Tuesday, June 28, 2011

The Japanese American Community

The reality of Japanese-American people has been a growing phenomenom for many decades.  The community of persons with both Japanese and American ancestry was established first through immigration of Japanese people to the United States.  This took place before World War II and then even more afterward.  Unfortunately, Japanese immigration has been perceived by many, including Japanese-Americans themselves, as being small.  However, it may surprise you to know that between 1965 and 2000 there were 176,000 immigrants from Japan!

Japanese-born wives of American citizens account for half of all Japanese immigrants to the United States.  In addition, over sixty percent of all Japanese-Americans reside in two states:  California (34%) and Hawaii (26%).  According to the U.S. Census, Japanese immigration appears to be decreasing on paper.  Some of the likely causes for this would include low birth rates, high rates of outmarriage, assimilation, and lower immigration across the board.  Even so, it is still a fact that 1.15 million Americans claim at least partial Japanese ancestry.

The historical statistics show exactly the opposite though.  From a historical perspective, the Japanese-American community has nearly doubled since 1970 and it has more than tripled since 1950.  Looking at it from history's viewpoint it is undeniable that Japanese-American intermarriages to non-Japanese have risen rapidly, and progressively, since the end of World War II.  Such marriages were once illegal in the United States due to anti-miscegenation laws, segregation, and ethnic preferences.  The status of such intermarraiages breaks down like this:  10% in 1950, 30% in 1980, and 40% in 1990.  It is because of intermarriage that the emergence of this large and growing mixed ancestry of Japanese-Americans has taken place over time.  After all, this is what being an American is really about!


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

The Beauty of the Japanese

If one reads ancient folklore they will know it has been said that the people of Japan are descended from the Sun Goddess.  Not only is this so according to the legend, but the land itself has been described as divine!  There is some credence to this sentiment if you are looking down from the pine-clad promontory onto the glittering waters and clustered islands of the Inland Sea.  One might also feel this way if they are looking up the snow-capped cone of Mount Fuji rising out of swirling mist, while surrounded at its base by the vivid green of fertile rice fields.  It is easy to understand how the early Japanese might have come to feel this impression of divinity simply by the raw beauty of their homeland.


For natural beauty, the country of Japan has few equals in the world.  Its people are a very distinctive group.  They are conscious of their heritage, having some ties with the mainland but living their lives separately as a people of the "island."  One of the most interesting features of the Japanese people is their capacity to borrow and adapt and also to retain their own unique individuality including a particular "style."  It is no secret that they are heavily indebted to China for the general shape of their culture.  However, what has emerged is distinctively "Japanese."  This is, in itself, quite an accomplishment when one considers the flow of history in East Asia.  Japan is no doubt in a group by themselves!


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, please visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

An Old Japanese Love Story

The Japanese story of Ono no Komachi is a very interesting one.  I came across this account when learning of the Jacqueline Avant collection of Japanese lacquer on display in southern California not long ago.  There was one piece, a "suzuribako," which alluded to the story of Komachi which struck my attention.  Komachi lived a life that became legendary in its popular fascination.  She was a stunning woman of incredible beauty in her youth.  A number of interested young men attempted to gain her favor.  However, Komachi was not interested in any of these men.  She was definitely someone who did not look with favor upon anyone very easily.


Then came along a suitor that caught her attention.  He was very determined to win Komachi's favor.  She informed him that if he came to visit her one hundred times as pre-arranged she would grant him what he wanted.  This man was madly in love with Komachi, so he agreed to the arrangement at once!  After many visits, there came one night when one of his parents died.  He was called away to attend to the death at once.  Therefore, he could not visit Komachi as they had arranged on this particular night.  So Komachi immediately rejected him when he did return to explain his whereabouts.


Later, this man died in great soul-wrenching agony caused by the cruel way his love had treated him.  Komachi lived beyond the age of one hundred years as a destitute, old hag.  Despite the enormous legend, there is very little in Ono no Komachi's own poetry to give us details regarding her biography.  However, there are certainly poetic subjects of the spurning of a lover and the lifelong regrets about her fading beauty.  In the end, her beauty was lost too.


