Now this is what I'd characterize as a cool cover for a world-leading academic journal. And it's actually the first article in the issue! Never in my wildest dreams did I ever ...
I was in a very difficult position three years ago. I had just come out of the cancer treatment and was suffering from different side-effects. My work in Taiwan was really useless, teaching political science to technology students who lacked any incentive to read or listen. I tried to come up with a way to improve my life. The only thing I could think of was to write, write and write, so I did, and this IO article is one of the results. This article is one of the ways in which I returned to life. It feels really great.
I'm speaking at Fudan University here in Shanghai on Monday, November 21. It's a version of the last chapter of my Liberal Barbarism book, a reflection on the use of history and the role of historical memory. Fudan U is the most famous place to study social sciences in China -- well, it was until all these great professors where hired at SJTU ;-) Come and listen if you're in town. If not, the talk is here.
Where did they get that photo from? Must be something they got off the web somewhere.
Actually, if you're in Hong Kong you can hear the same thing today.
I just got back from a visit to Beijing. I was there three days and I went to Yuanmingyuan three times. I had never previously seen what really is the core of the gardens -- houhu, the "back lake" -- with the nine islands constructed by the Kangxi Emperor in 1709. What everyone looks at, and takes photographs of, are the ruins of the European palaces, but they were a very peripheral part of the imperial compound, just a little amusement a la europenne off in a corner. The nine islands, on the other hand, constituted the center of the garden. This was where the emperor lived together with his women. The nine islands symbolized the entire world. This part of the park was opened only last year.
People say there isn't much to see at Yuanmingyuan, and foreigners don't come here much. I completely disagree of course. I find it a beautiful and delightful place, much as in the days when the emperors still lived here. Everything is gone but the meandering waterways and the irregular aesthetics of the paths and the hills. It's enough for me.
I came across this sign on the wall of one of the reconstructed buildings in the Yuanmingyuan compound. Perhaps it would have helped if they had had the sign up some 151 years ago -- and perhaps it should have had text in French too.
