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Scarabsi β APH : Basic Erhu
Published: 2011-10-14 05:52:01 +0000 UTC; Views: 950; Favourites: 8; Downloads: 12
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Description
As anyone who as ever played an Erhu in their life could tell you, the cover for the World Series album (pictured: [link] ) was not very well researched.The bow of the Erhu is kind of complicated to set up; the hair of the bow goes between the two strings of the instrument, and you play each different string by drawing the bow outward or by pushing the bowstrings toward the instrument.
Therefore, if someone were about to play an Erhu, they would have set up the bow so that it'd be playable. And they would not be able to hold the bow away from the instrument like that.
Then again, if he's playing standing up to begin with (happily possible for Erhu, though it isn't for other instruments like the Pipa) he should have a hook on the back, which would hook the Erhu to the waistband of his pants.
. . . . As a pose though, it certainly does look cuter that way, so I guess they must have thrown accuracy to the wind to make for the cuter option?
I squeed embarrassingly hard when I saw they'd given him a Chinese instrument to begin withAnd the number of people who care is. . . oh, still just me. Okay.
Characters (c) by the adorkable Hidekaz Himaruya.
I am not making money off this work. Heck, I'm barely making pageviews off this work. So please don't sue me.
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Comments: 31
Finally, someone else who was also bothered by the fact that the erhu was drawn wrong on the World Series soundtrack cover. I play the damn thing, it's hard to master (but I'm not giving up - I spent a good $300 on it), and one TINY detail could really change how it sounds (can't wait for my new strings and rosin to arrive, I'm also curious to try out other bridges too). I only remove the bow when I have to rosin it BTW, and then attach it back where it belongs. Also, I'm not surprised that the illustrators obviously didn't bother with accuracy for the erhu in the first place (who wouldn't?).
But then again, as musicians, don't we all sound bad to ourselves? I was playing my erhu at a con, and someone posted a video of that on YouTube. Dear god I can't even listen to 10 seconds of it. It's time to man up and learn more songs.
Not to sound like a creeper, but I'm learning stuff from the conversation between you and .
Oh, and as a random side note, one of these days I'm gonna have a dA ID of me in my China cosplay, holding my erhu, wearing aviator sunglasses and doing my dat ass face, with the caption, "VOCALS? I GOT MY ERHU, BITCHES".
BTW if you ever have free time, check out The Hsu-Nami. They fuse erhu with prog-rock. My favorite songs of theirs are Passport to Taiwan [link] and Entering the Mandala [link] and there's also this awesome guy who did a cover of a Final Fantasy song: [link] but he keeps saying the F-word. Truth is, I like Chinese music better when it's fused with hardcore nontraditional music (like metal or hard rock).
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Ahhhh fellow Chinese instrument player!! 
Hahaha whoa, seriously?! 
xDDDDDD OH YES. DO IIIIIT. THAT WOULD ROCK SO HARD!!! *I'm gonna totally egg you on*
That-- that first one sounds familiar!! 
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I agree. I personally don't find removing the bow a pain in the ass, but making sure that you didn't twist the hair when you reattach the loop thing is annoying though.
Here it is: [link] (dear god it sounds like crap compared to what I can play now). I learn songs both by hearing and reading the Chinese sheet music. But I really don't get why in Chinese sheet music, they assign different numbers for different scales (1 = do). It's hard for me to adjust to different sheet music scales, because I think my mind's already stuck with 1 = D. But yeah, some parts of songs are hard to learn by ear and you have to keep listening to that line until you can grasp it (I already know how to play all the parts of Bed Intruder except for the line that goes like, "We got your T-shirt and your fingerprints.").
No prob. As a matter of fact, the first one sounds familiar because it's a mashup of 3 Taiwanese folk songs: 倩ι»ι», δΈδΈι
and ζζ₯ι’¨ - That's why it's called Passport to Taiwan. When done right, modernizing traditional music is truly amazing. It would be awesome if back in February, during Chinese New Year, the official song was loosely based on the theme for Angry Birds: Year of the Dragon: [link] It's from this cute little animated short: [link]
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That's true. I'm the kind of person who feels a physical pain when I hear nails-on-a-chalkboard, and sometimes when the bow nicks the strings the wrong way. . . *wince*
Awww, you're so cute! 
Oh, huh. . . I'm not even remotely Taiwanese so those songs must be really famous for me to have heard of them! 
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Same here. I have this habit of comparing myself to people who are better than me, and I can't help it. ><
Thanks. I used this thing called a belt clip: [link] but the one I have is this piece of metal covered in black rubber. Although I can only read the D-scale, I found a way to cheat the sheet music for Sai Ma because I found a video on YouTube of someone playing it SLOWLY. Cool, huh?
I guess these songs are still a bit known in Mainland China because a lot of people in Taiwan are descended from Fujian people? IDK. But yeah, I wish the Angry Birds soundtrack team can make more music like that.
Oh, and sorry for not replying back sooner. Fucking schoolwork. But anyway, there's this show called Legend of Korra, and most of the soundtrack is basically Chinese folk music and New Orleans Jazz put together. It's amazing.
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Hahaha I did a double-take at first because I couldn't remember what the conversation was about. . . The "Original" button is my friend!
Ooooh, thanks for that! That looks really handy.
Haha, are they really? I think I hear that from my mom a lot, but since she's Fujianese I always take that with a grain of salt. xD But there is also a little bit of culture leak from Taiwan to mainland, I guess? And also from Taiwan to everywhere else, really. The Angry Birds team have actually been quite busy lately; I'm highly impressed with how they're still experimenting with different physics all the time, getting riskier and more creative. A lot of companies that get successful like them just lay back on the old formula, but those Rovio guys just keep trying new things and making fresh ideas!
