People of mixed ethnicities have always fascinated me. In America it's fairly common, in fact it's uncommon to be a purebred native born citizen on this land.
As much pride as I do have for my country and culture, I felt pretty boring as just Chinese. I have to admit I felt some deep jealousy and envy for people with a mixture of ethnicities. They have so many different doors to open and explore into their ethnic backgrounds, so many stories to discover about their ancestors, and yet belong to so many more families.
I was just one simple pea out of the biggest pod in the world.
Statistically, if you're going to be born into this world, the most likely chance is to be born a female in China. That's me.
A couple of years ago, while visiting my Grandma in Beijing, she offhandly told me her mother was a Manchurian, and that set off a spark of interest in me. I started flaunting that fact to everyone. Most Americans don't really have a clue where Manchuria is or who they are, so that only made that fact seem more exotic.
However:
Manchuria is the second biggest minority population in China
Located in the Northeast corner surrounded by Russia + Mongolia + Korea
I am only 1/8 Manchurian, since my great-grandmother was a Manchu
and all this still makes me 100% Chinese and not that special.
.
I am currently reading a book called The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
By the 2nd chapter the main character is describing his childhood friend, Hassan, in 1975 Afghanistan.
What really peaked my interest was his description of Hassan as a Hazara and the way he was treated by the bigger society in Afghanistan, who were the Pashtuns.
Personally, I've never heard about this before, and damn sure most people around the world haven't either. I know every country in the world have their own quirks and ethnicities. Almost no country is free from an intermixture of ethnicities.
In the book, Hassan was teased and mocked for his ethnicity, which were obvious from his physical features.
"his perfectly round face, a face like a Chinese doll chiseled from hardwood: his flat, broad nose and slanting, narrow eyes like bamboo leaves, eyes that looked, depending on the light, gold, green, even sapphire".
While passing by a group of soldiers, one soldier also instantly picked out Hassan by yelling "you! Hazara! Look at me when I'm talking to you" and went on to ridicule his mother.
The actions themselves and tone of voice from the descriptions gave the sense that Hazaras were an ethnicity in Afghanistan that were treated with lesser respect as a whole than the larger ethnicites inhabiting the country. This is not uncommon, since most descendants of mixed cultures have been mocked and looked down upon as polluted blood in different cultures for thousands of years.
By chapter 3, the main character starts to explain the history and standing of this interesting ethnicity in the country.
"They call him 'flat-nosed' ... because of characteristic Hazara Mongoloid features", "they were Mongol descendants, and that they looked a little like Chinese people".
I was a little offended by that sentence not because of the description but because of the ignorance on geographical history. Mongolians and Chinese are two separate ethnicites, as well as separate cultures and countries. Stating a Hazara would look like a Chinese person is also hazy since China is a mixture of people as well, through thousands of years of immigration and trade with other cultures and ethnicities a Chinese look is hard to decipher.
I did a little research after reading about Hazaras and found out
Afghanistan is made up of 3 major ethnicities
Pashtun
- main ethnic group
- eastern Iranian lineage
- religion - Sunni Islam
Tajik
-eastern Iranian - non-Turk
- religion - Sunni Islam
Hazara
- 9% of the population
- religion - Shi'a Islam
- ambiguous origins - main theory is descendants of Genghis Khan during the Mongolian invasion and rule in the 12th century with an admixture of Caucasoid blood.
- could also be descendants of aboriginals of central Afghanistan of Uyghar Turkic blood, whose ancestors build colossal Bamyan buddha statues that now stand as giant ruins.
I knew the Mongolians did pretty well for themselves during the Yuan dynasty in China, but had no idea they ruled over Afghanistan during the 11th century too.
The Hazaras as a culture with their mixture of ethnic blood, language, and customs is small but interesting as this almost fragile evidence of a union between cultures.
Which reminds of the Uyghars minority in China. Ever since I was little I've known about them when I saw them. All ethnic minorities are Chinese and part of the Chinese culture, but this particular minority, like the Kazak and Tajik minorities are particularly interesting ones in China.
In kindergarten, we had to do a uyghar dance in their costumes and it seemed fairly common to me. Though at that point in time I never questioned why those people looked so different physically and why they wore such pretty and elaborate dresses walking down the streets. I didn't know anything about any cultures within the "middle east" at that point or think to see the similarities between their costumes and dances.
Uyghar
-Turkish + Chinese mixture in blood inhabiting western China.
-Sunni Islam
-Chinese in nationality
-taught to speak Mandarin in school like all other people born to speak their district dialect first
-5th biggest ethnic minority
Kazak
-Turkish + Chinese mixture in blood
-Sunni Islam
-17th largest ethnic minority
-famous for a love of freedom, skillful horseriding/hunting
Tajik
-Iranian + Chinese mixture in blood
-37th largest ethnic minority
-Shi'a Islam
I plan to invade their villages sometime in the future to see their lives first hand.
