Between Asgard and the Western ParadiseBetween Asgard and the Western ParadiseBetween Asgard and the Western ParadiseBetween Asgard and the Western ParadiseBetween Asgard and the Western Paradise
Traditions, Culture, Spirituality, and more…
Traditions, Culture, Spirituality, and more…Traditions, Culture, Spirituality, and more…Traditions, Culture, Spirituality, and more…Traditions, Culture, Spirituality, and more…Traditions, Culture, Spirituality, and more…
The Xiao’erjing script is a modified script used for writing Mandarin Chinese in the Arabic alphabet. It is especially common for the dialects spoken by Hui Muslims, such as the Lanyin (蘭銀) and Zhongyuan (中原) dialects. Historically, it was also used to write the Dungan language (東安), until the Cyrillic script became commonly used for that purpose. he uniqueness of the script is that it possesses both Arabic and Chinese script culture characteristics. It is unique among Arabic-based scripts in that vowels are always indicated explicitly by the use of ḥarakāt, due to the importance of vowel sounds in Chinese. Tones are not marked explicitly (as similar to Dungan) however, and must be inferred from context. Dongxiang and Salar people also use the script to some degree in informal situations; the use of the script is on the decline due to the increase of standardized education in the People’s Republic of China.
Xiao’erjing developed among the earliest Hui Chinese as a method of learning how to read Chinese characters, in much the same way beginning Chinese students in the West use pinyin as an aid. Because Chinese was traditionally vertically, and Arabic written horizontally it was also useful when producing commentaries of Arabic texts in Chinese, so that the two texts could be written in parallel. Currently, the oldest known artefact showing signs of Xiao’erjing is a stone stele in the courtyard of Xigang Mosque in Xi’an University in the province of Shaanxi. The stele shows inscribed Qur’anic verses in Arabic as well as a short note of the names of the inscribers in Xiao’erjing.
The script uses 32 Perso-Arabic letters, along with four letters which can only be found to Xiao’erjing. From a total of 36 letters, four of them represent vowel sounds, and five are only used when representing Arabic words. Some letters also have different sounds in the Xiao’erjing than in Standard Arabic. There are two forms of Xiao’erjing in existence. One is based on a dialectal vernacular of Mandarin, and is used for personal correspondence, record keeping, and everyday communication in secular matters. A formalized system is used for religious matters, and as a consequence contains more Arabic and Persian vocabulary. In the “mosque system,” the Mandarin from which it is transcribed is relatively standardized, as is the spelling of the words.
Resources: 町田和彥·黑岩高·菅原純編:『中国におけるアラビア文字文化の諸相』東京外國語大學アシア・アフリカ言語文化研究所 (MACHIDA Kazuhiko, et al., Chûgoku-ni Okeru Arabia-bunji-bunka no Shôsou [Aspects of Arabic-Writing Culture in China]. Research Center for Asian and African Languages at Tokyo University)
FENG Zenglie. Beginning Dissertation on Xiao’erjing: Introducing a phonetic writing system of the Arabic script adopted for Chinese in The Arab World Issue #1. 1982.
Kaarlo Pentti Linkola is an interesting and prominent figure in the area of deep ecology who specializes in biocentric empiricism and classical Malthusian theories. A Finnish environmentalist and dissident, he has written numerous essays and books on the environmental science and environmental politics. Linkola’s first political publication was the pamphlet Isänmaan ja ihmisen puolesta (1960), in which he spoke strongly for pacifism and encouraged conscientious objection.
One of his later works, Unelmat paremmasta maailmasta argues for a radical change in mindset. It describes the need to halt the pursuit of economic growth and abandon unnecessary technologies which may adversely affect the environment (and in turn, mankind). Because overpopulation is the cause of much of the ecological as well as economic problems, according to Linkola, this could be done by returning to smaller ecological niches which would sustain human beings as well as other species for a longer period.
As a critic of democracy, Linkola has also proposed a solution to current political problems in the Western world, with that solution being benevolent dictatorship. He argues that a dictator does not need to pander to the lowest common denominator, and thus is more efficient than a democratically-elected leader who only emerges from a compromise among various factions.