YOU WATCHED LEGEND OF KORRA ALSO!! What did you think of it? My god the music was amazing! When I watched the first episode I had the idea that I would try playing the theme (well. . . the overarching theme anyway) on the erhu, but it was way too complicated. xD;;;; Then over the series, as more episodes came out. . . it just kept getting even more complex. . . Whoever composed the music to that show deserves a Grammy!
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Hey, I'm really sorry for not replying back sooner; school's been a lot busier this year, and getting mental heart attacks over college applications. But anyway, at the same time, I feel it's unfair to compare myself to people who aren't better than me, because I feel that it would make me look like a snob or something.
You're welcome. Maybe they should make one for the pipa where it comes with a belt clip AND a strap (like for guitars), so you can clip your pipa to your belt without having to hold it up with your hands the whole time.
That's awesome! I guess you could say the culture in Taiwan is like indigenous plus Chinese, but curiously enough, I remember seeing more Chinese culture in Taiwan than China. And did you see Angry Birds Star Wars in the store? I think it's adorable.
Yes, it's just as amazing as its predecessor! I can't wait till Season 2 comes out!!! And when the soundtrack comes out, Imma buy it and drown in its awesomeness. I also tried playing the theme on erhu too, but I still try. If this guy can play it on violin, so can I on erhu: [link]
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Aiyahhhh hello! It feels like it's been a year since I heard from you! :V I completely understand about school, I've barely even visited deviantART for the past few months. It's probably too late to wish you luck with those college apps now, but hey, at least you don't have to worry about them again until spring, right? 
Oh my god I always fantasize about Pipa straps so I could swing around like a guitar hero SERIOUSLY the only reason guitars are more popular than other plucky instruments is because you can carry them around! I'm positive of this! 
Yeah, I've been noticing lately that if you want to get an authentically preserved Chinese cultural experience, Taiwanese is the best bet, because people in Taiwan respect Chinese culture more. Since I'm in TCM right now it's much more clear: Talk to a Chinese (mainland) pedestrian, they say you're a superstitious weirdo. Talk to a Taiwanese pedestrian, they're impressed and talk to you like you're any other kind of medical student. And yes, I have seen the Angry Birds Star Wars!! I love it a lot, the Darth Vadar Pig plushies are like the cutest things I've ever seen, and it's made me really want to watch Star Wars. I want to play the game but feel like I shouldn't until I've watched the movies.
I remember seeing the costume designs for Season 2 and they are sooooooo pretty, like ahhh. Yeah, pretty psyched for the next season! The chords in the violin might be difficult to replicate on the erhu, but man, you should totally go for it.
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That's a really neat piece of information, though! Man...I don't even know my own culture's music - so thanks for explaining it to me!
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Haha, I guess it's not common knowledge, especially since it's not exactly a common instrument outside of China. I only know because I actually play the darn thing.
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lol - and I should know because I AM Chinese.
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Hey man, I know so many Chinese people who wouldn't even know what an erhu was if I showed it to them. Seriously. xD;; It's not like you were supposed to research it or anything. . . I play like three Chinese instruments and went to two Chinese schools, and my extracurriculars from elementary school to high school were wushu and traditional Chinese folk dance. I still didn't know until I started playing it.
I feel kind of bad now, I guess I was a little harsh on the album artists. Not many people bother to find out much about Chinese instruments, so it's nice that they at least gave China one.
Also. . . you're so Canadian I would have never guessed. xD What a surprise! I shake you by the hand, fellow child of the dragon.
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Oh, okay. Yeah...I could at least recognize some of the instruments if I saw them: the erhu, the pipa, the guqin...yeah, I know of those three at least and I think they sound lovely. I never studied all of that stuff, though - just went to Cantonese language classes in my childhood, so I have, like, an elementary school level of literacy there. But I'm always aware that I am Chinese-Canadian, so I consider it my responsibility to know about both sides of my heritage.
Maybe so, but considering that the art was likely drawn in Japan where they would probably know more of those instruments...yeah.
lol - thanks! I'm proud to be Canadian, but if I had a chance to explain what little I knew of Chinese culture, I'd never shut up (I just know next to nothing on their history). I've never been called a child of the dragon before, but it works. Ironically, though, I was born (as one of my friends put it) under "the rose, the lion and the Union Jack." What he meant by that was that I was born in Hong Kong while it was still a British colony. 
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I've mostly played the pipa, but I can play erhu because it's just like a violin and the liuqin because it's just like a pipa with a pick. xD I do have a guqin in my room, but I can't figure out how to play it! I have no idea where I can learn because it's pretty much an extinct instrument nowadays.
Here's a little secret: Japanese people don't actually care much about Chinese culture. I mean, maybe some of them do, but in general I don't think it really matters that much to them. I was very impressed when Himaruya said he was learning Chinese, because I've never heard of a Japanese person doing that. It works both ways too, because most of the things I know about Japanese culture is stuff I learned from living in America. Americans are obsessed with Japan.
Yaaaay! 
1996, baby! xD 
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O_O You've got a guqin in your room? That's awesome - and totally not something I've heard of before!
As for my Cantonese...I pronounce ζ as "ngo" more often than just "o", but I wouldn't be surprised if I use both. By the way, I actually don't know how to type Chinese - the character was copy-pasted from your spiel.
