10 replies to this topic

[kaiselin]

Art work by LuSu

DECEMBER 2008

VOLUME 4 中國 歷史 論壇 新聞 ISSUE 6

Letter from the Chief Editor

Seasons greetings to everyone,

Hard to believe that a year has past since I started this project!

First off, I am pleased to announce that HappyHistorian has been promoted to Editor. He has already been quite helpful taking the work load off my shoulders so that I can focus my attentions on other aspects of the Editorial Board. I am enjoying working with him as we are ironing out routine details and coming up with new ideas.

This is all in an attempt to continue to raise the level of both the CHF Newsletter and the Han Lin Journal. To this end, we also happily have added MattW as a Columnist to our Editorial staff. Matt made his debut in the Nov HLJ with the first in a series looking at Mao’s impact on China. To add to his duties here on the EB, he has also accepted to be a mod for the PRC & ROC history forum. His overall enthusiasm and willingness to put in as much as he is getting out of the CHF has been beneficial to all the team as well as the CHF. You can read MattW's bio in the featured members of the Emperors Court, as well as a short bio written by Jullian_bei, and one by Urofpersia.

In this issue of the CHF Newsletter the first change you will see is that MattW has renovated the old Featured Topics List with a twist. We would like to encourage anyone who has a favorite topic, to let us know by dropping off a post at the

Mail box for Letters to the Editor
http://www.chinahist...p...=21509&st=0

Within Matt's column we also have a new feature called the Fickle Finger of Fate in which our editorial staff will nominate members who stand out for their posts over the past two months and we will feature one or more. Unlike the regular featured Members whom we ask to write a bio about themselves, these people will be recognized for any number of outstanding reasons, (all positive of course) and Matt will write a short comment on why this person or persons were chosen.

We have another entertaining TV show review from DaMo. Matt has reviewed one of his favorite books, and last but not least, we have the final installment of the Yellow Scarf Comics by Jdalton.

In the February CHF Newsletter, we will be beginning a new cartoon series written and drawn by Snafu… and who knows who the fickle finger will point to. I think if all goes as planned we should have a couple of other surprises too.
But enough of that, I want to thank my great editorial team and the members of the Forum staff who give their time to help make sure the newsletter is enjoyable, and that it gets out on time with as few errors as possible.

The staff and I want to extend our best wishes all the members of the CHF.
Hoping all members enjoy their holidays with family and friends, and a prosperous new year 2009, the year of the OX.

Kaiselin
Chief Editor
CHF Newsletter
CHF Han Lin Journal

Page 2
CHF Community News

Page 3
Xuicai and Juren Grads

The Emperors Court
Featured Members Section

Page 4
MattW

Page 5
Jullian_bei

Page 6
Urofpersia

Page 7
Featured Topics
Presented by MattW

Entertainment Section

Page 8
The Great Revival (卧薪尝胆)
Review written by DaMo

Page 9
'Mao and China- Inside China's Cultural Revolution'
by Stanley Karnow
Book review by MattW

Page10
Yellow Scarf Comics
Written and drawn by Jdalton

Page 11
Final words and important information

^{Chiefs edit > Somehow the table of contents did not appear in the original posting of this issue, To correct that error, I just posted it today}

Edited by kaiselin, 25 January 2009 - 09:36 AM.

[kaiselin]

*****

No Multiple Accounts for member, Clear rule added for our forum rules

Hi all,

It has longed been forbidden that there should not be multiple accounts for members. This is to prevent members from signing up multiple accounts to 'support/backup' one's argument during debate, which is deemed to be unfair and inappropriate. The only exceptions are staff moderators, who might need one additional backup account for technical testing/troubleshooting.

However, we didn't state this rule clearly in our forum rules.

Anyway, I've added this rule in our forum rules at http://www.chinahist...php?showtopic=7

All additional/multiple accounts detected will be deleted or 'banned'.

>> One Account Per Member (No Multiple Accounts)
A member (a person) is only entitled to one account in this forum. You should not register multiple accounts in CHF. Any multiple accounts will be deleted or 'banned'. The reason for initiating this rule is to avoid members signing up multiple accounts to 'back up' one's argument during debate, which is deemed to be unfair and inappropriate. The only exceptions to this rule are staff moderators, who might need an additional backup account for technical testing or troubleshooting.

http://www.chinahist...howtopic=27862#

*****

Forum software upgraded to IPB 2.3.6

Hi all,

This is to inform you that the forum software for CHF has been upgraded to IPB 2.3.6 , the latest version. The upgrade includes a number of security patches

http://www.chinahist...topic=27964&hl=

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Karakhan reinstated as Moderator!

