to learn a Chinese game yet
 be exposed to this kind of pain.

15 year old Chinese Students A Threat To Japan

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/community/2013/12/29/general/education-in-2013-an-a-for-ambition-but-japan-will-have-to-do-better/
"The education ministry finally seems to be waking up. Whether due to the
Olympic bid or the looming threat from China, for the first time in two
decades Japan appears to be moving to correct its inward-looking education
policies."

Apparently the ordinary Japanese felt threatened by
Chinese 15 year olds because they beat the Japanese
15 year olds slightly on some kind of math tests.

That is the Japanese mentality, full of deeply ingrained
anti-China xenophobia.

The big question is, how will Japan want to "defend" itself
from the test-taking Chinese 15 year olds?
The last time Japan felt threatened by China's prosperity,
it murdered and raped 20 million Chinese to send their
message "we Japanese are threatened by you Chinese,
we are going to your home to kill you in self-defense".

And they attacked Pearl Harbor with the same message.
"we Japanese are threatened by you Americans,
we are going to your home to kill you in self-defense".

Now their government is saying with straight-face,
"we love peace, we did murders and rapes
and sneak attacks in self-defense".

I think they should rest easy,
the way their government is going, their 15
year olds could one day shoot for the crown
 in nutjob category.

Unfathomable Mr Abe's Mind and Sweet Japanese Words

Abe honored the war criminals who
butchered Chinese civilians and 
American POWs, raped women, 
and launched pearl Harbor.   Then he turned
 around looking innocent and said, I 
want a peaceful Japan and may these 
"heroes" of our people rest in peace.

What does Abe and his right wing really
think about Nagasaki and Hiroshima?
Are they plotting to one day avenge it?

80 years ago, when the Japanese invaded China,
the Japanese spoke sweet courteous words 
to the Chinese elites.  Some of these elites
ended up by coercion and deception 
cooperated with the Japanese invasion.

Chinese couldn't trust Japanese.  
Millions of kids died and
millions of women died and Chinese families
died brutally.   The murderers turned 
around and smiled and bowed to you, 
saying, "I have some cute pretext....
the dead Chinese deserve it because....
besides, all the death did not happen...
it's just some vicious rumour...You are 
crazy".

The Chinese could not trust humanity after 
that, we turned against our best friends 
including the Americans because of 
rumours, we did not know who to believe.   
We did stupid things and chased hallucinations.
Classic PTSD.

At this point, Chinese and Koreans
are the only one who knew Japanese's
perfidy with heart and mind.   It makes
one despair of humanity.  That a people
could be so beautiful and so false and so evil.

We could never fathom the Japanese
mind like Mr Abe's mind.   But we could 
warn our American friends, that you 
may think you have an honorable friend
in Japan.    But if they elect someone 
like Mr Abe repeatedly to head their government
and scrap their pacifist constitution and 
journalistic freedom, you need to run
from this alliance, not walk.    I hope this
 warning will save American lives someday.

For People like Mr Abe and his supporters will NOT 
forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki and they
WILL blame America for it.   They are 
just biding their time before they have their
 revenge.

Work With China

12/25 was anniversary for the fall of HongKong to Japan's forces during the world war II and orgies of murders and rapes by the same forces.   The next day Mr Abe visited the shrine dedicated to the Japanese soldiers including class A,B,C,D war criminals.   He followed it with some cute remarks about his love of peace and the souls of the fallen resting in peace.

This from a man that denies South Korean comfort women's forced sex-slavery and Japanese aggression and murder of 20 million Chinese.    New York Times came up with an editorial calling for China and South Korea to talk to Mr Abe.

The Japanese is a courteous, meek and graceful people.   Until the moment they found a cute pretext to stab you in the heart.   Then they say "I feel deeply sorry...  Actually not so sorry at all...  But we love peace...  Don't think that thing happened....   "   Ad nauseum.

Talking to Mr Abe and his right wing constituents?  I simply can't think of a worse waste of time.  The Japanese elected this right wing leader with full knowledge of his inclinations and principles, if they think they will reap peace and prosperity, then they are as delusional as 80 years ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/26/opinion/work-with-china-dont-contain-it.html

I can't agree more.  Whose idea it was to pivot (to contain China) to Asia anyhow?
Generations of Americans reaching out to China to help three times, for which the
Chinese are incredibly grateful.

This goodwill is a lasting foundation for future peace,  let's not fritter it away.

China-Japan 400-1300 AD: 900 years of Friendship

I wrote about the China-Japan 50 years of feud,
but I never had the heart to write about China-Japan
 800 years of friendship.   From Han dynasty to Song
dynasty, the immigration and cultural exchange
between China and Japan flourished.  When Mongolians
conquered China and massacred us  into the dark age,
we cheered Japan that survived the onslaught and
thousands of well educated Chinese sailed to Japan.  

When the poet Li Bai heard of his Japanese friend
阿倍仲麻吕's drowning on the trip going back to Japan,
he dedicated his immortal poetry to his lost friend,
 comparing him to the bright moon sinking into the ocean:
明月不归沉碧海，白云愁色满苍梧

That is more or less how I feel.  Once upon a time,
we were a little more than friends, we were teachers
and pupils, we were almost brothers and sisters.
How did it come to this?   our little brother turned into
a raving mad mass murderer rapist robber who use
every pretext under the sun to commit crimes against us
and then deny-deny-apologize-deny-apologize-deny,
possibly ad infinitum.