Hey, I could say something here: a lot of people from Hong Kong are obsessed with Japanese trends. At least our generation is. I wonder if our grandparents and great-grandparents are cringing just at the thought of it sometimes. But you know what? What I meant earlier was that the Japanese instruments were probably influenced by the Chinese ones to begin with, since there was a good deal of cultural borrowing back then. So, for instance, I might not be able to tell the difference between a koto and a guqin at first glance - not unless someone pointed out all the differences to me.
Well, I knew the two things you mentioend about the Tang and Yuen Dynasties by now...I think some people will also say that China was under foreign rule during the Qing Dynasty (since the royal house was actually Manchurian and not Han Chinese). And I came to Canada soon enough for my being born in Hong Kong to be near-negligible at best and disadvantageous at worst - because I would be born in Asia, but look, act and speak totally whitewashed (it's more obvious online, as you would have seen for yourself, since you thought I was white at first). Sometimes, I'll get comments like, "Your Chinese is good for someone who was born in Canada." And I'm thinking, "Um...no, I'm not." But I suppose the part of Canada where I live is different like that - there are so many Chinese people here that it's hard not to know something of the culture and the language...there are entire shopping centres where only Chinese is used.
And it's not that you gave me the impression you were from Taiwan or Hong Kong or China - actually, I thought you were from mainland China (perhaps even Mandarin speaking) until you said otherwise. I just wanted to make sure all my bases were covered, so you wouldn't go, "No, I'm Taiwanese - and that counts as Chinese, too!"
I'm...more than 15, I'll give you that much. How much exactly, I won't say, but let's just say that I was already in Canada by the time 1997 came around. I'm also not surprised there was such a book, but in all honesty...not everyone in Hong Kong thought it was a good thing. A LOT of people emigrated simply because of that handover and them being afraid of what impacts it would have on Hong Kong's economy, politics and society. Some people to this day say they preferred the British colonization, and pro-democratic protests are almost a fixture there now, especially among young people. Granted, the place isn't fully Communist ("One Country, Two Systems" was the name for the policy dictating Hong Kong's relative autonomy), but that's only guaranteed until 2047.
I know about the afternoon tea bit, too - it's still observed here in Canada, where a lot of people from Hong Kong would get together for some sort of afternoon snack and...sometimes tea, but also coffee.
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A tiny one, yeah. I don't even know if it's strung properly.
Ehh? That must be really frustrating! D: Depending on whether you have a Mac or a PC, there's language controls and keyboards. I'm sure if you searched on google there'll be a tutorial on how to add a Chinese language bar. You just type the pinyin and select the character. . . it's actually quite fun if you get used to it. There's even keyboards on iPhones/iTouches (if you own one) where you can write the character with your finger. ε°ζδΎθͺ¬οΌη¨iPhoneε―«δΈζεζ―ζε₯½η©η~οΌ
I thought Taiwanese people were always insisting that they are Taiwanese when they are called Chinese, not the other way around. xD;; One time I was talking to some (Caucasian) classmates about Fujian and Chaozhou and how the dialects sound similar, and a Taiwanese classmate suddenly interrupted me, saying "Hokkien sounds nothing like Fujianese!" in a really offended way. I hadn't even mentioned Hokkien. . . xD;; (He's an awesome guy though, maybe he was making a joke). I do speak Mandarin, though my Cantonese is far better. I'm flattered you thought I was from mainland. 
I know about the split attitude about it; I remember having a bunch of Hetalia fans (whose parents moved to Canada/USA from HK during that period) lecture me about how horrible and scary the change was and why. For a while I was really hurt and confused, and even started doubting my own childhood memories because of how one-sided they made it out to be. It wasn't until I talked to my dad, and he confirmed how excited he was about it, that I had any faith in my own memory about the incident. I know some HK people were really scared of the return, some of them even resent it to this day, but others were really happy about it, and given how miraculous it is from a historical perspective, I'd say the excitement is at least partially justified. I'd also like to point out that the "People's Republic of China" by this point is largely communist in name only (their shameless capitalism almost rivals America's at this point!) but since I tend to be biased in favor of anything Chinese and I know nothing about politics, I concede that it's not a valid point and won't say any further. With luck, the future Chinese government can learn to be more like Hong Kong or Japan or South Korea.
That sounds like a lot of fun; my mom and I are really into tea and she's always telling me about how people in Fujian leave their houses open so neighbors always stop by and have small tea parties together, and I always wish we did things like that around the area I live. Have you ever done it?
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lol - considering I don't know pinyin either, that's not gonna help me much.
But don't worry - I DID understand what you wrote in characters over there.
"I thought Taiwanese people were always insisting that they are Taiwanese when they are called Chinese, not the other way around." - See, I wouldn't know something like that. I was just going by the...political aspect of the situation and what's actually "China" and what's not.
lol - I think I was one of those kids who grew up with both sides of the story. I was taught my whole life that, "Britain took Hong Kong from China and now they're returning their stolen property like they should." But at the same time, my family came to Canada BECAUSE of the impending handover. It's a complicated situation at best, so anyone who could manage to make any sense of it has my admiration.
Yeah, I know that the PRC isn't economically communist anymore - but people seem to think it is politically. There's a difference
I've never had an OFFICIAL tea party, no - tea and snacks just come along with the package if someone visits at that time of day.
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Yeah, if you don't speak Mandarin then pinyin is a total bitch. I remember my classmates at Cantonese school just totally tripped all over it when we had to learn it. 
Do you not know a lot of Taiwanese people?
*shrug* Got me. What I've managed to piece together, based on what I've been told, is that all people in HK resent being Chinese because Who in the hell would want to live in China?, except for my dad the weirdo who likes China and is happy his homeland is politically Chinese again, because he's weird and a filthy communist or something.
