You pay for your purchase with a banknote (maybe) like this illustration of one held in the British Museum collection:
This was a Hansatu, issued by the Amagaski clan. Its value equalled a silver monme (sorry cant tell you the equivalent value)
during the 268 years (approx) of rule by a military dictatorship in japan (approx.1600 to 1868) japan developed a growing, prosperous middle class and a proto-modernity that enabled the quick conversion to western modernity in the late 19th century.
a feature of the era was a growing book publishing industry.
people could make a living as authors, artists/illustrators, printers and selling books.
You pay for your purchase with a banknote (maybe) like this illustration of one held in the British Museum collection:
This was a Hansatu, issued by the Amagaski clan. Its value equalled a silver monme (sorry cant tell you the equivalent value)
during the 268 years (approx) of rule by a military dictatorship in japan (approx.1600 to 1868) japan developed a growing, prosperous middle class and a proto-modernity that enabled the quick conversion to western modernity in the late 19th century.
a feature of the era was a growing book publishing industry.
people could make a living as authors, artists/illustrators, printers and selling books.
So maybe after browsing, you decide you'll buy this print by Kitagawa Utamaro ( he lived between 1754 and 1806) of some girls paddling in the sea with some sacred rocks behind them, and the rising sun on the horizon. (Original in the British Museum Collection)
what's your reaction when you see a photograph like this?
a couple relaxing at the beach.. .
or, this, where a family enjoy a picnic in a pleasant park?.
What's your reaction when you see a photograph like this? A couple relaxing at the beach.
or, this, where a family enjoy a picnic in a pleasant park?
Some North Korean men drink and sing inside a pagoda. They look like they are having a good time. Could be Bethel boys, couldn't they?
after moving past the question, "Is it genuine" - and, they seem to be, we may conclude, that wherever humans live
they try to make the best of of the circumstances in which they live. We likely had a good time on occasion as Jws.
It's true that for the unfortunates who offend politically, life will likely become terrible. But the most common estimate for the prison/labour camp population of NK is about 200,000. Even if the figure was a bad estimate, and the prison/labour camp population was closer to 1,000,000, it still leaves 23 million "free" people in NK. ( http://worldpopulationreview.com/population-of-north-korea/ )
The population of Pyongyang is estimated at approximately 3,250,000. The top echelon are believed to live in Pyongyang, and below the top rankers you have a second ring of technocrats that make the system work. These days that group will include computer programmers and technicians and even nuclear scientists. Below that again will be the people who make life good for the top two tiers. Some may even live outside Pyongyang (perhaps not considered completely trustworthy) and commute into the city.
These are the groups that can be seen at play in the photographs that some westerners take. (as above)
Those piks (btw) were published on a News Ltd site in Australia. (So I don't consider it likely that Rupert M. will publish fake images of NK life ) Web Link: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/photos-capture-ordinary-daily-life-in-secretive-north-korea/story-e6frfkp9-1226542567923
i'm sure that most have heard the story of deng xiaoping, who became chairman of china after the death of mao zedong.
during the cultural revolution deng had been imprisoned, accused of being a 'capitalist-roader' (i.e.
someone who favoured capitalism), during the long struggle to work out what sort of economic system would suit the new china.
Some images of modern Guangzhou:
The above photograph shows a huge tower recently built, the following image shows the same tower in the evening, juxtaposed against an ancient Pagoda.
And, this was the past- rapidly disappearing into history>
You can see the French Cathedral in Old Canton, which dates back to 1863-88. At a time when Western imperialism rode rough-shod over China, the church was built on the site of a Chinese temple, demolished over the objections of the Chinese citizens, an action which contributed to the anger of the Boxer rebellion.
i'm sure that most have heard the story of deng xiaoping, who became chairman of china after the death of mao zedong.
during the cultural revolution deng had been imprisoned, accused of being a 'capitalist-roader' (i.e.
someone who favoured capitalism), during the long struggle to work out what sort of economic system would suit the new china.
I attended a lecture last week, by Professor Jonathon Unger who specialises in changing social conditions in China. The background is that in an attempt to re-organise Chinese agriculture from the very small traditional village farms, Mao Zedong forced villages to combine into collectives so that broad acre farming could be developed. It did not always work well, but by strange co-incidence on what was then the outskirts of cities, it has delivered untold wealth to these peasant farmers.
The talk was delivered under the auspices or the Universit of Technology, Sydney's China Research Centre, and the topic was:
The Guangdong Model: Collective Village Land, Urbanization, and the Making of a New Middle Class
In Guangdong Province and some other important regions of China, rural communities often have retained ownership of much of their land when it gets converted into urban neighborhoods or industrial zones. In these areas, the rural collectives, rather than disappearing, are able to convert themselves into property companies, and are strengthened both economically and politically as rental income pours into their coffers. The native residents share in the profits and live in middle-class comfort on their dividends and rents. The collective retention of land is found in a vast number of industrializing villages in the Pearl River Delta region, containing many millions of native residents, and also in hundreds of former villages that today lie within urban Guangzhou and Shenzhen. How this operates-and the major economic, social and political ramifications-are examined through on-site research in four communities: an industrialized village near the edge of the Pearl River delta; an urban neighbourhood in Shenzhen with its own subway station, whose land is still owned and administered by rural collectives; and two villages-in-the-city (chengzhongcun) in Guangzhou's new downtown districts, where fancy housing estates and high-rise office blocks owned by village collectives are springing up alongside newly rebuilt village temples and lineage halls.
BIOGRAPHY
Jonathan Unger, a sociologist, is a Professor in the Australian National University's Political & Social Change Department and heads the ANU's Contemporary China Centre. He has published more than a dozen books about China. He co-edited The China Journal (with UTS' Professor Anita Chan) for 18 years from 1987 through 2005.
