tag > China
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Whitehead on Yijing
The Yijing, Whitehead, and Time Philosophy - by Yih-hsien Yu (PDF)
Whitehead and the Book of Changes - by Shih-chuan Chen, disciple of Thomé H. Fang
Time as Emotion VS Time as Moralization: Whitehead and the Yijing - by Linyu gu (PDF)
Process and Reality - by Alfred North Whitehead (PDF)
Organic Realism and Process philosophy (wikipedia)
I-Ching Cards by Klaus Holitzka 
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Richard Wilhelm (1873 - 1930) was a German sinologist, theologian, and missionary. He lived in China for 25 years. He is best remembered for his translations of philosophical works from Chinese into German, including the I Ching and The Secret of the Golden Flower (PDF)
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China flight systems jammed by pig farm’s African swine fever defences (scmp)
"Chinese state media reported last week that gangs were exploiting the African swine fever crisis by deliberately spreading the disease by using drones to drop infected items on to pig farms. A Chinese pig farm’s attempt to ward off drones – said to be spreading African swine fever – jammed the navigation systems of a number of planes flying overhead. In more common cases, according to the magazine, the criminals spread rumours about the presence of the virus to achieve a cheap purchase price."
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Book: Music, Cosmology, and the Politics of Harmony in Early China - by Erica Fox Brindley (2014) (Full e-book PDF)
from "Yueji" ("Record of Music"), from the Book of Rites 
"In early China, conceptions of music became important culturally and politically. This fascinating book examines a wide range of texts and discourse on music during this period (ca. 500–100 BCE) in light of the rise of religious, protoscientific beliefs on the intrinsic harmony of the cosmos. By tracking how music began to take on cosmic and religious significance, Erica Fox Brindley shows how music was used as a tool for such enterprises as state unification and cultural imperialism. She also outlines how musical discourse accompanied the growth of an explicit psychology of the emotions, served as a fundamental medium for spiritual attunement with the cosmos, and was thought to have utility and potency in medicine. While discussions of music in state ritual or as an aesthetic and cultural practice abound, this book is unique in linking music to religious belief and demonstrating its convergences with key religious, political, and intellectual transformations in early China."
Related: "Music, Cosmos, and the Development of Psychology in Early China" - by Erica Brindley (2006) (unpaywalled PDF)
Related: "In Tune With The Cosmos: Tuning Theory, Cosmology, And Concepts Of Sound In Early China" - Dissertation by Noa Hegesh (2018)
Wikipedia on the "Book of Rites":
"The Book of Rites, also known as the Liji, is a collection of texts describing the social forms, administration, and ceremonial rites of the Zhou dynasty as they were understood in the Warring States and the early Han periods. The Book of Rites is a diverse collection of texts of varied but uncertain origin & date.
During the reign of Qin Shihuang, many of the Confucian classics were destroyed during the 213 BC "Burning of the Books." However, the Qin dynasty collapsed within the decade: Confucian scholars who had memorized the classics or hid written copies recompiled them in the early Han dynasty. The Book of Rites was said to have been fully reconstructed, but the Classic of Music could not be recompiled and fragments principally survive in the "Record of Music" (Yueji) chapter of the Book of Rites."
Chinese Ancient Music
Ancient Music Of Tang Dynasty
Chinese Ancient Music: Wild Goose on the Peaceful Beach
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Paranormal and Qiqong frenzy in China: Collection of texts & links
Rise and fall of the QiGong frenzy in China: when superstition and science collide - by Matteo Damiani (2014, china-underground)
"After the fall of the Gang of Four, Qigong represented an opportunity for China to find a cultural identity tested by the disastrous consequences of the Cultural Revolution that erased an entire cultural and relationships system. Looking for its own way to modernization, China took a shortcut to scientific progress by mixing weird science and superstition, with grotesque and devastating consequences in the long run."