And, well. . . I remember in high school I'd automatically wince every time the word "China" came up because it was always to tear it down. From what I've heard, China is a horrid dead-zone where there is no freedom at all, the Internet is blocked by the government because of insane censorship, and cheat with baby gymnasts in the Olympics. As someone who sometimes lives in Beijing a month at a time, I have yet to see any of that! I browsed the Internet quite comfortably while I was there and did whatever the hell I wanted (Played video games while walking to the mall, sat in the bookstore and just read books). I really don't think it's fair the way people talk about China the way they do, especially since most of them don't know the first thing about it. Beijing turned itself inside-out to make Beijing 2008 the best it could be, to show the world that would visit it that China can be just like the rest of the good countries everyone loves, and when I went back to America people only talked about the gymnast scandals, they didn't even notice anything else and they didn't care.
I don't know if you could tell, but I usually avoid China in Hetalia fandom now because I used to spend hours crying over the things people would say to me when I brought it up.
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lol - I know what you mean. Get me to read silently, and I could do fine; but ask me to read aloud and I SUCK. It's even worse with Cantonese, because the characters aren't pronounced the way you speak, as I'm sure you know. So I feel like I'm reading Shakespeare but in a foreign language. But still, I get this rush of pride whenever my elders look at me with some admiration for even knowing how to read to begin with, childish mistakes or not.
No, I don't know all that many Taiwanese people - I'd say...over 90% of the Chinese people I know are either from Hong Kong or mainland China. All this time, I thought that Taiwan was insisting that it was the ORIGINAL Republic of China, but...looks like I was mistaken. Thanks for clearing that up for me.
I think that the situation among people from Hong Kong is not entirely one-sided, although the side you're talking about is the more widely reported on an international level. There were people both for and against the handover, I think, and even now, some people are more interested in maintaining positive ties with China.
I know it's not my place to say this as a Canadian, but don't expect a shift in attitude towards China in the States anytime soon. From what I've seen, people will badmouth those they perceive to be a threat, and while China might not be a military threat, it's easy to see it as an economic one from an American standpoint. People are gonna want to put themselves on the moral and social higher ground when that happens - it's an ugly fact of life.
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Oh yeah, I know what you mean about reading in Cantonese. I remember one time, I caught a Hong Kong news program, and the news lady was reading off a piece of paper or a cueboard or something, and I suddenly thought. . . What is she reading?! She's clearly speaking in Cantonese, but what she's reading would be written in Mandarin grammar, right?! I asked my mom about it, and she said the lady probably reads the words and then makes quick grammatical translations in her head. That is un-freaking-believable! Since I just always read in Mandarin, I don't have to deal with grammar problems often, and I just cannot imagine having to do that. Kudos to you for having the courage to read in Cantonese at all, man.
Even reading silently I can't get through well; I only know common words and probably read at a level like a first or second grader. @_@;; I bought a Twilight book in Chinese because I figured if I ended up reading it choppily and ruining the story I wouldn't care, and that the language would be simplistic, but it's been about two or three years and I still haven't been able to get through to half of the book. *humiliated* Defeated by Twilight!
It's kind of complicated but that is true-- after the Qing Dynasty fell, China was briefly under a democratic government, and that was the Republic of China. Since it didn't work at all (Chinese people had always relied on Emperors and the Mandate of Heaven to ensure capable rulers, and valued humbleness above all other virtues, so only utter bastards volunteered themselves for power), things started getting really bad until Communism started to become popular, because people turn to socialist principles when they feel desperate. For a while there was a big civil war over communist and democratic governments; the communists won in the mainland, and the democratic people ran away to Taiwan and started a new "country" there under a democratic government. Then at some point they were taken by Japan and then returned to China and I'm sort of vague on that part.
My mom has told me similar things when I tried to understand the attitude. It still doesn't seem okay to me. Just because China is starting to do well for himself, America gets scared and angry because someone else might be richer than him someday? It's downright childish, and in no way excuses the behavior. Imagine the uproar that would arise if the average American treated Jerusalem the way they treat China! Jewish people would never stand for it, and Americans wouldn't stand for it either, because they're sensitive to how Jewish people feel. I'd make an example for African-Americans too, but they're also Americans, so. . . I dunno, if someone dissed New Orleans? I really don't think it's okay for people to treat me like a terrorist just because I like my mother country. Is there an impending war about to happen between them that nobody told me about?
What makes it even worse is that I get the same treatment from Chinese people, too! Every time I tell a mainlander that I like China and I think it's cool, I'll get a lecture about Chinese national atrocities and governmental corruption. It's like we're trying to make ourselves disappear! What kind of attitude is that for a nation of people to have?!
tl;dr Thanks for being so nice and comforting about all this. You wouldn't believe what a relief it is to talk to someone about this and not get a digital stoning over it. It means a lot to me.
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Well, my reading - silent or aloud - still leaves much to be desired. But I could grasp more reading silently...although the best case scenario for understanding is to hear someone read it for me.
Thanks for the history lesson, too.
Well, what your mom said has its merits here. Let's think of it this way - I see the nations as always being in competition with each other to be on top of the pyramid, so to speak. The higher up you are, the more you'll want to keep pushing for the number one spot, because it's actually attainable. For all intents and purposes, America has been on the top for a very long time. But now, it sees China getting closer and closer so it's gonna try to defend its position. It's not just an issue of wealth, but one of power and international influence.
