The Fall of Baghdad in 1258 C.E.
Here's an article from an Egyptian newspaper online on the fall of Baghdad to Mongolian hands. I found the conversation between the Caliph and the Khan to be very interesting. The destruction of Baghdad was even more thorough than the destruction of Cracow and Pest (both 1241 C.E.) and arguably the death of the Caliph was much more shameful than the fall of the King of Poland (in Cracow) and the Duke of Silesia (in Walstatt). They fought the invaders on battlefields at least, and legend had it that the Caliph was watching strip-tease when the Mongols entered Baghdad.
http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/634/bo2.htm
Here's a paragraph that describes the conversation between the Caliph and the Khan:
"The philosopher Nasir Al-Din Al-Tusi (d.1274), who was present with Hulaghu at the time, recounts the encounter between the two rulers in similar terms: "He [Hulaghu] went to examine the Caliph's residence and walked about it in every direction. The Caliph was fetched and ordered presents to be offered. Whatever he brought out the King at once distributed amongst his suite and emirs, as well as among military leaders and all those present. He then set a golden tray before the Caliph and said: 'Eat!' 'It is not edible,' said the Caliph. 'Then why didst thou keep it,' asked the King, 'and not give it to thy soldiers? And why didst thou not make these iron doors into arrow-heads and come to the banks of the river so that I might not have been able to cross it?' 'Such,' replied the Caliph, 'was God's will.' 'What will befall thee,' said the King, 'is also God's will.'"
Another example of assimilation: Vice President Charles Curtis
Few people realized that long before the Civil Rights Movement, America had already had a Native American who served in both houses of the Congress (House 1903-1908, Senate 1908-1929, President of the Senate 1929-1933) and as Vice President of the United States (1929-1933). His name was Charles Curtis, and he served under President Herbert Hoover.
Born to European father and Native American mother, Curtis grew up in the Kaw reservations in Kansas, after his father, a white man of very modest means, deserted his family. He grew up speaking Kaw as his first language, learning English only in elementary school.
Nevertheless, he held the "progressive" views of his day, and believed that assimilation is the best means for Natives to secure their civil rights and their place in the American society. To this end, he worked tirelessly to rid Native Americans of their traditional practices, pushing through various laws that encourage the deserting of reserves and the "intermingling" of Natives and whites. To be fair, he also pushed through constitutional amendment that extend universal suffrage to women and various laws that protect the voting rights of Natives.
This of course makes us wonder again what does it mean to be American. Charles Curtis (Native)? Ralph Nader? John H. (and John E.) Sununu? Or Edward Said (all Arab)? Or Governors Rod Blagojevich (Serbian) and Gary Locke (Chinese)? Does Professor Said qualify as a good American?
Another good site
Here's a website of Quaker writings, mainly anthological items like 17-20th century sermons, prayers, speeches, etc. It was maintained by a Friend who's interested in a Christian renewal among unprogrammed Friends.
http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qpages.htm
Good site
Here'a good site maintained by a Louisiana writer.
http://newquaker.com
It has been snowing rather heavily these days, although I doubt we would get a "snow break" for school. Last year classes were held even when the City of Philadelphia was closed. Since it's too cumbersome for me to get to my Meeting today (a First Day), I went to a Presbyterian Church closer by instead.
Mongol Conquest
Imagine the largest land empire (both in terms of land mass and population) in human history, four times the size of the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great. Imagine how different nations and peoples from Koreans to the folks in Viennese suburbs were ruled by one man. Yes, I am referring to the Mongol Empire, founded by Genghis Khan, founding father of the Mongolian Nation and first emperor (proclaimed posthumously by his grandson Kublai) of the Yuan Dynasty of China.
This really is fascinating (in the neutral sense of the word). Here's an article that appeared on a 1997 issue of Miliary History. It's about the fateful encounter in 1241 between Mongolian light cavalry and European knights. After this battle the King of France admitted that he was in a really precarious position since there was no army of significance standing between him and the Mongolians anymore. Cracow was razed to the ground on Palm Sunday and Pest (the eastern half of Budapest) was burned down on Christmas. The Kings of Poland and Silesia were both slain and their heads displayed on pikes, and the King of Hungary had to seek refuge in Croatia. By 1242 the Mongolians were already celebrating New Year in Viennese suburbs.