Paranormal in China - by Wu Xianghong (1995, skepticalinquirer)
Excerpt: "At the same time, the research into Qi Gong was also booming. New ways of performing Qi Gong were found, such as projecting the Qi out of the sender’s body, through the air, and finally into the body of receivers. These methods were investigated with “scientific” apparatus, including infrared detectors and radiometers. It has been reported since 1984 that Qi Gong could activate the potential SA (“special ability”) in people. In 1985, Zhang Hongbao, a master of Qi Gong, proposed the theory of a “cosmic field”; that the energy accounting for both Qi Gong and SA were generated out of and transferred through the “cosmic field” and therefore Qi Gong and SA were unified. Zhang believed that everyone could get SA by training in Qi Gong and that those who had SA but did not know Qi Gong could be taught it. Henceforth, all those who were engaged in the paranormal named themselves “Master of Qi Gong.” Millions of people began to train in Qi Gong, including the youth. The main goal was usually not to heal diseases and improve health, but to get SA and be a “superman.”
#Book: Qigong Fever: Body, Science, & Utopia in China - by David A. Palmer (2007)
"In this absorbing and revealing book, David A. Palmer relies on a combination of historical, anthropological, and sociological perspectives to describe the spread of the qigong craze and its reflection of key trends that have shaped China since 1949, including the search for a national identity and an emphasis on the absolute authority of science. Qigong offered the promise of an all-powerful technology of the body rooted in the mysteries of Chinese culture. However, after 1995 the scientific underpinnings of qigong came under attack, its leaders were denounced as charlatans, and its networks of followers, notably Falungong, were suppressed as 'evil cults.'"
Zhang Hongbao (1954 - 2006, died in a vehicle "accident" in Arizona/USA) is a fascinating character, which makes the explosive power of Cult "PK-Politics" in communist china clear:
"In 1987, he founded Zhong Gong. Zhang gave two-week-long Qigong workshops which received national coverage in the People's Daily. Among the over a thousand people who participated were prominent academics such as the President of Beijing University, who were reportedly able to capture and emit Qi. Having won over the academic community, Zhang also gained acceptance within the China Academy of Science, and other sections of the scientific community. Furthermore, he became a media celebrity after one workshop was featured in a three-minute news segment on CCTV. He also gained credibility within the media and political elites. The movement claimed 34 million followers, 120,000 employees, 30 life cultivation bases, and 100,000 "branches" at its peak.
Zhong Gong Beliefs and teachings:
"Zhang developed a style of Qigong which was based on automation, physics, relativity, bionics, and with distinctive use of mechanical engineering jargon"
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"Zhong Gong is based on the Qilin culture (麒麟文化) created by Zhang in 1987 which He (2000) states is "an obvious challenge to Marxism and the CCP's one-party rule". According to Zhang's 'spirit-matter dialectics', both spirit and matter both have objective existence and can transform into the other under certain circumstances. In 1992, based on the ancient theories of yin and yang, Zhang extrapolated his universal law of motion according to which all objects or matter can subdivide into 'Yin' or 'Yang', predicting anything or act which contravened it would bring eventual disaster. He asserted Marxist property right theory and the derived Communist Party aim to eliminate private property were in conflict with his laws. In 1993, Zhang advanced his theories of 'promotion-restriction-inhibition-transformation' derived from the Five elements. In 1998, Zhang put forward a moral code which he referred to as "eight virtues and eight calls".[4]Cultural Context:
"However, Qi Gong staged a comeback in a different form after 1992, as a trend of thought instead of a practical movement. In this way it has much to do with the revival of the paranormal in traditional Chinese culture. The renaissance of traditional culture began in 1989, when the government found it useful as an ideological weapon to fight against Western-style liberalism. Moreover, it seemed to be a hopeful alternative to orthodox Marxism as an ideology to join people’s viewpoints with feelings.
In the 1990s, as China accepts the market system step by step, the public media plays more and more important roles in the spread of pseudoscience, and cases of pseudoscience increase in the area of business. The Chinese people haven’t developed the necessary skeptical view of advertising, and the lack of related laws provide cunning businessmen with an open field. Until November 1994 China didn’t have a law for truth in advertising. The public media abounded with fraudulent advertisements.
Related:
"Only a real hero can goes along with no sword on. In 1999, directed the first national political action protesting the national political persecution in CCP ruled Chinese history. In 1999, continental China experienced another Cultural Revolution. Just by one order from Jiang Zemin, almost a billion Chinese who practice meditation became the target for persecution.
This year, CCP government lay down complete blockade and rounded up Fa Lun Gong and Zhonggong for the kill.