I'm rather suprised that people would give you a hard time just for being proud to be Chinese - I see no problem in doing that. But there's also no denying that there are a lot of things going wrong in China's system right now - the fact that that's noticed by the Chinese community itself should tell you something. Every nation has positive and negative aspects to it - those things they do right and those they do wrong. China is simply in the unfortunate position that its negative things are more widely known than its positive ones.
Although this is where I'd differ from you. This may be a discouraging attitude to have about your own nation, but for me, if I genuinely believed that my nation was doing something wrong, I WON'T be proud of it. I could say I'm proud to be Canadian because while Canada has its faults, I still see it as being a good place overall. But I'm not going to compromise my moral opinion on something out of patriotism. It's not that I won't give China a chance - because I do - but I think that a nation's citizens are even MORE obligated to be aware of and point out its faults than anyone from the outside. For instance, I could get away with criticizing Canada more than someone from the States would, because people know that I'm a Canadian and that I wouldn't do this stuff lightly.
By the way, what I'd just said was NOT intended to be my shooting you down, so please don't take it that way. I'm just saying that that's my take on the issue.
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I just can't help but think if it were another country, like say Japan (wasn't Japan pretty close to the top for a long time?) the reaction wouldn't be like this at all. I know about fifty years ago or whatnot people mistrusted Japanese people, but save for people in the south that I never see, everyone's for Japan now. I totally see why, since they make awesome stuff and all my favourite video games and a lot of my favourite storytellers come from there (*coughHETALIAcough*) but it's not like there's nothing bad about Japan, either. If I wanted to, the way people want to about China, I could turn Japan into a place so depraved and horrible that nobody would shed a tear if it vanished from the planet. I could do the same with any other country if I tried hard enough; France, England, Turkey, India, Brazil, New Zealand. . . But why should I? Even if Japan and England and France have a better standard of living than China, a better government system, a better-respected history, a more widely understood culture, doesn't mean I feel any need to tear them down. Clearly China must have done something to these people to make them hate it so much that they would do this.
It would be stupid and delusional of me to pretend there aren't horrifying, gaping faults in China's. . . well, everything. If you asked around, there's probably nobody in all of North America that hates Chairman Mao more than I do. I hate him more than I hate Hitler, which isn't to say I don't hate Hitler as much as I should, but at least Hitler had "noble" intentions even if his ideas for achieving them were batshit insane. A few of my parents' friends were shot at during the Tiananmen massacre. As for communism, my mom was driven from a comfortable mansion in her homeland into a refugee island and lost everything, including her older brother, because of a communist revolution (it was in Vietnam, but that doesn't make it less horrible or less communist). The horrors of communism are certainly more personal to me than to some liberal family in SoCal who's been living in Anaheim for three generations, and yet they're the ones trying to teach me a thing or two about it.
If it were the other way around, like everyone around me was mindlessly extolling China and they were getting some facts wrong, then I would totally go around correcting people and spreading horror stories about my country. I'm anything but a patriot, and always played the devil's advocate in any class discussion. But right now it's not that way. Right now I'm living in a world where everyone around me actively works to push my country down, and me along with it, using 20% facts and 75% propaganda. I don't see why I should help them.
As for your stance on Canada, well, Canada is a great place, at least according to Americans. They don't have anything bad to say about you guys; you could probably joke that Canada is the modern American Dream, because Americans dream about moving there! I went up there once and the only things I can think of to say was that it was beautiful, pleasant, and extremely relaxing in a dreamy kind of way. But you can bet if there's any single thing the US does that I think is wrong, I would point it out, and go into great detail about it. I hate the way they (we? they? we? I'm so confused by this point) treat Middle-Eastern people like wearing a head-scarf in an airport is a criminal offense by itself. Likewise, I hate the way Chinese look down on people who don't know everything they know, or know things they don't, like ignorance is a matter of opinion. I hate the way Americans go to the gym and act like that makes them superior to you when they're doing something pointless and unhealthy to themselves, and I hate the way Chinese expect everyone to lead the same boring, monk-like lifestyle they do like they're some kind of messiah everyone's supposed to follow. I hate the way Americans are all crazed about "organic" or "green" food without actually knowing anything about food and health at all and I hate the way Chinese seem to think it's okay to substitute quality food ingredients with indigestible crap so they can save a few bucks. I could go on! Back and forth and back and forth! But why should I? Does it actually do anyone any good, just thinking about the worst of everyone? Of course none of that was political, since I'm equally clueless about the politics of both, so just imagine political versions of the petty stuff I said up there.
Naw, I get what you mean. A lot of people have explained to me about not being naive, which is good, because if they didn't I would be. Incidentally, since I know I get really unreasonable or even downright stupid when I'm feeling upset, please point out when something I've said is wrong or dumb. There's probably already been a few.
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Another thing to consider is not just who is rising, but how quickly. China's only really started climbing up the economic ladder in the past thirty-forty years or so and already, it's either surpassed or will surpass Japan as the second greatest economic power in the world. It's a pattern I've seen throughout history, actually - if a nation suddenly goes to so close to the top when it was originally near the bottom, everyone else goes, "Oh crap - how come we never noticed this???"
Also, one thing I've noticed is that America (and Canada as well to an extent) see China as an economic threat...BUT it's stuck because China is the one that's holding up a good chunk of the American economy. If my research for my current fics tells me anything, it's that Americans DO NOT like being dependent on anyone. For as long as they're on the top, they could ignore that, but now...I remember that one of the things people were afraid would happen if the States went into default was that they would become completely economic dependent on China. To those who have been here for generations, whose ancestors have fought for their freedom and their independence that makes up such a major part of the American spirit...it feels like going back to being a colony again. And what nation would want that? As a Canadian, I should know - we fear the same thing, only from America instead of from China.
