Podcasts about confucious

Peter Perrett, auténtico superviviente del rock’n’roll, líder de The Only Ones en los años 70 que reapareció en 2017 tras 20 años en las sombras de su adicción. El suyo ha sido uno de los mejores regresos que jamás haya protagonizado un músico de tiempos pretéritos. Acompañado de su hijo Jamie Perrett baja a presentarnos “The Cleansing” (Domino Records), doble álbum que se convierte en una de las más brillantes entregas de este británico de 72 años. Un disco con ilustres colaboradores en donde con su narcótica voz habla de la vida y la muerte, las luces y las sombras, los estragos de las drogas y las nuevas oportunidades.Playlist:PETER PERRETT “I wanna go with dignity”PETER PERRETT “Fountain of you”PETER PERRETT “There for you”PETER PERRETT “The cleansing”PETER PERRETT “Survival mode”PETER PERRETT “Less than nothing”PETER PERRETT “Mixed up Confucious”PETER PERRETT “Solitary confinement” (directo en El Sótano)PETER PERRETT “Do not resucite” (directo en El Sótano)PETER PERRETT “Crystal clear” (directo en El Sótano)PETER PERRETT “World in chains”Escuchar audio

Singles Going Around- Summer Solstice BluesLink Wray- "Fire and Brimstone"The Beastie Boys- "The Blue Nun/Stand Together"AC/DC- "Let There Be Rock"Jimmy Reed- "Let's Get Together"Bob Dylan- "Lonesome Day Blues"The Doors- "Crawling King Snake"Love- "Alone Again Or"Clash- "Rudie Can't Fail"Don Drummond- "Confucious"Van Morrison- "It Stoned Me" Wilco- "Kamera"Hasil Adkins- "Your Gonna Miss Me"Syd Barrett- "If It's In You"Simon & Garfunkel- "Sounds Of Silence"The Velvet Underground- "Candy Says"Cream- "Sitting On Top Of The World"

Once you have revealed that China is hacking British citizens on a major and global scale, the next question is - well, what are you going to do about it? Well this is the one the prime minister is currently pondering. He's talking about putting China on an 'enhanced' list - which basically sounds like a glorified registration. But is he prepared to risk trading links? Or shut down Confucious institutes in the UK - China's soft power - or even say no to tiktok? Also - the Tavistock child gender identity services are shutting their doors for good this week, after the Care Quality Commission declared the care they were offering our children was 'inadequate'. We speak to the investigative journalist Hannah Barnes, who helped expose the failures at the Tavistock. And we ask where children in need of help should seek it now?Editor: Tom HughesSenior Producer: Gabriel RadusProducer: Laura FitzPatrickSocial Media Editor: Georgia FoxwellVideo Production: Shane Fennelly and Arvind BadewalYou can listen to this episode on Alexa - just say "Alexa, ask Global Player to play The News Agents"!The News Agents is brought to you by HSBC UK - https://www.hsbc.co.uk/

Last time we spoke about the Twenty-One Demands and the rise of the Walrus Emperor, Yuan Shikai. Japan certainly had their work cut out for them during WW1. Seizing upon every possible opportunity Japan occupied Shandong province after the siege of Tsingtao and forced China to accept the unbelievable twenty-one demands. Yuan Shikai tried to stall and negotiate, eventually reaching thirteen demands, but yet again China was served a terrible humiliation that even became a national day henceforth. Then Yuan Shikai completely, organically, not fault of his own because the Hongxian emperor over a new dynasty. The new monarchy of China lasted a solid 83 days, before Yuan Shikai was forced to abdicate lest every single province declare their independence. All of this was occurring during the vacuum of WW1, which was still raging on. Yuan Shikai was back to being president, over a fractured nation.   #91 China & the Treaty of Versailles   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Yuan Shikai's short-lived monarchy did not end China's national crisis. When he abdicated, you would assume this would have eased tensions a bit, but then the people of China found out Yuan Shikai was going to stay on as president. The people were livid. As you can imagine, the calls for his abdication were followed up by calls for him to step down as president. In early April of 1916 Cai E, speaking on behalf of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi put forward 6 demands to solve the crisis. 1) Yuan Shikai had to step down and go into exile 2) his stooges, 13 principal monarchist supports were to be executed 3) Yuan Shikai's vast property was to be confiscated 4) Yuan Shikai's descendants were to be stripped of citizenship. Apparently Yuan Shikai ignored these demands off the bat, prompting Cai E to add 5) Yuan Shikai would be charged with treason and punished by law passed by Congress. In April and May of 1916, more provinces declared independence, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Hunan. Their provincial leaders, many of whom were Yuan Shikai loyalists like Chen Yi of Sichuan or Tang Xiangming of Hunan labeled him an illegal leader, condemned him as a villain and severed their ties to him. Talk about choosing your friends wisely eh? Thus by May of 1916 most of southern china was independent, waiting for Yuan Shikai to step down, and most likely it would be Li Yuanhong who would take the presidency. Dr Sun Yat-Sen did not play a significant role in this anti-Yuan Shikai movement. He did make grand speeches, in April of 1916 for example he said “only after the principal culprit Yuan is exterminated could the constitution be restored and the republic be revived. If Yuan continues to rule, the country cannot be preserved. All Chinese  must annihilate the evil thoroughly and never be tolerant towards Yuan, for only after the national thief is wiped out could the republic attain peace.” A barrage of telegrams, letters and personal envoys showed up to Yuan Shikai's offices asking him to step down.  Yuan Shikai's initial reaction was simply to try and suppress his challengers. On April 1st he proposed conditions to Cai E for solving the “crisis”, these were, repealing provincial independence, returning administrative order, disbanding new military units and halting conflicts. Meanwhile Yuan sent secret telegrams to his military commanders at the frontlines ordering the annihilation of the rebels. These men working under him basically had to go with it, his fortune was theirs as they say. But as we have seen, the battles were not going well for him. While he had the best army in China, he could not stand alone against everyone else. Thus he began talking to his closest officials about leaving politics. He also began talking about who would pick up after him. His successor would need to be capable of controlling his northern army, to coordinate his network of military leaders and address the current nations financial issues. Yuan Shikai also began screaming and lashing out at those who were once close to him and betrayed him. Such men Chen Yi in Sichuan, Tang Xiangming in Hunan, but above all, Feng Guozhang made him most bitter. As Yuan Shikai thought over his retirement plans, his enemies did not let up at all. Liang Qichao set up the “Junwuyuan”, Military Affairs Council in Zhaoqing, Guangdong on May 8th, 1916. This was a rival government to the Beiyang republic, who began issuing proclamations and coordinated with rebel provincial leaders. The council supported Li Yuanhong as president and according to Liang Qichao's speeches to the public “the existing national crisis was single-handedly created by Yuan. If Yuan remains in office, the country will confront upheavals and tumult continuously. Once Yuan departs from politics, all military conflicts will immediately vanish.” Yet again China was seeing a north and south governmental divide.  According to Yuan Shikai's daughter, Yuan Jingxue, his health deteriorated in early 1916 and he suffered from major depression. Now Yuan Shikai was certainly not a physically healthy guy, again the Walrus quips hold validity. He often got ill, he rarely left the presidential palace, and kept himself very isolated. I would imagine this was to thwart assassination attempts. Apparently all the men in his family lineage tended to die before 50. Regardless, his overeating probably was the main culprit. Despite all of this, he stubbornly would not step down, even while sick in bed he continued to read official documents at the bedside. By June he was quite bedridden and few came to see him, just his closest friends and colleagues Xu Shichang and Duan Qirui. Yuan Shikai was a strong believer in Chinese medicine and tried to fight off his family who emplored him to seek western medicine until he allowed the French doctor J.A Bussiere to treat him. Dr. Bussiere diagnosed him with uremia and tried to treat him, but it was not working. Anticipated death was at the door, Yuan Shikai called upon Xu Shichang, Duan Qirui and Wang Shizhen to his bedside where he handed over his last will. He told them he bitterly regretted the monarchy move and blamed everyone for misleading him, what a mensch. Now he trusted these 3 men to care for his family and as for his successor, he told them it clearly needed to be Li Yuanhong. He asked them to swear to him that they would submit to Li Yuanhong for the good of the nation. Then he breathed his last breath and was dead by June 6th of 1916. At the age of 56 Yuan Shikai, a colossal figure of modern Chinese history was gone.  Now this was perhaps one of the most pivotal moments in modern Chinese history, for you see Yuan Shikai had ushered in something. Yuan Shikai from the beginning of his rule, did so with the might of his Beiyang Army. He built up this army, he modeled it a lot upon the imperial Japanese army. He had procured, some would simply say embezzled and stolen funds to make this army the best in China. His intentions can be seen as merely to solidify his power, but in the long term it was also to build a modern unified army for China. Like everyone else before him, he was tackling the issue of modernization. His process was a lot like a mafia however. He installed men loyal to him in various positions, by this point I've named countless of them. Many of these men were basically military-governors. They were trained to lead armies and they all had ambitions politically. There were of course those outside the Beiyang Clique as it came to be called, such as Dr Sun Yat-Sen's Kuomintang and the provinces that all declared independence like Sichuan, Guangdong, Hunan, Guangxi, Yunnan, later on the CCP will be a player as well. He had set up this elaborate system, that we will call Warlord control, I literally just made that up. Yuan Shikai's warlords were the baddest of the bunch and with him as the father of Warlords he at least had a firm grasp over China. However when Yuan Shikai decided to play monarch, he royally, pun intended screwed up his own system. This caused what has occurred throughout China's history, a North-South divide. New Warlords were emerging in the south, but even Yuan Shikai's Warlords were slowly breaking off from him. When Yuan Shikai died, while on the surface it looked like China would unify….it most certainly was not.  Its honestly a very complex and confusing situation, known as China's Warlord Era. On the face of it, China had the “Beiyang Government”, who at all times had a president, cabinets etc etc, but it was all a charade. In reality, the Warlords would fight another for dominance over the military forces in China, as that was what really controlled China. The Beiyang Clique would divide into other cliques, and all over China numerous Cliques and associated Warlords would come and go. But, I just wanted to tease you a bit, for coherency sake I'd like to finish China's experience of WW1. After Yuan Shikai's death, Li Yuanhong assumed the presidency on June 7th. Li Yuanhong ordered a state funeral costing half a million dollars, taken from Yuan Shikai's associates such as Xu SHichang and Duan Qirui. In his presidential order Li Yuanhong praised Yuan Shikai for his vital role in the Xinhai revolution and for his industrious spirit, not saying a thing about the monarchy phase. The government flew the Beiyang flag at half mast. With that the anti-Yuan war was over. Liang Qichao dismantled his rival government and the anti-yuan provinces repealed their independence proclamations. All provinces recognized Li Yuanhong as president, a very good start. Now the historical narrative had it, that Li Yuanhong's rise to the presidency was actually at gunpoint. After Yuan Shikai's death, there was a sealed box with the names Xu Shichang, Li Yuanhong and Duan Qirui found in it. None of the men wanted to stick their neck out to seize the presidency. Its said Duan Qirui forced Li Yuanhong to take the job, but Li Yuanhong was very nervous about it. Why was he? The Beiyang military leaders were all northerners, Li of course was a southerner who also had been the enemy. Duan Qirui consulted his senior military colleagues who all hated the idea of Li Yuanhong being president. But Duan Qirui fought to get the unpopular man as president, because he thought he would make for an excellent puppet. Duan Qirui meanwhile maintained his current position, which was premier. For you Americans who might not be familiar with Parliamentary type systems this is how the Beiyang Government quasi worked. The National Assembly aka parliament elects a president and vice president for 5 year terms and a premier who chooses and leads a cabinet. Typically in these types of systems, the Presidency is more of a ceremonial role. Li Yuanhong's vice president was Feng Guozhang, Yuan Shikai was rolling in his grave. Meanwhile with the provisional constitution restore, political parties were allowed back and 3 factions emerged: Dr Sun Yat-Sen's Kuomintang; Liang Qichao's Constitution Research Clique and Tang Hualong's Constitution Discussions Clique. The first order of business for the new government was the creation of a national army. You might be thinking, err what about WW1? Well with southern China armed and dangerous still, there was a looming fear of further rebellions. There was also the enormous fear, some Beiyang general would renegade and overthrow the government. Meanwhile there was of course WW1. Last episode we talked about China sending laborers to work for France, Britain, Russia and later America. 1916 for the most part saw China providing the labor services, while trying to fix their own nation. Then on February 17th of 1917, the French cargo ship SS Athos was sunk by German U-boat U-65. The ship was carrying 900 Chinese workers on their way to France and 543 of them were killed. Premier Duan Qirui and Liang Qichao both wanted to join the war on the Entente side, seeing it as a tool to help China. President Li Yuanhong and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen both opposed the idea. Duan Qirui strong armed the issue, having China break diplomatic ties with Germany. Duan Qirui also was up to something else. In January of 1917, Prime Minister Terauchi of Japan sent a secret envoy who happened to be a private business man named Nishihara Kamezo. Nishihara was given the task of finding out who really controlled the current Beiyang Army, or better said, who controlled the strongest inner clique within it. That man was Duan Qirui. Nishihara had the financial backing of the current minister of finance, Shoda Kazue who also was the former president of the Joseon Bank in Korea. Together they were offering a private loan, done so through private banks to quote “help develop China”. This was absolutely not the case. They negotiated a series of 8 loans totaling 145 million yen to Duan Qirui, to assist him in maintaining his cliques military. You see like everyone else, Duan Qirui feared other northern warlord types would become stronger than his group, can't let that happen now. To receive these loans, Japan was asking for confirmation of its claims over the former German empires concessions, ie : Kiautschou Bay in Shandong; control over the Shandong railways and some additional rights within Manchuria. All of this was to be kept hush hush, but it would not remain so. I can't get into it too much here, it will be covered in another episode, but a Duan Qirui's deal was leaked and it looked to the public that Duan Qirui was trying to take over China using Japanese aid. Li Yuanhong had Duan Qirui removed from his position as Duan Qirui and the majority of the Beiyang Generals ran over to Tianjin forming a sort of base of operations. Then in a rather insane twist, General Zhang Xun offered to mediate the situation between the Government and Duan and by mediate, I mean he showed up to the capital with his army literally besieging it. Yes, boy that escalated quickly, can't get into the insane story here, again it will be told in a future episode, but Zhang Xun with German funds and arms occupied Beijing and tried to dissolve parliament in an attempt to install Puyi as emperor over the rebirthed Qing dynasty.  Needless to say, Li Yuanhong freaked the hell out, reappointed Duan Qirui as premier and begged him to come save Beijing. Duan Qirui defeated the rebels and forced Li Yuanhong to resign as president so Feng Guozhang could take up the role. Duan Qirui then refused to restore parliament which will literally blow the door open to the Warlord wars, but for out story we return to the issue of WW1. Having already broken diplomatic ties to Germany, there was still the issue of whether or not to declare war. An intense debate was ignited involving nearly all the influential figures in China. It constituted an unprecedented movement for China. China had neer before taken an active role in a global event, one being played out very far from her borders. By participating in the war, some hoped to regain sovereign rights to Shandong. Liang Qichao criticized German militarism and said he believed Germany could not win. He also argued in order to improve China's standing, they had to align her with the victors of the war. On the other side, Dr Sun Yat-Sen argued entering the war would alienate China from Germany. Unlike Britain, France and Russia, Germany had not inflicted as much harm to China in the past. He believed Britain and Russia were far more imperialistic and thus bigger threats. He also argued it would be a material gain at the loss of spirit, thus he wanted to see China remain neutral. Duan Qirui was frustrated as Li Yuanhong added his voice to the matter saying he also did not want to enter the war. While this argument was going on, the KMT began establishing a military government in southern China and elected Dr Sun Yat-Sen to be their generalissimo.  Regardless, Duan Qirui took matters into his own hands and declared war on the Central Powers on August 14th. German and Austro-Hungarian concessions in Tientsin and Hankow were quickly seized. Duan Qirui hoped by entering the war, China might gain some international prestige and eliminate some unequal treaties. He alongside many others hoped to get rid of the indemnity payments, like the Boxer Protocol and to regain control over the Shandong Peninsula. Notably China continued to send laborers to help the war effort, but never sent troops. China's actual participation in the Great War remained very minimal. It was constrained to confiscating some German ships along their coast and continuing to support the allies with labor. China tried multiple times to offer naval and military assistance, or even a token combat unit to the western front, but it never came to be. Honestly a lost opportunity. If you check out my episode on southeast asia during ww1 or my Asia during WW1 documentary, you will see nations like Thailand did send forces and profited pretty heavily from the experience.  Germany surrendered on November 11th of 1918, and hopes were so high in China they declared a 3 day national holding. China had achieved her primary goal, being granted a seat at the Paris Peace Conference. She had been given two seats as she had not provided combat troops like other nations who had more seats. For example Japan was given 5 seats since they did provide combat troops. Now because of Dr Sun Yat-Sen's southern government, there basically was two sets of envoys sent to Paris. The Beiyang or Northern government members and Sun Yat-Sen's southern government members. Heading the Beiyang was Lu Zhengxiang who was accompanied by Wellington Koo, Cao Rulin, Hu Weide, Alfred Sze and some other advisors. On behalf of the southern government was Wu Chaoshu and although not an official delegate so was C.T Wang. Overall Lu Zhengxiang was the leader of China's delegation, but Wellington Koo, sort of a master negotiator came to become the main man.  China's demands at the conference were territorial, economic and political. In regards to territory, the “delegation proposed the internationalization of the Manchurian railways and rivers” and for foreign treaty ports and communities to remain short-term in order for China to transition them back into her ownership for a long term strategy. In regards to politics, China wanted “the elimination of all legation guards, removal of all foreign troops stationed in China, and the abolition of extraterritorial rights”. In regards to economics, China sought to regain full sovereignty over her tariffs and railways. All together these demands would be a dramatic improvement of her international standings. It would place her on a much more equal footing with the great powers. Now for those of you less familiar with WW1, this came directly at the time of one of America's worth presidents in my opinion, President Woodrow Wilson's 14 points. Again I will do the boring professor like thing by listing the points, but dont worry its in a summarized form: 1. Open diplomacy without secret treaties 2. Economic free trade on the seas during war and peace 3. Equal trade conditions 4. Decrease armaments among all nations 5. Adjust colonial claims 6. Evacuation of all Central Powers from Russia and allow it to define its own independence 7. Belgium to be evacuated and restored 8. Return of Alsace-Lorraine region and all French territories 9. Readjust Italian borders 10. Austria-Hungary to be provided an opportunity for self-determination 11. Redraw the borders of the Balkan region creating Roumania, Serbia and Montenegro 12. Creation of a Turkish state with guaranteed free trade in the Dardanelles 13. Creation of an independent Polish state 14. Creation of the League of Nations   Given the points, such as the right of self-determination of peoples, the Chinese delegates felt pretty good about their stance. However, what would prove to be the crux between China and her goals were a series of secret agreements and treaties between the Great Powers, China and Japan. Remember Duan Qirui's little loans? Well when China declared war on the Central Powers, this put her in alliance with Japan, as now they were both part of the Entente. Another large event had unfolded in 1917, the October revolution, seeing Russia fall to communism. The Entente declared the communist government a threat. Vice chief of the Imperial Japanese army general staff, Tanaka Giichi sought to form a military pact with China, including a military alliance against the new common enemy. In late January of 1917 Tanaka sent a message to the Japanese military attache in Beijing to form a Sino-Japanese agreement, but to try and get the Chinese to suggest the idea first.  The Chinese obviously would be suspicious of forming any type of agreement with Japan given the Shandong situation and Japan's encroachment into Manchuria. Japanese foreign minister Motono Ichiro offered a military cooperation similar to what the Entente were doing in France, stating if they could operate their military forces in France, why not in Manchuria. The Japanese also hinted as the possibility of just sending troops into Manchuria even if China didn't agree to it. On March 3rd, 1918 the Germans and Soviets signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, leaving some 100,000 German POW's scattered about Siberia and this scared China quite a bit. Thus on March 8th, the Japanese government began forming plans for a Sino-Japanese agreement and informed the Chinese ambassador in Tokyo, Zhang Zongxiang about it. A team led by Major General Saito Suejiro went to Beijing to negotiate the terms of the agreement. On March 25th, Zhang Zongxiang and Minister Motono both agreed enemy forces were spreading rampantly along the Russia border, threatening the far east. Thus they agreed to a joint defense agreement. This got leaked to the public in early April and opposition in China spread dramatically. Japan pretty much made its intents with the Sino-Japanese alliance known. The alliance would allow for free movement of Japanese troops with Chinese territory, that some resources would be commandeered for the military, a bit of domestic politics would probably be interfered with also and they pretty much were going to plant pro-Japanese forces across China. On May 3rd, Tanaka Giichi visited Zhang Zongxiang and demanded an apology from the Chinese side for doubting Japans intentions and failing to ratify things. He stated if China did not agree to the alliance, the Nishihara loans would be withheld. Duan Qirui could not stomach that so negotiations recommenced on May 16th and the agreement was signed.  The Sino-Japanese agreement consisted of 12 major articles: The second article establishes the parties of the agreement were equals,;  the third article specified that the Chinese authorities must "try their best" to cooperate with the Japanese military in the relevant regions and prevent them from "experiencing any obstacles" in their operations. The fourth article specified that Japanese troops would be "entirely withdrawn" from Chinese territory at the termination of the war. The seventh article specified the placement of liaison officers in each party's military to facilitate communication between the two parties and specified that both parties must provide whatever resources are required to facilitate their joint defense. As usual, Japan demanded the negotiations be made secret, but it was leaked immediately.  Now back to Paris, China had thus agreed to grant Japan several things and it contradicted what she sought at the peace talks. For one thing, she sought to reclaim the Shandong Peninsula. Back in 1915 Yuan Shikai's government had signed the thirteen-demands, but Wellington Koo argued that it had been an unequal treaty imposed upon China in a moment of weakness.  Wellington Koo, gave an impassioned speech about the importance of Shandong province to China, describing it as "the cradle of Chinese civilization, a Holy Land for the Chinese. It was the birth land of Confucius and Mencius. If Japan was allowed to continue its lease of the Shandong territory, then it would provide the government of Tokyo with a strategic "gateway" to all of north China”. As for the second Sino-Japanese treaty in which China agreed to allow Japan's occupation of Shandong amongst other things, well the Chinese delegation had no idea about this agreement. Yes the delegation team found out about this agreement at Paris, go figure. So yeah it was a pretty big surprise when the Japanese delegation literally read out the treaties signed with Duan Qirui et al, very embarrassing for the Chinese delegation. Then to make matters even worse the Entente powers, specifically Britain and France also acknowledged they had signed secret agreements with Japan giving her the rights to Shandong since she had entered the war to help them. You could hear the sad violin music beginning to play. The Chinese delegation in absolute desperation looked towards the United States for help, hoping Woodrow Wilson's right to self-determination would bend to their favor. Woodrow said Shandong should be given to Japan, probably hoping to add Japan's favor in forming the League of Nations. The global powers then pretty much ignored the Chinese delegation. Hence forth the Chinese felt Woodrow Wilson had betrayed China, though as much as I hate to say it, it really wasn't his fault. He was simply balancing a number of secret agreements made and there were many promising Japan Shandong.  Thus in article 156 of the Treaty of Versailles the official transfer of the Shandong peninsula was given to the Empire of Japan rather than being returned to China. China denounced this transfer stating Shandong was the birthplace of Confucious, the greatest Chinese philosopher and it would be on par to Christians conceding jerusalem. China demanded Shandong Peninsula be returned to China, an abolition of all the privileges afforded to foreign powers in China such as extraterritoriality and to cancel the thirteen demands with the Japanese government. The Western powers refused all of China's demands and dismissed them. As a result Wellington Koo refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles in protest. Thus China was yet again humiliated. Worse, the ongoing news of what was going on at Versailles had caused probably one of the greatest movements in modern Chinese history to be unleashed back home. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. China was absolutely devastated by the treaty of versailles. Their fractured nation had been the victim of double dealings and now the Shandong problem would plague them for some years. However back home, an incredible movement was quicking up fueled by the anger of students and workers. 