Along other borders, there was a culture spawn on the borders of Russia and China
Ewenki
-Paleo-Siberian descent
-inhabits inner mongolia province of China
I had a close friend who was Russian that told me of her childhood friends in Russia. She talked about a beautiful Ewenki girl who was a mix of Russian and Chinese features with a splash of freckles across her nose with hazel eyes and jet black hair.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Religion is...
Someone asked me "how can you deny the truths behind these religions if all these major religions around the world all dictate the same things"?
My first reaction, honestly, was "how are you so stupid to ask such a question"?
People are too involved in looking through a tiny viewfinder at the finite details of microsystems, rather than looking at the big picture to understand something.
Why are all these religions around the world so similar? Why is there a God, Jesus, and prophets involved?
short answer, they're all the from the same religion.
Think: zealous missionaries representing these religions running all over the world spreading their belief to silly pagans (people living perfectly content lives not needing to believe in much till religion came into their lives)
In the ancient times goin back to oral traditions + pictographs + tributary customs
( pre-written history )
Most cultures around the world were polytheistic, no rather shamanistic.
Regions in Russia, China, Japan, Egypt, Native Americans, Greece, India, Rome, parts of Africa, aboriginal Australia/New Zealand... etc.
All believed in spirits or gods of nature.
One thing they had in common was a god of death and a god of birth, whether it's a sun god or Hades, these are the similar things all these cultures shared because of what humans witnessed as truth. We cannot deny a birth and death as much as we can argue on the other subjects of truths.
For me these ancient people were closer to truths than what the modern religions are teaching. Modern religions are too involved on an emotional basis. Concentrating on a relationship between the individual and God. But back to the bigger picture.
And this is how these major religions came about...
Egypt - ancient times - polytheism
with an exception
during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1364-1347 BC)
- decided to institute monotheism upon Egypt
- took an old sun god, Ra, to be the one and only God
Egypt went back to polytheism after this, however the Israelites (Jews) were already there. Though a specific time for the Exodus was not recorded, their religion was also influenced by the religion of Egypt in one way or another. They took monotheism with them on their departure from Egypt.
Israel - Jerusalem - Jesus
came about with his merry band of followers
it can be referred to as a cult for it was a cult that grew in following, though all originally born of the Judaism faith.
And then Christianity and Catholicism came about.
Christians say "i believe what you Jews believe in but Jesus is God."
Catholics say "i believe what you believe in but Mary the mother of Jesus is holy for giving birth to the son of God."
And thru much hardy missionary work around the world.
Christianity has beget Islam.
Muslims say "i believe what you believe in but Jesus was a prophet, God will show his presence through another in the future."
Egypt > Judaism > Catholicism + Christianity > Islam
Short answer = same damn religion, people just like to be part of a club and have something to hold on to. Fighting each other is defining their loyalty to their family and club members, and expressing primitive anger in a way they can feel righteous about.
violence and coercion aside, think about
many different bibles and korans
Why?
Bible = stories compiled together and became a manual and history book for members of that religion.
Originally, these stories are passed down through an oral tradition, and through the results of playing Telephone, one can understand, orally expressed stories can be remembered and spoken again differently than the previous version heard from one person to another. The basis of the story is pretty much similar but the details and characters can be changed significantly. Remember that a story can be MADE UP quite easily if one person wanted to make a point or create evidence to solidify someone else's belief.
Not to mention
religion have always played a powerful role in politics.
Politics = many lies weaved through truth.
Modern religions are based on their bibles, korans, scrolls, etc.
The content of said text is very questionable, not just by comparing its content to what was originally said, but also the fact that alot of those stories could be very much made up fairy tales in the first place.
What I believe in is my truth. I may be classified in the hazy category of "athiest" because I not a part of the fun club of any religions, nor am I confused about whether one religion is true above others or indecisive about my own beliefs.
I believe
God = source of energy, life force (maybe)
like water, electricity, fire are all natural resources and sources of energy. A battery power for the function of nature.
God ≠ being, conscious entity, has a conscience of any sort
That energy is within everything around us
continuing activity
birth - death - evolution - cycle
it's in the water, sun, plants, people, cells, molecules, atoms, etc
It's pointless to worship it, it's like worshipping wind or electricity, nothing will be granted in return from worship.
Praying is an emotional characteristic exhibited in humans, maybe other animals too, to actively try to manipulate the events to in the future for an outcome that suits the prayee's desires.
But this natural resource made us and lives within us as well as everything else.
You can say God made us.
Because this energy is in everything, and we are part of it as well as being It.
God = us
What we do in life and the inherent charateristics in people as well as all other parts of nature is creating, dying, experiencing, then recreating.
Checks and balances from the experience of interacting with things around each indivdual action creates the ending result.
Those that balance themselves with their environment keeps living
Those that don't, you become extinct
We are not particularly important in present time in the grand scheme of everything.
We can be important if we make a significant move that affects the result of something in the future, but no way to know.
Importance is relative depending on how it is perceived too.
If one needs a reason to be, then that raison d'être can be
"you live to experience + experiment for the future"
.