The only difference in the ways CCP treated Fa Lun Gong and Zhonggong is, it only kills but doesn¡¯t talk about the kill to Zhonggong.
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Declassified CIA report from 1990 about Qigong cult prosecution start.
Video: Jack Ma talks about Tai Chi Chuan and applying it into life and business.
#Comment: Jack Ma - the world's 20th Richest Person, chairman of Alibaba Group, Kung fu master - is frequently directly associated with prominent Chinese cult-type "Qigong" etc. spiritual movements and its leaders (that get banned by the government)
Documentary on Qigong in the 1990s in China:
"Qigong Documentary Overview by Francesco Garri Garripoli "Here is a copy of the entire "Paranormal in China" article, for future backup:
Paranormal in China - by Wu Xianghong
From: Skeptical Briefs Volume 5.1 - March 1, 1995
Every evening in an open area furnished with several pine trees, I wander from the new library of our university. I see a group of old people, standing swaying, and rocking in time with the rhythm of Chinese classical music, coming out from a shabby loud speaker hanging from one of the branches. They are performing the Qi Gong, an ancient Chinese exercise, revived in the early 1980s, that supposedly advances one’s ability to gather and utilize the “energy” or “force” of the universe.
Now there are hundreds of types of Qi Gong: some only need meditation and others require body motion to music. They are popular among Chinese who wish to improve their health and cure their diseases. It is hard to say if anyone has restored his health by performing Qi Gong; while it is also hard to say if Qi Gong is completely ineffective if accompanied by orthodox treatment. Deep breathing, self-controlled meditation, and little movement, which are usually involved in performing Qi Gong, are not harmful.
The cult of Qi Gong, however, is not based on its effectiveness in health care. The “spirit balance” it gives and the quasi-religious mood involved in performing Qi Gong partly accounts for its popularity. Old people may perform it because they have no better ways to spend their time. Around 1985, Qi Gong began to closely connect with another cult—the cult of “special ability”—and each reinforced the popularity of the other.
The phenomenon of SA was first reported in 1978, when the political group headed by Mao’s widow lost its power, and Deng Xiaoping was reinstated and began to advocate the movement to “love, learn and utilize science” in China. This science movement quickly met the needs that the majority of Chinese, including some scholars had. They had forgotten what the rigorous demarcation line of empirical science was. In articles published in many scientific magazines and journals, the coming 21st century was portrayed as a utopian, entirely automated world. The research of UFOs and ETs was regarded as an advanced area of science. Scientific spirit was understood as “to doubt every idea you believe in and to believe in the raw materials you see with your eyes.” This attitude I’d like to name as the “materialist” view on science. (It is not even a Marxist view because Engels disagreed. He believed that observation should be guided by theory, and that idea was quite popular among the scientists and philosophers.)
It was in such a context that the public media reported finding some children who could identify human character by outward appearance—ear, forehead, and nose—and called it “special ability” (SA). The word “special” (Teyi in Chinese) means something a bit different from “paranormal,” the word my American colleagues prefer to use.
The “materialist” scientists believed that SA was not a transcendent phenomenon, but an empirical phenomenon outside of the existing scientific knowledge that could explain and predict; that it could be and should be studied by “scientific method.” In this way the existing laws and theories of scientific knowledge might be challenged and revised. Perhaps it is better to translate the concept of SA as “exceptional ability.”
Although there were some disagreements, the research into SA was booming. More cases were reported and the field expanded to include perception and PK—the ability to bend iron wire in a sealed test tube, or remove pills from a sealed bottle. At the same time, the research into Qi Gong was also booming. New ways of performing Qi Gong were found, such as projecting the Qi out of the sender’s body, through the air, and finally into the body of receivers. These methods were investigated with “scientific” apparatus, including infrared detectors and radiometers. It has been reported since 1984 that Qi Gong could activate the potential SA in people. In 1985, Zhang Hongbao, a master of Qi Gong, proposed the theory of a “cosmic field”; that the energy accounting for both Qi Gong and SA were generated out of and transferred through the “cosmic field” and therefore Qi Gong and SA were unified. Zhang believed that everyone could get SA by training in Qi Gong and that those who had SA but did not know Qi Gong could be taught it. Henceforth, all those who were engaged in the paranormal named themselves “Master of Qi Gong.” Millions of people began to train in Qi Gong, including the youth. The main goal was usually not to heal diseases and improve health, but to get SA and be a “superman.”