Let food be thy medicine; let medicine be thy food. - Hippocrates In the second Small Changes Big Shifts podcast episode with Author of The Paleo Cardiologist and Host of The Healthy Heart Show, Dr. Jack Wolfson, he shares his own personal health journey, how he decided he needed to change his focus both in life and career for better wellness, and what steps we can take to begin to honor and celebrate our own physical bodies, mind, and wellbeing by clearing out all the “noise”. Specifically in this interview, Dr. Michelle and Dr. Jack, discussed how mental health is highly linked to cardiovascular risk if you are facing situations of isolation, depression, stress, or anxiety. Listen and find out how heal and feel better by meeting with a professional health coach, social worker, or psychologist and doing activities such as meditation or yoga to break the cycle. Discover how being outside, eating a Paleo-based diet, and getting enough sunshine can boost your emotions, decrease your stress, and help improve your overall wellbeing. Life is really simple but we insist on making it so complicated. - Confucious

Confucious wrote: “The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute, the man who does not ask is a fool for life.” Hmm. So what's your question? Need help?  Here’s an Intentional Living BLOG for inspiration!  What is Intentional Living? At Intentional Living, we have a passion to help people live intentionally […]

Der chinesische Philosoph Konfuzius lebte vor 2.500 Jahren, trotzdem findet man seine Lehren in Korea noch bis heute an jeder Ecke. Wer war Konfuzius, was hat es mit seinen Lehren auf sich und wie haben sie die Gesellschaft geprägt?

