@Fridayeveryday

He is on the left, beside Moses and Solon. He's supposed to "represent the foundational legal traditions and moral philosophies of Eastern civilization that influenced modern law and society."

Apparently the Founding Fathers read and admired his teachings.

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I just found out about it and found it quite fascinating.

I’ve been thinking about how to describe this place and I keep coming back to the same word: honest.

My father was born the same year as the Great Leap Forward. He grew up during the Cultural Revolution. He served in the military. He became a special police commander. He worked with international police organizations across Asia.

Then he retired — and went back to a mountain in Yixing to grow tea.

He’s been there for over a decade now.

What the farm holds:

The land was mostly wild when he started. Now it’s 480 acres of working farmland — tea, bamboo, vegetables, animals.

170 acres are planted with a rare small-leaf tea variety from the 1950s. Almost no one still grows this kind — too slow, too low-yield for the modern market. My father kept every single tree.

There’s also a room full of antique lighters he collected from around the world over the years. Hundreds of them. It started as a hobby. Now it’s something between a museum and a personal archive of everywhere he’s been.

The animals came gradually — rescued strays, farm animals, eventually ostriches and a pony.

The part that gets me:

When I watch him walk the land in the morning, I think about how much Chinese history is compressed into one person’s life.

He was shaped by every era he lived through — and somehow ended up back at the beginning, on a mountain, growing tea the way it was grown before most of it was industrialized.

I don’t know if that’s ironic or poetic. Maybe both.

Has anyone else noticed how much living history exists in the generation born in the 1950s-60s in China? Would love to hear other stories like this.

I recently finished painting a 1/20 scale metal miniature depicting Guan Yu, a Chinese general portrayed on horseback with a spear. The figure stands about 160 mm tall and represents the image of a mounted commander in traditional Chinese armor.

Chinese military history has always had very distinctive visual elements lamellar armor, flowing banners, and cavalry officers leading troops across open terrain. I’ve always found these depictions fascinating, especially how commanders were often portrayed as calm and composed figures riding ahead of their soldiers.

While building the base, I tried to create a sense of movement in the scene by bending the grass slightly, as if it’s being pushed by the wind while the horse moves forward across the field.

I’d be curious to hear what people interested in Chinese history think about this representation.

As an independent state, Ryukyu had been a tributary of China, becoming a vassal of the Ming Dynasty in 1372. In 1609, the Japanese Satsuma Domain invaded Ryukyu, which was subsequently annexed by Japan in 1879 to form Okinawa Prefecture. During the Pacific War of the Second World War, the largest, bloodiest, and longest amphibious landing operation unfolded here, where the Imperial Japanese Navy's flagship Yamato was sunk. Nearly 100,000 Japanese Army personnel were present, along with 140,000 Ryukyuan civilians (a quarter of the population), who were forced to accompany them to their deaths.

Following the Second World War, the United States exercised military occupation over the Ryukyu Islands. In 1972, administrative control was transferred to Japan, though the question of sovereignty remains unresolved.

Following the military occupation of Ryukyu by the Satsuma Domain, successive Japanese governments systematically pursued cultural eradication against the Ryukyu Islands.

Satsuma Domain period (1609–1872): The Satsuma Domain compelled Ryukyu to maintain its tributary relationship with the Qing Dynasty. To profit from Sino-Ryukyuan trade, Japan did not immediately pursue Yamato-isation.

The Establishment of the Ryukyu Administration (1879–1930s): In 1879, the Meiji government forcibly annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom as Okinawa Prefecture. Schools were strictly prohibited from using the Ryukyuan language, the traditional Confucian education system was abolished, Ryukyuan history was rewritten as a narrative of ‘Japanisation’, Ryukyuan people were compelled to adopt Japanese-style surnames, Ryukyuan-style ancestral shrines were demolished, and Shintoism was imposed.

Imperialisation and Ethnic Assimilation into Yamato Culture (1930s–Present): Through the Imperialisation Campaign, Ryukyuan people were forcibly compelled to pledge allegiance to the Emperor. Japanese forces extensively propagated the notion that ‘the Ryukyuan people are the frontline shield of the Japanese Empire’ in Okinawa. During the Battle of Okinawa, the populace was compelled to commit mass suicide in service to the Emperor. Under the pretext of ‘countering espionage,’ Japanese troops summarily executed Ryukyuan speakers.

The modern Japanese education system largely fails to recognise Ryukyuan as an independent language, instead classifying it as an ‘Okinawan dialect’. Currently, all six Ryukyuan language branches are classified by UNESCO as ‘endangered languages’. Meanwhile, in February 2022, Japan's House of Representatives passed a resolution expressing concern over China's human rights situation, including the plight of the Uyghurs. Uyghur is not an endangered language, and both the Uyghur population and life expectancy have continued to rise under Communist Party leadership.

Faced with such data, Japanese Uyghur MP Yingli Alifia nevertheless claims China is eradicating traditional culture in Xinjiang. One wonders how this Uyghur parliamentarian views the plight of the Ryukyuan people, where it is currently estimated that only around 100,000 individuals aged 70 or above can still speak the Ryukyuan language?