You don't need to tell me all the stuff that happened in China under Mao's administration and beyond. After all, that's why I came to Canada in the first place. Many people in Hong Kong feared that stuff like Tiannamen would start happening there after 1997 - and many more feared that all their efforts to accumulate wealth would be lost to Communism. My own family, though, was worried about something else: they knew that China was an atheist state that could easily accuse parents of brainwashing their kids if they raised them to have any religious faith. We are devout Christians and that concept terrified my parents. In fact, they say that had I not been born, they would have stayed in Hong Kong. My mom tells me that she watched the Tiannamen Square Massacre live on television, and the sense of horror she felt, in my opinion, was only duplicated on 9/11, which she also saw live at the time. I wouldn't remember - I was just a baby then. But yeah, no need to tell me about all the wrong that China has done.
One last thing you have to remember: America and Americans still fear Communism like the plague. It's a leftover from the Cold War, I think, because I've also noticed that a lot of the negative portrayals of Russia in Hetalia fanfiction and fanart also come from North America. I know that China can no longer be described as having a communist economic system, but politically, they still are - and that, in many people's minds, is even worse. It's what they associate with a totalitarian government and the exact opposite of the democratic republic you guys have - heck, even Canadians will get some eyerolls from Americans for being a constitutional monarchy. So a nation that's got one-party rule? You can imagine how that would turn from groans given in good jest to outright anger and hatred - perhaps even for the Chinese people's sake against their government.
I'm not going to say that everything that you've heard about China is true. Because a lot of it IS propaganda and exaggerated media reports and some strange belief that what was true fifty years ago is still true now. However, some things - like the human rights record - are things I cannot deny.
You bring up Japan, which I think is an interesting point. Because those negative feelings DO exist for the Japanese. I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears when the tsunami happened, and I was absolutely disgusted. It's like anything bad happens to Japan now, it's automatically taken as divine retribution for WWII - as if the atom bombs weren't enough already!
Reading the fine print, I could only say this. It seems that Americans and Chinese - and I personally add Canadians - suffer from the same fatal flaw: PRIDE.
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Arrrgh I totally forgot to talk about the religion thing, sorry. That is the first time I've heard of that. I remember Hetalia mentioning that China was atheist, but I just thought that meant "it never became Christian" since Chinese people are pretty superstitious.
I wasn't raised with any kind of religion at all (though I was raised to "believe in" ghosts and spirits, since my dad's best friend can see them, if that counts) so I don't really know much about Christianity or atheism, but I can see why that would be a big concern for a religious family. I always hear people complaining about how pushy Christians are, but I have to say atheists are just as pushy, going around saying "there is no God" like they're giving people a reality check. Self-important asses. You shouldn't have to change the things you believe in or your faith just because of where you live! And likewise, it's not right for people to have to change where they live just because of what they believe in.
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And...just watch me forget to reply to this one earlier. *facepalm*
Well, Communist China is atheist from a legal standpoint - the people might still follow the traditional beliefs, but there's a very clear divide between the public and private spheres, and kids are taught to disregard all religions at school. If said kids' families are religious at home...you could imagine how confusing things would get.
I think anyone who believes that strongly in a faith system (and, to me, atheism IS a faith system - maybe not a religion, but it's still something you believe in that strongly shapes your worldview and practices) can be pushy. Why? It's because they believe they are right and that others are wrong, and when they start pushing their beliefs at people...you'd be surprised how many people do it out of genuinely good intentions. It's like...I'm a Christian, and I believe that people have to follow Jesus Christ in order to go to heaven. If I care for the people around me, I can't NOT start telling everyone that, even if they think I'm obnoxious for it. Why? Because being thought of as annoying now is better than seeing my loved ones in hell later on.
Now imagine everyone doing that to everyone else...and you'll see why we have these conflicts today happening between good people.
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That sounds atheist alright. Are they actively trying to discourage religion? It's a bit overkill to teach kids to not believe, isn't it?
I've never heard the term "faith system" before, but yeah, I did think of atheism as like that, because someone like me that wasn't raised with religion doesn't need atheism; atheism is for people who got disillusioned from their religion, and you need a religion for that to happen. And, well, atheism is all about not believing in any God or whatever, but it seems extreme to me for them to discount all of Christianity because of that-- Christianity isn't just about believing in God, it's also about teaching people how to live a good and responsible lifestyle, right? It's like, okay, there's these rules you have to follow, and if you break them then you've hurt some part of yourself in some way, and it doesn't matter if nobody saw you do it because it happened. Like if you steal something, and you don't get punished for it-- that doesn't make stealing okay, because you still took something, and you really shouldn't have. The idea that there's someone who will always know you did it and is disappointed in you, is it so far-fetched? It's like saying, it still happened. You can't get away with murder, because murder happened and the mere fact that it happened means you are bad because you caused it.
I think I ran on a bit, I've got this idea in my head and I just can't articulate it-- but you know what I mean, right? @_@;;; Like that stuff about Hell and Heaven and Jesus, I don't know if they're actually there or not; there might actually be an inferno where your soul will suffer forever, and a wonderful haven of eternal happiness, but even if there isn't, it doesn't matter, because the idea is still there, the idea that someone who has done good in their life deserves happiness and is a good person, and someone who has done evil in their life deserves suffering and is a bad person. Essentially, the atheist argument about the existence of said Heaven and Hell and Jesus and God and whatnot, that's scratching at the surface, it's not really dealing with what Christianity is really about, right? Am I totally off-base here?
