2. For the past many years, the overriding policy consideration of the Chinese Government in Beijing can be summarized by the slogan "Stability above All Else" or "Stability Overrides Everything".
It is not the purpose of this blog post to express an opinion on this policy, but rather to give one reason why "stability" strikes a chord with many Chinese.
The reason why many Chinese prize stability above all else is because political instability may leads to "a change in dynasty" and a change in dynasty historically means death on a massive scale.
Just contemplating "a change in dynasty" will send chills up and down the spine of many Chinese.
3. The following table summarizes China's population statistics over the centuries.
The figures are from the posthumous China's Historical Statistics on Households, Land and Taxes (1980) by Liang fangzhong.
The following are some very rough interpretations of the numbers:
(a) When there was a dynastic change from Western Han to Eastern Han, the wars lead to a decrease in population of (69.60 - 21.01) = 48.59 million.
The population decreased by (69.60 - 21.01) / 69.60 = 69.81%
(b) When Eastern Han disintegrated into the Three Kingdoms, the resulting wars lead to a decrease in population of (56.49 - (0.94 + 4.43 + 2.30)) = 48.82 million.
The population decreased by (56.49 - 48.82) / 56.49 = 86.42%
(c) (I have skipped over Liang's statistics on Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 CE - 589 CE) as China was fragmented and it will take too many explanations for the purpose of this blog post.)
(d) When there was a dynastic change from Sui to Tang, the wars lead to a decrease in population of (46.02 - 37.14) = 8.88 million.
The population decreased by (46.02 - 37.14) / 46.02 = 19.30%
(e) The An Shi Rebellion of Tang Dynasty happened between 755 CE and 763 CE.
The wars of An Shi Rebellion lead to a decrease in population of (52.92 - 16.92) = 36.00 million.
The population decreased by (52.92 - 16.92) / 52.92 = 68.02%
(f) Tang ended at 907 CE and a fragmented period called Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (907 –960/979 CE) followed.
Song unified China from between 960 CE to 979 CE and is known as Northern Song.
The population of China hovered around 16 millions in this transition period.
(g) Northern Song is called "Northern" because its Capital is at present day Kaifeng in northern China.
After the Song engaged in a period of wars with the Liao and the Jin, its capital was moved to present day Hangzhou in southern China for strategic reasons; thus began Southern Song.
The wars with the Liao and Jin lead to many deaths and a contraction in territory.
The population decrease in this period was (46.73 - 16.84) = 29.89 million.
The population decreased by (46.73 - 16.84) / 46.73 = 64.00%
(h) When the dynasty changed from Southern Song to Yuan, the wars lead to a decrease in population of (76.34 - 59.85) = 16.49 million.
The population decreased by (76.34 - 59.85) / 76.34 = 21.60%
(i) The dynastic changed from Yuan to Ming had negligible impact on the population of China.
(j) When the dynasty changed from Ming to Qing, the wars lead to a decrease in population of (51.66 - 14.03) = 37.63 million.
The population decreased by (51.66 - 14.03) / 51.66 = 72.84%
3a. Added: Later on Wednesday, February 27, 2013.
I believe my use of Liang fangzhong's statistics on China's population is adequate for its purpose: To illustrate how the wars during "a change in dynasty" lead to death on a massive scale.
But I cannot emphasize enough that the above is a "very rough" interpretations of the census numbers.
Just two caveats out of many:
(a) I believe the actual numbers of deaths due to wars over the centuries, in general, were worse than the census data indicated.
The census data Liang quoted were taken after a dynasty was established and the government bureaucracy has recovered enough to conduct censuses.
Thus, Eastern Han was officially established at 25 CE but the first census data was from 57 CE.
There was 32 years between the establishment of the dynasty and the first census for the population to recover from wars.
This means the census data probably underestimated the devastation of wars on the population.
(b) Despite the wars with the Jin and later the Yuan (Mongols), Southern Song (1127 - 1279) was one of the high points of China in terms of cultural attainments, commerce and material welfare in general.
Southern Song did not rule over all of China but had lost many territories to the Liao and Jin.
If we consider the year 1193 CE, the population of Southern Song was 27.85 million but the combined population of Southern Song + Jin was 76.34 million.
Since the population of Jin was in the low millions, Chinese population in that year should be over 70 million - this not counting Chinese under Liao rule.
4. Given the above statistics: Is it any wonder that Chinese fear instability and the mentioning of "a change in dynasty" will send chills up and down the spine of many Chinese?
5. Names, Words and Phrases:
A change in dynasty (Traditional Chinese: 改朝換代; Simplified Chinese: 改朝换代).
An Shi Rebellion (Traditional: 安史之亂; Simplified: 安史之乱).
Eastern Han (Traditional: 東漢; Simplified: 东汉).
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (Traditional: 五代十國; Simplified: 五代十国).
2. The music of Ten Minutes Past Midnight ("零時十分") was composed by George Lam for his will-be wife Sally Yeh in 1984.
(They were married in 1996.)
The lyrics are quite sad and describe a person celebrating her birthday by herself from ten past midnight to six in the morning.
"Yeh is a Canadian citizen. Born in Taipei, Taiwan, immigrated to Canada at young age with her family, grew up in Victoria, British Columbia." ("Sally Yeh", Wikipedia.)
If Sally Yeh were to have been born in Hong Kong, then her last name would have been spelled in English as "Yip" - a Cantonese transliteration.