In order to bolster CHF's staff, Karakhan is now the moderator of the Ethnicities forum and Asian History. He was a capable mod in the past, and we should all welcome him back to the job.

Welcome back, Karakhan!

http://www.chinahist...topic=28189&hl=

*****

CHF membership reaches above 6,000

Hi all,

I'm pleased to inform you that CHF has reached a historical milestone with membership reaching above 6,000. I hope the membership continues to grow.

http://www.chinahist...showtopic=28375

*****

Spammers on the rise over the past 6 months, From May - October 2008

Hi all,

Below shows the statistics of 'number of spammers' (caught spamming) over the past 6 months from May - October 2008.

May 2008 - 8
June 2008 -10
July 2008 -10
August 2008 - 15
September 2008 - 12
October 2008 - 22

The statistics had been extracted from our admin panel. Spammers are banned straightaway in CHF and their accounts are pruned on a yearly basis.

The above statistics indicated that over the past 6 months, spammers had been on the rise. It culminated to a peak especially in October 2008, when spambots managed to exploit a weakness in the software to post spam, forcing IPB (our forum software supplier) to introduce tougher security measures such as Captha2 to combat against spamming. The update of our forum software include such patches for fight against spamming.

There is no way to prevent spamming. But spamming activities can be reduced through co-operation between staffs and our kind members.

For instance, if you detect any spams in CHF, simply press the button "report" in the thread and the moderators will straightaway be informed by PM about the spam. The staff moderators can then straightaway delete the spam and ban the spammers.

http://www.chinahist...showtopic=28511

*****

MattW joins the CHF staff moderation team

Hi all,

This is to inform you that MattW has joined our CHF staff moderation team. He used to work for our editorial board, but has decided to apply to become a moderator for PRC & ROC forum/Imperial Court. He was also a former Juren scholar of CHF. I've accepted his application.

MattW's knowledge of modern chinese history, esp. on his special focus on Mao, will most likely help to revamp our PRC &ROC history forum.

Welcome to the team!

http://www.chinahist...0

*****

[kaiselin]

The bird in the badge is a flycatcher, it was worn by the lowest or the 9 ranks of civil officials.

OCTOBER 2008

Typ - Xiucai
JohnD - Xiucai
tangxiucai - Xiucai
dolphin - Xiucai
MattW - Xiucai
kong_wei_liang - Xiucai
HuangYingJieh - Xiucai

NOVEMBER 2008

MockTurtle - Xiucai
OrdosExecutrix - Xiucai
Belken - Xiucai
Ducksrock - Xiucai
manjuniyalma - Xiucai
Bilge - Xiucai

CONGRATULATIONS ! ! !

The badge of the highest( first level) ranking civil officers wore had a crane on it.

OCTOBER 2008

Ziwei - Juren
JohnD - Juren
hannibal27 - Juren
MattW - Juren

NOVEMBER 2008

Shawn - Juren

CONGRATULATIONS ! ! !

Candidates gathering around the wall where the results had been posted. This announcement was known as "releasing the roll"c. 1540, by Qiu Ying

[kaiselin]

Hello to everyone at CHF!

I'm Matt, and I'm a relative newcomer to CHF, discovering the site on my Internet travels late in October. Since then, I have really enjoyed discussing Chinese history at the various forums, in particular in the PRC and ROC forum, where I am able to talk about modern Chinese history [as the French would say, c'est mon forte]. Since October I have also joined the editorial team here at the CHF Newsletter, and at the Han Lin Journal, making my debut as a CHF historian in November's edition of the HLJ.

I am a student living in the United Kingdom, and I hope to pursue my love of history next year at university where [of course] I hope to further enrich my understanding of the People's Republic and its history. You will probably see me around the forums fairly often, as I spend significant [maybe even excessive!] amounts of time on CHF following the discussions, so please PM me if you would like to debate some issues [or alternatively join a discussion on the Cultural Revolution in the PRC/ROC forum!]