It's sad to think of good people fighting each other because you can't pick which one should lose. It's not fair that people fight over things like this; I guess that's why I like to find similarities where I can, and go to roots and things. I like to think if you pick at any idea deep enough, you can find that good people tend to be fighting for the same thing on some level, and resolve the problem that way. *naive idealist*
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It's...the concept that people have of religion brainstorming people into a certain worldview, I think, that wouldn't mesh very well with that of a Communist state. Because in such a political situation, it's the government that's the most important, but in most religions...it's the deity or deities that take that place. So by discouraging religion, the state could wield better control over the people. It's almost ironic: you tell people that they shouldn't follow any religion because it'll brainwash them, but at the same time, you're brainwashing people. *sigh* C'est la vie - that's life.
Well, in all honesty, it'd be rather hard to believe in Christianity without believing in some sort of a God. The way I see it, though, might be different from what some others think, because I for one see the Christian Church as a human institution. Created for the sake of following God, yes, but still human and not the ultimate authority. For me, a Christian is a person who desires to live according to God's Word as laid out in the Bible - it's not so much a list of "do"s and "don't"s, but the idea of saying, "I know what's right and what's wrong, and I'm going to do what's right even if my heart wants to do what's wrong." Or, in more "religious" terms, "I want to do what GOD wants instead of what I want."
So the Bible does make an interesting point in one of the passages: in essence, it says that those who do not have direct access to the Bible itself will be judged by God based upon the conscience that every single person is born with that urges you to do what's right.
At the end of the day, though, Christianity is not about actions, but allegiances. Who are you going to choose to follow: God, or yourself? Some people will say it's between God and Satan, but in all honesty, a lot of people's sins come from within themselves and their own selfish desires - you can't blame the Devil for EVERYTHING.
I do personally believe there is a Heaven and a Hell. But I also believe that who ends up where is not for me to say, because only God knows what a person is truly thinking on the inside. I've seen people who act pious on the outside, but do they actually want to do it, or are they just doing it because they have to? Likewise, is a person sinning because they actually like doing it or because they WANT to do what's right but keep on slipping up? Only God knows, so I let Him be the judge on that.
I hope that helped clear some things up about my beliefs. I personally am not always keen to "seek out similarities" all the time. Some things, my friend, I just won't compromise on - and my faith is one of them. I CAN, however, agree to disagree with people and explain my own opinions with as much patience as I can, as long as they're willing to treat me with the same respect
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Yeah, see, of course there's all that horrible stuff but the whole point I was originally going for isn't about who's more horrible than who, I just want to know why the little blonde girls could cheer as hard as they wanted for their country -- America, France, Italy, whatever -- and why the little Japanese girls were adored so much when they talked about their culture, and why our entire school district banned the term "Christmas Break" to make room for Hannukkah, and why the only this little girl had to hold her head down and keep her mouth shut if she wanted people to like her.
If someone wanted to explain the significance of lederhosen, people would giggle but they'd listen! If someone wanted to correct someone who was using a dreidel incorrectly, the teacher would share it with the whole class! If I wanted to share something though, people look away. Only some clueless people don't, but they just ask me if it's Japanese, and when they find out it isn't, they stop listening!
I know I'm not supposed to care about that stuff, or I'm supposed to just assimilate into American culture like everyone else in my situation, but it just kind of sucks. Like, it doesn't matter how many great things China can do from now until the end of time, sorry, you have nothing to be proud of, and you shouldn't be! How dare you! Now recite your pledge of allegiance!
I've been kind of harsh on Japan, and that's unfair. I'm not joking when I say not a single person in the area I live has ever said a single bad word about Japan, at least not where I could hear it. When we learned about WWII in history classes, we didn't even learn about the actual war, all we did was talk about the Holocaust and the atomic bombings and how horrible they were. Everyone at my school absolutely worshiped all things Japanese, including me, and like I mentioned earlier, oftentimes the Chinese stuff I did or said would get called Japanese at first, and rejected when I corrected them. My dad is really bitter about Japan because of the Nanking thing, and his ranting to me about it was the single bad thing I have ever heard about Japan (he loves talking about how wonderful Japan is too). Throughout my life, Japan has always been the superior younger brother that China could never possibly live up to, because everyone loved Japan and everyone hated China.
Similar attitudes happen toward Russia, I know. I remember watching this movie called Salt with my cousins a few months back, and it was so unbelievably racist against Russians I thought it was filmed during the Cold War (it was extremely new, though). The way Germans were treated in History classes was also absolutely appalling; kids and teachers alike talked about Germany as though Germans and Nazis were the exact same thing, and they talked about Nazis and Hitler like they were the same thing too (a lot of Nazis were just clueless idiots who thought they were in Boy Scouts, or people who didn't happen to be brave enough to risk their life for what was right; a.k.a., like most people). I'm also given to understand Germans are unfairly harsh to their own country, though thankfully that seems to be getting better in recent years. I think I've also mentioned the way Middle-Easterns get treated, like they're all terrorists just because of where their ancestors were from. I'd totally love it if all of that stopped, too.
And this is almost totally random, but I love reading young adult fantasy stories that involve cultures, like Rick Riordan's stories that feature Ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian culture; and Disney movies take place in beautiful, fantastical worlds based on France and England and Italy, but how beautiful would it be to have a fantasy story based on Russia? Anastasia from Fox took place (briefly) in Russia, but didn't really show much of it since it was busy being communist. Sleeping Beauty (Disney) was actually made using Tschaikovsky's music from the ballet, but that's about as Russian as I can think of from them! They're missing out on a beautiful and rich culture that's just a goldmine for imagination!
