How Maps Unlock the Mysteries of Chinese Names

I keep forgetting to post blogs =(  I'm going to try harder.

http://www.theatlantic.com/china/archive/2013/10/how-maps-unlock-the-mysteries-of-chinese-names/280983/

This article is pretty interesting.  It shows the prevalence of Chinese surnames in China.

Apparently, my last name, Lee, is the most common surname in China.  97 million people in China alone share this name with me.  I'm not even accounted for since I'm in the US.

There's a concentration of Lees in the northeast part of China.  My family is from the southeast.

Tsunami

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/10/25/earthquake-japan/3189061/

A 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit the Japan within the last 24 hours.  Its point of origin is east of Honshu.  Japan is now under tsunami warning.

The word Tsunami literally means, "harbor wave" in Japanese.  According to Wikipedia, a tsunami, "is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, generally an ocean or large lake.  Tsunamis occur in Japan often because its approximity to the "Ring of Fire" (subduction zone of volcanoes) and plate tectonics.

The last tsunami that hit Japan was in 2011.  It had a magnitude of 9.0 and killed nearly 16,000 people.

If Mahatma Gandhi had an Instagram

Mahatma Gandhi was honored this week for his 144th birthday.  He was born October 2, 1869 and assassinated on January 30, 1948 by a Hindu fanatic.

BBC says, "Known as 'Mahatma' (great soul), Gandhi was the leader of the Indian nationalist movement against British rule, and is widely considered the father of his country. His doctrine of non-violent protest to achieve political and social progress has been hugely influential."

Gandhi was indeed a great person who changed India for the better, so Buzzfeed.com decided to honor him further with the article, "If Mahatma Gandhi Had An Instagram Account".

Buzzfeed is hilarious, but the authors are smart too.  There was a modern twist put on Gandhi, but it still outlines his work and cause.

BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/gandhi_mohandas.shtml
Buzzfeed article: http://www.buzzfeed.com/tasneemnashrulla/if-mahatma-gandhi-had-an-instagram-account

The Tang Dynasty has always been described as a time of economic wealth and cultural prosperity.  The first time I took Asian history was at De Anza, at the age of 18.  My professor showed us pictures of how things looked like in each dynastic period, and for whatever reason, images of the Tang dynasty women have stuck in my head.  Perhaps it's because Tang imagery is contemporary in movie culture.

Here's artwork of ladies during the Tang Dynasty:

And then I saw the movie, House of Flying Daggers, and saw the dress was somewhat similar.  This movie is one of my favorites:

Curse of the Golden Flower is also set in the Tang Dynasty.  Zhang Yimou, the director of both movies, has such a colorful way of capturing how this period might have been:

Oh, I just thought of another movie that might be during the Tang Dynasty.  I researched, and yes, Mulan, may be set during the Tang Dynasty.  It's unclear because Han clothing influenced clothing after, but Mulan's makeup suggests she's from the Tang.  The original poem, "The Ballad of Mulan," appears as early as a century BEFORE the Tang dynasty and is expanded into a novel during the Ming.

I love fashion, even if it's centuries old. 

Hinduism Needs a Re-Vamp

The article I found is called, "The Need to Revive Hinduism" by His Holiness Shri Dattaswami. The article is a commentary on Hinduism's 2 defects that are caused by modernization and industrialization in India. The first defect is the concept of re-birth and how Hindus nowadays don't understand the significance. The second defect is "about the absence of real spirit in the rituals. The wrong dimension is that the ritual has become a function of mutual business only". The writer wants Hinduism to rise and shine as it once did.

http://www.speakingtree.in/spiritual-blogs/seekers/self-improvement/the-need-to-revive-hinduism

Buddhist Monks Protects Snow Leopards

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/surprising-ally-protecting-snow-leopards-buddhist-monks-8C11088007
The headline is, "Surprising ally protecting snow leopards: Buddhist monks."
Why is it surprising that Buddhist monks want to protect an animal? Isn't this an extension of ashima, or nonviolence? They prevent poachers from killing these beautiful animals and educate the local people that this is a skewed practice. This is also a way the monks are able to spread Buddhist teachings with people within the area, and now the American media.
"Buddhism has as a basic tenet -- the love, respect, and compassion for all living beings," said study co-author George Schaller, a biologist with the endangered cat conservation group Panthera, in a statement. "This report illuminates how science and the spiritual values of Tibetan Buddhism can combine their visions and wisdom to help protect China's natural heritage."