In Search of Sunrise

夸父与日逐走，入日；渴，欲得饮，饮于河、渭，河、渭不足，北饮大泽。未至，道渴而死。弃其杖，化为邓林。

An ancient Chinese legend has a giant tribal chief named Kua Fu (夸父) who believed that he would bring back truth and prosperity if he could catch the Sun. So, one day in the morning he started race to the Sun in full speed as soon as he saw the sunrise. At the end of the day, Kua Fu got too close to the Sun and became dehydrated. He was so thirsty that he drank up all the water from the Yellow River (黃河) and the Wei River (渭河) but it was still not enough. Tried but failed to reach the Big Lake in the north, Kua Fu died from the heat exhaustion before he could get there. Kua Fu dropped his cane as he fell down. And the cane had turned into a grove of peach trees, providing protection from the Sun for those who came through afterwards.

Usually a late night person or a night owl, I did a project In Search of Sunrise, filming the sunrise every day for three months last year. The experience was transforming. The card was made from one of the photos taken during the first day on September 30, 2015. It features an unassuming replica of the Statue of Liberty in a neighborhood shopping mall.

The Answer

When I was assigned postcard US-2921298 to Maine, the recipient stated her loves of poetry in the profile and asked to include a line of a poem on the card. What came to my mind was from the Answer by a Chinese poet Bei Dao (北岛, born August 2, 1949 in Beijing): "卑鄙是卑鄙者的通行证，高尚是高尚者的墓志铭" that would be directly translated into: "Despicable acts are the passport for the Villain; Honorable deeds are the tombstone for the Noble." As Bei Dao is the most notable representative of the Misty Poets (朦胧诗), a group of Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) in China, he opens his 1976 poem by reflecting what a twisted world was where the Villain got a free pass and the Noble was met with death. You can read the full poem with English translation in a blog on sciencenet.cn or a blog on sina.com.cn.

Bei Dao has won numerous awards, including the Swedish PEN Tucholsky Prize, International Poetry Argana Award from the House of Poetry in Morocco, and the PEN/Barbara Goldsmith Freedom to Write Award. He is a foreign honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, elected in 1996. He has been nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

While China is moving toward a more open and free society, thanks to many advocates like Bei Dao, it is not lost on me that such a twisted world could exist anywhere where the power is absolute and without supervision. That's why we need to vigorously safeguard our civil rights and civil liberties so that we can maintain a society where the Villain will be punished and the Noble will be honored.

President Obama Turns 53

Happy Birthday to President Obama, who just turned 53 today on Aug. 4, 2014. He was born in 1961, which was Year of the Ox in Chinese Zodiac. It is said that dependability, strength and determination are among the character traits for those people born in Year of the Ox. they are tolerant individuals who believe that the road to success involves hard work and scrupulous behavior; they do not believe in taking shortcuts.

Postcard US-1948589 to the Netherlands was made with a photo from President Obama's reelection campaign appearance at Canyon Springs High School in North Las Vegas on August 20, 2012, embedded in a template then available at photofunia.com.

Island of Options

The caption on postcard DE-3212323 from Germany says "Inmitten von Schwierigkeiten liegt immer eine Insel der Möglichkeiten." This German proverb means "in the midst of difficulties, there is always an island of options."

A similar Chinese proverb "车到山前必有路，船到桥头自然直" can be directly translated into "When you get to the mountain, there'll be a way through; when you get to the pier-head, the boat will go straight with the current." Therefore, Don't worry too much beforehand; let's deal with it as it happens. Everything will turn out for the best in the end.

Another Chinese proverb "水到渠成" is the best for describing Germany's crowning at the 2014 FIFA World Cup today: "When water flows, a channel is formed." When conditions are mature, success will come. At the final match, Germany felt the heat from Argentina in the 22nd minute of the match when Argentinian forward Gonzalo Higuain intercepted the ball from German midfielder Toni Kroos and was one-on-one with German goal-keeper Manuel Neuer. Also, at the second half, Lionel Messi, Argentinian captain and forward, posed a threat for a goal with his left-footed curling shot.

When the match headed towards extra-time, history was against Germany as Argentina had never conceded a goal in the extra-time before. However, German super-substitute Mario Götze broke the dead-lock with the help from another substitute André Schürrle. The Germans are the 2014 FIFA World Cup champions, winning the Trophy for the fourth time after overcoming Argentina 1:0 at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

#452123340 / gettyimages.com

In Memory of Chinese Linguist Ji Xianlin

Professor Ji Xianlin (季羡林), born August 6, 1911, was a Chinese Indologist, linguist, paleographer, historian, and writer. He passed away in Beijing five years ago on July 11, 2009.

The postcard shows the campus of Peking University where Professor Ji founded the Department of Eastern Languages soon after his return from oversea in 1946. He became dean of the department and held a long career as one of greatest scholars in China in the field of Eastern studies, specialized in ancient Indian languages and culture. In 1978, Prof. Ji became vice president of Peking University and director of the Chinese Academy of Science's Research Institute on South Asia.

