無畏的旅行

Xuanqing New Residence (璇庆新居) is situated in the Shabeili Village (沙背坜) in Longgang District, 40 kilometers to the northeast of Shenzhen city center. Notwithstanding the name of the village, due to the hectic urbanization of Shenzhen after the opening-up of China, most of the rural areas have been transformed into industrial areas incorporated into the fabric of the metropolis. Likewise, Shabeili Village is predominated by modern buildings and factories.   The mansion stands out for its elegant outlook combining traditional Chinese architecture and western architecture features. It was built by Qiu Man, a Malaysian Chinese who migrated from the village to British Malaya in the early nineteenth century. He worked hard as a coolie in a tin mine and was fortunately appreciated by the owner. The owner betrothed his daughter to Qiu Man.  The couple inherited the tin mine after their father passed away. Being rich, Qiu Man was not satisfied with only one spouse. Afterward, he marrie...

The conflict between clans was common in southern China. The possibility of battle was ever present in a clan-dominated area, and a permanent state of preparedness was maintained through village watches and strong walls around the clan’s territory (Baker, 1979:149).  John Scarth( 1860: 63-67 ), a British merchant traveling in Chaozhou in the late 1850s recorded that the villages were surrounded by distinct walls about sixteen to twenty feet high, and each seemed prepared to fight with its neighbor. Thomas Buoye( 2000:143 ) also states that  violence is prevalent in Chaozhou’s rural area and the overall number of homicides was much greater than in any other prefecture in Guangdong Province in the 18th century.  As the two influential clans in Chi village, the relationship between Chen and Xie was hostile. Before 1949, they banned inter-clan marriage. Moreover, battles often broke out due to some disputes including deity procession. The elders in Chi village told me about ...

All clans in Chi Village worship a group of community deities called Three Mountain Kings.  They are a group of community deities widely believed in the east of Guangdong Province.  Chi Village has formed its own sacrificial circle based on the folk religion of the Three Mountain Kings.   The belief originated from Jinshan, Mingshan and Dushan mountains in Jiexi County, a Hakka ethnic area in Chaozhou. They were originally the mountain deities of these three mountains. According to the legend, in 677, General Chen Yunguang wrote the Inscriptions on the Temple of Chaozhou Three Mountain Kings ( si Chaozhou sanshan shen ti bi 祀潮州三山神题壁) when he stationed his troop in Jiexi County.  Moreover, another historical celebrity Han Yu is also related to Three Mountain Kings. Han Yu was a Chinese essayist, poet, philosopher, and politician during the Tang dynasty. In 819 AD, he was demoted and exiled to Chaozhou because of his strong protest again Emperor Xianzong’s suppor...

I witness the change in meat consumption after the economic reform in China in the late 1970s. When I was a child, my family could only afford meat once per week.  Nevertheless, from the 1990s onward, with the rapid economic development of China and the wealth growth of the Chinese middle class, meat became more affordable, and meat consumption rocketed. The chart presents information about changes in meat consumption in China over the period 1991 to 2026. Overall, there is a dramatic surge in meat consumption from around 20 kilograms per capita to 50 kilograms per capita, showing a noticeable increase of 150 percent. At the same time, it is predicted to increase modestly up to 55 kilograms by the end of 2026. Moreover, the variety of meat markedly expanded. At the beginning of 1991, pork was predominant with more than three-quarters. Nonetheless, its percentage inclined to three-fifths in 2017. There is a significant upward trend in poultry, beef and sheep. Frozen meat is common i...

There are many folk deities worshipped in Chi Village. However, one deity is unique because it is not found anywhere rather than in Chi Village. The name is Old General Huang ( Huang Lao Jiang Jun ). People also called him  Gong Ye  in the community. A temple was established to worship him.  The exact name of this general is Huang Ruiyuan. He was a general in the Ming Empire and passed away in Chi Village after combating a bloody battle. Afterward, the villagers built a temple to worship him.  Villagers do not take the statue of Old General Huang for procession during the Lunar New Year like the Three Mountains King, but his status in the village is not lower than the Three Mountain kings. There is no other temple of Old General Huang in the other places in Chaozhou. The worship of General Huang Lao is exclusive to Chi Village. There are also many legends in the village about Old General Huang. During the Republic of China (1912-1949), a pandemic broke out in the vil...

