tag > China
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Poem from Cold Mountain
This excerpt is taken from The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain by Red Pine. English reprint permission provided by translator. All English copyright reserved by translator. Cold Mountain [Han Shan] was a hermit in the Tang Dynasty, who produced hundreds of poems, which were later collected and associated with his name.
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Master of weather? China in drive to advance rain-making tech (SCMP)
China’s expanded weather modification efforts would support emergency response plans to deal with events such as drought and hailstorms. Its artificial rainfall and snowfall operations will cover an area of more than 5.5 million sq km – greater than the total size of Southeast Asia.
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China's Yangtze River Basin to Recover Biodiversity (telesur)
The Asian longest river boasts one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. However, the protection situation of some rare and unique aquatic species is grim. China began a 10-year fishing moratorium in 332 conservation areas in the Yangtze River basin, which will expand to all the natural waterways of the river and its major tributaries from no later than Jan. 1, 2021. "The biodiversity is recovering in the Yangtze. The species number has so far increased to 79 in the Jiangsu section from 48 at the beginning of 2017," said Zhang Jianjun, the Jiangsu Province's Agriculture Department Deputy Director.
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How China’s digital currency will thwart US dollar trap and help the world (SCMP)
"The digital renminbi is a sovereign currency fully backed by the state, does not require a bank account and has full oversight by Chinese banking authorities. Developing countries will embrace the convenience of China’s digital payment systems, which have great poverty-relief potential for the world’s unbanked poor."
#Comment: In summary, highly centralized, total surveillance technocratic money coming east and west - aiming to quantize reality even more.
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"When you drink the water, remember the spring" —Chinese Proverb
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China’s Genetics Giant Wants to Tailor Medicine to Your DNA (Bloomberg) (Archive)
BGI is racing toward a world where your DNA informs your medical decisions—and maybe some of your personal ones. Things could get weird.
"There are limits to what Wang says he’s prepared to contemplate. The company, he points out, is no longer studying the genetic origins of intelligence. But he suggests that, if researchers are able to truly identify genes that produce smarts, a Gattaca-esque push for designer babies is probably inevitable, especially in ultracompetitive China, where there’s already a robust market for genetic tests that supposedly gauge innate talent for math or music. BGI has no plans to help parents customize their offspring, but “there’s lots of people who want to do it,” Wang says. “People never stop searching for interesting things.” Unless, that is, someone stops them."
Related: BGI Group - The Biggest Genomics Company in the World?
Related: Chinese scientists have put human brain genes in monkeys—and yes, they may be smarter
Related: Chinese Researchers Use Genetic Modification to Make Buff Beagles -
Poem by the 12th century Chinese Buddhist master Hongzhi Zhengjue
All things originate from the mind. When the whole mind is silent, all appearances end. Which is other, which is self? When there is no sign of differentiation, not even a single atom can be established. When not a single thought is born, you penetrate through before the womb and after the skin bag; one point of inconceivable illumination, whole and undifferentiated, without corners, edge or traces that cannot be dimmed. What cannot be dimmed is called inherent knowledge; the point of inherent knowledge is called the fundamental endowment.
When you realize all things are empty you are free in all states of mind and penetrate beyond through every atom of dust. The primordial beam of light pervades everywhere and transforms according to the energies and situations. Everything it meets is the source, subtly illuminating all things. Empty, the wind in the pines and the moon in the water respond outwardly without getting confused. Live in clear harmony, without a wandering mind, not sticking anywhere. With a mind like spring bearing flowers, like a mirror reflecting images; in the midst of floods of tumult, you will naturally stand serene above it all.
When your state is thoroughly peaceful and your livelihood is cool and serene, you will see the emptiness of the ages; there is nothing to be troubled by, nothing that can obstruct. Empty, absolute and radiant; clear, complete and shining; it clearly exists for all ages, never dimmed. If you want to remain tranquil, cover and uphold in the same way as sky and earth -- appearing or disappearing, shutting down or opening up, all are up to you.