In 1987 and 1988, Yaniments by a group at Tsing Hua University were published in scientific journals that “verified” that Qi could be sent out over 2,000 kilometers to hit the targets—a polariscope and a reagent in a test tube—and change the direction of the polariscope axis and the molecular structure of the reagent. The scientific community was shocked by these results, and even more so when it was discovered that those who engaged in these experiments were only amateurs. The authorities at Tsing Hua University had failed to realize that the group represented the university.
Another creation of Yan Xin was the “Talk Show with Gong.” Hundreds, even thousands of people came to listen to his lecture and were induced by some unexplained forces to sway, quiver, sob, grin, sleep, and express other emotions at the lecture. Such induced emotions were believed to be good for health. The “Talk Show with Gong” was quite popular from that time on, and the recorded tapes of Yan’s lecture were claimed to carry the information of Qi Gong. They sold very well around the country.
Yan Xin attributed SA to Qi Gong. His theory was that the children who had SA were not talents but that there were some masters of Qi Gong sending Qi to them in secret. Yan also expanded the effectiveness of Qi Gong’s psychokinetic powers to include moving away tons of fish, changing the weather, and putting out a forest fire.
After 1988, Qi Gong became more influential. In 1990, a woman master of Qi Gong, Zhang Xiangyu, pushed its influence to a peak with her performance in Beijing. Millions of “pilgrims” gathered from several provinces to see her and caused great traffic jams. When Zhang waved her hand out of a window of the third floor of the hotel, the “pilgrims” in the street cheered. Zhang claimed that she could talk with extraterrestrial beings and was able to cure every disease. She treated her patients with methods similar to those of witchcraft and demanded large amounts of money from them. Many patients became ill under her treatment and some of them died. In August, Zhang was arrested and accused of cheating. The exposition of her swindle weakened the cult of Qi Gong. Zhang was convicted in 1993.
Soon after the arrest of Zhang Xiangyu, a conscientious master of Qi Gong, Sima Tu, told the truth about the various kinds of Qi Gong hoaxes. The prestige of Qi Gong dropped rapidly and became merely a sort of body exercise popular among old people, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article. However, Qi Gong staged a comeback in a different form after 1992, as a trend of thought instead of a practical movement. In this way it has much to do with the revival of the paranormal in traditional Chinese culture.
The renaissance of traditional culture began in 1989, when the government found it useful as an ideological weapon to fight against Western-style liberalism. Moreover, it seemed to be a hopeful alternative to orthodox Marxism as an ideology to join people’s viewpoints with feelings. The preference for traditional culture in literature, however, can be dated back to 1984. Then, some novelists announced they were able to “find the root for our literature” when they felt disillusioned by the importation of Western literature and art since 1978, as well as Marxism, which is also a western ideology. The announcement of finding the “root” is not a bad one.
When the government took part in the revival of traditional culture, things turned out to be worse, because the leadership of government was far from being scientific and rational. A manifest example was the “I Ching” craze beginning in 1989. An ancient classic about divination, the “I Ching” relates something of the philosophy, beliefs, customs, and mathematical ability of ancient China. But in the recent craze it was claimed to have the implications of modern physics, mathematics, astronomy, and computer science.
For example, it is said that G.W. Leibniz (1646 – 1716) got inspiration out of the Eight Diagrams to create the binary computer and had sent one of his machines to Emperor Kang Xi of the Ding Dynasty. This claim turns out to be completely false. The binary computer wasn’t created until 1941 (the Z-3 machine). What Leibniz created is the binary system, and he worked it out before he saw the Eight Diagrams.
While the cult of traditional culture led to pseudoscience in intellectual circles, it resulted in the revival of primitive superstition, such as fortune telling, astrology, physiognomy, and “I Ching,” ancestral worship, and magic among the masses with less education. They abounded in the broad rural areas, as did the Qi Gong in the cities. The official newspapers warned that “the superstition of feudal ideology is reviving in our countryside.”