We lost 10 million mothers and fathers, grandfathers
gradmothers, sisters and brothers.   We mourn for our
loss of lives and we mourn for our loss of innocence
and we mourn for our loss of trust in our erstwhile friends
in Japan.    Many Japanese seemed to have forgotten and
 lived their merry lives and even elected a right wing
denier into their highest office.   We, like all PTSD sufferers,
keep asking ourselves, what did we do wrong?  Why did we
deserve this betrayal?  We blame ourselves, we blame each
other, we blame completely innocent people and make
irrational choices over and over again.


In the back of my mind there's this question: Will we turn
into another Japan?   I don't think so, I hope not.
We inherited this wonderful and unique jewel of culture,
2000 years as semi-serfs and slaves infantized us and made
us the favorite victim of our $#!$#@ neighbors.
The Chinese should cut some snack for ourselves and our friends,
and develop some trust, hard as it is.  Going forward, to fulfill
our human potential and our cultural destiny,
we must as a people renounce violence and irresponsible use thereof.  
We need to heal from  PTSD that resulted from our massive blood-loss
and suffering and betrayal inflicted on us by our #!$%@$^ neighbor
in the first half of 20th century.

We will move on, with or without trusting Japan.   We need
to build trust with ourselves and with other people
who helped us like the Americans.  We will make
new friends, even out of old enemies.

But we must not make the mistake of underestimating
the Japanese capacity for mischief, again.  Some Japanese
are still hallucinating that we are out to get them, so are
desperately working to "contain" China.  Some Japanese
are still motivated by greed and will not scruple to drag
US and China into war for minor gains.   We hope
the japanese public will wake up to the fact, that
battle to the death and self-deception are for the
mentally unstable, like their right wing politicians
and their majority voters.

We, the Chinese and the Americans refuse to be dragged
into the Japanese hell.

Response to NY Times Call For China Renewing Journalist Visas

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/06/world/asia/biden-faults-china-on-foreign-press-crackdown.html?pagewanted=2&_r=0

I agree that rejecting American journalists' visas is not a good way to 
fight anti-China bias in America.   But I no longer trust the American media
's claim of the Chinese authorities linking visa rejection to journalist's 
reportings.   They need stronger proof than just saying so, because US media
's credibility is near 0, after nonexistant WMDs in Iraq and incomplete 
coverage of Jimmy Kimmel and biased reporting of Diaoyudao spat.

Ideally, in future the flow between China and USA would be free.   
Journalists should have the freedom to work wherever they want and say 
whatever they want to say.   They will also be hold responsible for racism, 
dishonesty and other unprofessional conduct as journalist.

NY Times and Bloomberg are the ones being impacted by non-renewal of 
journalist visas.   They claim their problems stemmed from past reportings 
relating the CCP leaders' family wealth.  

I hope they work this out civilly and preserve journalistic independence (
though given the performance of most of US media, I'm not sure how much they
 had in the beginning).  

I wonder whether NY Times/Bloomberg report on Abe/Bush/Romney family's total
 wealth, including all their brothers and sisters and in laws and etc.   

Fact of life is, American journalists do need to exercise self-censorship 
working all over the world: not just in China, but also in Japan, Saudi 
Arabia, Israel, even inside US itself.   Not every dirty laundry is 
newsworthy.   Touching/broadcasting dirty laundries do carry business risks.
   Going to someone's home and rifle through their X-in-law's business 
papers, while often results in interesting journalism, also carry business 
risks.  It's just business.   

China is not a very stable country.  Destablizing it from bottom is harder 
than destablizing it from the top.   Even the US is not so very stable anymore, 
handle with care and only if you earned your goodwill cred.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/09/technology/security/snowden-new-york-times/index.html?iid=s_mpm

The Origin of Chinese Humanist Tradition 1.

These days, one only has to mention Chinese human rights to get snickers 
from Americans and the western media.  Admit it, the Chinese culture is 
known for food, customs (some disturbing) and test-taking.  But Chinese 
human rights?  Oh Come on.  Isn't that an oxymoron?

Two great rivers ran through the Chinese Americans.   The first river, the 
Western Democratic Tradition, originated in the Ancient Greece.   This river
coursed through Hellenistic empires, dried to a trinkle, preserved through 
two millenia by Romans, Christians and Jews and Arabs, reformed and expanded
in the Religious Reformation and Classic Renaissance in Europe and 
eventually landed to America and made USA in its image.   It is our American
river, the one we know.

But the second river, no less deep and no less long, the Chinese Humanist 
Tradtion, is the hidden river that goes through our heart.   Around the same
time Greek philosphers and scientists posed questions for posterity, the 
Chinese scholars congregated in schools all over China.   The Chinese 
scholars and Greek scholars never met each other then,  did not know each 
other existed and their descendents would not know for 2000 years.  But the 
two rivers existed and ran parallel and until fairly recently, no man have 
even drunk from both.  We are the first to drink from both rivers and to 
claim descent from both.

As the world's most reluctant writer, I am writing this because even Chinese
and Chinese Americans remain ignorant of the unique Chinese perspective and
deep vein of Humanism that permeates much of Chinese culture.   I hope to 
start this conversation and ask everyone to help expand it.