When you talk about Pride, it reminds me of this Hetalia comic someone drew based on global statistics; apparently USA is the most proud country in the world, and they measured "pride" by how willing citizens would be to support their country even if they knew it was doing something wrong. Willing to support the country no matter how evil it was being? Yeah, I'd believe that for the US. "Love it or leave it" indeed.
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Gonna try to reply to both your comments at once here.
That, to me, is a rather foreign concept here in Canada where, in the spirit of multiculturalism, Chinese culture is promoted just as strongly as anything else. Same with the idea of something Chinese being mistaken for being Japanese - in my area, it's the other way around, and Japanese and Korean kids grow up having to say all the time, "No, I'm not Chinese, I'm X."
And that makes me wonder what part of the States you're in. Because I think that might give me some idea as to WHY this is going on.
I've heard about "Salt" although I haven't watched it. And I know that people in the States can still go up in arms at the idea of there being a Russian spy in their midst, considering that that happened not too long ago. As for the whole terrorism thing...the US is suspicious of just about any place they could be from. Even Canada.
You know what I'd love to see? An actual adaptation of a Russian fairytale, or at least one that's associated with Russia. Like, say, "The Nutcracker" or "The Firebird" - both of them wound up in "Fantasia" and "Fantasia 2000" respectively, but they're not the original stories and that's kinda sad. Or, when I was growing up, I liked the story of "Vasilisa the Beautiful" - here's a link to it: [link] Try looking that one up and you'll find it's got so many of the classica fairy tale elements that kids who grew up with Disney know and love.
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I think that kind of multiculturalism is what people aim for here (I live in California, but that's about as specific as I can get before I get paranoid xP ) but they end up getting caught in the "melting pot" thing. I hate it when people use that term-- it doesn't imply cultural diversity so much as a place where you throw in a bunch of different people and make them all into the same thing. Right now, the people here are all caught up in this Japanese culture vogue, largely from the big anime/manga popularity boom but also from things like Zen Buddhism (popular now because people associate it with environmental friendliness and natural health solutions) and Japanese technological innovations. I suppose it's not too big a surprise that people would rather think someone is from the nice happy perfect land of innovation and spirituality than from the land of evil overlords and human rights extortionists.
California is a huge state, though, and since it's kind of the America of America there's a huge population and it's extremely diverse. I'm sure if you moved a few miles radius away from my high school the situation would be different.
You shouldn't watch it, unless you want a movie that you can write an impassioned criticism about. It was about how Russia raised some secret spy babies from infanthood to be as American as possible so they could grow up in America and. . . I dunno, attack America from the inside. Since they are sent to live in America from an extremely young age, I don't know why they aren't just, you know. . . regular Russian-American citizens? Because I sure would be if I moved to America at that age. By the end of the movie the overall message seems to be "Fear all people who aren't born in America or are the slightest bit not American, even if they're the most American people you could possibly know, because they're trying to kill you." The "spy" in question was an agent working for the American government against Russia for chrissakes, even she didn't know she was one. That movie just ARRRRGH.
As we talk, Canada starts to look more and more wonderful compared to the US. I remember reading a short story a Middle-Eastern person wrote about their experience flying to the US from Canada, and the US was all "ZOMG EVIL!!1" and detained them for several days, and when they went back to Canada it was just "Oh, hey there." I know there's reasons for the paranoia but when you have no other reason to suspect someone except for their race, then it's plain racism.
Oh, wow! You're absolutely right, as I read the story I could visualize almost frame-by-frame how the story would look if it had been animated like Snow White or Cinderella! The tone of the story and the accompanying artwork would work most beautifully with Walt Disney's artstyle. It's too bad Disney doesn't make movies like that anymore; if it were made now, they would have to change Vasilisa's personality so she wouldn't be seen as a weak role model to girls. Also, I didn't know Baba Yaga was from this story! I've heard of Baba Yaga before but I never really knew who she was. Is there a sequel to this story? Because I feel like they left a lot of questions unanswered about, like, everything! Who were the knights, why were they significant? The three hands? Why could Baba Yaga rest on the stove?
Thanks for linking me that story! It was really good!
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You know what's unfortunate? It's like the people you're living with think China never existed prior to 1949. There's a lot of richness to the culture and all that, and considering how many Chinese people there are in California...you'd think people would know that. But it's the same on our west coast - the Chinese have been there longer, but anti-Orientalism has also had more time to really get strongly rooted there. Chinese people in those parts of Canada historically had a reputation for crime, gambling (let's just say that Vancouver's Chinatown was the "ghetto" at the time), and taking all the jobs from the white workforce. I think the same might have been the case in California too and, well, you know...old habits die hard, I'm afraid.
lol - what spy movie ISN'T incredibly far-fetched? Seriously, you try doing things the way they work in the movies, you'll either get caught or get killed. But that whole fear of immigrants - especially from Russia - that's actually not too hard for me to understand. Not that I think it's right, but I think I see where they're coming from with that. It takes a long time for nations and their people to be able to trust each other and don't forget that the Cold War's only been over for about 20 years...soon enough for those who feared Russia like the plague to still be around.
And some people criticize Canada for that very reason: "You let just about anyone into your country, then they join up with Al Qaeda and come down and bomb us and we can't do a damn thing about it because they're Canadians." Um...yeah. Double-edged sword, mon amie. Double-edged sword.
Baba Yaga is a pretty constant figure in Russian folklore - so I daresay some of the other things are as well. I wish I knew more than that, but there you go. By the way, half the time I read a Russian fairytale with a male protagonist...his name's Ivan. Neat, eh? And if you ever want to try drawing stuff for that story, be my guest - I'd love to see it.
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