"Out of Asia" or… my year in China

*This post was originally drafted on October 26th and just finished off today. While I admit it goes off on many tangents, I enjoy the parts too much not to post the sum;-)

History is written by the victors…isn’t that the saying? Was it only in Churchill’s time that this was finally acknowledged? or just said out loud?

There are many aspects of China that remain a mystery to me – among them the intricacies of its history – a history so often rewritten by its victors. Last night we were watching yet another pirated DVD – this time out of my collection of 30+ years of Oscar winning films – bought for the low price of about $20. I wonder what the Academy would have to say about that?

Anyhow, we decided to watch The Last Emperor, a fitting viewing considering our new home and the arrival of our first house guest.  I was completely in the dark of this part of China’s recent history. I was vaguely aware there had been some kind of non-imperialist government before the Communist Party…but I was unsure as to when or for how long. I really had no idea it was just at the turn-of-the-century that China had crowned its last Emperor.  This boy who grew into a man was brought up never having stepped foot out of The Forbidden City – the Imperial fortress located in the middle of Beijing. Even when on the outside a Republic ruled, he was still being waited on hand and foot by hundreds of servants and taught to believe that he mattered most above all. When the circumstances of the outside could no longer ignore or sustain his isolated yet charmed existence, he was finally forced out – in exile but always thinking that he would rule once more – when he never really had in the first place. What do today’s Chinese remember of him? Do they remember at all? Or do they like me, barely register that history – as a more recent Republic has taken centre stage over the last 60 years – eclipsing the one before it or even the millenia of imperial dynasties before it.

It is not only what we tell others: You look great! or… I feel that you are not listening…or what I tell my students: There are 7 continents. An ocean is bigger than a sea…but what we tell ourselves…Things will turn around…or…It will all work out for the best…that determines the “truth”. Your own truth may or may not be THE accepted truth, but you better believe it.