[This is my Trail] A Little Bit of History
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Rachelle
Sep 17, 2008, 10:47:56 PM9/17/08
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or why is China such a loud place?
Today is September 18, as you may know if you own a calendar. What you may not know, though, is that this is an important day in the history of Sino-Japanese relations (and by relations, I mean the lack thereof).
Japan staged an explosion on a Japanese-owned railroad in Manchuria on September 18, 1931 and then blamed the Chinese army and used it as an excuse to invade the area. This is one of the events leading up to the second Sino-Japanese War (although it didn't officially start until 1937). Though this may seem like a bit of ancient history (a lot of bad stuff happened during and leading up to World War 2, right?), China is still pretty pissed about it. To celebrate (or I guess commemorate would be a better word) the 九一八事变 jiu yi ba shi bian (The September 18 Incident) as the Chinese call it (also known as the Mukden Incident, the Manchurian Incident, etc.), they just set off their air raid sirens for 13 minutes. While I'm glad to know Kunming has working air raid sirens, I think about one minute of blaring would have been more than enough to remind the Chinese of why they hate the Japanese (they don't need much reminding). But I guess that's just me. I like peace and quiet (which does not exist here ever), and would prefer to celebrate peace with a little quiet (moment of silence, perhaps?).
In further irony, the "Moment of Silence" (maybe it was called "Moment of Remembrance" or something in Chinese) for the Sichuan earthquake the week after it happened involved three solid minutes of all traffic stopping (cops were there to stop it) and people honking their horns, setting off alarms, etc. Three solid minutes of absolute noise. I don't know if you can imagine an absolute cacophony of noise, but it's not pleasant. I guess in the US we have the idea of remembering with a little sadness and reflection, not with total chaos. I guess it's a cultural difference. Some things I'll never understand.
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Posted By Rachelle to This is my Trail at 9/17/2008 10:24:00 PM
Today is September 18, as you may know if you own a calendar. What you may not know, though, is that this is an important day in the history of Sino-Japanese relations (and by relations, I mean the lack thereof).
Japan staged an explosion on a Japanese-owned railroad in Manchuria on September 18, 1931 and then blamed the Chinese army and used it as an excuse to invade the area. This is one of the events leading up to the second Sino-Japanese War (although it didn't officially start until 1937). Though this may seem like a bit of ancient history (a lot of bad stuff happened during and leading up to World War 2, right?), China is still pretty pissed about it. To celebrate (or I guess commemorate would be a better word) the 九一八事变 jiu yi ba shi bian (The September 18 Incident) as the Chinese call it (also known as the Mukden Incident, the Manchurian Incident, etc.), they just set off their air raid sirens for 13 minutes. While I'm glad to know Kunming has working air raid sirens, I think about one minute of blaring would have been more than enough to remind the Chinese of why they hate the Japanese (they don't need much reminding). But I guess that's just me. I like peace and quiet (which does not exist here ever), and would prefer to celebrate peace with a little quiet (moment of silence, perhaps?).
In further irony, the "Moment of Silence" (maybe it was called "Moment of Remembrance" or something in Chinese) for the Sichuan earthquake the week after it happened involved three solid minutes of all traffic stopping (cops were there to stop it) and people honking their horns, setting off alarms, etc. Three solid minutes of absolute noise. I don't know if you can imagine an absolute cacophony of noise, but it's not pleasant. I guess in the US we have the idea of remembering with a little sadness and reflection, not with total chaos. I guess it's a cultural difference. Some things I'll never understand.
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Posted By Rachelle to This is my Trail at 9/17/2008 10:24:00 PM
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