MattW

[kaiselin]

Nothing fancy about CHF member Jullian_Bei, but he is sure reading his profile can greatly improve your geography knowledge. Jullian_Bei born in Indonesia,an archipelago nation somewhere in South East Asia. He is coming from Pontianak City, a small but very exotic city located in western coast of Borneo Island. Pontianak also a word for a superstitious being who appearances look like a female with long hair and the city was named because of this myth.

For anyone who never heard about Borneo, it is the third largest island on earth (ok, we exclude Australia for some reason, William O’Chee (another CHF member from Australia) will might have explanation on this matter). Pontianak city is geographically unique because of its location exactly under the zero degree of equator line. According to some astronomer, twice a year in Pontianak you will have zero shadow experience under the sun. By the way, this experience is only benefit if you somehow need to deal with Shikamaru, a Ninja from the Leaf Village who specialized in shadow controlling jutsu.
Jullian_Bei is a Chinese Indonesian who speak Hakka and Teochew dialect. These two dialects are the most common dialect spoken in West Borneo. His ancestor come from Guangdong and his surname “Bei” is unique according to his father. So curious about his Chinese background lead to a search for information on net and that’s how somewhere in 2006 he landed in CHF. In CHF somebody suggest that Jullian_Bei share the same surname with I.M.Pei. Ieoh Ming Pei is considered one of great modernism architect and coming from Guangdong as well. Coincidentally, architect is also (one) of Jullian_Bei “official” job in town.


After served for about 5 years of design-orientated job in Indonesia, in 2007 Jullian_Bei move to Singapore. In Singapore he can routinely read CHF because of his post now allow him full-time in front of computer. He is now happily settled in with his family. In spare time he will surfing Internet for his hobbies like music, guitar, novel reading, anime, game, orchid, photography and many many.

regards,
Jullian


<sup>William O"Chee added:
I think we need to mention that Jullian really has a brilliant knowledge of architecture, and a great sense of what is truly great in architectural taste.

Oh, and Australia is the world's largest island.</sup>

[kaiselin]

I am a Singaporean, born and raised there. In my adult life I spent a good portion of that working in other parts of South East Asia. Growing up a lot of time was consumed reading science fiction and a heavy dose of fantasy like Tolkien's; these days I prefer the former to the latter. As a teenager I was heavily into role-playing games and continue to hold it in high regard.

At about the same time I discovered war-gaming but lack the funds then to do more than dabble. In recent years I gradually got back into the hobby especially for the ancient era leading me to research on specific periods and civilisations that caught my interest. When I turned to Ancient China I was surprised to find so little has been written about its military history, with pitiful sources compared to Roman or even Greek ones. My searches lead me to CHF in 2005. Here I found many good friends and fellows whose intellect and opinions I respect.

These days I rarely come to come to CHF anymore for various reasons time being the major factor. Those who are interested in corresponding with me may use the Private Message feature of CHF as I still read my mail.

[kaiselin]

Presented by MattW

Who is the father of China: Sun or Mao? [Chinese History By Dynasty Period, Republic and People’s Republic]

In my two months at CHF, I have never read or participated in a discussion so hotly contested as this topic on whether Sun or Mao deserve the acclaim of being ‘the Father of China’. As the debate progressed it was great to see more and more posters join the debate, and regular visitors to the topic, including Ahxiang and William O’ Chee kept the quality of debate and the level of historical knowledge and argument really high. The topic has so far touched on the policies and legacies of both leaders and their ideologies. In terms of a conclusion, many posters are prepared to avidly defend their choice of Mao or Sun [or even add Chiang Kai-Shek into the mix], which is great to see. The debate continues over at the Republic and People's Republic Forum.

Did heavy cavalry exist before the Han period? [Chinese History Topics, Chinese Art of War]

The forummer Asian Power started a topic relatively recently asking ‘Did heavy cavalry exist before the Han period?’, and in such a short period of time this topic has become a regular entry in the ‘view new posts’ link, with many individual posters keen to add to the discussion. The topic has also included in-depth discussion on the lesser-known Sun Bin’s ‘Art of War’, and evidence for the existence of heavy cavalry in this work. I get the feeling the discussion is far from over…

Otto von Bismarck [Off Topic Heaven, World History and Culture]

This off-topic discussion has centred around the idea of whether Bismarck was a powerful statesman or a political opportunist. This thread has stood out for me because of the way in which it has demonstrated the broad knowledge range of CHF members, who are able to talk about all manner of topics not related to China or Chinese history in any way, testament to the strong academic side of CHF. Long may such discussion continue!