From the standpoint of the official media, superstition refers to something more than we have mentioned above. It includes the spontaneous, disorganized minor religions in the rural areas. For instance, hundreds of pamphlets on Zen have been issued since 1990. Zen, as a specific religion originating in China and spreading over the Far East, was generated out of the mixture of Indian Buddhism and Chinese traditional thought. It had benefited from Taoism, Confucianism and other traditional Chinese teachings. Therefore Zen, as well as Taoism and other religious traditions, became popular with the revival of traditional culture. These traditions should be highly appreciated in themselves but the popular interpretation of them came to include the paranormal.
A typical case is the book The Decoding of Liuman’s Mysteries (Renlei Shenmi Xianxiang Poyi, 1992) by Ke Yuniu. In it, he announced that he had encoded all the mysteries in human history: Qi Gong, Yoga, SA, psychic phenomena, parapsychology, magic, soul, I Ching, Chinese medicine, Laozi and Dao De Jing, Zen, Sakyamulli and Buddhism, the Bible, Jesus and God!
Carefully read, one can uncover that Ke’s thoughts never transcend the ideas of the early sages, such as Laozi, Sakyamuni and Jesus. He borrows from Zen epistemology, makes use of Laozi in the ontology, believes Qi Gong as an alternative to physics, and he also contributes his own illogical methods of thinking.
In November 1994, Ke issued his new three volume book: Research Into Life. In this book he proposed few new ideas but described hundreds of “successful” experiments to verify the presence of SA. In general, Ke’s books are not worth being treated seriously; but their great influence on the social ideology is dangerous, and we need to deal with them.
The movement to “love, learn and utilize science” from the end of the 1970s unexpectedly helped the growth of pseudoscience. The above-mentioned “materialist” view of science was an important cause, another was that public education in science was led astray in this period. The masses were given “scientific knowledge” without the necessary explanation of how it was achieved. That no method was available for the masses to decide whether a claim was scientific made them turn to some “authoritative” source, for example, the public media, an administrative organ, or the “mystery authority” relating to the intelligence agencies and the military.
“Hongcheng Magic Liquid” is a case of “mystery authority.” Being an ordinary man in Northeast China without higher education, Wang Hongcheng, in the early 1980s, pretended to have created a sort of “liquid” of which two to three drops could change the structure of one liter of water to make it as combustible as petrol. Were his claim true the words “energy crisis” could be canceled from the dictionary eternally. The Chinese security and military departments paid much attention to the declared creation and funded Wang for further research. When it was shown to be obviously a fraud, Wang was thrown into prison. However, he became a legendary figure. Some people believed that Wang was persecuted because he refused to turn over his “secret” formula to the government, and that this was covered up.
When Wang was finally freed, many news reporters, worshippers, investors, and crooks gathered around him to hear about the “secret” formula. In 1992-1993, Wang was rather popular on the public media, and he set up a company to develop the “Hongcheng Magic Liquid.” Nothing happened in the end, of course.
Another case has more to do with the authority of administrative organs. It is the “W-Shape Ship Patent” belonging to Zhou Jinyu from South China. He was a young technician and announced his innovation in 1985. This was to put the propeller in the middle of a ship instead of at the stern and to give the whole ship a W-shape. Zhou claimed that he had discovered a new fluid theory, by which the W-shape innovation could improve the speed of ships by 200 to 300 percent, but he had never published a paper about his “theory.” Experiments performed by some experts indicated that a ship when applied with this innovation would lose 20 to 30 percent of its speed and risk turning over. However, Zhou managed to get a formal appraisal from the local administrative committee of science and technology. He succeeded in bypassing the patent bureaus, the local government, public media, and entrepreneurs, simply by waving the appraisal. A large amount of money was wasted in making W-shaped ships, because they couldn’t move at all. Zhou was awarded and honored by governments at different levels until he was exposed by thirty scientists in 1992.
In the 1990s, as China accepts the market system step by step, the public media plays more and more important roles in the spread of pseudoscience, and cases of pseudoscience increase in the area of business. The Chinese people haven’t developed the necessary skeptical view of advertising, and the lack of related laws provide cunning businessmen with an open field. Until November 1994 China didn’t have a law for truth in advertising. The public media abounded with fraudulent advertisements. One example was the “electronic adding-growth shoe pad.” This shoe pad was said to help short young men grow taller by stimulating specific parts of the sole of the foot.
Another case was the “electronic stutter-curing instrument,” which was only a micro-amplifier, to enable you to hear your own voice through an earphone attached.