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

The New Empire of the Rising Sun

The culture of Japan is amazingly individualistic for an East Asian civilization.  This is also true as one studies its history.  In fact, Japan's culture has had influence upon other countries which rivals similar influences of China and the West.  In the seventh century Chinese models of government, and especially the figure of the emperor, were modified quickly to fit into a more "Japanese" pattern.  In addition, Japan's Buddhism, Confucianism, art, and literature resonated in different ways than that of China.  Throughout all cultural change, a consistent and very unique sensitivity arose in Japan's views of nature, time, and space.  Traditionally, Japan's values of honor, loyalty, and sincereity distinguished its art, letters, and especially poetry. 


In modern times the speed of change has become quicker and the power of foreign influence has been very broad.  Even so, the pattern of "selective adaptation" of foreign influences remains the same in Japan.  It is without dispute that the flood of Western influence into this country in the nineteenth cenutry brought troublesome changes.  This was particularly true in the area of politics.  The national resolve to restore autonomy and equality had powerful influence on the international system.  Japan was the first non-Western state to modernize its institutions.  It also struggled to first join and then to defeat Western colonialism, including its own brand of colonialism. 


It was after this period that Japanese leaders and citizens turned to pursue new goals.  These new goals included social justice and economic gain.  Japan succeeded very well in this new direction.  Its success took place in a vigorous way that is still transforming the economic order.  It is true that China has now entered into the economic landscape in the twenty first century to give Japan real competition in its own part of the world.  However, Japan laid the groundwork for an invigorated Asian commerce industry long before.  Japanese society has indeed been revolutionized without internal revolution.  This was in response to modern knowledge and technology.  It happened within a single century to a society which before had been structured rigidly on lines of hereditary privelege.  Japan's experience is a powerful example of the realities of empowered capitalism resulting in income redistribution for those who have attained educational merit. 


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Wide Awake Dragon Is No longer Asleep

The name "China," as it is commonly used in the West, can be traced back to the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE).  This is also when the idea of a unified China was starting to become more real.  In any case, China is the world's most populated country.  It is also the third largest geographically after Russia and Canada.  China has the the longest continuously recorded history too.  It has given the human race some of its most significant scientific and technological inventions known.


In Tiantan, the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, a marble altar signifies the center of the known ancient world.  It was a place that only the emperor could dare to enter.  According to the world-view of ancient China, the Middle Kingdom lay precisely at the center of the firmament.  The further one was from the emperor's throne, the lower one was in the cosmic hierarchy of the universe.  The very unfortunate people and cultures which lived in the dark parts of the earth, especially to the gloomy north and arid west, and to Europe beyond, were considered to be barbaric and un-civilized.


For many centuries, Europeans thought of China in a similar way.  It was considered to exist at the very edge of the known world.  It is without a doubt today that the Middle Kingdom is an empire of magnificence and rich in cultural interest.  In the past Europeans thought that China had little importance to the world scheme.  Later on, Western analysts often referred to China as a sleeping giant... or, more appropriate to Chinese culture, a "sleeping dragon" or "sleeping tiger."  Modern China is now wide-awake in the world and is a dominant global power helping to shape the new millennium!


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Pagoda Temple

Buddhism came to China from India in the first century CE.  It faced a society that boasted an already well-established civilization.  This ancient society considered itself the only truly "civilized" society on earth.  It took a long and difficult struggle for the new belief of Buddhism to take root.  It probably only survived because it was able to adapt to China's traditional native teachings- Confucianism and Taoism.  Buddhism did not try to replace them.


The Chinese are believed to have first come into contact with Buddhism through central Asians traveling in the north or northwest.  Later, between the 7th and 10th centuries, it literally flooded in.  It came in with other religions and sects from the West across the deserts, mountains, and steppes of the Silk Road.  Of course, Buddhism eventually came under the power of the imperial edict which was issued in 845 CE.  This edict declared that all imported foreign influence (including religions) had gone far enough!


