October Announcement- Dazu Buddhist Stone Statues: 短十月通知

October 15, 2022

October Announcement- Dazu Buddhist Stone Statues: 短十月通知

(Top) Dazu medieval stone Buddhist statues. Sichuan, Central China. Detailed article covering these statue clusters here. (Bottom) Medieval Chinese musicians, art piece "乐" (Joy) - by Insist.

Music: Oh When Will Autumn Moon and Spring Flowers End

Hi all, a quick announcement as to both my recent absence as well as the state of things (more specifically articles and artworks) to come. I won't bore you so TL : DR: last months and the early part of this month I have been extremely busy and was pulled away in other areas that left me unable to attend our Armory. But I am back. In the coming weeks you will receive a bunch of articles and posts that will be sure to make up for the last month and pad out enough content for both September and October. Good thing is that finally I will be able to devote most of my time on this blog and be quick on the draw.

A slightly longer, and more indulgent explanation is that I was on crunch time professionally in my studio and while that was happening I also was experiencing somewhat of a personal burnout as well (in regards to Chinese history.) I'm happy to report that the professional portion at work was happily finished and the foot soldier part of my work attitude was satisfied that it was a job both well approved at its finish line and something I can nod at in hindsight. But although the temporal part of my responsibility ended there was something that kind of kept me from pumping out the sequel part of the Mandate's War and more articles on the Han dynasty or medieval China. Before I was able to find the spirits to pick up my figurative pen again, I wondered if indeed anyone care to read my writings at all.

As you might have noticed, ever since the beginning of this year I have started a few very long and ambitious pieces of writing (Great Wall/ Mandate of Heaven etc) and being a perfectionist to present both the dry history and a cohesive narrative I won't settle for anything less than what is perfect for me and up to my standards.

Another is that: To be a Chinese- born expat in the West is often to confront with the daily reality that you are going to run into things that are wrong all the time. I should point out in a few months I would have been doing this- this blog, for a full decade. China's history and traditions are a deep inextricable part of me. I have tried my best to internalize it with commitment as well as externalize it with justice. I do make mistakes, but I can coolly swear I also never stopped bettering myself, nor will I ever. But some times, seeing a world of things that are just flat out wrong, that are accepted as casual truth by others could dampen the spirits and make one feel the smallness against thunderheads of these colossal, accepted mistakes. But I found an answer, an answer for my spirits that got me back to my writings here. For me I must remind myself to just keep speak up and patiently lay out these small bytes for as long as I can. It's not like I can walk away from what I am.

Well, prepare for a bunch of new content coming up. Hope you like Chinese history. ;)