Fraudulent advertisements have been reduced since the Law of Advertisements went into effect, but pseudoscientific businesses, especially in the field of medicine, haven’t been contained. First, an essential system to test the quality of new medicines has not been established. New medicines always have to “pass” a clinical test, but the necessary control group is usually neglected, or the it is not under rigorous control. For example, all the patients of the control group haven’t been given the same dose. Second, the effectiveness of Chinese medicines cannot be tested by orthodox procecare articles” insteading disease instead of caring for health.
The Chinese medicine and “health care articles” market has been full of various sorts of oral liquids. They all claimed to be able to reduce your white hair, or improve your memory, or strengthen your sexual ability. One of them is called “China Soft- Shelled Turtle Extract.” It is well known that female Chinese long-distance runners have continually been winning the championships in different races and often also win and as the runner-ups. It is also well known that all these female athletes are guided by the same coach, Ma Junren. Ma’s method in training is peculiar, but public opinion holds that he has a certain “secret formula.” In the West, reporters guess about the stimulant used. In China, people noted that Ma had his athletes drink the blood and fat of soft-shelled turtles everyday. A financial group in Chang Zhou announced that they had bought the “secret formula” from Ma and began to produce the extract. However, a group of reporters recently discovered that no turtles could be found on the production line.
Besides, Ma had sold his “secret formula” to another company for two million Juan (about $250,000). Turtle, of course, is not among the ingredients. This company is now selling a liquid named “Life Atomic Energy,” which is said to be produced according to Ma’s direction.
In my view, the most influential commodity and the first object that ought to be inquired about in the present China market is the so-called “Life-Spectrum Healing Instrument.” According to its creator, Zhou Lin, it can emit rays whose spectrum is similar to the emission spectrum of the human body. Thus it “adjusts the balance of the human body system.” This explanation for its mechanism is not clear. If its spectrum is really in accordance with the human’s emission spectrum, we can understand that the energy of the rays is subject to absorption by the body, that it will heat the tissue inside of body.
Perhaps it is a better physical healing method than the traditional hot compress, but this wouldn’t help us to understand how it could adjust the balance of the body system.
In fact, Zhou’s instrument hasn’t been strictly investigated. It is widely accepted primarily because it won the first prize in an international fair. The general underdevelopment of Chinese science and technology induces people to be convinced by the “authority” from any international organization.
On December 5, 1994, the State Council and the Committee of the CPC issued a proclamation to strengthen public education in science. In this proclamation it was recognized that “public education in science has been withering in recent years, at the same time activities of superstition and ignorance have been growing and antiscience and pseudoscience cases have frequently been happening. Therefore effective measures must be applied as soon as possible to strengthen public education of science. The level of public education in science and technology is an important sign of the national scientific accomplishment, and is a matter of overall importance relating to the promotion of the economy, the advancement of science, and the development of the society. We must pay attention and carry out the public education with consideration of a strategy to modernize our socialist country and to make our nation powerful and prosperous. Ignorance is never socialist nor is poverty.” It is planned to advocate education with the three aspects of science: scientific knowledge, scientific method, and scientific ideas. This proclamation greatly encourages the rationalists, and has formed a helpful context for attacking the paranormal. However, it is possible that such a government- guided movement would turn out to be politically oriented. If the paranormal was only suppressed by the political power, and if people were not to be persuaded reasonably to discard their irrational beliefs, the matter would be worse. In my view, political intervention is the most dangerous element of skepticism, and it could result in many more cases of paranormal claims.
Author: Wu Xianghong - a doctoral candidate in philosophy and science at Renmin University of China, Beijing.