While chastened, Buddhism has survived.  In China's northeast there are many fine temples such as the Jinganzuo Sheli Pagoda, near the old wall of Huhehaote in Inner Mongolia.  It was built as late as the Qing dynasty and exhibits a mixture of Han, Mongol, and Tibetan Buddhist influences.  Sheli Pagoda is the only section of the much larger Cideng Monastery that has managed to withstand the hardships of time.  It consists of five square-shaped brick and stone towers and faced with glazed tiles.  It is mounted on a stone base.  It is an example of a very rare form of Buddhist architecture. 


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, check out my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Monday, June 13, 2011

The Emperor's Birthday Seal

The famous era of the Chinese Emperor Qianlong is quite incredible.  Whenever an issue of national importance happened, the emperor would commission a seal to note the occasion.  For instance, Qianlong reached the age of seventy which was also the forty fifth year of his reign.  The emperor promptly ordered a seal to be inscribed.  This particular seal aso had an adaptation from a line in Du Fu's poem.  When it is translated it means "Treasure of the Seventy Year Old Son of Heaven."  It is of interest to note that this was done to celebrate the emperor's birthday!  Another feature of the many seals commissioned during the Qianlong era is that when all of them are displayed they tell the tale of the entire reign of this emperor!


From the point of view of Emperor Qianlong himself, these imperial seals were symbolic of his great achievements as a Qing ruler.  These seals, which resemble figurines today, were a highly significant part of the official business of the empire.  Knowing these facts will greatly help one understand what they are looking at when they view the Qianlong Imperial Seals of China.  The serious collector will be able to mentally sketch the great contributions made to the imperial courts, as well as to the history of China's emperors, when these seals are carefully observed.  Such artifacts as these tell a very old and important story!


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Speaking and Writing Vietnamese

It is without dispute that the Vietnamese people and their culture has been deeply influenced by other countries due to their history of being conquered, resisting, and then re-conquered.  Therefore, the language of the Viet Nam people also bears similar qualities from other languages.  In fact, Vietnamese as a spoken language is a mixture of different parts and components.  The Mon Khmer language is monotonic but it did give the language of Viet Nam its basic words.  Then the Tai languages contributed a variety of aspects regarding tonality and grammar. 


The single biggest contributor to the language of Viet Nam is China.  After all, China dominated Viet Nam for almost a thousand years.  Much of the Vietnamese language's political, literary, philosophical, military, and religious vocabulary comes from Chinese.  Lastly, there is today an added sprinkling of French and English words as well.  Modern Vietnamese bears distinctive aspects from all these ancient and contemporary sources. 

The new Roman script called "quoc ngu" was spread by missionaries as a way of converting Viet Nam to Christianity.  This script eventually replaced the old Chinese-based "chu nom" system as the primary form of Vietnamese writing.  This newer script was eventually declared the official and national language of Viet Nam by the French in the 1910.  Since this time, it has been universally learned, used, and written by all Vietnamese.  So the language of Viet Nam, like its culture, is a blended stew with many delightful ingredients.  Perhaps these facts suggest that Vietnam's people, culture, and language are, in a sense, the result of forced multi-culturalism?

Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to check out my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Ancient Viet Nam's Struggle to Remain Free

For nineteen centuries Viet Nam struggled to remain free from the power of China.  The goal in these early days was independence in a united and free Viet Nam.  The very first Vietnamese rebellion took place in 39 CE.  This rebellion was led by the legendary Trung sisters.  They helped to drive out the Chinese.  As a result, the nation lived free of foreign control for three years until Viet Nam was once again conquered by the Chinese.  The next period involved Chinese domination until the year 539.  At this time an intelligent Vietnamese scholar, Ly Bon, inspired the people to drive out their Chinese rulers once more.  However, Viet Nam was again re-invaded and subdued a few years later.


