Asian History Carnival #12
A Carnival is an event which exists outside of the ordinary flow of time (which explains why this particular one is two weeks late) and involves people taking on roles that are not open to them in ordinary life. With that in mind I have chosen to focus on people who do not fit for this episode of the Carnival. The best place to start is with at the Granite Studio with an account of Robert F. Williams, the African-American militant who ended up spending much of his life in China as a revolutionary spokesman. Williams was able to return to the U.S. after 1969 because the Nixon administration was so desperate to know what was happening in China that they gave him amnesty. He’s lucky, the Chinese rightists of 1957 are still looking to be cleared. Pictures here, all from Letters From China. Peking Duck points out that taking the capitalist road will not get you into as much trouble as it used to. Abu Aardvark discusses the current state of the Muslim Brotherhood, who have been in and out of favor with Asian states for decades.
Some people are not out of place of course. In fact in some cases the place (or nation) can be re-written to fit you. Chapati Mystery has problems with Jinnah According to Asia Cable, Thailand has been more fortunate with its national heroes. Of course the issue of who gets to be a leader is a old one, as Westminster Wisdom shows. If only more places could find leaders who were willing to retire and sit under their fig tree, like Kyrgyzstan did. Or, if you want to borrow a rotten leader you could follow the path of the Taiwan Nazis I hate Taiwan Nazis.
Of course carnivals are celebrations, and this has been a big month for celebration in East Asia. EastWestSouthNorth reports that the viewership for the Chinese Spring Festival Gala is declining.
I can’t imagine why. I would give some polite advice to CCTV about how to liven things up, but unfortunately 100 word minimum tells us that polite language is dying out Did you know that this is the year of the Pig? Pigs are good to blog about. Of course you can’t get let festivities get out of hand. Adhunika Blog on weddings in Bangladesh Evil Jungle Prince has some Dofu dumplings that I will have to make for the party.
It would not be a carnival without music, and so although it is a bit late I thought I should link to who let the camel loose and their collection of -FREE- Xinjiang Pop
Great stuff, thanks! Lots of stuff I hadn’t seen before.
Thanks. I’ll do a blog entry for the next carnival summarizing the Burmese chronicle material on Naresuan in the Thai national heroes entry above. It has information that others might not realize is there.