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Lu Zijian (1893 - 2012) - Wudang Daoist Baguazhang and Qigong Grandmaster
Yuanming Zhang (1963) - Baguazhang and Qigong Grandmaster, Lu Zijian's disciple
Hai Teng (1902-1989) - Buddhist monk, martial artist and pro-tem abbot of Shaolin Temple:
Duan Zhi Liang (1909 - 2016) - Qigong Grandmaster
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"According to Wuxing (五行) theory, the structure of the cosmos mirrors the five phases. Each phase has a complex series of associations with different aspects of nature. In the ancient Chinese form of geomancy, known as Feng Shui, practitioners all based their art and system on wuxing. All of these phases are represented within the trigrams. Associated with these phases are colors, seasons & shapes; all of which are interacting with each other." - Wikipedia
Book (PDF): Fengshui in China: Geomantic Divination between state Orthodoxy & Popular Religion (2011) - by Ole Bruun (Professor Social Sciences & Business & Prof Global Political Sociology at University of Roskilde)
Book Cover: "Fengshui in China" "For well over a century, Chinese fengshui, or "geomancy," has interested Western laymen and scholars. Today, hundreds of popular manuals claim to use its principles in their advice on how people can increase their wealth, happiness, longevity, and so on. This study is quite different, approaching fengshui from an academic angle. The focus is on its significance in China, but the recent history of its reinterpretation in the West is also depicted. The author argues that fengshui serves as an alternative tradition of cosmological knowledge, which is used to explain a range of everyday occurrences in rural areas, such as disease, mental disorders, accidents, and common mischief. The study includes a historical account of fengshui over the last 150 years augmented by the results of anthropological fieldwork on contemporary practices in two Chinese rural areas."
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"Chinese and Western Thought — Knowing the Differences Helps". For a less comically perspective of contemporary Chinese thought (and its relation to the west), some random links:
- Chinese philosophy (wikipedia)
- Modern Chinese Philosophy - 1901-1949
- Contemporary Chinese Philosophy (book)
- 21st-century Chinese philosophers
- Theory of the Unity of Knowing & Doing in Chinese Philosophical History -by Fang Keli
- Specters of Communism-Imagining ‘Soviet’ for the 21st Century?“ by Zhiyuan Cui
- China “Asleep” and “Awakening.” A Study in Conceptualizing Asymmetry and Coping with It.
Fig. A Look at China Now and in the Past, Shenzhou ribao 神州日報, March 5, 1911. (via) -
“Qutrit” Experiments Are a First in Quantum Teleportation (Scientific American)
Quantum teleportation in high dimensions: https://arxiv.org/abs/1906.09697 and https://arxiv.org/abs/1904.12249The Quantum Internet Is Emerging, One Experiment at a Time (Scientific American)
Breakthrough demonstrations using defective diamonds, high-flying drones, laser-bathed crystals and other exotica suggest practical, unhackable quantum networks are within reach -
Yes, China is probably outspending the US in AI—but not on defense (MIT TechReview)
"China is likely spending far less on AI than previously assumed...money seems to be going to non-military research, [like] fundamental algorithm development...the US’s spending for fiscal year 2020 allocates the majority of its AI budget to defense"
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Inauguration of a new US$55 billion gas pipeline "Power of Siberia" helps cement increasingly close Beijing-Moscow ties that are moving beyond economics into security.
Nordstream 2 is nearing completion but controversy remains (DW)
"The Nordstream 2 natural gas pipeline being built by Russia's Gazprom is nearing completion. Critics of the project, including the US and Poland, fear that the EU will become too dependent on Russian gas."
Power of connection: why the Russia–Europe gas trade is strangely untouched by politics (nature)
"Thane Gustafson argues that fuel pipelines foster stability."
Texas Oil Explorers Say Predictions of Growth Contradict Dire Reality (bloomberg)
"Then there’s the rapid decline of shale-well production. In the top five shale basins, wells that came on in 2018 are declining at their fastest rates yet, according to David Ramsden-Wood, the former COO of Permian producer Franklin Mountain Energy."
Fracking Blows Up Investors Again: Phase 2 of the Great American Shale Oil & Gas Bust (wolfstreet)
"In 2019 through third quarter, 32 oil and gas drillers have filed for bankruptcy, according to Haynes and Boone."
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Will the China of tomorrow run on the technology behind bitcoin? (scmp)
"I worry that people have oversold blockchain to Xi as a magic cure-all" - James Andrew Lewis, Centre for Strategic and International Studies
China's blockchain tech adoption inflated? New expose reveals truth behind tall claims (ibtimes, via "China: Marketing Blockchain")
“According to the Global Times, which is a Chinese state-run media house, numerous companies in China seem to find it simpler to claim that they are utilizing blockchain technology than to truly practice its application. Various Chinese firms across a variety of industries reportedly state that they are employing the use of blockchain tech in some form or another, but lack real evidence to prove that they are doing so. Global Times in their expose report that out of over 3,000 registered businesses, about 500 firms claim to be incorporating blockchain tech in their day-to-day operations, but only about 40 of these have been able to demonstrate that they are actively doing so.”