I think what happened was that the Europeans at that time were trying (in vain of course) to fight a machine with men. The Mongol Army, taken as a whole, simply was not an aggregate of men, it was a machine, designed for mass killings. Whereas the Teutonic, Polish and French chivalric orders annihilated in these battles were mere aggregates of brave and skillful individuals, who of course could had never stood up successfully against a machine.
http://historymedren.about.com/library/prm/bl1mongolinvasion.htm
I think everyone who's interested in military history ought to look at the history of Mongol conquest. At least this was the opinions of Teddy Roosevelt, a self-avowed admirer of the Mongolian Khans (for their military genius, that is).
Max Weber on Quakerism
I've just finished reading Part II of Max Weber's "Protestant Ethic and the 'Spirit' of Capitalism." Very illuminating read. In Ch.1 of Part II, Weber specifically wrote how dogmas of 4 major Protestant sects influence the worldview of their adherents and how this in turn affect them in their rational shaping of their lives. The 4 sects are: Calvinism (Reformed and Presbyterianism), Pietism (Calvinist and German Lutheran Pietists), Methodism & the "Baptist Movement." The Quaker is described as someone who carries the Baptist convictions to their logical conclusions, which could be extreme to many. The four sects contribute to different aspects of the character of the ideal type "Modern Capitalist Entrepreneur," and among the many influences Quakers had on modern capitalism of course is the notion of business ethics.
Funny. Before East Coast Quaker Meetings became little liberal bastions (well not all, or even most, of them, but sometimes you just feel the toxic air of modern "liberalism"), Quakers had always been fiercely classically-liberal (much like their brethren the "Levellers" of 17th century England), and had given birth to many a great capitalist. The Lippincotts, Cadburys, Barclays, Frys, Whartons were only a few among the many industrious men and women. It's a little less complicated in the Midwest, where most Quakers are agrarian landowners, whose ethical system somewhat became "Methodized" or "Wesleyanized" in the 1870s.
I'll probably write a book review in a few days. This is required reading for a course ("Modern Political Theory") anyways.
Joan
I am very proud to announce that my beloved sister, Joan, has recently received college offer from both the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine of the University of London and the University of Durham. She will most likely major in biochemistry and molecular biology.
I have always been very proud of her. For her warm personality and her love and care for those of us who are fortunate enough to be around her. She's also a highly versatile person: fencing, horseback riding, boat-rowing; you name it.
New hobby-dancing
I've recently discovered a new hobby: ballroom dancing. There's a wonderful organization called the Penn Ballroom Dance Society. It holds classes on salsa, foxtrot, swing and various other dances on Sundays, and they are always crowded with enthusiasts.
I've just taken the first class on fox trot, and hopefully my skills will improve over time.
Zhao Ziyang's death
Zhao Ziyang (1919-2005), third Premier of the People's Republic of China (1980-1987) and one time General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (1987-1989) passed away at 7:01 a.m. on 17th January, 2005. He will be remembered as a chief reformer of the economic and political system in China. The news of his death has been confirmed by Xinhua News Agency, the official news agency of the People's Republic of China on 18th January, 2005.
Hutterites and the Puritans
Hutterite Brethren is one of the smaller Anabaptist denominations (the others being Mennonites, Amish & the Church of the Brethren). It is interesting to note the stark contrast between their belief in communal living and the Puritan (Protestant) belief in individualism.
After I've posted the quote on "Christianity and Socialism," my buddy Patrick posted a reply, noting that it is classical liberalism, and free market capitalism, not socialism, that is a Christian virtue. This is absolutely right if we look at the Puritanic sects, including the various Reformed Churches and the Presbyterians. To a lesser degree Lutherans (especially those in Northern Germany, like Hannover) also hold a similarly individualistic & libertarian worldview.
So whether socialism/capitalism is a Christian virtue really depends on what sect one is looking at, I guess. In the Hutterite colonies (mainly scattered across Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota, Montana & Iowa), private property does not exist and every physical entity is owned by the community. The earning of money intended for private spending is frowned upon, and both youth and elderlies are taken care of by the community. In some sense it's a more ideal version of the "People's Communes" in 1960 China.