Imagine the badlands of Chambal in the 70's, the setting of Sholay and Kaalia pleading to Gabbar for his life - Sardar, maine aapka namak khaya hai. Now imagine the greatest philosopher from China, Confucious reflecting about the nature of that very namak, and how should rulers rule with morality. What connects the two is Salt. This week, we trace the remarkable story of the condiment on your dinner table, and how it built one of the greatest civilisations the world has ever seen. And if you are intrigued about Central Asia, Samosas and Hospitality, check out the episodes on Uzbekistan Beauty of Uzbekistan and the Geometry Box: https://omny.fm/shows/postcards-from-nowhere-with-utsav-mamoria/beauty-of-uzbekistan-the-geometry-boxMelons of Samarkand: https://omny.fm/shows/postcards-from-nowhere-with-utsav-mamoria/melons-of-samarkand Vincent Van Gogh and Uzbekistan: https://podcasts.adorilabs.com/show/e?eid=I03d1slNCXMla8VCSecrets of Doors: https://podcasts.adorilabs.com/show/e?eid=InTTDLzqdrZWSvf5 Train Journeys and Humanity: Part 1: https://podcasts.adorilabs.com/show/e?eid=I2xUGZmKqpNnFmKl Train Journeys and Humanity: Part 2: https://podcasts.adorilabs.com/show/e?eid=I2fOFK5K0YFNLT3F World's most popular snack: https://podcasts.adorilabs.com/show/e?eid=ImYiIkxnf8vNTFNn For reflections on walking, check out Walking: An Act of Resistance: https://podcasts.adorilabs.com/show/e?eid=IlhRj0aYOdW8A8Pu You can reach out to our host Utsav on Instagram: @‌whywetravel42(https://www.instagram.com/whywetravel42  ) Do follow IVM Podcasts on social media. We are @IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram.  Do share the word with your folks!  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last time we spoke about the conclusion of the first Sino-Japanese War and we took a side trip speaking about overseas Chinese in the 19th century. The treaty of Shimonoseki ended the war between Japan and the Qing dynasty. The Qing dynasty was humiliated yet again, but so too was Japan because of the triple intervention of Germany, France and Russia. The balance of power in the east had shifted dramatically. Such dramatic change that was seen in the 19th century led to massive emigration within and outside of China. The wealthy and common Chinese people wanted to improve their lives and they moved within China seeking lands to farm and outside China seeking new opportunities. Overseas Chinese were heavily influenced by the great Gold Rushes of the 19th century and of course the colossal railway projects. In many ways it was a dark part of the histories of numerous nations, but in the end it was also the beginning of a new international community.     #56 This episode it's not always sunny in Shandong   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. Shandong, anytime you hear about a conflict in Chinese history it always seems to originate with Shandong. Indeed Shandong has been at the heart of an unbelievable number of conflicts, it just always seems to be the birthing place for trouble, but hell it always gave us Confucious. Not going to lie, this is going to be a bit of a bizarre episode. The purpose of this episode is to somewhat explain, how certain groups emerge historically because….well of just a place. Shandong is unique, its been at the heart of so many events. We are soon going to be jumping into another major event in Chinese history, but to best tell how it comes about, I wanted to cover the origin of those responsible. It just so happens where the majority of these people come from, that is northwest Shandong by the way, makes for quite a story. So let us explore Shandong and perhaps touch just a bit, like a teaser upon a group of people that will become known to the western world as the Boxers. In the late 19th century Shandong held an enormous population, cereal agriculture and numerous impoverished villages. The climate of the region could go from just above freezing for the winter months and blazingly hot and humid for the summer months. China took its time modernizing as we all know, so the peasants of Shandong had to rely mostly on mother nature for irrigation and mother nature in China could be quite cruel. Floods were common, so were droughts. Shandong is quite diverse, its eastern portion was very productive, producing grain, fruits and vegetables. Its streams carried gold dust which was panned by locals. It was part of an ancient silk-raising region. Along the peninsula was a relative immunity to natural disasters. Landlords were more plentiful here than Shandongs western half and it held numerous important port cities like Qingdao which today produces Tsingtao beer, one of my favorites. Commerce was quite bountiful in the port cities and by far and large the peninsula and northern slope of eastern shandong were the most developed parts of the province. In the mid 19th century 58% of Shandongs provincial degree holders came from either the northern slope or peninsula. However when you look at the northwest plains of Shandong province you begin to see a discrepancy. Stretching across the entire region north of the Yellow River, held one of the most populous regions, with 250 people per square kilometer covering around 26% of Shandongs land area. 93% or so of these people were peasants and the region was purely agricultural, but it could be described as anything but prosperous. Average yields were the lowest of any region in Shandong, reflecting the persistent problems of waterlogging and salinity of the soil. The northwest was prone to natural disasters. The yellow river became quite problematic to this region in the 1880s. The bed of the river had risen above ground level through most of Shandong, and the floods became increasingly bad. Though bad, the yellow river was not the only source of misery for northwest Shandong. Lesser streams frequently caused local floodings and as funny as it sounds, too much water was an issue, but often it was too little that brought upon real calamity. In 1876 a terrible drought was said to have carried off nearly 2 million people. 10 years later, famine hit again, truly making Northwest Shandong a disaster area. As bad as mother nature could be, man could also be problemsome.  West of Jinan is an imperial highway that runs north and south. It passed into the province of Dezhou, then through Haotang and Chiping before crossing the yellow river's northern course at Dong'e. This area since ancient times saw numerous invading armies cross it from north to south. The Mongols used it and then the Manchu in a similar fashion. It was ripe also for rebels to take up shop. As we saw, the Taiping's northern expedition in the mid 1850's brought them into Shandong, when they attempted to hit Beijing. But Prince Sengge Rinchen managed to turn away the Taiping, ironically by flooding them out. The Nian rebels likewise raided Shandong, first in its southwest, but then in its northwest by the late 1860's. Even the White Lotus Rebellion saw much spreading in the region. It was often said by travelers that this area “suffered quite as much from the imperial soldiers as they did from the rebels, and at times even worse”. With such conditions it was no surprise numerous rebels and bandits would emerge. Banditry was an important part of both northwest and southwest Shandong. It was prevalent especially along the southern border with Zhili were bands of around 8-13 men would often perform highway robbery. Roving bandits would prey upon innocent villages, with the prime time being winter as most of these men were not full time bandits, oh no most had homes and grew crops, it was seasonal work. One account in July of 1897 had this to say “the season when highwaymen are especially numerous and dangerous is upon us. The kaoliang is in its prime, and being 7 or 8 feet high and very thick affords a most convenient ambush. It is unsafe to travel alone even in daylight over lonely roads”.  Now northwest shandong was disaster prone leading to barely any landlords. The region was simply not wealthy enough to support many landlords. Poverty and peasantry was the norm. It was not unheard of for entire villages to take up the road, carrying entire families of men, women and children begging for food. There was a ton of mobility, and a lot of young men would sell themselves as laborers to make ends meet. There was a constant migration of people in northwest Shandong because of the harsh conditions. All of these conditions lent the region into a certain mentality. Now Shandong is the birthplace of both Confucious and Mencius, the very foundation of orthodoxy in China, so why do so many rebellions seem to spurt up here? Confucian tradition holds that a ruler should educate, and lead people to do what is right. But Shandong has historically been seen to be a stubborn place for sectarianism, especially during the Qing dynasty. Something Qing officials took notice of, was how rebellions often came about with the marriage of a sect, take for example the White Lotus and martial arts, which we can also refer to as boxing. The Ming had set a law against Heterodoxy which the Qing adopted, it proscribed a penalty of strangulation for the leaders and banishment of 3000 li distance for followers. Here is a passage of the laws “all teachers and shamans who call down heterodox gods [jiang xieshen, write charms, [chant] incantations [to make] water [magically efficacious: zhou-shui], perform planchette and pray to sages, calling themselves duan-gong (First Lord), tai-bao (Great Protector) or shi-po (shamaness); and those who wildly call themselves the White Lotus Society of the Buddha Maitreya, the Ming-zun [Manichaean?] sect, or the White Cloud Assembly with their heretical and heterodox [zuo-daoyi-duan] techniques; or those who hide pictures [of heterodox gods or patriarchs] and gather in groups to burn incense, meeting at night and dispersing at dawn, pretending to do good works but [actually] arousing and misleading the people” So as you can see with this passage, the law made it clear that incantations or charms were particularly concerning to the Qing court. Mere worship was tolerated or at least treated leniently. But what was definitely not ok was the formation of hierarchies, such as master and disciples, or the use of lets say magic. These actions were seen as instrumental to providing the organization needed for subversive activity, ie rebellions. In the early Qing days, these prohibitions were pretty effective, while sectarian worship still flourished, at least no rebellions were kicking off. However by the late 18th century things began to change, rebellions emerged. Now I spoke extensively about the White Lotus Rebellion, but there were two other significant rebellions took place around this time, the Wang Lun rebellion of 1774 and the eight Trigrams uprising of 1813. Both broke out in the Shandong region and both involved significant participation from martial arts groups, more notably both involved those known as Yi-he-quan, aka those who the west would call Boxers by 1898.  The Qing noted the persistence of sectarianism in Shandong, the province was a major source of what was called ‘meditational sects” built upon the White Lotus tradition. These meditational sects had no great halls, sutras or views, they usually were just people prescribing certain diets. They stressed meditation and breathing exercises, sometimes with recitation of incantations. They were pretty simplistic, groups with rituals based around certain times of the day. Both the Wang Lun rebellion and eight Trigrams uprising were begun by these so called “meditational sects”. Wang Lun was a former Yaman runner who managed to get rich working as a healer in Shouzhang county in southwest Shandong. He was the leader of the White Lotus sect in Shandong province in the 1770s. He was a self-taught physician and a martial arts master. He taught his followers yoga, meditation and  the ability to fast for long periods of time. Honestly you could really call these people modern day yogi's. His sect was noted for their fasting techniques and martial arts prowess. By 1774 his sect numbered several thousand. It was in this year, Wang Lun began spreading rumors of an impending turn of the Kalpa. In the Hindu and Buddhist faiths, Kalpa refers to a period of time between creation and the recreation of the universe. He was telling his converts that the reincarnation of Maitreya was upon them, and he was destined to become the Emperor of China. He mobilized his followers and marched upon the city of Shouzhang on October 3rd of 1774. With some help from followers already inside the city, the rebels seized it and ransacked everything they could. The rebels held Shouzhang for a few days before abandoning it to attack the city of Yangku. Yangku was easily captured as its local garrison had just been sent to relieve Shouzhang. From there the rebels captured Tangyi and Liulin before marching upon the larger city of Linqing. By this point the rebels had defeated multiple Qing forces and rumors spread this sect were utilizing invulnerability magic. Many officials in Linqing fled in fear of this. For weeks Wang Lun's forces besieged the city, but the Qing defenders led by Qing Zhanhun resisted their attacks. Wang Lun's forces soon were surrounded and Wang Lun elected to burn himself alive rather than surrender. The Eight Trigrams rebellion was a short lived revolt that broke out in Zhili, Henan and of course Shandong. It too was a sub branch of the White Lotus, led by 3 notable figures. The Eight Trigram sect goes back to the late 17th century of the Ming Dynasty founded by Liu Zuochen and the Liu family of Shandong which maintain it for decades. It was the first folk religion to develop civil and martial work methods, this is referred to as “wen and wu” a conceptual pair in Chinese philosophy, referring to civil and military realms for governance. They believed in meditation techniques to overcome human limits, to reach salvation. They were organized into eight trigrams and predicted a time of troubles and a new kalpa and mobilized themselves through master-disciple relationships. A major component of them was practicing martial arts.  Now like I said during this rebellion they had 3 leaders, the first was Lin Qing who was described as a hustler who loved gambling and took on some odds jobs like being a night watchman, an enforcer, and even a minor healer. Eventually he took over a small white lotus sect and in 1811 he met Li Wen-cheng who at the time was trying to assume leadership over a larger white lotus sect network spanning across Henan, Zhili and Shandong. Both Lin and Li were inspired by the appearance of a comet in 1811 that they believed was a sign that they could topple the Qing dynasty. They also met Feng Keshan who was a martial arts master, who was not really interested in their crazy religious stuff, but he was seen to be a great leader in his own right and he joined them as a means of recruiting followers from boxing groups within Henan, Zhili and Shandong. In July of 1813 the main leaders of the eight trigrams met and discussed a date for a rebellion. What really began their necessity to rebel, was a series of droughts and floods that had brought upon a famine which in turn led to a sharp increase in the price of wheat. The emperor at the time had scheduled a hunting trip on September 15th, so the rebels knew the Forbidden city would be lightly guarded. The plan called for ambushing the Emperor as he was coming back from the trip, just outside the city. Qing court officials heard rumors of the planned rebellion and quickly arrested Li Wen-cheng on September 2nd. They began torturing him, but soon his followers broke in and rescued him. The rebellion was then pushed forward and the Eight Trigrams quickly seized Huaxin, Dingtao and Caoxian in southern Zhili and Shandong. Lin Qing took charge of an attack upon the forbidden city, although he notably did not participate in the attack. The rebels hid in ships outside the eastern and western palace gates as Lin paid off palace eunuchs to lead his forces through the gates. The rebels wore white cloths around their heads and waists and were armed mostly with knives or iron bars. They tried to attack during a mealtime when they assumed the guards would be eating. The Emperor at this time was around 50 miles away from the city walls. Around 80 rebels managed to get through the gates before they were closed and fighting erupted inside. With the element of surprise lost, the rebels soon routed as the Imperial guards brigade hunted them down. Several thousand supported continued to besiege cities for months, but all would be suppressed in January of 1814.  Li Wen-chang along with 4000 followers died while besieging Huixian. Over 20,000 or so eight trigram members would be killed and an estimated 70,000 people would die as a result of the short rebellion. So Shandong was kind of a breeding ground for sects, particularly from the White Lotus faith. Shandong also was a place notable for martial arts. As early as the Song dynasty, the people of Shandong were noted for being warlike and brave. Their reputation only strengthen with time. During the late 19th century a western source labeled the people of shandong “Warlike, industrious and intelligent. The natives of Shantung [Shandong] ... whose overflow has peopled the rich lands of Manchuria, enjoy the finest record for both physical and moral qualities. It is from them the Chinese navy drew its best recruits; it is they who proved their prowess either as brigands or as a self-reliant and self-defended exploiters of the resources of Liaotung [Liaodong] and Manchuria.” It was not just westerners who took notice of Shandong's martial arts prowess, the Qing dynasty looked to Shandong often for its military. Shandong was an area of China that had seen repeated invasions, take out a map of China, you see it immediately, anyone who comes from the north pretty much has to go through shandong. Repeated invasions by forces from the north encouraged the development of martial habits in self defense, add natural and human disasters that continuously disrupted the social order, and you eventually end up with bandits. The people who settled in shandong had to deal with constant banditry and attacks from invaders. Shandong also had a greater military/civil ratio than most provinces. From 1851-1900 the northwest ratio was around 1.22 to 1 and the southwest 2.38 to 1 while the ratio for the entire province was around .57 to 1. And those areas with the higher rations just so happen to be the areas where boxers and members of the Big Sword society emerged. We will talk more about them later. The martial arts tradition of western shandong spawned numerous martial arts groups. There was a popular culture which stressed military virtues, boxing and swordsmanship. Seeing martial arts teachers displaying their prowess in the market places was a very common sight. In 1899 the Zhili magistrate Lae Nai-xuan wrote a pamphlet urging the prohibition of boxers and he wrote about certain martial arts groups along the borders of Jiangsu, Anhu, Henan and Shandong.  “In this area there are many vagabonds and rowdies (wu-lai gun-tu) who draw their swords and gather crowds. They have established societies of various names: the Obedient Swords (Shun-dao hui), Tiger-tail Whip (Huwei bian), the Yi-he Boxers,* and Eight Trigrams Sect (Ba-gua jiao). They are overbearing in the villages and oppress the good people. The origin of these disturbances is gambling. They go to fairs and markets and openly set up tents where they take valuables in pawn and gather to gamble. They [also] conspire with yamen clerks who act as their eyes and ears. “ The people Lai Nai-xuan are describing are the Yi-he-quan Boxers. Who the hell are these guys? These were young men, the type to gamble, drink, perform petty crime to get by, the thuggish types. They most often than naught were bandits, involved in things like salt smuggling. As seen with the Wang Lun and the eight trigrams rebellions, these types of young men practicing boxing were greatly sought after as followers, so sects often created civil and military like divisions to attract them. Adding martial arts to a sect's repertoire could help greatly to recruit. Take the White Lotus sect overall, many of its members, perhaps the majority were historically women. Females were much less likely to take an active role in violence, so white lotus leaders who were usually always looking to start a rebellion began seeing the necessity to recruit able bodied young men, those who knew some boxing to get things cooking. Boxing was often used as a way of luring people into sect activities. It was also a deceptive little trick. If a sect members was teaching youth boxing, it did not necessarily mean they were followers of his sect, it was like a foot in the door process. Thus Shandong was the breeding grounds for both sects and boxers, who often intermingled.  Another interesting thing that has a lot of roots in Shandong is the long history of invulnerability rituals. When rebels kicked up, they were as you can imagine met with force by the Qing authorities. Facing well armed Qing soldiers, rebels often tried to enhance the fighting capabilities of their followers by the use of magic, specifically invulnerability magic. This goes back to ancient times of course, but the advent of firearms from the west during the 17th century really enhanced the appearance of such magic. Several rebel groups during the Ming dynasty would use the allegedly polluting power of women to stop gunfire from walled cities that were being besieged. Wang Lun famous used large numbers of women who would attempt summoning goddesses to prevent the approach of bullets or stop guns from firing. The eight trigrams rebellion used a particularly invulnerability technique known as “jin-zhon-zhao / the armor of the golden bell”. This technique would later be famously employed by the Big Swords society, again future episodes will delve into this more. The technique was a form of kung-fu that employed “Qigong”. Qigong is a system of coordinating body-posturing, like movement, breathing and meditation. Those performing it would perform breathing exercises which they claimed helped protect their bodies against blades and even bullets as if a large bell was covering their body. Some who practiced this would chant incantations like “a song does not tell his father; a father does not tell his son”. During the mid 19th century rebellions were tearing China apart. The Taiping, Nian, local white lotus were all hitting different parts of China simultaneously. By 1860 the Qing government was cracking down left right and center, increasing land taxes to support the suppressing efforts. In 1861, in Qiu county, the very extreme edge of western Shandong saw rebels rise up, a majority of them were of the white lotus.  They were joined by martial artists of the Black Flag Army under the leadership of Song Jing-shi a professional boxer and swordsman who made a living as a highway escort, like a armed guard for wealthy nobles.  Unlike the previous rebellions that had marriages between boxers and sects, these rebellions in the mid 19th century brought upon a new flavor, an anti-manchu one. The Taiping and Nian rebellions inspired a vigorous hate against the Manchu, particularly against the corrupt officials that made up their dynasty. Certainly when the Qing began to suppress the rebels, it led to a ravaging of the countryside seeing flocks of boxers join the rebels in response. While many boxers joined such rebels, others would join the Qing to combat them as well. In 1861, Song Jing-shi was forced to surrender to the Qing and he would claim he only joined the rebellion because he and his followers were facing persecution by yamen runners. He then offered his services against the rebels, but he had one condition, that his forces would stay intact. His forces indeed fought against the Nian rebels, marching into Henan. The Qing asked him and his followers to go to Shaanxi to fight them there, but he elected to take his men to western Shandong where his original base was and just rebelled again. The story of Song Jing-shi showcases how martial artists and sectarians were a mainstream aspect of peasantry life in shandong. The participation of boxers on the side of rebels and the government shows it was really part of the social fabric of the region. Western Shandong by the late Qing period saw greater numbers of military examination graduates. Boxing was becoming much more popular as a recreation for youthful men and a means of protecting one's home. As one Gazetter said “The local people like to practice the martial arts—especially to the west of Linqing. There are many schools: Shao-lin, Plum Flower and Greater and Lesser Hong Boxing. Their weapons are spears, swords, staff and mace. They specialize in one technique and compete with one another” . In rural villages of Shandong you would see what “ying-shen saihui / inviting the gods to a performance”. This can be described as a sort of opera, where a center for attention was erected. Shows would be put on to benefit the local temple gods, large tents went up and people came from all around for some good ol' R & R. Relatives from surrounding villages would come and drink, eat, gamble, have fun and such. And here at these opera places, many boxers would showcase their skills. Many of the gods being worshiped were military figures, especially for western shandong. Marital themes of the Water Margin, the romance of the 3 kingdoms and enfeoffment of the gods were notably loved spectacles. It was all a blend of social drama and theater and it was a beloved part of communities, and something they wanted to protect, and to protect it they had Boxers. Young men began studying martial arts to protect their communities, leading to things like crop watching associations. Poverty was getting worse and worse by the late 19th century, driving more into banditry and thus more boxers emerged to counter balance them. The late Qing dynasty would see an increase in military applicants from Shandong and it seems boxing was pushing it. Boxing was a popular part of the culture in Shandong, particularly in its western half and this led itself to providing the dynasty with good soldiers. The boxers were tolerated, hell they kind of became seen as defenders of local communities. But as the 19th century saw many internal rebellions, it also saw external threats. The British, French, Russians, and Japanese, amongst others, were encroaching and humiliating China. The threat of western imperialism would prove to be the final ingredient to see the rise of a new sort of movement. After the first opium war, 5 treaty ports were opened in China, but they were most confined the the southern and southeastern coast. Then the second opium war opened major ports in the north, like Tianjin and Chefoo along the Shandong peninsula in 1862. The Boxer movement was thus introduced to foreigners. Foreign cotton textiles began to enter Shandong through these ports, increasing during the 1880s and much more so during the 1890s. Despite the disruption of the first sino-Japanese war, cotton textile imports in Shandong rose rapidly. The increase in textile imports was seriously interfering with Shandong home grown textiles. In 1866 the Commissioner of customs at Yantai noted that the native Shandong textiles were "very good and durable, and are largely used in this province." Twenty years later, this same port reported that "the increase in its [cotton yarn's] import is said to be seriously interfering with the local industry ofspinning, which affords a means of support to many poor women." Then  in 1887, the same commissioner reported that "I gather that the reeling of Native Cotton Yarn in this province is almost at a standstill." Foreign imports were having a disastrous effect particularly on northwest Shandong. The war with Japan hit the Shandong peninsula when the Japanese attacked weihaiwei. Qing forces were rushed northward and to the coast from interior parts of Shandong. The wars primary affect on Shandong was stripping it of its garrison forces as more and more men were sent to the front. This left a power vacuum in which two types of forces emerged; bandits and self defense forces, such as the Big Sword Society. When the war came to an end it provided dramatic evidence the Qing government was incompetent. There was a immediate feeling that China was breaking apart and that the Great Powers intended to carve it up for themselves. You all probably have seen the famous painting showing the great world powers leaders carving into china. 1897-1898 saw what we call the scramble for concessions and this was a very real crisis. Every since the opium wars, Christian missionaries gradually flooded China. In Shandong, catholic missionaries began at first in secret to convert the Chinese, by 1850 its estimated there were nearly 6000. By the late 19th century this grew to 16,850 in 1887 and during the 1890's it rose up dramatically to 47,221. The catholics remained in western Shandong and parts of Zhili while protestants grew along Shandongs coast around the treaty ports. The converts began to gain advantages with foreigners and this was met with resentment from those non christians around them. The church would intervene countless times in China's domestic politics and justice. The missionaries were protected and held extraterritoriality provisions from the many treaties of the 19th century. Their converts would also by extension be able to use some rights. For example if a convert Chinese stated they were being oppressed because of their faith, the foreign missionaries could intervene, and this was most definitely a system that was exploited. The missionaries would often intervene in any sort of temporal dispute, but the most common exploit was converts using their christianity to escape government punishments. Who else do you think would convert to Christianity to escape punishment, well bandits of course. In western shandong, bandits began seeking the protection of the church. So all of the sectarian groups that had been flourishing alongside the boxer groups were decaying and sought Christianity for protection. Likewise bandits would seek the same protection. The Boxers were losing their sense of being, those who they often aligned with to protect were seeking alternatives, and those they were protecting them from, were seeking the same thing. It looked to many of these youthful men that the missionaries were evil and ruining their lives. The situation was ripe for a major conflict. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me. Shandong, why is it always Shandong? It's sort of reminiscent of Bismarck talking about the balkans before WW1. Shandong was producing youthful men, who were watching their nation decay, and at some point enough would be enough.  