Coincidentally, another Chinese scholar was lost in the same day. Philosopher Ren Jiyu (任继愈), born April 15, 1916, was a scholar in religious studies and historian, and the Honorary Director of the National Library of China. He passed away in Beijing on July 11, 2009 at the age of 93.

In September 2004, Professor Ji Xianlin and Ren Jiyu, along with three other prominent scholars, jointly issued the 2004 Cultural Declaration at the 2004 Cultural Summit Forum in Beijing, The Declaration emphasizes the necessity of coexistence of a diverse-culture, and promotes equal rights for cultural exchanges, under the background of accelerating globalization.

DIY Soy Milk Breakfast

I used to order soy milk with the Chinese fried bread sticks for breakfast in Las Vegas Chinatown in the Sunday morning. However, I found out how easy it was to make my own fresh soy milk after I got a high speed blender Vitamix. All you need are 1/2 cups of dried organic soybeans and four cups of water. With a high speed blender, you don't even have to soak the beans overnight. Blend on high for a minute; let it settle for 30 seconds; then blend it more for another minute. Filter it through a cheesecloth or a stainless steel mesh strainer. Put it in a large pot and bring it to boil, then let it simmer for 20 minutes, which will deactivate enzymes in the soy milk and get rid of the beany tastes.

The postcard was sent to my parents via TouchNote showing the first cup of my Do-It-Yourself (DIY) soy milk, serving with some Chinese fried bread sticks and cereals for a complete breakfast meal.

Poet Su Shi from China

Postcard CN-769662 received last year was a handmade card of Su Shi (蘇軾/苏轼) (January 8, 1037 – August 24, 1101), a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song Dynasty in China. One online collection site in Chinese has his more than 3400 poems.

My favorite piece was 念奴嬌: 赤壁懷古 "Remembrance of the Tale of the Red Cliff" that he wrote during his exile due to the political conflicts with the Prime Minister Wang An Shi.

大江東去 浪淘盡 千古風流人物
Eastward flows the great river, whose waves have washed away gallant heroes of eternity.
故壘西邊 人道是 三國周郎赤壁
West of the old fort stands the red cliff where General Zhou of the Three Kingdoms was said to have won his early fame.
亂石崩雲 驚濤裂岸 捲起千堆雪
Jagged rocks pierce the clouds, towering waves dash on the shore, rolling up thousands of piles of snow-like foams.
江山如畫 一時多少豪傑
While the river and mountains are picturesque today, I wonder how many heroes have battled with the landscape as the backdrop.
遙想公瑾當年 小喬初嫁了 雄姿英發
Imagine Zhou in his prime time, with Xiao Qiao the newly-wedded bride, He looked so handsome, brave and bright.
羽扇綸巾談笑間 檣櫓灰飛煙滅
With a plumed fan in hand and a silk cap on his head, he was laughing and jesting while the masts and sculls of Wei's navy went up in smoke and turned into ashes
故國神遊 多情應笑我
Wandering through the old kingdom like a dream, I might get laughed at for such sentiments.
早生華髮 人生如夢 一尊還酹江月
With my hair turning early gray, my life has been such a dream. Let me toast to the moon over its reflection in the great river.

Color Clay Pottery from Gansu: in Paper Cut Art

Postcard US-2452508 to Netherlands received on November 22, 2013 was a replacement card via TouchNote, showing an art piece of Chinese paper cut that depicts a color clay pottery container from an image scanned moment before it was sent. The original large-postcard-sized art piece, while not exactly a postcard, was sent in an envelop on October 14, 2013. As discussed in my previous blog, after traveling for more than 30 days, more than a dozen cards sent on that day are now overdue and none of the originals is registered. I have re-sent the cards, and some of the replacement cards were already registered so far. However, this one is unique and I don't have a duplicate.

Cover of the Color Clay Pottery from Gansu: in Paper Cut Art

The art piece was part of the collection produced by the Gansu Provincial Museum in Lanzhou, China. The other pieces sent earlier included US-2180320, etc.

Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon

Postcard US-2436381 traveling to Germany shows the Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon. The garden is influenced by many of the famous classical gardens in Suzhou, China, and features covered walkways (廊), pavillions(閣) and bridges (橋) according to the Chinese Fengshui design.

I visited this walled Chinese garden enclosing a full city block, roughly (4,000 square meters or 40,000 square feet), in the the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood on September 28, 2010 as part of my JetBlue AYCJ trip. It was listed as one of the Ten Things to Do in Portland, Oregon by the Time magazine.

Peace

Postcard US-2378823 to Germany shows a section of the Forbidden City's outer wall and moat at its East Glorious Gate. The photo was taken on October 7, 2007 during my trip to Beijing, China.

The Forbidden City had been the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty for almost 500 years. It is now houses the Palace Museum. Built from 1406 to 1420, the Forbidden City, with 980 buildings on a 720,000 sq m or 7,800,000 sq ft ground, exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture that has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and around the world. 

The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987 by UNESCO. The rainbow-colored character on the top right means "PEACE" in Chinese.