英国首相苏纳克/HM Treasury 英国在经历史上最短命的44天首相之后，迎来了史上最年轻的42岁首相苏纳克（Rishi Sunak）。苏纳克受到关注不仅仅是因为他的年纪，也因为他是纯正的印度旁遮普裔英国人，他的父母是印度裔，妻子也是印度人。甚至，他自己也信仰印度教。 巴基斯坦方面还有争论。由于苏纳克的祖父出生地现在属于巴基斯坦，所以还有人说应该把苏纳克归为巴基斯坦人。历史与政治夹杂在一起的诡辩太复杂了。总之，苏纳克的祖父出生的时候，还是英属印度，所以姑且还是先认为首相是印度裔吧。 昨天开始，是为期五天的印度传统节日 排灯节 （Diwali）。苏纳克当选之后，印度总理莫迪向他致以传统节日的问候。莫迪称，苏纳克是印度与英国印度裔社群之间的桥梁，他将和苏纳克携手将历史纽带转换为现代的合作伙伴关系。 苏纳克的背后有着英国庞大的印度裔族群以及印度力量在全世界的崛起。印度裔英国人是英国最大的少数族群，达到 140万人 ，占整体人口的 2.3% 。华裔族群只有43万，仅占人口比例的0.7%，排在巴基斯坦裔和孟加拉国裔的后面。实际上，在1947年印巴分治之前，巴基斯坦和孟加拉国都属于英属印度的一部分，如果都一起算上，英属印度的后裔占英国总人口的 5% 。 苏纳克的祖父Ramdas Sunak出生在英属印度 古吉兰瓦拉 （Gujranwala）。当时，古吉兰瓦拉有超过七成以上的人口是穆斯林。可是，印度教徒和锡克教徒掌握了这座城市三分之二的资产。Ramdas Sunak 的家庭在这座城市就属于上层阶级。 由于贫富差距引起的宗教冲突，Ramdas Sunak于1935年就离开古吉兰瓦拉，前往非洲肯尼亚的内罗毕工作。两年后，他的妻子Suhag Rani Sunak带上婆婆也从老家搬到了内罗毕，一家团聚。两人生了六个孩子，三男三女。苏纳克的父亲Yashveer Sunak出生于1949年。1966年，十七岁的Yashveer十七岁到了英国利物浦，在利物浦大学学习医学。1977年，Yashveer与印度裔的女孩Usha结婚。 1980年，苏纳克出生在南安普顿。苏纳克成长在保持传统的印度裔社区中。1971年，Ramdas就在当地建立了印度教神庙。一直以来，英国的印度裔保守自己的宗教信仰、传统节日、语言文化，是英国辨识度最高的少数族群。 苏纳克的妻子也是印度人，是印度亿万富翁、科技巨头Inf...

​10月17日是 联合国消除贫困国际日 ，同时在澳大利亚，这一周也是 反贫困周 （Anti Poverty Week）。澳大利亚社会服务委员会和新南威尔士大学最新研究表明，澳大利亚有八分之一的人生活在贫困线之下。 研究的数据基于澳大利亚统计局2019-2020年居民家庭收入数据，将 家庭税后收入中位数50% 以下定义为贫困人口：单身成人每周收入 489澳元 （约人民币2218元）以下，以及由一对夫妻和两个孩子构成的家庭每周收入 1027澳元 （约人民币4660元）以下。生活在贫困线以下的有 331.9万人 ，占总人口 13.4% 。即在澳大利亚每八个人中，就有一个是穷人。在儿童群体中，有76.1万名儿童生活在贫困线以下，占儿童总人数的16.6%。 （图/Grameen Australia） 反贫困周的宣传海报（图/Anti-poverty Week） 2020年新型冠状病毒疫情在澳大利亚爆发，3月，澳大利亚颁布禁令，宣布对本国居民外的所有人关闭边境，开始全国性的封城措施。在严格的新冠防疫政策下，经济受到巨大打击。2020年第一季度，贫困率飙升至14.6%。 不过，由于在澳大利亚政府在严格防疫期间，实行经济支持补贴、新冠补贴、求职补贴等一系列政策，在2020年第三季度，贫困率下降至12%。随着防疫形势好转，2021年3月来时停止发放新冠补贴。2022年2月21日开始，澳大利亚也重新开放边境，迎接外国游客入境旅游。 不过，澳大利亚1/8的穷人仍是个重要的社会课题，单靠政府补助难以持续性解决问题。在澳大利亚开放边境之后，一个孟加拉国人从纽约飞往澳大利亚。这位孟加拉国人叫Shah Newaz。2008年，在格莱珉银行创始人、穷人的银行家尤努斯教授（Muhammad Yunus）的派遣下，在格莱珉银行工作了30年的他前往美国纽约。彼时的美国，正在遭受金融海啸的冲击，全美有七分之一的人生活在贫困线之下。 Newaz选择了纽约皇后开始这个全新的项目，让低收入的女性组成五人小组、每周召开中心会议，提供1000美元左右的资金，通过做小生意摆脱贫困。项目一开始到处碰壁，很多人以为他们是骗子，在第一年只有几十个客户。Newaz一开始的策略是利用老乡网络，在孟加拉国移民中发展客户，后来才发现美国有一个巨大的贫困群体：讲西班牙语的 拉美裔 移民。 我在2015年和2017年分别访问了格莱珉美...