The Viet Nam people continued to resist the rule of China, even covertly.  This was especially true after China re-named the nation "An Nam."  On a postive note, the people of Viet Nam did receive some benefits from Chinese rule during this period.  The Chinese introduced agricultural, technical, and educational innovations to An Nam.  The people benefited from each of these innovations in a variety of ways.  Even so, the dictatorial imposition of China's culture, customs, language, and political institutions was not popular.  At times, the cruel oppression (and exploitation) of the people ultimately inspired the desire of the Vietnamese to fight again for their freedom no matter the cost.


The desire of the Vietnamese people was finally realized in 939.  The Tang dynasty of China was falling into decline.  Sensing their opportunity for independence once again, the Vietnamese rallied to fight the Chinese.  General Ngo Quyen succeeded in forcing the Chineses rulers out of Viet Nam.  The first of the "Great Dynasties" of Viet Nam was then established.  These dynasties managed to remain mostly independent of all foreign control for the next 944 years.  Resistence to foreign control over Viet Nam is a very old tradition in this southeast Asian country.  This kind of determination ought to be respected by anyone looking in at Viet Nam from the outside.

Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.  

Monday, June 6, 2011

The Bitter Beginning of Viet Nam

Viet Nam has had a long, difficult history of struggle against colonizing powers.  In fact, when the country was colonized by France in the late nineteenth century the spelling of its name was shortened to one word- "Vietnam."  However, one must go back much further into history to start to understand the struggle of Viet Nam.  The Hung dynasty produced 18 kings, each of whom ruled for 150 years.  At this time the nation was named "Van Lang."  This dynasty was overthrown by a close, rival king in 258 BCE.  He established the new kingdom of Au Lac and then built his capital at Phoc An.  This city's remains still remains today in the village of Co Loa.  This is located west of Hanoi.


Fifty years later, a Chinese general named Trieu Da conquered this kingdom.  He formed a new nation known as "Nam Viet."  Many Vietnamese scholars believe this is actually the end of historical legend and the authentic beginning of true Vietnamese history.  For the next hundred years King Trieu Da and the Han emperors of China engaged in violent combat.  Finally, in 111 BCE Nam Viet was conquered by China.  It was incorporated into the Chinese empire thereafter.


It was after this point that the Vietnamese people's tradition of fighting to remain free and independent began.  For the next 19 centuries, the people of Viet Nam struggled hard and fought bravely against the Chinese for their freedom.  Their spirt of resistance is very much a fact of history to be carefully considered.  We can also observe how China has had some cultural influence upon Viet Nam dating back to this early time of dominance.  Yet, Viet Nam is quite distinct from China in many ways.


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Toward An Understanding of Viet Nam Women

When people in the West think about "Viet Nam," they immediately think about the Viet Nam War.  The ideas about Vietnamese women naturally get clouded by the emotions surrounding the American/Vietnamese military event decades ago.  The reality is that Viet Nam has a proud and long history which reaches back in time long before there ever was a "Vietnam War."  The women of this southeast Asian culture are likewise unique and special, just as their heritage is.  To know them, one must understand something of Viet Nam itself.


Viet Nam's history is rich with legend, tradition, determination, and adaptation.  According to the legends of ancient days, Viet Nam was formed when King Lac Long Quan (who was also known as "The Dragon Lord of the Sea") became wedded to Princess An Co (a Chinese Immortal who descended from the High Mountains).  She gave birth to 100 eggs and so came forth 100 sons.  Consequently, they established a great nation that stretched all the way from southern China to northern Indonesia.


However, soon there was trouble in this paradise.  The King and the Princess began to think that their different points of origin would make them unhappy together.  So they separated.  Princess An Co took 50 sons with her back into the mountains.  King Lac Long Quan took 50 sons to rule with him over the lowlands.  After the King died in 2879 BC, his elder son, Hung Vuong, established the Hung Dynasty.  He is today regarded as the true founder of the nation that became "Viet Nam."  This legend symbolizes the importance of uniting the two main geographic and cultural areas of Viet Nam into one country.  This theme is played out repeatedly in Viet Nam's history, society, and culture.


Harlan Urwiler

For more information, feel free to visit my website at:  http://www.myorientalgallery.com/.