Clean, pure, perfectly clear; the power of the eye cannot reach its bounds. Still, silent, empty and vast, the ken of the mind cannot find its edges. One who investigates sincerely and really arrives considers this the fundamental ground; neither buddhas nor demons can enter; neither dust nor dirt can defile it.
There is utterly no way to study this matter; the essence lies in emptying and opening body and mind so they are vast as space, then you will naturally be complete everywhere. This awareness cannot be dimmed, this clarity cannot be confused. The moon follows the flowing waters, the rain goes with the moving clouds. Each and every sense and sensation is immediate and absolute. Therefore it was said that a saint has no self, but there is nothing that is not himself. It is so obvious, so clear; you realize that gathered in or let out, it has become a white bull on open ground, which you cannot drive away even if you try.
Written by the 12th century Chinese Buddhist master Hongzhi Zhengjue. English translation by Thomas Cleary published in Timeless Spring: A Soto Zen Anthology. Found via naturalawareness
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Wu Zetian (624 - 705)
The Wu Dynasty ruled by emperor Wu Zetian (pronounced “woo zai-chen”) was the only female to ever rule China in her own right. Wu clawed her way to the top of China’s political ladder, challenging the male dominated patriarchy of the Chinese government and the traditional Confucianism teachings by introducing Buddhism.
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Zhang Sanfeng (張三丰) - Legendary Chinese Taoist who invented T'ai chi ch'üan
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Ancient Qigong Practice Illustrations
Xiuzhen miyao, a gymnastic (daoyin/qigong) text of unknown origin, was rediscovered and published with a preface by Wang Zai in 1513 (8th year of the Zhengde reign period of the Ming dynasty). It records 49 exercises. This illustration depicts Lü zu jiu ji fa (Ancestor Lü's technique for rescuing from illness), a technique used to free blocked Qi channels. It is practised as follows: One adopts a standing position. If the blocked channels are on the left side of the body, one conducts one's gong power with the left hand and focuses the attention on the left side, raising the left arm while circulating Qi. The same procedure is carried out on the right, if that side is affected.
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China Expanding Weather-Control Program To Make Artificial Rain, Snow (businessinsider)
The practice of "cloud seeding" was discovered in the US in 1946 by a chemist working for General Electric. China launched its own similar program in the 1960s. Dozens of other countries -- including the US -- also have such programs, but Beijing has the world's largest, employing around 35,000 people, The Guardian reported. In a statement, China's State Council said that the country's cloud seeing project will expand fivefold to cover an area of 2.1 million square miles and be completed by 2025. (China encompasses 3.7 million square miles, meaning the project could cover 56% of the country's surface area.) The project will be at a "worldwide advanced level" by 2035, the State Council said, and will help alleviate "disasters such as drought and hail" and facilitate emergency responses "to forest or grassland fires."
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Light-Based Quantum Computer Exceeds Fastest Classical Supercomputers (scientificamerican)
For the first time, a quantum computer made from photons—particles of light—has outperformed even the fastest classical supercomputers.
Physicists led by Chao-Yang Lu and Jian-Wei Pan of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Shanghai performed a technique called Gaussian boson sampling with their quantum computer, named Jiŭzhāng. The result, reported in the journal Science, was 76 detected photons—far above and beyond the previous record of five detected photons and the capabilities of classical supercomputers.
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China bans all imports of solid waste (2020)
The Chinese Ministry of Ecology and Environment last week announced details about the country’s upcoming ban on all materials it classifies as “solid waste,” including recovered fiber. The new announcement puts the new ban details in writing, but industry insiders have anticipated the policy for over a year. And shipping companies have moved away from accepting shipments of recyclables bound for China.
Through September of this year, the U.S. exported 1.86 million short tons of recovered fiber to China, suggesting potential challenges in 2021 for brokers looking to move this material to alternative markets.
China’s ban on imported waste to have huge impact on global recycling industry (2018)
China has officially banned its four-decade long practice of importing foreign garbage in 2018, a move experts believe will promote more sustainable ways to dispose of and recycle waste worldwide. “This ban will send shockwaves around the world, and force many countries to tackle the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ attitude we’ve developed towards waste,” said Liu Hua, Greenpeace East Asia plastic campaigner.