His bio. is at: https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/unger-jm
The substance of the talk was as outlined, but Unger made the point that with so much wealth pouring into their bank accounts, many of these former poor farmers have become millionaires. All, the land is rented out on leasehold, so the former village, now absorbed into metropolitan areas, retain ownership. New apartment buildings have been built for their homes. They have organised some of the best medical services in China, and the best schools for their children. Older peasants likely had poor education, but their kids have become professionals in many fields.
If there is a communist heaven, and old Mao is looking down, I wonder what he thinks of the capitalist paradise that China is becoming?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewqy2sbxm80 .
hello, i am jehovah witness and gay.
i am from puerto rico.
i would like to know how hard is to leave the organization.
Oh! and this icecream advertisement from Finland has started doing the rounds. Guess this is a good place to post it:
A young man wants to give a girl an ice cream for a treat. He has unexpected difficulties delivering the ice cream and a unexpected ending.
hello, i am jehovah witness and gay.
i am from puerto rico.
i would like to know how hard is to leave the organization.
Escape is possible, my gay XJW friend assures me. He sends you this encouraging story of his escape.
-------------------------------------------------------
I WAS KIDNAPPED BY CHRISTIAN BANDITS, IMPRISONED IN A BIG TOWER, BUT I ESCAPED
"When i was just a princess (a little queen) a sad thing happened to me. I was tripping through the forest one day, singing my happy little maddona songs, when all of sudden I was surrounded by a gang of roving Christian bandits.
They ripped my dress of me, saying that the big dog in the sky was not happy when little boys wore girl's dresses. Then they blindfolded me, so that I could not see the attractions of world. My mouth was forced open, and something hard pushed in deep down my throat. I found out later that it was a bible, because they said I needed to eat more spiritual food.
Then they took me to a grim gray castle with a big tower, ruled over by a big bad dog who lived in the sky. I was kept a prisoner in the castle and forced to listen to talks about the bible and to sing their songs, instead of my happy little madonna songs.
After a while i could remember nothing else and became a slave in the castle tower, watched over by the guardians of the tower. I was told I had to wear horrible grey suits, that made me look like a sack of potatoes. One day in desperation, I made myself a beautiful pink suit, everyone frowned at me and told me that the big grim gray dog up in the sky had sent a message that he was angy at me. He said I lacked fashion sense. I cried and burnt my beautiful bright pink suit.
In time, I nearly forgot my previous happy little princess life. I earned the trust of the guardians of the roving Christian bandits. Then they took me out with them to trap other happy little queens.
But one day, I fell into a deep fever, and in my sickness, (which the guardians said was a spiritual sickness) I had a sudden vision of my life long ago, and remembered what a happy little queen I had once been, before being captured by the roving Christian bandits.
Tears fell from eyes, I felt so sad that I had never had the chance to grown up to be a BIG queen. I cried out in my anguish and thought that i could never escape from the grim gray castle.
BUT someone had heard my anguished cries and understood the terror in my heart in being forced to spend the rest of my life in the big dog's grim gray tower.
The next moment my Prince Charming appeared before before me. He said, "Oh! little queen, I've been looking everywhere for you. and, at last I've found you locked up by the wicked, roving, Christian bandits in the big dog's grim gray tower"
"Oh! dear Prince Charming," I cried, " if only you had come sooner, I fear it is too late, I've forgotten how to be a happy little queen."
"It's never, never, too late to be a queen", my prince charming told me... "just close your eyes, you sweet little thing, and I will give you a magic potion that will make all things new for you".
I shut my eyes, expectantly! My Prince Charming asked me to open my mouth. I nearly refused, with my bad memories of the bible being forced down my throat, but filled with a bright hope for a better future, I opened my mouth - and ... (censored, censored, censored) ... The moment I tasted it, I knew that is was what i should have had in my mouth all my life.
My PC sighed and prayed. "Oh! bright and happy good fairy in the sky ", he said fervently, " this little queen is a natural - she does it so well"
The grim gray castle and its tower began to dissolve in front of me, and the big gray dog fell out of heaven, and drowned in the deep sea. And, I found that I was going back to the days of my youth. "Hallelujah!" I sang.
Oh happy, happy days ... when next I opened my eyes, the big bad dog's castle and tower had totally gone. Wonderful music with a heavy beat filled the air. My feet started to move in a way I thought that I had forgotten, and the empty space where the grim gray castle and tower once stood, was suddenly full of beautiful dancing boys, dancing without clothes.
"Come here, princess," one of the dancing boys called. He helped me out of my ugly grey suit, and started to dance with me.
He whispered in my ear, "Hey! I've never seen you around here before, you're so cute" and I was filled with a deep joy. I started to sing a new song, "Rejoice, rejoice", I sang, " All the boys of the world are at hand
And I lived happily ever after.
me whom they have pierced .
blood flowed from our saviors' side when he was pierced:.
"but one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out...for these things were done that the scripture should be fulfilled...and again another scripture says, 'they shall look on him whom they pierced.
'pure Christianity,' straight from the Apostle John.
Not sure as to what 'pure Christianity' is, or how to identify it? Funny thing, many scholars see the Gospel of John as one of the most gnostic influenced writings in the NT.
another child raped, left for dead ( gory so not repeating details ).
what on earth is going on.
sick, sick people living on this planet.
*lost*, I owe you an apology, I scanned your posts too quickly. You make it clear from the first post that you were describing a world-wide problem.
We are on the same page, but you had the page open first. Forgive my lack of acknowledgement, please.
FTS