“What to do, when a ship carrying a hundred passengers suddenly capsizes and only one lifeboat? When the lifeboat is full, those who hate life will try to load it with more people and sink the lot. Those who love and respect life will take the ship’s axe and sever the extra hands that cling to the sides of the boat.”
“The most central and irrational faith among people is the faith in technology and economical growth. Its priests believe until their death that material prosperity brings enjoyment and happiness - even though all the evidence in history has shown that…this material prosperity brings only despair. “
“What man would be left with? Unhurried socialization between people; the endless spectrum of arts and hobbies: singing, music, dancing, paintings, sculptures, books, games, plays, riddles, shows; all of enormous museum activity, research of history, home region, dialect, family; the millions of biologist’s themes, handcrafts, gardens; clear waters, virgin forests, marshland plains and fells; the seasons, trees, flowers, homes, private life - by definition: life.”
Gilgamesh, the mighty, King of Uruk,
Mighty was he, in whose shadow men shook.
Gilgamesh, son of Wild-Cow Ninsun,
Proud and terrible; equals he had none.
He gave to Uruk its solid ramparts,
Built Ishtar’s shrine within the city’s limits,
And brought his city prestige and glory,
So Uruk was known throughout his country.
But by day men battled for his delight,
And carnal pleasure he enjoyed at night.
Day by day, he feasted and drank his fill,
Whilst Uruk’s citizens humors grew ill.
The gods gathered in heavenly counsel,
To discuss Gilgamesh the boastful.
They said: “Let us create for this king
An equal to sate the people’s pleading;
A friend who Gilgamesh the restless needs,
Who shall instruct him and change his deeds.”
These two desired glory and fame –
And brandishing their swords, one Wild, one Tame
Journeyed into the Cedars in the West.
Humbaba’s killer still feared no man or beast
Even Ishtar he spurned with much ado,
Until, mocking him, Death took Enkidu.
Gilgamesh became cheerless and fearful –
Tearful to ponder a fate thus awful.
Lugalbanda’s son found Ur-Shanabi
Who took him to seek Uta-Napishti,
The immortal who discerned the formless void.
Gilgamesh said: “I wish death to avoid!
…For once I sought fame, but it brought me strife.
So I crossed the Sea to find endless life.”
Uta-Napishti the Distant heard him,
Saw him, mocked him, laughed at his fickle whim,
And said: “What the gods alone have decreed,
Is like the gale which carries the flaxseed,
For how can a seed defy the forceful wind?
Know, then, your dying no-one can rescind!
But hear this – in the Ocean grows a plant
And those that consume it, it will enchant.”
To Uruk returned Gilgamesh the Brave,
Sailing over ocean, rock, shore and wave.
For now he knew over life’s short journey
The battles waged of will and destiny.
This letter came in from a Tibetan Buddhist, who has requested to remain anonymous:
I’m a Tibetan Buddhist and though the deepest part of me does in fact wish that Tibet will be free some day, I agree that the egotism and self-righteous political correctness is the very reason why I’m reluctant to join any “Free Tibet” organization headed by Americans and not Tibetans. I know some Tibetans might disagree with me, and say that any attention is good attention, but I beg to differ.
I’ve tried to put into words what you’ve wrote in previous articles, but I think you’ve made a good point. I really think a lot of these “Free Tibet” liberal whites are looking for an outlet to express the “white guilt” they are taught, and looking for an excuse to feel morally superior to other people by pretending that they are somehow oppressed. As you’ve said, real Tibetans don’t need to be anti-Chinese to be pro-Tibetan, but I do see anti-Chinese xenophobia among the white-dominated Free Tibet groups, which is the real problem. Tibet will have to solve its own problems, and no amount of China-bashing can ever accomplish that.
Commentary: Thank you for a real Tibetan perspective on this issue. We all know that China is far from perfect, and in some ways the situation in Tibet is part of the larger issue of the problems that face China. China, too will one day chart a path that is suitable for itself, but the Chinese, not the Americans will be in charge of it. I think this is what actually frightens some people. Some liberals would look at China and see a tradition completely different from the un-tradition of the now-dying West, and the idea that certain “reactionary” ideas such as respect for culture frightens them to no end. This is exactly the same issue liberals (including Republicans like John McCain) take towards Islam, because Islam is the last uncorrupted counterweight against the superfluous, false, materialistic “freedom” promoted by the so-called Western democracies.
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