I've known this since the first class of evolution taught to be in 7th grade.
Apparently it was a very quiet epiphany that made me see things and understand everything around me by reasoning in the bigger picture through time + environment + context.
My first reaction, honestly, was "how are you so stupid to ask such a question"?
People are too involved in looking through a tiny viewfinder at the finite details of microsystems, rather than looking at the big picture to understand something.
Why are all these religions around the world so similar? Why is there a God, Jesus, and prophets involved?
short answer, they're all the from the same religion.
Think: zealous missionaries representing these religions running all over the world spreading their belief to silly pagans (people living perfectly content lives not needing to believe in much till religion came into their lives)
In the ancient times goin back to oral traditions + pictographs + tributary customs
( pre-written history )
Most cultures around the world were polytheistic, no rather shamanistic.
Regions in Russia, China, Japan, Egypt, Native Americans, Greece, India, Rome, parts of Africa, aboriginal Australia/New Zealand... etc.
All believed in spirits or gods of nature.
One thing they had in common was a god of death and a god of birth, whether it's a sun god or Hades, these are the similar things all these cultures shared because of what humans witnessed as truth. We cannot deny a birth and death as much as we can argue on the other subjects of truths.
For me these ancient people were closer to truths than what the modern religions are teaching. Modern religions are too involved on an emotional basis. Concentrating on a relationship between the individual and God. But back to the bigger picture.
And this is how these major religions came about...
Egypt - ancient times - polytheism
with an exception
during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten (1364-1347 BC)
- decided to institute monotheism upon Egypt
- took an old sun god, Ra, to be the one and only God
Egypt went back to polytheism after this, however the Israelites (Jews) were already there. Though a specific time for the Exodus was not recorded, their religion was also influenced by the religion of Egypt in one way or another. They took monotheism with them on their departure from Egypt.
Israel - Jerusalem - Jesus
came about with his merry band of followers
it can be referred to as a cult for it was a cult that grew in following, though all originally born of the Judaism faith.
And then Christianity and Catholicism came about.
Christians say "i believe what you Jews believe in but Jesus is God."
Catholics say "i believe what you believe in but Mary the mother of Jesus is holy for giving birth to the son of God."
And thru much hardy missionary work around the world.
Christianity has beget Islam.
Muslims say "i believe what you believe in but Jesus was a prophet, God will show his presence through another in the future."
Egypt > Judaism > Catholicism + Christianity > Islam
Short answer = same damn religion, people just like to be part of a club and have something to hold on to. Fighting each other is defining their loyalty to their family and club members, and expressing primitive anger in a way they can feel righteous about.
violence and coercion aside, think about
many different bibles and korans
Why?
Bible = stories compiled together and became a manual and history book for members of that religion.
Originally, these stories are passed down through an oral tradition, and through the results of playing Telephone, one can understand, orally expressed stories can be remembered and spoken again differently than the previous version heard from one person to another. The basis of the story is pretty much similar but the details and characters can be changed significantly. Remember that a story can be MADE UP quite easily if one person wanted to make a point or create evidence to solidify someone else's belief.
Not to mention
religion have always played a powerful role in politics.
Politics = many lies weaved through truth.
Modern religions are based on their bibles, korans, scrolls, etc.
The content of said text is very questionable, not just by comparing its content to what was originally said, but also the fact that alot of those stories could be very much made up fairy tales in the first place.
What I believe in is my truth. I may be classified in the hazy category of "athiest" because I not a part of the fun club of any religions, nor am I confused about whether one religion is true above others or indecisive about my own beliefs.
I believe
God = source of energy, life force (maybe)
like water, electricity, fire are all natural resources and sources of energy. A battery power for the function of nature.
God ≠ being, conscious entity, has a conscience of any sort
That energy is within everything around us
continuing activity
birth - death - evolution - cycle
it's in the water, sun, plants, people, cells, molecules, atoms, etc
It's pointless to worship it, it's like worshipping wind or electricity, nothing will be granted in return from worship.
Praying is an emotional characteristic exhibited in humans, maybe other animals too, to actively try to manipulate the events to in the future for an outcome that suits the prayee's desires.
But this natural resource made us and lives within us as well as everything else.
You can say God made us.
Because this energy is in everything, and we are part of it as well as being It.
God = us
What we do in life and the inherent charateristics in people as well as all other parts of nature is creating, dying, experiencing, then recreating.
Checks and balances from the experience of interacting with things around each indivdual action creates the ending result.
Those that balance themselves with their environment keeps living
Those that don't, you become extinct
We are not particularly important in present time in the grand scheme of everything.
We can be important if we make a significant move that affects the result of something in the future, but no way to know.
Importance is relative depending on how it is perceived too.
If one needs a reason to be, then that raison d'être can be
"you live to experience + experiment for the future"
.
I've known this since the first class of evolution taught to be in 7th grade.
Apparently it was a very quiet epiphany that made me see things and understand everything around me by reasoning in the bigger picture through time + environment + context.
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