The Religion of the New World Order. The ancients in mesoamerica. Newage religion, the occult and the new world order. Confucius and the other sages. The Anti Christian cults. The sages may indeed have been inspired by God and been looking towards a Christ to come. The great teachings of the past read through the Spirit should lead to Christ. Truth Should be gathered.The wisemen from the East could have been the ancient Americans.Please support us at patreon.com type in professor zero. NowBecome a patreon and gain exclusive access to extra ad free content and video exclusives go to https://www.patreon.com/join/professorzero?u=1574480And Please support this channel by sharing it & by purchasing a copy of "If It's Broken Don't Fix It" By Mr Noriega https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/if-its-broken-dont-fix-it-sinhue-noriega/1116503700?ean=2940149097692 previously banned for 10 years, please pick up a copy and support this podcast. If you can't afford a copy, just ask and a copy will be sent to you norcomwest@yahoo.com

I think a lot about music and the power that music has. So this week, let's talk about the role that music plays in ritual! Music was important to the Chinese philosopher, Confucious, as it has been for shamans around the world and down the ages. In fact I have a little story that tell us just exactly how music came to the earth way back when. And central to music is Rythm, singing and Dance. So we'll talk about all that stuff. And finally, we'll look at ways to write and create effective chants to be used in our rituals. Be well. Do good. Enjoy the show!

This guide begins with a story about Sandra, a 25-year-old chef working at a local restaurant.  She is known amongst her peers and customers as the "genius behind the recipe."  To Sandra, cooking goes beyond simply heating up a collection of ingredients – it is an art that she's perfected over the years. She loves cooking and is passionate about her craft. Through her experience and networking within the culinary world, Sandra meets a man named Kyle: the owner of a five-star restaurant downtown who loved the cinnamon rolls Sandra's restaurant is famous for.  Wanting to learn more about her and her style of cooking, Kyle offers her a lead role in the online culinary courses he manages for international students. Sandra began nurturing this idea of developing a course and selling it to people like Kyle and his students stationed all over the world. As Sandra considers making her first course she realizes that there is a lot she doesn't know about how to create one. Her knowledge of successful online course creation is not at the same level compared with her knowledge of cooking. It's clear that there are many people like Sandra, armed with the perfect potential to excel in creating courses online but lacking the basic knowledge required to launch their course content onto the internet in the best way.   Here's how to launch an online course with ease and transparent comprehension. What Are the Benefits of Launching an Online Course? Perfect Source of Passive Income One of the many advantages that come with launching an online course is that your presence isn't needed in order to earn income.  You'll need to invest in marketing, but after that, the course pretty much runs itself. It doesn't have to take up a lot of time. The simple fact of only needing to do it once makes the whole process much more straightforward.  If you are looking for the most effective way to earn a passive income with a smaller workload and less oversight, launching an online course is an ideal route to consider. Expand Your Audience  Building monetary value is common sense:  The bigger the market you cover, the more sales you accumulate. What better possible way can you reach more audiences if not online?  Online learning is available to anyone with an internet connection. By putting your course content online your list of potential students expands exponentially from just students in your local area, Work Remotely Like Sandra, it doesn't matter where you are. Just like your students can be anywhere with an internet connection, so can you. You can do a lot of work creating your course in a coffee shop or have your launch day on vacation in Bali You can be anywhere at any time and still make sales. If flexibility in where and when you work is important to you, creating an online course could definitely be the right decision for you. Creating online courses is one of the most highly recommended businesses for many such as those stay-at-home moms who wish to make a living while still keeping an eye on their kids. It is also great for those who travel frequently or wish to start living the digital nomad lifestyle. Self-Fulfilment Online course creation is for people who find joy in the ability to impact others by sharing their knowledge of a particular niche. A great course is made by someone who has a passion for sharing their knowledge with others. In any circumstance, you may have seen people quit their regular jobs so they may concentrate solely on creating course material on a particular topic. To these types of people, creating this material is more of a hobby than it is a business. When they made their first online course they discovered the joy of teaching others and they keep that positivity going through each new course they create. As the popular quote by Confucious goes, “Do what you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.”

DJ GLIBSTYLEZ CONNECTS ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/dj_glibstylez⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.twitch.tv/dj_glibstylez⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo-YVgHQr9YF6o3dqygEYyg⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/dj_glibstylez/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/donnie.knight/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/djglibstylez/⁠⁠⁠⁠ CHECK OUT ALL ZIZ's MUSIC - ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://zizmusicyall.bandcamp.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠ Ziz Connects ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://youtube.com/c/Zizyall⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.4dadjsradio.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://instagram.com/4dadjs_radio/⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/ziz_yall/⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/Ziz134⁠⁠⁠⁠ DONATE TO THE SHOW ON CASH APP - $Letschopitupwziz ****You have a small or large business and would like to sponsor the show, contact us through this email- tapinradiowziz@gmail.com**** Tracklist: DJ GlibStylez x Reese Tanaka -B40B4A2:B39 BBS INTRO 2023 Napoleon Da Legend x D-Styles - Wu Masters Kurt Solid - Kanye '04 (Prod. by Bronze Nazareth)  Alcynoos x Parental x Type.Raw - Belafonte (feat. Ill Conscious & Venomous 2000) REDEYEBLUE - The Movement Wounded Buffalo Beats - Top Tier Tech (ft. Ruste Juxx & JabbaThaKut) Moka Only - Naturally Brainorchestra - The Best In It (ft. Kenn Starr) NAMELESS - CLAIR[ance] = 788 Iron 2.0 - Coups 2 Rage Hakim Green - The Cypher (ft. KRS-One) Thomas Hickey - Chewy Rhyme Assassin - Rhyme Apostles (ft. Crooked I, Canibus, Reks, Jadakiss, Craig G, Keith Murray, Ruste Juxx, Antlive, Chino XL, A-F-R-O, Prodigal Sunn, K-Solo) JustMe x Cas Metah - Make Waves D1 Remix (ft. Planet Asia) Doc T - Top Banana  Confucious x DJ CLIF - Respect Da Skill Ugly Tony - Blind Fury (ft. Journalist 103 x DJ Duke) BlackLiq x Mopes - Strange Famous EMAMKAY - When The Sun Rises BEEDAKING - Faces Up Alcynoos x Parental x Type.Raw - 100 Barz (feat. Horror City) Recognize Ali - What You Need (Prod. By Anu El Cuts By Tone Spliff) Dennis Hobbs - Dead Flies (30's Version) cay caleb - betterman (ft. Blue November) SPVCEDD x AASIR - PLEASE! Rahim Samad - 8th Wonder (ft. Skyzoo) B. Cool-Aid (Pink Siifu x Ahwlee) - Brandy, Aaliyah (ft. Quelle Chris, Denmark Vessey, Jimetta Rose, V. C. R, MoRuf, Kamilah) Redd Rebel - Mass Hysteria (Prod. by The Nerds Music Production) Illpo - GROWTH Copywrite - Want to Three For (Instrumental) Whichcraft x Cee Da Cuban - zero below Nemesis x Pizzo Tha LP x Raheem Da Dream - Universal Harmony E-Fluent x Reckonize Real - Live It Up Crotona P - Nobody (ft. M Doc Diego x Street Da Villan Prod. by BoFaat) Knightstalker x Timbo King - Scattered Thoughts (Prod. by Falling Down) Eclyse x Ginsing - Ice Sculptures TARiiiQ - Lyrical Doses Dray Yard - Who Are You (ft. Illa Noyz, Mar'rz Atomz, Araminta Moon, Coke) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/4dadjsradio/message

Amir, Casey, and Emma join Geoff to discuss The Oscars, Confucious, and humility! Advertise on The Headgum Podcast via Gumball.fm Rate The Headgum Podcast 5-stars on Apple Podcasts Rate The Headgum Podcast 5-stars on Spotify Join the Headgum DiscordSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to another episode of Made You Think! In this episode we discuss The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter, and how our modern lifestyle and pursuit of ease might be making us miserable, stressed, and anxious.  We cover a wide range of topics including: The connection between boredom and creativity Misogis and how to discover what you're truly capable of Why you don't necessarily want "less phone" How rucking could be a massive exercise hack The proper "dose" of outdoor, tech-free time And much more. Please enjoy, and make sure to follow Nat, Neil, and Adil on Twitter and share your thoughts on the episode. Links from the Episode: Mentioned in the Show: GORUCK (0:40)  Raising Your Ceiling (8:28) Peter Attia's Podcast episode with Michael Easter (9:01) Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (11:22) Eight Mattress (48:36) Tim Ferriss Podcast episode with Josh Waitzkin (54:14) Books Mentioned: The Comfort Crisis Emergency (12:52) (Book Episode) Antifragile (13:47) (Book Episode) The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying (1:11:49) Moonwalking with Einstein (1:15:01) (Book Episode) Analects of Confucius (1:33:32) People Mentioned: Michael Easter Nassim Taleb (14:13) Josh Waitzkin (54:08) Sogyal Rinpoche (1:11:48) Show Topics: (0:00) Rucking as a way to make you fit overall and where on your body you should be carrying the weight when you walk. (4:32) How your eyes and body adjust to virtual reality. In general, your eyes dilate differently when you're using a screen vs. not using a screen.  (8:25) In today's episode, we're diving into The Comfort Crisis by Michael Easter. The book is centered around the author's caribou hunt in Alaska to challenge the idea of what comfort means to him. (12:51) Good writing is more about helping explain a concept you're beginning to think about in a way that you haven't been able to conceptualize on your own yet rather than teaching you something brand new. (15:19) Boredom is another theme talked about in the book. We tend to favor a highly comfortable life full of entertainment, and we get uncomfortable when we're bored. However, making your life more comfortable isn't necessarily going to improve it in the long term. (17:59) We live in a world where there is always something you can do so you never have to sit in boredom when you're waiting. Because of this constant need to entertain ourselves, we're losing time that we could be spending processing and crafting new ideas. The more that we can train ourselves to be comfortable in boredom, the more we regain our ability to not be so hyper-anxious and reactive all the time.  (20:56) The connection between boredom and creativity is similar to the idea of rest recovery for working out. You wouldn't work out the same muscle every day without a rest day. We're essentially contracting the attention muscle all day long when we're on our phones all the time and not giving it the recovery time it desperately needs. (23:00) So what's the solution? Let yourself get bored. Rather than thinking “less phone” think “more boredom”. Making space for your thoughts and resetting the baseline. (30:58) What's a sustainable way to get your brain rested regularly and how much outdoors time is recommended each month? (33:13) Misogis are challenges that allow you to reframe your perception of what you're capable of achieving. Each year, it's encouraged that you take on a challenge, one that's really hard and one that is unique where you can't compare yourself to others.  (39:42) From Spartan Races, to pushup challenges, to training in the heat of a Texas summer, Nat, Neil, and Adil reflect on some of the harder things that they've experienced. As a species, we're very capable of doing hard things that we often don't push ourselves hard enough for. (49:00) The author's struggle with alcoholism. Everyone self-medicates differently, whether it's alcohol, conflict, or something more positive. It's a matter of what you choose to fill the space with. (54:01) The language we use to approach things is critical. You can always find a way to enjoy a situation that most people would label as “bad”. (1:02:08) How do you reset from a bad mood or from feeling anxiety? Nat, Neil, and Adil talk about the ways they stay active.  (1:04:54) How much exercise should you do and what's the right amount? The more you can do, the better (of course, without injury and overtraining yourself). (1:09:24) Training yourself for long runs and building up your endurance. (1:11:34) “Western laziness is quite different. It consists of cramming our lives with compulsive activity, so there is no time at all to confront the real issues. This form of laziness lies in our failure to choose worthwhile applications for our energy.”  Filling up our time with things that may or may not be meaningful, but we often don't realize that we're doing it. (1:14:36) When you look back over a long period of time, the days where you're outside of your normal routine is what tends to stick out to you.   (1:19:47) Finding the right amount of novelty to live a happy life. Is it possible to go too far into routine or too far into novelty? (1:23:36) Nat, Neil, and Adil share some of their key takeaways and lessons learned from the book. This includes finding more ways to be uncomfortable, embracing that discomfort, and prioritizing physical activity. (1:31:24) That concludes this episode! We hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned for our first episode of 2023 as we cover the Analects of Confucious. If you enjoyed this episode, let us know by leaving a review on iTunes and tell a friend. As always, let us know if you have any book recommendations! You can say hi to us on Twitter @TheRealNeilS, @adilmajid, @nateliason and share your thoughts on this episode. You can now support Made You Think using the Value-for-Value feature of Podcasting 2.0. This means you can directly tip the co-hosts in BTC with minimal transaction fees. To get started, simply download a podcast app (like Fountain or Breez) that supports Value-for-Value and send some BTC to your in-app wallet. You can then use that to support shows who have opted-in, including Made You Think! We'll be going with this direct support model moving forward, rather than ads. Thanks for listening. See you next time!