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"The phrase 'may you live in interesting times' is the lowest in a trilogy of Chinese curses that continue 'may you come to the attention of those in authority' and finish with 'may the gods give you everything you ask for.' I have no idea about its authenticity." - Terry Pratchett - #China #Philosophy #Comedy #Politics #Magic
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Foreigners visiting China are increasingly stumped by its cashless society: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/11/beggars-and-toilet-paper.html
Welcome to China. You Probably Can't Buy Anything, Though: https://www.morningstar.com/news/dow-jones/20191110751/welcome-to-china-you-probably-cant-buy-anything-though #China #Economics #Crypto
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Ghost Ships, Crop Circles, and Soft Gold: A GPS Mystery in Shanghai: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614689/ghost-ships-crop-circles-and-soft-gold-a-gps-mystery-in-shanghai/ #Military #Infrastructure #China
"A sophisticated new electronic warfare system is being used at the world’s busiest port. But is it sand thieves or the Chinese state behind it?" GPS is a system entirely owned by the US Air Force / Gov. Why invoke a Chinese state actor attack first?
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China developing 'gene-edited super soldiers' in biological warfare revolution: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/china-developing-gene-edited-super-20546721
China’s Military Biotech Frontier: CRISPR, Military-Civil Fusion, and the New Revolution in Military Affairs: https://jamestown.org/program/chinas-military-biotech-frontier-crispr-military-civil-fusion-and-the-new-revolution-in-military-affairs/
China’s national strategy of military-civil fusion (军民融合, junmin ronghe) has highlighted biology as a priority. It is hardly surprising that the People’s Republic of China (PRC) is looking to leverage synergies among defense, scientific, and commercial developments in biological interdisciplinary (生物交叉, shengwu jiaocha) technologies. Chinese military scientists and strategists have consistently emphasized that biotechnology could become a “new strategic commanding heights of the future Revolution in Military Affairs” (军事革命, junshi geming)
A doctoral dissertation titled “Evaluation and Research on Human Performance Enhancement Technology,” published in 2016, envisions CRISPR as one of three primary “human performance enhancement technologies” (人效能增强技术, ren xiaoneng zengqiang jishu) that can be utilized to boost personnel combat effectiveness.
Ultimately, today’s advances in biotechnology may prove revolutionary, and the strategic implications, whether for medicine or the military or aggregate national competitiveness, are only just starting to be appreciated. [22] Today, the PRC is actively exploring new frontiers of such biological cross-disciplinary technologies: from these prominent developments in CRISPR to bionic robotics, intelligentized exoskeletons, and techniques for human-machine collaboration. So too, at a time when Chinese universities and enterprises are pursuing investment and expanding global research collaborations in such fields, it is important that their foreign partners remain cognizant of the interests and involvements of their counterparts.
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From oil age to soil age: What's already emerging? Some snapshot slides of our Urban-Rural exhibition in Shanghai by @johnthackara et.al: https://www.slideshare.net/johnthackara/urbanrural-exhibition-shanghai-november-2019-john-thackara-personal-slides
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In China, AI can now screen newborns for genetic disorders: https://www.techinasia.com/china-ai-screen-newborns-genetic-disorders
"Chinese scholars have developed AI-powered software that is geared to help screen newborns for genetic disorders through a facial scan. It was designed to detect more than 100 disorders with distinctive facial features"
The new Eugenics movement is as brain-dead as the old one. Scientists as a class are progressively morally bankrupt, following their owners. #Biology #ML #Biotech #SE #China
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China mulls $10 trillion Earth-moon economic zone: http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1168698.shtml #Space #Economics #China
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A Brief History of China - talk by Kristofer Schipper 鼎清 施舟人:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristofer_SchipperReligion is Nowhere and Everywhere
Path to Daoist Studies
On Li
Inclusivity and Exclusivity
Check as well Kristofer Schipper's worthwile Speech at Peking University: "Chinese History and its Global Significance": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wjse34pV2EE&list=UU8wNPYihHdoRZzlOhd6noTA&index=15