Interestingly, these colonies tend to be very small. As soon as they exceed a certain size, individual Hutterites will be chosen at random to leave the colonies and build new ones. This probably shows that socialism (or in our case communism) to a certain degree does work, but only within very small & isolated communities. As soon as the economic structure expands beneath a certain point, centralized planning will simply cease to work since information is no longer perfectly known by every player in the system, and decision-makers had to make flawed decision based upon incomplete data. According to Ludwig von Mises, a leading libertarian economist, capitalism "works" mainly because information is perfectly communicated to everyone via the price system, whereas in a socialist system, since price is either artificially fixed by a government or non-existent (as in the Hutterite communities), it's mechanisms could no longer provide any meaningful information regarding each player's preferences for different goods.
This is the orthodox libertarian stance, disputed by economists of other persuasions. There was a famous price debate between von Mises and Oskar Lange, a leading Polish socialist economist, who worked at the Cowles Commission at the University of Chicago, back in the 30s and 40s. Lange essentially argued that with the introduction of partially formalized non-linear systems into economic modelling, socialist manufacturers could at least operate *as though* there is a price system serving as indicator of preferences. Unfortunately Lange died in 1965, before the Nobel Memorial Prize in economics was founded, otherwise, he would definitely have got one for his contributions to linear programming; and it is a real shame that von Mises, despite his longevity, never was recognized by the Nobel committee. (His chief protege F.A. Hayek did get one in 1974, with Gunnar Myrdal, an intellectual foe and a Swedish welfare socialist.)
Socialism
Here's a quote I found in a Quaker webgroup, it's very interesting:
"While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people putting
their gifts into the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and
dropped in two pennies.
'I assure you,' he said, 'this poor widow has given more than all the
rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but
she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.'"
- Luke 21:1
FROM EACH ACCORDING TO HIS MEANS…
--------------------------------------------------------------------
"And all the believers met together constantly and shared everything
they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with
those in need."
- Acts 2:44
…TO EACH ACCORDING TO HIS NEEDS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
SOCIALISM IS A CHRISTIAN VALUE.
Screwed up
I have totally screwed up one of my previous post, posted 3 days ago. Zhao Ziyang (b. 1919) is still alive, as clarified by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China. One thing that I don't like about China is all the secrecy around that country. Some people said that senior Chinese officials deliberately forged news of Zhao's "death" to test the waters and see how the public would react to it......if this is so, then this is truly outrageous.
Law School acceptance
I was just informed by Harvard Law School that I was admitted to that respected institution. I am very excited about this. In the meantime, I will also start learning how to drive, and probably take some French classes at Penn...
Zhao Ziyang (1919-2005)
I am deeply saddened by the recent death of Zhao Ziyang, statesman, humanitarian and political activist; one time Premier of the People's Republic of China (1980-1987) and former General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (1987-1989).
A staunch supporter of economic reform and liberalization in China since 1978, Zhao was personally responsible for most of the policies the Chinese Government adopted in late 70s and the 80s. Without his efforts, it is hard to imagine what China would be like today, and it is entirely possible for China to remain the backward third world country it was in the chaotic years during the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). In a nutshell, he was one of the three men who ended Maoism and Stalinism in China (the other two being his mentor Deng Xiaoping and his colleague Hu Yaobang).
Even more importantly, Zhao was a man who place the dignity of his fellow human beings above his personal gains and vain glories. In 1989, when the majority of the leaders of China decided to suppress the student movement by force, Zhao alone stood up against the majority opinion and was dismissed from his office and placed under house arrest ever since for his brave acts. Zhao was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize numerous times since 1990. Here is a biographical outline of this remarble statesman.
Born into a landowner's family in the Hua Prefecture of the Henan Province in 1919, Zhao became a political activist in his early years. Joining the Chinese Communist Party in the late 30s, he rose steadily through the ranks, and by early 50s he has already become a senior official in the Canton Government.
In 1956, Zhao became Deputy Secretary of the Central-Southern Bureau of CCP and in 1961 he was elected Secretary of the CCP Committee of Canton. In 1965 he was elected Governor of that province.
