Letters to the Editor
shannonr
Published Letters: 281 Editor's Choice: 80
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Lu Xun & TCM
[Read the article: The true story of Ah Q and semiconductors]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]For years, Lu Xun's position has been my default position on Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).
As anyone who has lived or worked for an extended period in China knows, having a "position" on TCM is pretty much mandatory.
To put it simply, Lu Xun absolutely hated TCM. He thought it was utter nonsense, practiced by evil con artists.
So my reply to the inevitable "So what do you think of TCM?" question that every long-term China expat gets sick of is the simple "I think of it exactly what Lu Xun thought of it."
It's an excellent answer for a couple of reasons, not least of which is that most Chinese are actually pretty unfamiliar with the breadth of topics on which Lu Xun wrote. Sort of like western high school students knowing about Macbeth and Midsummer Night's Dream, and not the sonnets... And in China, sometimes no answer is better than any other answer!
But the real modern beauty of Lu Xun is not his position on any one issue or other. The beauty of Lu Xun is that the Chinese Communist Party, having so extravagantly embraced him in times past, now cannot disown him, regardless of how divergent many of his views are from current doctrine (Japan "not different"! Unthinkable! TCM not "An ancient and effective system (and really really profitable!)" Nooo!)
He is also, as Andrew said, a world-class master of irony, sarcasm, and black, black wit.
Do yourself a favour sometime and pick up Dawn Blossoms Plucked at Dusk, or indeed any other of his excellent collections.
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Cerebral, yes, and also anti-religion
[Read the article: "Sunshine"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I loved Sunshine when I saw it back in April, when it was released to most of the world outside the US.
It's a striking, visually and intellectually stimulating film, which although flawed, is a worthy addition to anyone's summer film list. And how long has it been since you could say that about a sci-fi!
The thing that struck me hardest about it, however, is how powerfully anti-religion it is. I think you could make a strong argument that this is actually what the film is about -- that the "mission to the sun to save the earth" part is not the plot but actually the backdrop to a magnificently framed argument contrasting "science" with "god".
So if you're looking for the video clip to accompany your copy of God Is Not Great, or The End of Faith, or The God Delusion, or any of this year's bumper crop of "atheist" books, then this is your film.
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I'd love to try your recipe!
[Read the article: Adventures in snail hunting]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've eaten snails prepared many different ways in France, and although I absolutely love 'em, I can understand why if "snails in butter" was someone's only exposure, they might find further experiments with escargot a little confronting!
Try them Portugese-style (with lots of garlic and fresh oregano, yum!) or, with the help of a long thin stick, worry them out of their shells to devour them spicy Chinese-, or more properly Sichuan-style (often spelled Szechwan or similar).
Both brilliant with beer -- which also helps with the "fear factor"!
Oh, and I always suggest to people who are aggressively squeamish about other people's cuisines -- in particular the wonderful delicious thing that is a well-cooked snail -- that they should visit an abattoir. That usually sorts the "I am too scared to try that so will loudly mock it" section from those in the far more numerous "I am curious but need some help with the mental-cultural block" crowd.
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Calling all editors...
[Read the article: War, chaos and Bush's faith]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Corrections:
*Making war is like playing dice with the Devil -- using his dice.
*To put it in Catholic terms, it is the cardinal sin -- the sin of pride.
*And just like the crowd in the fairy tale, the country went along.
*We won our proxy war against our Cold War foe, but in the process created another enemy, the Taliban, who were eventually to shield Al Qaeda.
*The Saud dynasty could lose its grip on power, with devastating consequences for the global economy, albeit with fantastic liberating consequences for the people living under their despotic regime.
*And if Musharraf falls in Pakistan there would be yet another unstable nuclear-armed regime.
*The ultimate responsibility rests with the people who elected Bush.
A decent enough article, hamstrung by the gaffes and errors above (and others requiring too much explanation that I didn't flag) which vary in severity from trivial to mind-boggling.
Who was playing editor when this one went through the process?