Generals of the Yang House

I know absolutely nothing about Five Dynasties history, but i have been following this topic because it looked a very interesting one. The topic from the generals of the Yang House to more in-depth Yang House history. I have learnt a significant amount from reading this topic, and i recommend it to other forummers.

I have chosen to mention One Time Poster [OTP] due to this member's obvious dedication to CHF. OTP has been a regular contributor to my featured Otto von Bismarck thread. What i particularly like about OTP is the fact that his/her posts seem to be well thought out, with phrases like 'We seem to forget how savage and competitive the world once was'- these help to keep discussions fresh and are very valuable contributions. Go across to OTP's profile and take a look, and I hope to see more of OTP in the coming months at CHF.

[kaiselin]

http://wiki.d-addict...reatRevival.jpg

Defeated and captured, he endured humiliation as a prisoner and a slave, kept alive by a vision of not just regaining his throne but destroying his captor, be as it may one of the most powerful warrior states and a contender for hegemony in his time. He went to any length to achieve his vision, including, as the Chinese title Wo Xin Chang Dan (卧薪尝胆) alludes. GouJian (勾踐), to Chinese history, has become synonymous with the almost unreal reversal of fortune through determination and patience. Oh yeah, and he had a cool sword.

FuChai and XiShi

The Great Revival traces GouJian's life from his days as a politically-insecure crown prince through his early victories, decisive defeat, servitude and eventual comeback. The series starts where the the grand chain of events to come was first set into motion. As the Yue (越國) princess given in political marriage to the Wu (吳國) crown prince escapes back to her homeland, Wu uses the incident as an excuse to attempt the subjugation of Yue. GouJian as the new king of Yue gets his first battle laurels from facing off against Wu's mighty Helü (闔閭), and winning a decisive victory against the king who once defeated Chu (楚). Helü's successor FuChai (夫差), however, annihilates GouJian's stubborn attempt to press the offensive against Wu, and captures him, his wife and courtiers. Yue is made a subject state and the captives spend three humiliating years in a Wu prison camp. By stroking FuChai's ego through self-deprecating acts, and a stroke of luck, GouJian manages to get himself returned to Yue. Employing illustrious statesmen of Chu origin, Wen Zhong (文种) and Fan Li (范蠡), he turns the tables on Wu in an epic struggle that would go down in history.

King GouJian

The "look" of The Great Revival has a certain crispness and novelty to it. The use of camera positioning and especially lighting was a major contributor to this. Scene locations were also very apt and well-executed, ranging from the green countrysides to snowy riverbanks to grand palaces, which gave a very pre-Han feel to everything. Battle scenes were also well-executed and depicted, with Yue foot soldiers wearing rattan armor as they probably would have back then. Costuming otherwise was also done well, and

Queen YaYu

Accomplished actor Chan DaoMing (陈道明) gives an excellent portrayal of the King of Yue, his stone-faced demeanor an accurate representation of the kind of gritty and reserved person that GouJian probably was. Hu Jun (胡军) returns to a similar role he played in the recent Stories of the Han Dynasty series, as a talented and honorable, yet brash and hubristic warrior-king. Zuo XiaoQing (左小青) made for a great queen YaYu of Yue, and with her beauty could have been Xi Shi (西施), who was played by "Ady" An YiXuan (安以軒); I suppose she got more screen time playing YaYu instead. Jia YiPing (贾一平) as Fan Li and Wang Bing (王冰) as cautious but cruelly Machiavellian Wu minister Wu ZiXu (伍子胥).

WenZhong and FanLi

Featuring plenty of court intrigue, epic battles, and a star-studded cast, The Great Revival is THE series on the Wu-Yue wars, and highly recommended. I've not seen Wang Yu Gou Jian (the other Wu-Yue wars series of the same year) yet, but I certainly do not regret buying this one.