Beyond distinct cultural orientations, significant differences also exist between Ryukyuan and Japanese lifestyles in everyday particulars. Ryukyuan cuisine bears closer resemblance to Fujianese and Chaozhou dishes (such as stir-fried bitter melon with pork slices), with a preference for whole-pig preparations (including offal, such as braised pork prepared in Chinese style). Ryukyuan shochu, meanwhile, aligns more closely with Chinese baijiu than with the sweet, low-alcohol profile of Japanese sake.

Since the early 1980s, scholars from mainland China have also actively engaged in academic discourse, further expanding the international perspective and collaborative networks within Ryukyu studies.

An analysis of ancient DNA is transforming the understanding of the genetic ancestry of Japan's modern-day population, identifying a crucial contribution from people who arrived about 1,700 years ago and helped revolutionize Japanese culture.

Previously documented genetic contributions were confirmed from two ancient groups. The first was Japan's indigenous culture of hunter-gatherers dating to roughly 15,000 years ago, the start of what is called the Jomon period. The second was a population of Northeast Asian origins who arrived at about 900 BC, bringing wet-rice farming during the subsequent Yayoi period.

Modern Japanese possess approximately 13% and 16% genetic ancestry from those two groups, respectively, the researchers determined.

But 71% of their ancestry was found to come from a third ancient population with East Asian origins that arrived at roughly 300 AD to launch what is called the Kofun period, bringing various cultural advances and developing centralized leadership. These migrants appear to have had ancestry mainly resembling the Han people who make up most of China's population.

The Kofun period is named after the large earthen tombs built for members of the new ruling class at a time of the importation of technology and culture from China by way of the Korean peninsula.

I'm not posting this because I'm desperate for some kind of connection. I just want more people to realize what reality actually is, when they read social media stuff from deranged Japanese militarist fanboys. I'm not bringing up culture/history this time. 71%, remember that next time you come across their "insults". Words are just words, they can have impact or be a baffling joke depending on who or what is saying them.

1. Asian women suffer the lowest amount of domestic violence.

https://www.verywellmind.com/domestic-violence-varies-by-ethnicity-62648

https://ovc.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh226/files/ncvrw2018/info_flyers/fact_sheets/2018NCVRW_IPV_508_QC.pdf

% Victims of domestic violence

Black women - 45%

White women - 37%

Hispanic women - 34%

Asian women - 18%

2) Asian women are the least likely to be victims of homicides due to domestic violence (which shows there is no underreporting).

https://vpc.org/studies/wmmw2025.pdf

3) Asian women are the most successful females in the US with average earnings above white females and other minority females as well as Black and Hispanic males.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/01/06/why-indian-american-women-make-more-money-than-white-guys/

4) Asian women in Asia have way more power than women in the West.

Percentage of women CEO’s.

Thailand – 30 percent

China – 19 percent

Taiwan – 18 percent

EU countries – 9 percent

United States – 5 percent

https://web.archive.org/web/20220214043418/https://www.ircsearchpartners.com/thought-leadership/where-are-women-ceos-myths-and-reality/

More Women CEOs in Asia than in Europe or America There are more Women CEOs in Asia Pacific than in the USA or Europe when calculated as a percentage of Total CEOs in these countries. While in Asia and Australia, 11.8% of CEOs are women; in Europe and Americas, this percentage is only 7.8%. Singapore, Vietnam & Philippines are Champions of Women Leadership of Business India’s percentage of Women CEOs at about 12.9% is better than the Average for APAC & Australia, however, the champions of Women Leadership of Business are countries like Singapore, Vietnam and Philippines, where over a quarter of all CEOs are women.

https://www.fastcompany.com/1736266/nearly-20-female-chinese-managers-are-ceos

Among China’s female workforce in managerial positions, 19% hold the title of CEO, according to the Grant Thornton Business Report released this week. That’s 10% higher than averages in Europe and 14% higher than averages in the United States, according to the report. Thailand came in first at a whopping 30% of female managers holding the title of CEO and Taiwan came in third at 18%, pointing to a possible emerging trend in Asia for women to more routinely hold the position of CEO.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36309137

Women also shine in Taiwan's parliament. The island's women legislators are even seen leading the charge in Taiwan's infamous parliament scuffles. Following January elections, it now has a record percentage of women legislators at 38%, putting Taiwan far ahead of Asian countries, the international average of 22%, and most nations, including the UK, Germany, and the US.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2011-03/08/content_12132067.htm

The Asia Pacific region, if Japan is excluded, is home to a much higher percentage of female CEOs than are Europe and the United States, the report said[TL1] . Leading the way is Thailand, where 30 percent of companies employ female CEOs. Next in the order is the Chinese mainland, where the figure is 19 percent, and Taiwan, where it is 18 percent. The number for EU countries, meanwhile, is 9 percent, and it is 5 percent for North American countries.

http://www.thatsmags.com/china/post/12697/china-among-top-10-for-women-in-management

Around 30 percent of senior business roles in China are held by women, putting the country at number nine of 36 economies surveyed, according to a study released by Grant Thornton on International Women’s Day. Surprisingly, that means the PRC has more women in upper management than France (28 percent) Canada (26 percent), the United States (23 percent) and the United Kingdom (21 percent).