I suppose "Yeh" is a Fukienese transliteration.
Sally Yeh was born in Taiwan and a sizable population of Taiwan has roots in Fukien (or Fujian) Province of China.
I have a friend from Malaysia whom have the same last name as Sally but hislast name is transliterated into English as "Yap".
But I have never asked him where his ancestors were from.
3. Sally Yeh returns to Taiwan from Canada in 1980 to begin her singing career.
She moved to Hong Kong in 1984 and continues singing and acting.
1984 was Sally Yeh breakout year; as a matter of fact, Ten Minutes Past Midnight was her breakout song.
This song has received many awards in 1984.
4. This music video is from 1984 but the music is remixed from LP Record:
2. According to a Chinese saying, tea is a drink fit for immortals or deities ("仙品").
At the "suggestion" of my Mother, I have been drinking Chinese tea as my main beverage for the last three years.
My Mother made the suggestion out of concern for my health, and I am glad I have taken up her suggestion as I attribute some of my health improvement to tea drinking.
3. I am not a connoisseur of tea drinking; I only drink tea that is commonly available.
The following is my tea drinking habit nowadays:
(a) For diversity, I drink four kinds of tea.
(b) I alternate between two bottles that are 2 litres each.
(c) One bottle is for Pu-erh tea only.
(d) The other bottle is for Shoumei (or Sow Mee), Tieguanyin, and Liu'an tea.
(e) I finish one bottle before I go for the second bottle.
So I am drinking three bottles of Pu-erh tea for every one bottle of the other three kinds of tea.
And I can almost finish two 2 litres bottles of tea on an average day.
4. Because there is a very sizable Chinese Canadian community in the Metro Vancouver area, there are lots of Chinese goods available here.
And Chinese tea is available in many stores.
If one is not a connoisseur and go for the pricey stuff, one can buy a package of Chinese tea for between 1 to 3 Canadian dollars.
And if one drinks around 2 litres of tea a day, then one package of tea can usually last between three to four weeks.
Tea drinking can be a very economical affair.
5. My late father used to drink Pu-erh tea and I grow up drinking it.
So when I started drinking tea as my main beverage three years ago, I have an affinity for Pu-erh tea.
Pu-erh tea has the ability to help our digestive system to break-down fat and oily foods; that is one reason why it is my main kind of tea.
My Mother told me she does not drink Pu-erh tea after supper because it "cleans her intestines" and makes her hungry at night.
I second her opinion on this point.
6.Wikipedia on the beneficial health effect of Pu-erh tea ("Pu-erh tea"):
Scientific studies report that consumption of pu'er tea leaves significantly suppressed the expression of fatty acid synthase (FAS) in the livers of rats; gains in body weight, levels of triacylglycerol, and total cholesterol were also suppressed.The compositions of chemical components found to have been responsible for these effects (catechins, caffeine, and theanine) varied dramatically between pu-erh, black, oolong, and green teas.
Specific mechanisms through which chemicals in pu'er tea inhibit the biosynthesis of cholesterol in the laboratory have been suggested.
Pu'er tea has also been found to have antimutagenic and antimicrobial properties in vitro. (In vitro studies do not necessarily correlate to medicinal effects. An article in Microbiologist, The magazine of the Society for Applied Microbiology, in March 2008, Vol 9 No 1, p35, found that tea had many in vitro antimicrobial properties against many organisms; for example English Breakfast tea at the concentration used for drinking had significant antimicrobial effect on the lethal anthrax bacillus (Bacillus anthracis) and many others, but this did not make it a useful treatment for anthrax.)
Pu'er tea is widely believed in Chinese cultures to counteract the unpleasant effects of heavy alcohol consumption. In traditional Chinese medicine it is believed to invigorate the spleen and inhibit "dampness." In the stomach, it is believed to reduce heat and "descends qi".
7. I drink the other three kinds of tea mainly for diversity.
My Mother told me that Liu'an tea has the characteristic of being suitable for any age group.
A person of any age can drink Liu'an tea without any adverse side effects.
In essentials unity; In non-essentials liberty; In all things charity.
2.Love amidst Wind and Rain ("相思風雨中") is a Cantonese song sung by Jacky Cheung and Karen Tong.
I have two specific memories related to this song:
(a) I remember exactly when I first listened to this song: It was back in 1992 when this song first came out and I was with my friend and his girlfriend and we were visiting a girlfriend of my friend's girlfriend.
When we entered her house, the girlfriend of my friend's girlfriend was listening to Love amidst Wind and Rain and she commented on how beautiful this song was.
(I am having fun writing these two sentences!)
(b) When I went to work in Hong Kong and China in the mid-1990s, one of my cousins in Hong Kong advised me to practice a few songs just in case I need to sing on social occasions.
Love amidst Wind and Rain was one of the songs I practiced on.
3.Love amidst Wind and Rain is a sub-theme song of Hong Kong TVB's 1992 TV drama Road for the Heroes.
Since then, this song has become a perennial favorite in karaoke singing for Cantonese speaking Chinese.
I suppose one reason why this song has been so popular is because the music, the lyrics and the original music video are very well done.
This song captures the sadness amidst separating lovers very well.
Another reason is because this is a duet so a male and female can sing it together in karaoke.
A third reason is that this is a "simpler" song among Jacky Cheung's songs.
Many of Jacky Cheung's songs are technically difficult for the average person to sing.
So people are happy to be able to sing this song reasonably well.