During the early years of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), Zhao was sacked from his office by angry mobs and students, for his "bourgeois leanings" (meaning his rather liberal and un-Stalinesque economic policies in the early 60s). Repeatedly brutalized by lawless fanatics, Zhao was consequently sent to a countryside labor camp to receive "re-education through labor." It was not until 1971 that he was released.
Upon his release from the prison camp, Zhao was immediately appointed Governor (called "Chairman of the Revolutionary Committee" during that strange historical period) of Inner Mongolia (1971), and Governor of Canton (1973). In 1975, Mao Zedong, then Supreme God-King of China, appointed Zhao Governor of Sichuan and First Political Commissar of the Chengdu Military District.
In April 1976, Zhao was once again disgraced, by Mao himself no less, when Deng Xiaoping, the man who recommended him for his job, was purged from office, due to his liberal tendencies. A year will pass before he was, for the second time, called from hard labor again, to become Governor of Sichuan (1977).
The first thing he did as Governor was to dismantled the "People's Communes," total economic failures disguised as rural communist utopias named after the 1871 Paris Commune by Chairman Mao in the late 50s. These communes are political, social and economic units, where everyone would work together in the fields, and have their kids and parents separated from them to be raised and served in giant kindergartens and elderly homes. In most cases even private cooking was not allowed, for true communists surely have to dine in the same dining halls with their comrades. All crops harvested are to be submitted to the State in exchange for Dining Hall tickets and other daily utensils, etc. The result? Economic stagnation and general decline in national output.
Zhao's solution is really simple. He allowed peasants to farm their *own* land and feed their *own* livestocks. It really is that simple. Sichuan recovered in a little less than 2 years, and throughout China peasants knew that "Yao Chi Liang, Zhao Ziyang" a pun which meant "If you wanna eat, go find Ziyang"
With his mentor Deng Xiaoping returned to power as architect of China's economic reform, Zhao became a national political star as well. Elected a candidate (later full) member of the ruling Politburo of CCP in 1979, Zhao was later elected Vice Premier and Premier of the People's Republic of China (both 1980). As Premier of China, he extended his simple experiment in Sichuan to the whole nation, and within 5 years China became an economic giant in Asia. With the support of Deng Xiaoping and Hu Yaobang, then General Secretary of the Party, Zhao also set up economic "special zones" in Shenzhen, Xiamen, etc. which later becomes economic centers of contemporary China.
In 1986, the conflict between Party hardliners and reformers gradually came to the surface, with Deng Xiaoping, semi-retired supreme leader and "kingmaker" of China standing in the middle. Under pressure from his more Stalinist colleagues, Deng decided to force Hu Yaobang, then General Secretary of CCP, and his own chief protege, into retirement. Hu obliged unwillingly and Zhao was named in the 1987 Party Congress to replace him.
It was around the same time that Chinese students started to plead for political liberties. Basic stuff like freedom of speech and of press, etc. For whatever reasons, the students had to compare China to the West when it comes to political freedoms, etc., and this certainly struck the "old guards" as well as many ordinary Chinese citizens as unpatriotic at best and traitorous at worst. Finally, the outburst came in April 1989, when students marched to Tiananmen Square. It started out peacefully but ended a tremendous tragedy. Both sides were pretty calm at first, although things soon degenerate into battles of words. When the students demonstrations went into its third month on Tiananmen Square, Deng decided to have a military crackdown. When he mentioned his ideas in the Poliburo meeting, all but one endorsed his ideas. And the one person, of course, was none other than Zhao Ziyang, the elected leader of the Party. Lonely are the brave, and lonely indeed, was Zhao.
It was already too late, both for Deng, for the students, and for him. In May 1989 Martial Law was declared by the State Council, and by early June, regiments of the People's Liberation Army had already entered into Beijing, setting up barracks within the City boundaries. By June 4, 1989, everything was over: hundreds of students were literally run over by tanks and armored vehicles, and even more were arrested by the military. Zhao Ziyang, General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party and as such the no. 1 leader of all China, was denounced in the 4th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the 13th Party Congress for his soft-stance on this issue, and was dismissed from all his offices. He was later placed under house arrest.
This is the tragic story of one of the great statesmen in contemporary China. Who knows? Maybe those in power will one day revisit his story and revise the official (governmental) assessment of this great man. Maybe they will not. As of now, the Chinese Government has not even issued a press release on his death. We'll wait and see.