Last time we spoke Hong Xiuquan had gathered a rabble of peasants, named them the god worshippers and declared war upon the Qing dynasty. He gave titles to his closest comrades forming the North, South, East, West and Flank Kings who led the great Taiping armies on a march towards the secondary capital of China, Nanjing. Countless cities fell the Taiping and the Qing desperately tried to encircle and quell the menace. But the Taiping never stayed in any given place long enough to be captured and even when they were dealt significant losses, they simply moved on and recruited more and more to their cause. Their armies grew exponentially and so did their conquests until they reached the secondary capital of China, Nanjing. Nanjing was put through a brutal siege and taken, her citizens put to the sword and now the Taiping held a grand capital city.   #26 This episode is The Taiping Rebellion part 3: The Heavenly Kingdom of Tianjing   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War.   14 years after his first vision, Hong Xiuquan alongside an incredible 2 million followers had captured the secondary capital of China, Nanjing. Hong Xiuquan, the heavenly king, Yang Xiuqing the East King and the surviving Taiping leadership had developed their military based on the work of the late Feng Yunshan and their combined experiences from the march from the Thistle Mountains all the way to Nanjing. Much like the military structure the new capital would have 4 families linked to every corporal's family and 25 family units linked under every sergeant. These communities would build the public granaries, chapels for worship and so forth. The sergeants would dwell in chapels, the corporals would take their family and those families under their command to sabbath to worship. Every sabbath day, all senior officers, from generals to captains would visit one of the great churches of the sergeants to pray and work hard obeying the Ten commandments.    By day people would work the land, all serving in some form, whether it was pottery, ironwork, carpentry, masonry, whatever according to their skills. The land under Taiping rule was divided up amongst all with one full share for every man and women aged 16 and older and half a share for children below 16. All of the land was graded according to its productivity and when land was insufficient for the peoples needs, the people were moved to land that was plentiful. Of the products of labor, each corporal saw to it that every family under him had food, but all the rest went to the public treasuries. Sergeants checked the books and tallied the accounts, presenting records to superiors “ for all people on this earth are as the family of the Lord their God on High, and when people of this earth keep nothing for their private use but give all things to God for all to use in common, then in the whole land every place shall have equal shares, and every one be clothed and fed. This was why the Lord God expressly sent the Taiping Heavenly Lord to come down and save the world.”   The public treasuries would give gifts to every family at times of birth, marriage and death according their needs, but never in excess of one thousand copper cash or one hundred catties of grain. Surpluses had to be maintained incase of famine or war. Every family unit with a living male head had to give a soldier to the army, but the Taiping would not take widowers, widows, orphans or childless, nor weak or sick. With births came new families and every 5th family gave a new corporal, and every 25th a new sergeant and so on. All officers and officials, even the highest would be reviewed every 3 years and promoted or demoted according to performance. This was the system pushed out upon Nanjing when it was taken. As you can imagine it was a goliath task to meet these demands, thus the system could not actually be implemented all at once, but they were diligent to starting the listing and recording keeping to establish it. Not everyone flocked eagerly to the Taiping ranks. Many households were reluctant to register their members and hid for weeks, countless fled Nanjing.    The Taiping burnt down countless Taoist and Buddhist architecture, smashed statues and image and stripped or killed priests. Everyone was to conform to the new Taiping religion. Notably though the Chinese Muslims in Nanjing were not attacked and their mosques were allowed to stand. One group in Nanjing that were in a position of particular ambiguity were the catholics who numbered around 200. At least 30 catholics were burned in their homes or cut down in the streets during the early chaos. The Taiping found the catholic survivors in a catholic church, but when pressed they refused to recite Taiping liturgy. The Taiping authorities gave them 3 days to comply, then they burst into the church and destroyed the cross and overturned their altar. 70-80 catholic men had their arms tied behind their backs and were given a trial before a Taiping judge and condemned to death unless they said Taiping prayers. They refused opting for martyrdom, but in the end 25 eventually recited the Taiping prayers and the rest were sent to be vanguard forces in the army. In order to push the movement, the Taiping had to seize the Nanjing printing industry to distribute their sacred texts to all the sergeants for reading and preaching. Back when the Taiping captured Yangzhou in april of 1853 they acquired printing press craftsmen, so they brought them to Nanjing.   Hong Xiuquan makes 3 major strategic decisions, the first was to select Nanjing as the new Taiping Capital now known as Tianjing, the second was to create the printing system to promote the Taiping program and the 3rd was to alter name places in China. Hong Xiuquan proclaimed henceforth the city of Beijing was to be named “Yaoxue- demon's den” and the province of Zhili “criminal's province”. When all the Manchu demons were destroyed, Beijing's name could be restored and Zhili once its people repented for their sins and began worshiping the heavenly father. “The world has long been deluded by these demonic Tartars, and it is imperative that they be soon destroyed. But before we destroy these people, we must first destroy their bases. And before we can destroy the power of their bases, we must first destroy the bases' names.” Emperor Xianfeng by definition was the leader of earthly demons and Hong Xiuquan changed his name that meant “united in glory” to have a dog component added and he also did this to terms referring to Manchu.   The Taiping followers in Nanjing were told the time to end sexual separation had not come yet, any men who forced themselves on women, whether they be veterans or new would be executed. Those who worked as prostitutes would not only be executed, but also their families. Male homosexuality was severly punished, if partner were both aged 13 or older they would be beheaded. If you were under 13 you could be spared unless it was proven you were an active partner. The city of Nanjing was divided similar to what the Taiping did in Wuchang, with blocks for men and those for women and children. Those skilled in specific types of labor lived amongst another, for example carpenters with carpenters tailors with tailors.    Hong Xiuquan had a ceremonial hat made with a fan shaped front, decorated with twin dragons and twin phoenixes. The other kings were allowed to have twin dragons as well but only one phoenix. On the upper part of Hong Xiuquans hat he alone had written “the mountains and river are unified and the heavens are filled with stars”. The 3 surviving kings each had one line embroidered on their hats; for the East king Yang Xiuqing “long phoenix perching in the clouds”, for the north king Wei Changhui “long phoenix perching on the mountain peak” and for the flank king Shi Dakai “lone phoenix perching on the peony”.   Hong Xiuquan had 10,000 people work for 6 months to built him a palace in the former site of the governor generals mansion in the center of the northern side of the main residential city. Within mere days of taking Nanjing, the Qing began counter attacks leading to the gates of Nanjing being reinforced with additional gates built in front or behind the existing ones. Cannon emplacements and palisades for gunners are created en masse. Forward defensive encampments, wooden watch towers as high as 30 or even 40 feet are created. Smaller towns surrounded nanjing are reinforced. Large swathes of area have ditches dug, palisades erected, felled, honeycombed networked of small round holes with straw placed over them and bamboo spikes underneath. Its a regional fortress built with the purpose of overthrowing the Qing.   Now until the capture of Nanjing, the Taiping had been a mobile force whose success for a large part was simply because they would seize a major city and move on before the Qing could get them. The establishment of their Tianjing Capital meant the core of the Taiping movement, its leadership and central army were now in a fixed position. The Qing could finally plan and coordinate large scale action directed at their capital. Interestingly enough, the decision to hunker down in Nanjing is what many scholars regard as the crucial reason for their eventual failure. If they had simply done what they done best and took Nanjing for perhaps a month or so and moved on to Beijing they could have very well toppled the Qing. None the less, the Taiping were in a good position in Nanjing compared to that on Beijing. It is estimated in 1853 Nanjing held 18 million taels of silver, while Beijing was depleted to a possible 3 million. The Nanjing granaries by the end of 1853 totalled 1,270,000 piculs of unhulled rice and 750,000 hulled rice, sufficient to feed the Taiping for many months. An American missionary named E.C Bridgman visited Nanjing in may of 1854 and reported “all the people we saw were well-clad, well fed and well provided for in every way. They all seemed content, and in high spirits as if sure of success”. The surrounding areas continued to supply Nanjing with grain and the Yangtze river continued to serve as its artery of communication and trade.   Now once they had Nanjing the Taiping set out to accomplish their ultimate goal, the final defeat of the Manchu demons in Beijing. But when the Taiping took Nanjing a lot of internal strife began to grow. While Hong Xiuquan was the bonafide religious and political leader to the Taiping, he was never alone and although many of the great figureheads had died, a few large ones remained. Yang Xiuqing the east king, Wei Changhui the north king and Shi Dakai the flank king were the 3 largest leaders alongside Hong Xiuquan. Yang Xiuqing established himself as the highest ideological leader, above that of Wei Changhui and in many aspects above hong Xiuquan. When Xiao Chaogui the West King died, Hong Xiuquan made a proclamation that granted Yang a supervisory power over the 4 other kings, clearly promoting him above the rest. When Xiao Chaogui died, Shi Dakai sort of filled the dead kings space in many ways and when  Nanjing was captured he was the only king constantly occupied in the field, directing and personally leading western campaigns. Hong Xiuquan as the spiritual leader, began to gradually isolate himself within his palace only acting through proclamations. Wei Changhui the north king, acted as the coordinator for the defense of the region around the capital and was responsible for food supplies. This left general administrative supervision in the hands of Yang Xiuqing who also acted as the coordinator of all military campaigns. Now Yang Xiuqing back in the early days of 1851 had coalesced the Taiping when he began in trance-like states to state he was the mouthpiece of God the father. Likewise Xiao Chaogui had these trances where he said he was the mouthpiece of Jesus, hmmmmm. Oh and there was a lot of roleplay in this by the way, when Xiao Chaogui spoke to Hong Xiuquan in a trance state he would refer to him as “younger brother” like wise Yang would refer to him as son. Both Yang and Xiao it seems were in league with another using this unique trance behavior to raise their status. But when Xiao died, there was a lot of confusion, leading Yang to stop messing around for awhile as the voice of god the father. But in december of 1853 Yang once again began to speak publicly as the voice of god. Yang began a campaign where he attempted to humiliate the heavenly king using trances as the voice of god. Yang begins a campaign to humiliate Hong where he uses the voice of god to accuse the Heavenly King of growing to be too harsh and indulgent with his power. That he is harsh to women who serve him and far too indulgent of his 4 year old son. One accusation in particular was that 4 of Hong's palace women were treated so badly that they should be released from Hong's palace and instead should live at Yang's palace. Yang says Hong orders women under him to work in rain or snow and allows his concubines to sneer and scold the other women, oh yes despite all the laws and such Hong and many of the Taiping leaders have concubines. Remember when I said the Taiping rebellion was like a proto marxist one? Yes just like any good marxist they dont live the way they preach, shots fired. Yang continues to argue the women officials are prevented from their duties by the mean concubines and that Hong Xiuquan had even kicked some of them in anger and punished pregnant concubines similarly, something that is a serious crime. You don't kick pregnant women. He follows this up saying in God's voice that the heavenly king should receive 40 blows of the rod for his derelictions. To this Hong publicly prostrated himself to receive said blows, so god would forgive him. Hong's 4 year old son is said to be too self-indulgent and willful because he plays in the rain, and smashes presents given to him…..weird. God states he must stop all of this because it will lead him to abuse the people in the future when he leads.   Yang Xiuqing did not stop at attacking Hong, he also went after two others in particular: the north king Wei Chanhui and marquis Qin Rigang, both men who had been with Hong since the earliest days at Thistle mountain. Wei was an educated man, Qin was a miner who studied military arts and proved himself a formidable strategist. For years both men handled key military assignments for Hong, Qin was regarded as the senior ranking Taiping officer after the surviving kings. Yang began to use the voice of god to humiliate Wei in many ways. Whenever his trances began, Yang's woman attendants would summon Wei at once using drum calls and if Wei was late the women would berate him. Wei was forced to kowtow to Yang when he was in trance and when Yang was in trance he moved by sedan chair while Wei was forced to walk beside it. Yang kept his attendants on Wei's ass also disturbing him. Qin had to endure similar humiliations and was forced to help carry Yangs sedan chair up the palace stairs a few times. To give some more flavor, here is one story about a clash that occurred in december between Yang and Wei.    Yang one day in public suggested that Hong had more than enough embroideries and robes in his palace and should economize for a time instead of getting more. Wei ignored what Yang said and told Hong “You, our second elder brother, are the true Sovereign of all nations of the world, and you are rich in the possession of all within the four seas; although robes and garments are sufficient, it will still be necessary to be constantly engaged in making up more.” Upon hearing this Yang responded “I beseech you, our second elder brother, to pardon this younger brother's crime and permit this younger brother to memorialize straightforwardly. If apparel were insufficient, then it would be necessary to make up more; but if it is said it is sufficient, it will be better to delay the making up of more, and then we can see the second elder brother's virtues of economy and love of man. Why should our younger brother Zheng [the North King] memorialize on the necessity of constantly making up more clothing?” To both of them Hong replied “Brother [Yang Xiu]Qing! You are certainly what the ancients called a bold and outspoken minister. And you, brother Zheng, although you may have a sincere regard for your elder brother, are not so straightforward and open in your statements as our brother Qing; for which he is to be much more commended. Later, in the reign of the Young Monarch, all who are ministers should imitate the example of our brother Qing in speaking straightforwardly as he has done this day; thus will they fulfill their duty as ministers.”   Some of the events I just talked about occur a bit later on, but I wanted to give you the idea that in the background, Yang was humiliating others and doing whatever he could to take more and more power. Now of the 5 kings, 3 survived and the administrative staffs of the former 2 simply were distributed amongst the 3 survivors. But after Nanjing was captured the kings would not be the solo ruling leaders anymore. Additional “princes” were added, they were similar to the kings, just lesser so. They held lesser rank than the kings, but were above the Taiping military rank structure. They come about at different times but there would be the Zhong price: Li Xiucheng, Ying prince: Chen Yucheng, Jun Prince: Lai Wenkwok, Fu Prince: Hong Renda, An Prince: Hong Renfa, Yong Prince: Hong Rengui, Fu Prince: Hong Renfu and the Gan Prince: Hong Rengan, yes our old friend Rengan will come to this story but much later on. It seems Yang orchestrated the creation of these princes and the multiplicity of administrative staffs to make it easier for him to weaken the authority of his most senior rivals.    Yang Xiuqing acting as commander in chief of the Taiping military sent out 4 offensives, 2 towards the north against Beijing and 2 up the Yangtze river into western China. Yang Xiuqings overall plan was to use the northern and western expeditionary forces to create a large pincer to capture the whole of northern and western China. According to Missionary Bridgman “ The Taiping had four armies in the field, carrying on active aggressive operations: 2 of these had gone northwards: they were designed to cooperate and after storming and destroying Peking, to turn westwards and march through Shanxi, Shensi, Kansuh, into Szechuan, where they are expected to meet their other 2 armies, which from Kingsi and the Lake provinces are to move up the great river and along through the regions on its southern bank'.    