Wu ZiXu and other Wu ministers

[kaiselin]

'Mao and China-
Inside China's Cultural Revolution'
by Stanley Karnow

Reviewed by MattW

China's Cultural Revolution [1966-1976] was a complicated affair, in which thousands of Chinese students, workers and citizens were involved in waves of revolutionary activity. To this end, it is very difficult to write an historical work on the Cultural Revolution, as the author must wade through a maze of simultaneous political maneuvering, anarchy and revolution in order to present a narrative that gives both an overview of the movement and that also goes into in-depth detail, without the writing becoming 'bogged-down' on individual, often local occurrences. There are few books out there that do this as well as Stanley Karnow's 'Mao and China- Inside China's Cultural Revolution'. Karnow is well-known for his history of Vietnam, and the historical skill that is encompassed in that work is similarly reflected in 'Mao and China'.

No book on the Cultural Revolution can cover absolutely everything [without running into the thousands of pages!] but Karnow comes as close as you can get with his gripping narrative. Essentially chronologically based, the book [dating the Cultural Revolution to the demise of Lin Biao] portrays the various stages of of the movement- the rise of the Red Guards, the purge of the Chinese Communist Party, the rise of the People's Liberation Army, and the eventual formation of tre-partite governing committees of peasants, cadres and army men. What is especially admirable in Karnow's work is the way in which he uses many local case studies [especially many examples of marauding local Red Guard and workers groupings] whilst also keeping the reader's focus on the central progression of the movement, and how such local examples fitted in to the national nature of the Cultural Revolution.

The blurb on the rear of my Penguin edition of this book praises it for its lack of 'ideological bias', and this is a very noteworthy characteristic of Karnow's writing. Rather than seek to push any particular agenda, Karnow approaches the topic from the viewpoint of a veteran China-watcher and correspondent, allowing for balanced and informed analysis.

Although the work was first published in the early 1970s, 35 years on and this book remains for me one of the best works on the Cultural Revolution available. Subsequent works have benefited from access to more primary source material and the accounts of those caught up in the movement, but Karnow's work remains a benchmark in scholarship on the topic.

Edited by kaiselin, 07 December 2008 - 04:10 PM.

[kaiselin]

[kaiselin]

As this year draws to an end, I am both very happy and relieved that we made it this far, but also distressed at the lack of participation from the general members of the CHF.
After you have read all the newsletter and are reading this, if you are thinking to yourself, "well, that was just another Kaiselin and MattW show" , that is not our intention. Perhaps you feel this way because no one else steps up to contribute. Over the span of a year we have had the same members like DaMo, Moon, and Jdalton, who have given their time and energy to help create these publications, but it you want more, someone has to step up and contribute their fair share. We are supposed to be a community of friends, and as such we should not expect just to sit back and reap the benefits from others hard work. Some of you may be intimidated by the requirements that we set forth for the Han Lin Journal, but even those are not that stringent. The least we ask is a beginning college level paper. What is so difficult to do that? The newsletter is not attempting to be scholarly, it is just a chronicle of events and any sort of reading that might be entertaining. I once again encourage members to concider participating in both publications. The team of the Editorial Board are here to help with any article you wish to submit and we are easy to work with. We are not professionals, but regular members just like you. You need not be a part of the staff to submit any article, but of course you are more then welcome if you would want to join our team.

Sincere thanks goes out to all those who have helped put together the various publications this year.
Thank you,

Kaiselin, Chief Editor
Fireball, Editor
HappyHistorian, Editor
Rong Qin Wang, Editor

Anita Mui, Columnist
DaMo, Columnist
Liu Bang, Columnist
MattW, Columnist
Moon, Columnist
Technogypsy, Columnist
William O'Chee, Columnist

Special Thanks to the CHF Community

*****

If you are interested in joining the CHF Newsletter Editorial Team as a member or contributor,
please contact Kaiselin

*****

Mail box for Letters to the Editor
Please post comments, ideas and complaints

Imperial Capital > CHF Imperial Court

http://www.chinahist...5

*****

The next issue of the CHF Newsletter is scheduled to be published

FEBURARY 7, 2009

Deadline for submissions is JANUARY 21, 2009

*****

[1] Front page Art credits

Background courtesy of original historical artist(s). 'Guan Yu' interpretation by Koei Corp. DW Artist Team ~ Custom banner and rendered/edited images by Lu Su "Soulstorm Alchemy" for use by ChinaHistoryForum.com Copyright 2008

*****

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Most users ever online was 4,670 on Jul 27 2008, 01:47 AM

Visitors have visited CHF since June 2004: 11966670

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