Chinese History

There was nothing wrong with the ship, which got from Taiwan to the US and back. It just got run over by a freighter, a hazard which would not have existed in Zheng He’s day.

Of course, nobody’s ever really doubted that the Chinese ships of the time could make the voyage. Only that there’s no reason for them to have tried, no record of them doing so, and no time for them to do it in the few gaps that exist in the record. (note how long it took them to get to SF and back)

My blogging colleague Alan Baumler has a few notes on the Civil Service exams in Ming-Qing China, including a quote from a grader

The third set of short essay questions, Due May 7th, is here.

The final exam questions are here.

Also, by popular demand, the final exam will be collected at lunch at Yummy Buffet, May 14th at 12:30.

Archaeologists have released pictures of a newly opened Han-era tomb with strikingly colored murals. The video has more pictures: worth looking at.

At the Crimson and Gold Ballroom in the Student Center this week:

From all the artistic traditions of Tantric Buddhism, that of painting with colored sand ranks as one of the most unique and exquisite. In Tibetan this art is called dul-tson-kyil-khor, which literally means “mandala of colored powders.” Millions of grains of sand are painstakingly laid into place on a flat platform over a period of days or weeks.

Formed of a traditional prescribed iconography that includes geometric shapes and a multitude of ancient spiritual symbols, the sand-painted mandala is used as a tool for re-consecrating the earth and its inhabitants.

On previous US tours the lamas have displayed this sacred arts in museums across the country, including the Arthur Sackler Gallery, Washington; Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago; Peabody Essex Museum, Salem; the Indianapolis Art Museum, Indianapolis; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and The Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.

The mandala viewing is free and open to the public.

The Mystical Arts of Tibet is part of the PSU Performing Arts & Lecture Series.  For more information visit www.mysticalartsoftibet.org or contact the PSU Campus Activities Center at 620-235-4795 or campusactivities.edu.

There will be an opening invocation at Noon on Monday, followed by a four day creation process. It will be open to viewing Monday 12-6, Tue and Wed 10-7,Thur 10-3, with a closing ceremony Thursday at 4 and a  lecture on the symbolism Thursday at 7pm (Governor’s Room).

They’re relatively recent, as these things go, but they were made for Qianlong, the longest-reigning emperor (and one of the most popular, still) in Chinese history. They were looted in the Boxer uprising Sino-French war of 1860 and China wants them back, but doesn’t have a legal claim.

update: interesting comments from a specialist on the subject of Qing art and law of possession.

3/3: Sale blocked by spurious bidder citing “patriotic duty.”

The new Senator from NY was an Asian Studies major.

Sam Crane, who teaches Chinese philosophy, has been reading about Confucius and shares some interesting details of his life.

Archaeologists have announced new bone inscriptions in Shandong province. Some similarities to other known early Chinese writing may force revision to earlier theories of language evolution. [via]

The NYT Obituary explains how John DeFrancis helped explain and popularize the study of Chinese in the US, and develop some of the first electronic dictionaries.

On a lighter note, the Shaolin monks who were featured in the Olympic opening ceremonies are on tour in the US