The northern expedition of around 80,000 men was led by 2 commanders, Li Kaifang and Lin Fengxiang who led the vanguard to take Yangchow on April the 1st. By May the 8th they left Yangchow after receiving reinforcements and advanced towards Ch'u-chou in Anhwei province. As their forces went into Anhwei and Henan province they were bolstered by local bandits, particularly the Nian rebels, who were performing the Nian rebellion simultaneously. Following the same strategy applied to the Hunan campaign and the Yangtze valley, they moved rapidly through Anhwei and Henan without leaving behind garrisons nor supply stations. At first, they did not attempt to take any city that proved to be well defended. However at Huaiqing in Henan at the border of Shanxi, they used their 80,000 strong force to besiege the prefectural city, believing it held rich military supplies.    The siege lasted 2 months, but the Taiping failed to capture it and had to move on. The delay in their march as the result of failing at Huaiqing seems to be a decisive turning point for the northern expedition as a whole. The Taiping suffered terrible losses in both shock troops and officers, while the Qing court in Beijing gained valuable time to prepare against the impending Taiping attacks. The Taiping gradually penetrated Zhili via Shanxi province and reached the suburbs of Tianjin, and it was here another large mistake was made for the second time. The Taiping could have simply marched on Beijing, but yet against chose to attack a secondary target. The northern expeditionary force was tiny compared to that of the entire Taiping army which should have been consolidated and marched upon Beijing. The Taiping were greatly hindered by northern chinas winters, because do remember most of the Taiping were from southern china. The Qing had begun a war of attrition, making sure to take away food stuffs in the path of the northern expedition. The Taiping found it extremely hard to forage and on top of this the Qing even broke dikes in the grand canal to flood the Taiping out.   Emperor Xianfeng also released what would be his greatest weapon, the Mongolian prince Senggelinqin. Prince Seng was from the Horqin left back banner of inner Mongolia and a member of the Borjiqin clan. He was a 26th generation descendant of Qasar brother to Genghis Khan. His name Sengge Rinchen was made up of two tibetan words meaning Lion and Treasure. When he was just a child he was adopted by Sodnamdorji a Jasagh “head of a mongol banner” of the Horqin left back banner and Junwang, second rank prince under the Qing dynasty. He would inherit his adoptive fathers titles during the reign of Emperor Daoguang. It was at the 1853 battle for Tianjin where Prince Seng would earn his fame.    The Taiping expeditionary force had fought its way bitterly from Nanjing to Tianjin, leaving just 80 miles between them and Beijing. Prince Seng rushed to the scene aided greatly by a valuable ally, winter. The winter ravaged the Taiping, many of them had never seen snow in their lives and this forced them to fall upon a village fortification to survive it causing an immediate stalemate. When the weather broke in spring, Prince Seng ordered his troops to build a dirt and stone wall to encircle the entire Taiping army camp from a distance while a crew of 1000 laborers spent a month digging a series of trenches to connect it, via a dry riverbed to the grand canal over 40 miles away. When they broke the dikes, the canal water rushed in flooding the Taiping camp to its rooftops, drowning a considerable amount of the army and forcing their submission. Being a Mongol, Prince Seng and those he commanded preferred the bow and arrow as their chief weapon, something they had overwhelming supremacy over the southern chinese. The Taiping could have overwhelmed Prince Sengs cavalry units, if they had western firearms, but they did not. The Taiping forces were dispersed and destroyed. Lin Fengxiang was captured at Lichen in Zhili province on march 7th of 1855 and Li Kaifang was captured at Fengkuat'un in Shandong on March the 31st of 1855. This was the ultimate end to the north expedition. Had the Taiping marched on Beijing at the rate they were going, it is argued they could have taken down the Qing. Tactical blunders, logistical issues, severe weather and the capability of Qing commanders such as Prince Seng ultimately put an end to the Taiping threat to Beijing, though they were certainly nowhere near defeated.   While the northern expedition was going on there was also a western expedition that left Nanjing on May 19th of 1853, just 11 days after the northern expedition launched from Yangzhou. The objective of the western expedition as conceived by Yang Xiuqing was to follow the Yangtze river and ultimately meet up with the northern expedition in Sichuan province. This would have resulted in a pincer maneuver that could swallow up all of western and northern China. On June 10th the western forces recaptured the vital city of Anqing which had been taken back by Qing forces. They were able to provision up from there and divided the force into several armies to march through the Yangtze valley. One army was commanded by Hu Yiguang who set out north of the Yangtze to conquer Anhwei province. Lai Hanyang took another army south to conquer Jiangxi. A 3rd mobile force led by Zeng Tianyang began to independently attack cities south of the Yangtze.    Hu Yiguang's force got as far as Luzhou, the new capital of Anhwei province at the time. Luzhou was guarded by one of the most capable Qing commanders, Jiang Zhongyuan, a Hunanese native from Xinning. He became the magistrate of Xiushi and Lishui, earning a reputation for being a great scholar and military leader. Zeng Guofan recommended Jiang for a higher office in 1850 to Emperor Xianfeng, but when he was supposed to leave for Beijing his father died and he had to return home to mourn. When the Taiping rebellion began, Jiang was appointed to assist the Grand secretary Sha-Shan-a in quelling the insurrection. Jiang began a campaign of gathering Hunanese volunteers who for the first time fought outside Hunan. It was one of the first waves of local forces led by a gentry class to fight the Taiping menace, something that influenced future Yung-Ying armies. Jiang won a great battle in Guangxi and was promoted to the rank of first class sub prefect. When the Taiping were invading Guilin in 1852, Jiang led his men from his home of Xinning to attack them. He won 3 major battles and managed to lift the Taiping siege of Guilin earning the rank of prefect. After this Jiang thwarted a Taiping naval invasion of Hunan province. He dammed the Xiang river near Suoyi ford and ambushed the Taiping Navy causing massive casualties upon them. It was the battle I mentioned where 10,000 Taiping men and Feng Yunshan perished. He thwarted the Taiping overland invasion of Hunan and besieged the Taiping stronghold of Chenzhou for a month before they fled to attack Changsha, the capital of Hunan. Jiang was one of those who helped defend Changsha earning the promotion of provincial judge of Hubei and then by 1853 assistant commander of the Qing armies in Jiangnan. He then aided in the defense of Nanchang which was besieged from June 22 to september 24th of 1853. For this he was appointed governor of Anhui which is what led him to the battle over Luzhou. When word came that the Taiping sought to attack Luzhou, Jiang rushed over with a small force to try and defend the new capital. He found himself outnumbered and outgunned, especially in siege mining technology that the Taiping had dramatically improved by this point in time. The Taiping took the city by January the 15th and in the process Jiang was wounded and he opted to commit suicide by drowning himself. The Qing lost an important capital city and one of their finest commanders who had proven himself successful at defeating Taiping using local militia forces.    Lai Hanying's army besieged Nanchang, the capital of Jiangxi from june to september of 1853, but ultimately failed to take the city. This resulted in Lai losing his command and his army divided in 2 to hit Hubei and Hunan under the leadership of Wei Jun and Shi Zhenxiang. The high point of their campaigns led to the capture of Xiangtan on April 24th of 1854. After a year of taking Nanjing, the Taipings expeditions had run out of momentum. The northern expedition was a failure, the western had gained limited success, but not enough to extend their reach to the upper Yangtze and that of western china. The Taiping riverine forces dominated the Yangtze up into Hunan allowing them to use it for provisioning, logistics and most importantly further recruiting. But the original lightning speed drive of the Taiping had faded and the Qing were beginning to recover from the blitzkrieg. Now the offensives became see-saw's which allowed the Qing more time to recover, reorganize and build up new leadership that could effectively face the Taiping menace. Being a Pacific War specialist, its very much like the situation during the Guadalcanal campaign. Prior to this, the Japanese ran rampant on offensive controlling the when and where actions would occur, but after the horrible loss at Midway and Guadalcanal, the Japanese had gone past their logistical capabilities and lost the initiative, for the rest of the Pacific War the allies controlled the initiative. This is what we call the turning point, and it was here a year after taking Nanjing and losing the window of opportunity to take Beijing that was the Taiping rebellion's turning point. It is not to say they could not win the war, but the initiative was now in the hands of the Qing.   Although the campaign to take Beijing failed and the western campaign only held limited successes near the Yangtze, the Taiping were steadily extending their territory and thus were gaining additional manpower and supplies from the greater Yangtze region. The Taiping were struggling to consolidate their gains to establish better rule. Their offensives were being hampered by both political and religious confusion, often orchestrated by the efforts of Yang Xiuqing. The Taiping structure threatened Chinese traditions and saw backlash particularly from the Gentry class. I would note the gentry and landowner types probably were not the keenist on a group who sought land/wealth redistribution haha. The Taiping were a threat to Chinese social order as much as it was a threat to the Qing rule. Thus the gentry of China began to put their resources together to help the war effort resulting in a large push to the creation of Yung-ying militia groups such as Zeng Guofan's Xiang army. On top of the external actors trying to destroy the Taiping, the Taiping were having a ton of inner conflict as well. A violent and bloody power struggle had emerged destroying the unified political and military command established under Yang Xiuqing.   Now although I spoke about the formation of the new armies, I need to go into it a bit further, especially in regards to Zeng Guofan. While I explained how Zeng Guofan created his force, I did not talk about how this all looked from the Qing dynasties point of few. In late 1852 and early 1853 a number of edicts were made by Emperor Xianfeng leading to the appointment of 43 supervisors of new local corps in the provinces of Hunan, Anhwei, Jiangsu, Zhili, Henan, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Guizhou and Fujian. Amongst the appointed was Zeng Guofan. The Qing government sought to have these organized smaller forces led by the gentry class so they could be loyal and relied upon. These forces were set up in each district to contest the Taiping. Zeng Guofan's Xiang army proved themselves to be highly effective, but Zeng Guofan chose to be very cautious when reporting back to the Qing court. This was because his military organizational building was strongly autonomous and could be seen as a threat to the Qing military. There had been numerous local militia groups that shifted from pro-government to banditry. The establishment of these armies was obviously a last resort means, and definitely could be a threat to the dynasty, they were not so unalike to the bandit armies created in the 17th century to fight the Daxi or Dashun armies afterall.    Zeng Guofan did not state exactly what he was doing to the Qing court, in one of his first memorial he simply reported back that he was enlisting men from the countryside to establish a large military corps at its capital to be trained. It looked like Zeng Guofan was building a personal army, one that could be led on campaigns outside its local area. He sent more memorials stating that local corpsmen could not be relied upon in critical moments and that it was better to recruit from these local corpsmen an official militia, whose rations could be paid from public funds. When he was building the Xiang army he was consciously departing from the Qing courts authorization. He realized that local defense corps that had sprung up all over China were useful against local bandits and small raiders, but they were not large nor strong enough to withstand attacks from larger organized armies such as the Taiping. The Taiping were only growing larger, more organized, better armed. They simply could not be stopped by just local corps, what the Qing needed was a mobile army that could be used for offensive campaigns throughout larger areas.   Now the way Zeng Guofan made the Xiang army was based strongly on personal loyalty, the units were recruited, led and paid for by their commander. The commanders were loyal to Zeng Guofan, thus more or less the Xiang army was a personal army at his command. Zeng Guofan also assembled a number of future leaders who would go on to create their own versions of the Xiang army. Such men were Zeng Zongtang and Li Hongzhang of Anhwei province. By the end of the century, Zeng Guofan's example led to most provinces being dominated by regional forces under military organizations over whom the Qing central government had only minimal control. In many ways Zeng Guofan was a symptom of the ailing dynasty, the Qing were gradually losing control and there was emerging a threat to the political and social order in china. Zeng Guofan say the Taiping menace as a threat to traditional chinese society. He made many proclamations stating as such. “The Taiping rebels have stolen the ways of the foreign barbarians when they distort family relations by calling all people brothers and sisters, when they declare that all land belongs to the heavenly king and that all profit also belongs to him. They force scholars to give up the COnfucian classics to read instead the so called teaching of Jesus. They wipe away our moral standards, the very way we conduct ourselves as humans, the classics, and the institutions that have existed in CHina for several thousands of years. This is not only a tragedy for the Qing dynasty but a great tragedy for the whole of “ming-chiao” Chinese tradition and causes confucius and Mencius to weep bitterly in the underworld. How could any educated person remain sitting, hands in sleeves, without doing something about it”.    Zeng Guofan kept bringing up how the Taiping destroyed Buddhist and Taoist temples, that they were angering the gods who would take revenge. To right these terrible wrongs he said he was under Qing orders to advance his troops by land and water, not just to ease the Qing monarchs but also to console Confucious and Mencius, to avenge the slaughter of millions of Chinese. Appealing to the masses, Zeng Guofan began to ask for recruits, financial support and the surrender of any who decided to join the Taiping. Now I said he paid his army handsomely compared to that of the Green standards and such, but a lot of the funds were not under Qing control. The Gentry class were strongly supporting those like Zeng Guofan. Zeng Guofan began to ask and obtain permission from the Qing government to sell certificates of academic degrees, official titles and office appointments to sell to these said Gentry. The sale of all these degrees and titles increased gentry contributions, but also increased their influence and it began to build a new gentry role in leadership.    Another major source of income for the Xiang army was new internal custom taxes introduced in 1853. And although the Qing government permitted this new tax, it held no control or supervision over it. Zeng Guofan and other commanders of regional armies were gaining control over regular provincial taxes and were using them to build their armies. The combined income from the gentry class and regional taxes made men like Zeng Guofan basically warlords. Their forces were not really governmental troops although they were fighting for said government. The other side, the Taiping failed to gain any support from the Gentry class because of their alienating religious and economic beliefs. Fundamentally the Taiping were a revolutionary group breaking the stratum of Chinese society, and a large part of that was the Chinese gentry class.    Now Zeng Guofan began with a army of just a thousand men in 1853, composing 3 battalions. When they began to really clash with the Taiping they were soon 20,000 strong with naval and cavalry units. Later on they would become 120,000 men strong and Zeng Guofan had planned to use them for a long drawn out campaign despite pressure coming from Beijing to smash the rebels. Now the first major engagement between the Xiang army and the Taiping came in early 1854 and the Taiping defeated them. But on May 1st of 1854, the Xiang army defeated the Taiping at Xiangtan forcing them to withdraw. Then in a battle at Yuzhou in Hunan in July, the Xiang army on land and river gained a major victory. This victory gained Zeng Guofan great prestige and demonstrated the effectiveness of his army. The battle cost the Taiping more than half their fleet of boats and thus the loss of control over the central Yangtze river area. It was the first serious setback for the Taiping and it reduced their perimeter of military operations. Following up this victory, the Xiang army entered Hubei province and quickly recaptured Wuchang and Hanyang by october of 1854. Soon Zeng Guofans forces began to penetrate into Hubei and Jiangxi provinces marking the failure and end to the Taiping western expedition.   I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The Northern expedition was a complete bust, the Taiping had lost the opportunity to claim the dragon throne. But the western expedition proved fruitful and gradually the heavenly kingdom was growing, and perhaps it could eclipse the Qing.  

Last time we spoke the reluctant Lord Elgin took up the job as the new emissary to China. Alongside his french counterpart Baron Gross, both men would overlook their military coalitions expedition in China to force the Qing emperor to abide by their treaty and some new demands. They began with a bombardment and occupation of the grand city of Canton and then Ye Mingchen was hunted down and arrested. Ye was replaced with a puppet named Pih-Kwei who would be nominally controlled by the European forces. Now the coalition would fight their way to Beijing to force an audience with Emperor Xianfeng, but something lied in their way, the famous Taku forts at the mouth of the Bei He River. Could the coalition fight past these legendary forts and strangle Beijing  enough to get their demands met?   Welcome to the Fall and Rise of China Podcast, I am your dutiful host Craig Watson. But, before we start I want to also remind you this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Perhaps you want to learn more about the history of Asia? Kings and Generals have an assortment of episodes on history of asia and much more  so go give them a look over on Youtube. So please subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry for some more history related content, over on my channel, the Pacific War Channel where I cover the history of China and Japan from the 19th century until the end of the Pacific War. #21 This episode is Part 3 of the Second Opium War: battles for the Taku Forts At high tide the Taku Forts were surrounded by water, the Bei He River became something like a natural moat. The entrance to the Bei He River was 200 yards in width, forcing the British and French warships into a bottleneck gauntlet with each shore holding 137 pieces of antiquated artillery. When the invaders arrived, the Qing forces quickly went to work creating earthwork walls with sandbags to bolster the defenses. The Qing forces presumed the European gunboats hulls were too deep and thus they would not risk entering the river until it was very high tide to avoid going aground. That presumption was a grave error as Seymour and Rigault were willing to risk it and mounted a surprise attack at 10am on May 20th. Elgin made one last ditch effort to get Tan to surrender peacefully, but Tan did not even bother to respond to Elgins message. Now in a similar fashion to the first opium war, as you might remember a large problem for the Qing was their outdated artillery. Their cannons were usually immobile, unable to aim at all degrees and angles. The Taku Fort cannons were aimed in such a way to hit warships at high tide, but the British-French force was going to attack during low tide. Alongside the Taku Forts cannons another defensive obstacle was a 7 inch thick boom made out of bamboo. The Europeans opened fire unleashed pure hell upon the forts and when the forts unleashed their own volley, literally all of their shots went over the European masts. To add insult to injury, the British sacrificed one of their ships, the Coromandel to ram into the boom which broke with ease. The Coromandal received a nasty gash in her hull, but the job had been done. As pieces of the boom floated away, the rest of the European armada began to steam through the gap while the Qing helplessly fired their cannons straight over their masts. The French ships Mitraille and Fusee alongside the British Cormorant fired upon 2 of the Taku Forts on the left bank while the French Avalance, Dragonne and British Nimrod fired upon the 3 forts on the right. The Chinese manning Gingalls had much better luck than the cannons, though it also came at the price of making the Europeans laugh watching men fall over from firing each shot. However not all was funny as Gingalls could be properly aimed unlike the cannons and managed to kill 5 British and 6 French while wounding another 61. Then tragedy happened when a gunpowder cache in one of the Taku forts accidentally exploded killing 100 Chinese. Alongside the invaders maelstrom of gunfire and the defenders despair at the futility of their cannons many began to panic. Even before many of the British and French forces began to land ashore, countless Qing forces were deserting the earthen parapet en masse. In desperation seeing his men flee, the Qing commander launched 50 fireboats stuffed with straw at the barbarian ships, only to see the fireships crash into the bank at the bend in the river. Not a single fireship was able to cause damage to the invaders. With the last ditch effort a complete failure, the commander of the Taku Forts went to the Temple of the Sea God and slashed his jugular vein with his sword killing himself.  The Viceroy of Zhili province was banished to the desolate border territory with Russia in the north. As he packed his bags, Emperor Xianfeng condemned the Viceroy's mismanagement of the Taku Fort defense as being “without plan or resource”. Elgin after witnessing the victory over the Taku Forts had a really interesting thing to say “Twenty-four determined men with revolvers, and a sufficient number of cartridges, might walk through China from one end to another.”  Back home in Britain Elgin was being praised and was rewarded likewise with carte blanche for all further military actions and negotiations. The new Prime Minister, Lord Derby, haha looks like those grand speeches worked out for him, well he sent Elgin a congratulatory dispatch “giving me latitude to do anything I choose, if only I will finish the affair.” The very same man who condemned British imperialism the year prior was now a warhawk. Lord Malmesbury became the new foreign minister replacing Lord Clarendon. Back in China, the European gunboats made their way up the Bei He River triumphantly towards the next Qing stronghold, Tianjin. Tianjin was around 30 miles away from Beijing. The 3 Plenipotentiaries stayed further behind at the Taku Forts for their own safety as Seymour and Rigault took the lead. As they steamed up the Bei He River, both the Fusee and Cormorant ran aground numerous time, but the Europeans found some very unlikely allies to help, the local Chinese. Turns out a lot of the populace absolutely hated their Manchu overlords and volunteered their tugboats free of charge to help the Europeans. Apparently when the Europeans tried to pay them many refused if it is to be believed.  On June 4th the European armada arrived at Tianjin without any resistance along the way. The Qing defenders at Tianjin morale was so low they were at the point of surrender. There was also a rumor spreading around that Emperor Xianfeng had been overthrown and replaced by a new dynasty who was willing to simply sign a new treaty with the Europeans. Seymour and Rigault advised Elgin he should stay at the Taku Forts for security, but he disregarded this and came up to the war party on May 26th. Elgin wrote in his diary as he made his way up the river. “Through the night watches, when no Chinaman moves, when the junks cast anchor, we laboured on, cutting ruthlessly and recklessly through that glancing and startled river which, until the last few weeks, no stranger keel had ever furrowed. Whose work are we engaged in, when we burst thus with hideous violence and brutal energy into these darkest and most mysterious recesses of the traditions of the past? I wish I could answer that question in a manner satisfactory to myself. At the same time there is certainly not much to regret in the old civilisation which we are thus scattering to the winds. A dense population, timorous and pauperised, such would seem to be its chief product. “ The Plenipotentiaries were quite surprised when they were met outside Tianjin by a detachment of local Qing officials and merchants who came looking for opium. Yes these were those types of middle men folks who were used to bribes and the lucrative business of moving opium. Despite the rumors, Emperor Xianfeng had not been overthrown, but he was willing to negotiate with the Europeans. Emperor Xianfeng sent commissioners to Tianjin in the hope of stopping the European advance to Beijing. Meanwhile with Tianjin not putting up a fight, Elgin wrote in his diary “[I have] complete military command of the capital of China, without having broken off relations with the neutral powers, and without having interrupted, for a single day, our trade at the different ports of the Empire.” The Europeans were treated with the utmost respect and the lavish temple known as the Supreme Felicity was used as headquarters for the Europeans. The Europeans transformed the temple by creating a bowling alley, they used its myriad of altars for washbasins and placed vanity mirrors in front of statues of the gods. This cultural vandalized would be an appetizer for events in the future. Two emissaries were sent by Emperor Xianfeng, both were commissioners, the first was the 74 year old Guiliang, a senior military officer. The other was a 53 year old Mongolian military officer. They met with the Europeans at the Temple of Oceanic Influences southwest of Tianjin. Elgin arrived on June 4th alongside 50 Royal marines and a band from the warship Calcutta to add some muscle.  The first meeting went…terribly. The commissioners had the authority to negotiate, but lacked carte blanche to finalize any deal. Elgin stormed out of the first meeting, completely blowing off this lavish buffet the Qing had set for the party to celebrate the new peace treaty. Elgin was well known to be courtes, but after spending 6 months in China had quickly learnt the only way to get Qing officials to act was to show some bravado. Elgin even wrote to his wife at the time “I have made up my mind, disgusting as the part is to me, to act the role of the ‘uncontrollably fierce barbarian.'” As Elgin stomped his feet walking off he made a threat that he would soon march upon Beijing, even though in truth the Europeans did not have the land forces to do so. Elgin left his brother to continue negotiations, Lord Frederick Bruce. One of Fredericks interpreters, Horatio Lay decided it was a good idea to use some Sturm und Drang and began to literally scream at the Qing commissioners whenever they talked about clauses in the new treaty. Lay even threatened to lay waste to Beijing and would slap the Emperor himself, this guy had some balls. Lay's abuse of the two commissioners became so bad, the men went around his head to speak to Putiatin and the American envoy William Reed. Reed sent a letter to Elgin asking him to help rein in the tyrannical Lay, but Elgin ignored the letter, wow. Putiatin asked Gros whom he knew had grown very close to Elgin, to intercede, but Gros declined to do so as he feared it would alienate his friendship to Elgin. The Qing then resorted to bribery, they tried to give Lay a horse, but Lay did not change his aggressive stance.  The negotiations were taking very long, it was the typical Chinese strategy of procrastination. Elgin was becoming livid and wrote in his diary about Reed and Putiatin “These sneaking scoundrels do what they can to thwart me and then while affecting to support the Chinese act as their own worst enemies.” Elgin also felt British parliament had failed to back him up. Elgin received a letter from the new Foriegn minister Lord Malmesbury on April the 9th, berating him for not concluding the peace treaty in due time. “A Cabinet has been held today and it is our anxious wish to see this Chinese business settled if it can be done without loss of honour and commercial interests as at present enjoyed. Our reputation is sufficiently vindicated at Canton and we do not look at the chance of a war with the Chinese Empire without much apprehension. I trust therefore that you will not engage us in a contest of this sort if you can possibly avoid it.” The negotiations over the terms of the new treaty stretched for 3 weeks and the Qing were rejecting two clauses the British absolutely wanted: free passage throughout China and for a permanent British and French embassy at the Qing imperial court. The two commissioners stated that accepting either of these would cost the men their lives. Gros and Putiatin began arguing that the permanent embassy point was not critical as long as their ministers had access to Beijing in some form. After much arguing the commissioners conceded to the two points and thus the Treaty of Tianjin was formed. The Europeans made sure to add a clause they henceforth they would no longer be called barbarians in official communications and treaties, though it should be noted the term used by the Chinese literally just meant “those who don't speak Chinese”.  The Treaty of Tianjin opened new ports for trade: Tianjin, Hangzhou and Nanjing. It should be noted the Qing were all too happy to toss Nanjing into the treaty as the Taiping were occupying it as their own capital. Perhaps if they were lucky, the Europeans would go to Nanjing, run into some trouble and attack the Taiping for them! Baron Gros raised concerns over the clauses as he argued Britain would have to bear even more military might to enforce the treaty. As Gros pointed out to Elgin, the Confucious principle, a promise made under duress does not need to be kept. Another item on the treaty clauses was the payment of 2 million taels of silver to Britain for the damage to their factories at Canton and another 2 million in general reparation. The French were to receive 2 million taels as well. Now the warnings Gros made concerned Elgin and he was having second thoughts. One major concern was the idea of extracting he enormous sums of money from what seemed to be an Empire on the verge of Bankruptcy. Elgin wrote back to the foreign minister, concerned that extracting the large sums of money would lead to the toppling of the Manchu rule “Everything we saw around us indicated the penury of the Treasury. To despair, by putting forward pecuniary claims which it could satisfy only by measures that would increase its unpopularity and extend the area of rebellion.” Elgin ended by saying the humiliating treaty would be a large beacon for the Taiping Rebels. William Reed recommended legalizing opium as a clause, arguing the tax revenue from it would benefit the Qing Empire. The British wanted a tariff of only 30 taels and the Cohong merchants supported this. Jardine & Matheson & co released a statement “The use of opium is not a curse, but a comfort and benefit to the hard-working Chinese.” Boy you can't get any more gross than that one. The French for their part performed a study of the opium problem in China. Baron Gros found that users who smoked upto 8 pipes per day had a life expectancy of only 6 years. Casual consumers could expect around 20 years after starting to smoke it, many died around the age of 50 or so. Opium addicts were found to be spending 2/3 ‘s of their income to feed their addiction. The Russians and Americans agreed with the French that the opium trade was horrible. The French however have little to nothing to say about another form of trade they took part in with China, the “pig trade”, that being the enslavement of coolies. Now you have to hear this one, this is so symbolic of the event as a whole. The translator for the treaty took forever because he was an opium addict. You just can't make this stuff up folks. The Russians agreed to the terms first on June 18th Putiantian signed off, making Elgin feel betrayed and abandoned because he still had qualms. What was really important to Russia was the border they shared with the Qing, it had been a source of much conflict. Thus Russia settled with a visiting ambassador to Beijing with no permanent status. Christianity received a formal toleration and the Russians got access to 2 more ports on Taiwan and Hainan. Five days later the Americans signed off on a similar agreement to the Russians. Both the Americans and Russians made sure to include the most favored nations clause in their treaties, which meant that whatever further concessions went to the British and French, they too would enjoy them. Thus the 2 nations who brought zero military aid and did basically nothing reaped the same benefits as the 2 nations shouldering everything, ain't that nice? Putiatin sent Elgin and Gros a copy of Russia's treaty urging them not to topple the manchu rule with too many humiliating concessions. Reed made a similar appeal. Gros reached an agreement on june 23rd and did not hesitate to sign the treaty because he did not want to undercut Elgin's negotiators, preferring to let them finish the job. The French also sought much less than Britain from the Chinese. A week after and the British had still not come to an agreement, Gros became impatient and sent Elgin a letter, that if the British did not sign soon the French would simply sail off. The British were stuck on two key issue; to have a permanent ambassador in Beijing and freedom to travel anywhere in China. The Chinese commissioners desperately sought the aid of Gros and Putiatin, indicating to them the Emperor was going to have them killed if they agreed to the two clauses. Elgin threatened to march on Beijing and it seems the commissioners were forced to give in. On June 26th the British Treaty of Tianjin was ratified. The Chinese would pay 5 million in war reparations, Christian missionaries would be allowed to work unhindered throughout China and 11 ports would be opened for trade. Taxes on imported goods would be set on a follow up meeting at Shanghai, and there 5% was agreed upon. Taxables goods would be silk, brocades and of course opium. The taxation agreement basically made opium legal in China, but without bringing the subject up. The Commissioners signed the treaty, but when they got back to Beijing, take a wild guess, the Emperor rejected the humiliating terms. Now Elgin failed to bring up the issue of the opium trade and its official legalization as were his instructions from Clarendon. Elgin probably felt since Clarendon lost his position he no longer had to respect the order. Clarendons successor Lord Malmesbury did not give a similar order. On July 3rd, 400 men and a naval band serenaded Elgin signing the Treaty of Tianjin at the Temple of Oceanic Influences under some paper lanterns. And despite the fact the commissioners, as they said it, were soon to be beheaded, they invited Elgin to a lavish dinner at the temple after the signing. At the dinner one of the commissioners, Hua Shan gave Elgin copies of some famous poetry. The next day, Baron Gross signed the French treaty but cheekily added some new demands that the commissioners were forced to abide by. He demanded the release of all Chinese christians imprisoned for their faith. Gros sent a triumphant report back home stating “Je suis heureux de pouvoir annoncer aujord-hui à Votre Excellence que la Chine s'ouvre enfin au Christianisme, source réelle de toute civilisation, et au commerce et à l'industrie des nations occidentales.” (“I am happy to be able to announce today to Your Excellence that China has at last opened itself to Christianity, the real source of all civilization, and to trade and the manufactures of the nations of the West.)” Back in Britain Elgins triumph was met with mixed reviews, though most were favorable. Elgins private secretary Laurence Oliphant, noted the impressive cost/benefit ratio of the casualties in his 1860 account of the campaign, ‘Narrative of the Earl of Elgin's Mission to China and Japan': “Hostilities with the Empire of China had terminated with a loss to the British arms of about twenty men killed in action...and a treaty had been signed far more intensive in its scope, and more subversive of imperial prejudices than that concluded fifteen years before, after a bloody and expensive war, which had been protracted over a period of two years.” Karl Marx, yes the Karl Marx, was working at the time as the European correspondent of the New York Tribune wrote a letter to his writing partner Friedrich Engels on some thoughts towards the conflict  “The present Anglo-Chinese Treaty which in my opinion was worked out by Palmerston in conjunction with the Petersburg Cabinet and given to Lord Elgin to take with him on his journey is a mockery from beginning to end.” Karl Marx would have a lot more to say about the Taiping Rebellion, which is quite interesting given the rebellion is considered a proto marxist one. Elgin himself was quite depressed over the ordeal, he wrote this in his diary “I have an instinct in me which loves righteousness and hates iniquity and all this keeps me in a perpetual boil. Though I have been forced to act almost brutally I am China's friend in almost all this.” To try and raise the celebration somewhat, Elgin decided to take 5 ships up the Yangtze River as a demonstration of Britain's naval power and to discourage the Chinese from going back on the new treaty. However news of some raids against Canton forced him to pull be short. The new Viceroy of Canton named Huang had incited a rebellion rallying Canton residents to quote “Go forth in your myriads, then, and take vengeance on the enemies of your Sovereign, imbued with public spirit and fertile in expedients.” In July a group of Cantonese got their hands on some artillery and began to shell the British resident at Whampoa. The Cantonese mob followed this up by performing a raid after they heard about the humiliating terms of the treaty of Tianjin. During a short conference in Shanghai, Elgin demanded Viceroy Huang be removed. On top of the Canton problem, the two commissioners, Guiling and Hua Shan had reneged on the treaty clauses about allowing British ambassadors in Beijing. They sent a letter to Elgin stating that had agreed to such clauses under duress and suggested that future British ambassadors visit Beijing from time to time as diplomatic business warranted. They argued that because of large scale xenophobia in Beijing, they feared for the lives of any British dwelling there. Then 4 days later they added another excuse; they said that to allow British ambassadors to live in Beijing would generate fear and a loss of respect for the Qing government. Such further humiliation might very well topple the Manchu and allow the Taiping to take over. Elgin was somewhat swayed by the Taiping excuse and said he would pass their message onto his foreign officer. Elgin was also in a tough position as the fact a rebellion was occurring in Canton made it seem clear that guaranteeing the safety of British ambassadors in Beijing would not be an easy task. The French concurred with Elgin, that to have ambassadors in Beijing would be dangerous now. In the meantime Elgin had set up a 2 month survey of the Yangtze River using 2 gunboats to demonstrate Britains new right of travel throughout China. The idea had been to see if the local Chinese would obey the treaty clauses. Elgins tour wound up going past the Taiping capital of Nanjing and it is alleged a single cannon perched on a Nanjing wall fired upon Elgin's ships. Elgin's reprisal was pretty brutal, he sent a volley knocking out the Taiping cannon then ordered a 99 minute naval bombardment of Nanjing before sailing on. Eglin had planned to finish the trip by meeting with the Emperor and giving him a letter from Queen Victoria, but the worsening of the Canton situation forced him to pull back south. In February of 1859 Cantonese rebels ambushed and massacred 700 British marines around the countryside of Canton. In retaliation, General van Straubenzee, the military commander of 3000 troops in Canton, hunted down the headquarters of the rebels which they found at Shektsing a few miles south of the city and completely annihilated all those there and razed everything to the ground. The destruction of the rebel camp seems to have worked quite well as suddenly the Emperor sent word to ratify the treaty of Tianjin's clauses and had Huang removed from power and demanded the rebels disband. While Elgin dealt with the renewed China problem, his brother Frederick Bruce returned to Britain with the signed Treaty of Tianjin. Lord Malmesbury rewarded Bruce by naming him the first ambassador to China, a post Elgin would have received, but he was too wary of the post given the circumstances now. Elgin left China in March of 1859, taking the chance to link up and meet his brother in Sri Lanka in April as Bruce was on his way back to China. Now Bruce was not lets say, as great as his brother. He had recently been the Lt-governor of Newfoundland, then the Colonial secretary of Hong Kong. In all honestly a lot of his appointments were merely a result of him being Elgin's brother. But Bruce did have working knowledge of Chinese customs. Bruce arrived back at the mouth of the Bei He River on June 18th of 1859 alongside a force of 16 warships. Admiral Seymour had returned to London and was replaced by Rear-admiral James Hope. Unfortunately it seems Hope was even more racist and hated the Chinese more than Seymour. 3 days later the new American ambassador showed up John E Ward aboard a steamer, the Powhatan. The French representative, Anton de Bourbelon brought 2 warships with him as the French fleet had remained close by in Indo-China. Now Emperor Xianfeng wanted above all else to keep the Europeans the hell out of Beijing. The Emperor suggested right away that they ratify the new treaty at Shanghai, but all 3 of the European powers declined this. Many of the Emperors close advisors wanted to resist the foreigners taking up residence in Beijing. Some of these high ranking officials gave orders for 3 large bamboo booms, 3 feet thick to be strung across the Bei He river to block the foreigners advance. It looked like war was back on the menu and in a vain attempt Bruce tried writing a letter to Beijing politely asking the booms be removed. Well Bruce got no reply and this prompted Admiral Hope to ask permission to blow the booms apart. On June 21st, Hope sent captain Willes aboard a steamer to break through the first boom which went successfully, but the other 2 proved unbreakable. The British tried using some gunpowder but it just couldn't do the job, then to add insult to injury during the night the Qing repaired the first boom.  On June 25th Bruce received a letter from the Viceroy of Zhili, Heng Fu. Heng suggested the ambassadors lodge at Beitang, around 8 miles north of Beijing, basically it was a face saving gesture. The British however were armed to the teeth and had just undergone 3 annoying and long years of negotiations and war and had no patience. Bruce told Admiral Hope to attack the booms again. That afternoon Hope took his flagship Plover and attempted ramming the boom, but this time hit ship was stopped cold. The Qing had learnt a lesson from the previous conflict and this time had made the 2nd and 3rd booms out of full sized tree trunks sling together with heavy chains. As the Plover staled and the other European gunships had to stop just before it, all of a sudden the forts portholes were cast aside to reveal a full complement of 40 cannons and they opened fire. The first salvo took the head right off Plovers bow gunner and 3 other sailors fell wounded. For 3 hours Plover was pulverized. Hope unwisely stood on his deck wearing a gold braid basically showing the Chinese he was a high ranking official. A Qing sharpshooter landed a shot hitting Hope in his thigh. Hope fell on deck and was bound up by a surgeon as the Qing retaliated. For a rather surprising change, the Qing cannons, though still immobile were better aimed and managed to blow Hope's second in command and 8 other sailors to pieces, 22 others were wounded. Plovers hull eventually burst sinking the ship into the mud and this would lead to the deaths of countless crew. Hope believe it or not got up and rowed over to another ship, the Opossum and began standing on its deck in plain sight. Because of his thigh wound he had to hold onto a railing to hold himself upright and that said railing was hit by a Qing cannonball. The railing collapsed and Hope fell breaking several ribs, ouch. This prompted him to turn command over to Captain Shadwell. The Qing volleys managed to disable 5 of the invaders frontal gunships prompting Bruce to order 7 more which were 8 miles away to come forward and replace the damaged ones. By the evening, 5 British warships had been immobilized and 2 had run aground and one was a sitting duck for fort cannons.  The fort guns went silent in the early evening and the British officers took it to mean that the forts garrisons had fled like they had in the previous year. The landing parties surged ahead as planned and that was when disaster struck again. It turned out to be a ruse to entice the landing parties to storm the beach. The landing party soon found out to their horror 2 trenches were dug in front of the walls, filled with water and mud and some large iron spikes behind them. That was bad, but immediately when the marines got off their barges the muddy banks seized their feet leaving them helpless as the forts unleashed carnage upon them. Those lucky enough to make it to the trenches found the muddy water was too thick to swim. Many men in despair clambered beside the base of a fort wall to escape the trenches and gunfire. The Qing began setting off fireworks to illuminate the trapped marines as they fired upon them. Although America said it would remain neutral, Commodore Josiah Tattnall aboard the USS Powhatan was trying to get past the booms as well when he ran into the conflict. Tattnal was a veteran of the war of 1812 and like pretty much any American at the time disliked the British. Tattnal received word that Hope had been shot and upon witnessing the horror show he suddenly cast neutrality to the wind. Tattnal was from Georgia, a loyal southerner with a lets say, strong sense of racial pride…yeah we will call it that. Whatever hate he held for the British was cast aside as he suddenly screamed out “blood is thicker than water, I'd be damned if I stood by and watched white men butchered before my eyes!”. Tattnals charge forward hardly turned the tide of battle, it amount mostly to him towing more British marines forward to their horrific death. Some of his men grabbed and operated some British guns firing at the fort while Tattnall personally tended to Hope. A single american died and the breach of neutrality could have caused a catastrophe, but one thing it did do was set a new tone for British-American friendship. As the London times wrote “Whatever may be the result of the fight, England will never forget the day when the deeds and words of kindly Americans sustained and comforted her stricken warriors on the waters of the Bei He.” Around 7pm, as the Qing set off fireworks to illuminate the area, Captain Shadwell with 50 royal marines and French seamen led by the French commander Tricault landed on some muddy flats outside one of the Taku forts. They clamored through knee deep mud as the defenders rained Gingall fire down upon them at short range. The British-Franco force found themselves literally stuck in the mud, unable to use their wall scaling ladders to get over the fort. Shadwell sent word back to his superior that he and his men were pinned down and requested reinforcements to storm the Taku walls. There was no more fighting men available however, he was eventually order to limp back to the ships. The British and French suffered high casualties. Shadwell was wounded, Tricault was dead, and of the 1000 men who took part in the battle around half were killed or wounded, 29 of them officers. Many men dragged themselves or limped through mud to get back to their ships. A lot of these men were veterans of the Crimean war and had never tasted such defeat. One veteran of the battle of Balaclava said he would rather have relived that battle three times over than suffer the Taku Forts again. The gunboats, Lee, Plover and Cormorant were disabled, the Kestrel sank.  Admiral Hope sent a dispatch to the Admiralty showing his shock at how the Qing performed “Had the opposition they expected been that as usual in Chinese warfare, there is little doubt that the place would have been successfully carried at the point of the bayonet.” To try and save face, Bruce reported back to Britain that the sudden military prowess of the Qing forces at the Taku forts was because Russians were helping them. He alleged based on eyewitness testimony that some men in fur hats and European dress had been seen directing operations atop a Taku fort, it was mere bullshit. The real reason for the Qing victory was because of Prince Senggelinqin. Senggelinqin was a mongol cavalry commander that had helped the Qing crush a large army of Taiping rebels. He was a member of the Borjigin clan and the 26th generation descendant of Qasar, a brother to Genghis Khan. He led Qing forces to smash the Taiping during the Northern Expedition in the southern suburbs of Tianjin. When the Second Opium War broke out he was appointed Imperial commissioner in charge of the defense of Tianjin. Seng rejoiced in his well earned victory. He wrote back to the emperor acknowledging the British and French might return with more ships, but asserted confidently he would thrash them again and again “the pride and vainglory of the barbarians, already under severe trial, will immediately disappear. When that happens, China can then enjoy some decades of peace. The barbarians, already somewhat disillusioned and repentant, may lend themselves to persuasion and be brought under control. If they of their own accord should wholeheartedly become obedient, then peace would be secure and permanent.” The Emperor responded with caution “the foreigners may harbor secret designs and hide themselves around nearby islands, waiting for the arrival of more soldiers and ships for a surprise attack in the night or in a storm” Emperor Xianfeng still shared a sense of relief and expressed hope the foreigners needs for Chinese goods would mean that they could sort out their problems in Shanghai and that there would be no need for ambassadors in Beijing nor new treaties. Seng also pointed out during the battle the Americans got involved. “Although the starting of hostilities was by the English barbarians, France and America's cooperation in the melee is also inescapable.” Seng based his claim off intelligence extracted from a Canadian POW named John Powers. John claimed to be a neutral American in an attempt to escape imprisonment. The Chinese did not free him and instead used him as proof the Americans had abandoned neutrality. Seng much like most Chinese at the time were weak on Western Geography and assumed Canada was part of the United States, sad Canadian noises. At one point an American missionary who spoke Chinese tried to explain to Seng the difference between English and French Canada and the United States, Seng described the experience in a letter to the Qing imperial court. “[The missionary] stated that America contained Englishmen and Frenchmen, and when there was fighting, the flag was the only criterion.” Eventually John was released after a month, the Qing simply did not want to add America to a list of growing enemies. I would like to take this time to remind you all that this podcast is only made possible through the efforts of Kings and Generals over at Youtube. Please go subscribe to Kings and Generals over at Youtube and to continue helping us produce this content please check out www.patreon.com/kingsandgenerals. If you are still hungry after that, give my personal channel a look over at The Pacific War Channel at Youtube, it would mean a lot to me.  The battle for the Taku Fort was an absolute catastrophe resulting in humiliation for the Europeans for once. Prince Seng had a grand victory, perhaps now the foreign barbarians would learn their lesson and stop their war. Or perhaps the Europeans would like their wounds and come right back.  

In today's episode Brandon discusses a quote from Confucious about addressing the evil in yourself, not others. He also shares a clip from Abraham with many powerful points on how to more fully align with our inner being. Care to play a game with the youniverse? Now you can let the youniverse choose the episode you are meant to hear next by clicking here! Download The Golden Key audio or e-book at GoldenKey.Gift with the Code: POSITIVEHEAD Follow Brandon on Instagram, Twitter and text him to receive regular golden nuggets of wisdom at 310.564.0750

September 28th is the teacher's day in Taiwan, and it is the birthday of Confucious. On this day, students show their gratitude to the teachers. In this episode, you will learn two classic Chinese idioms about teachers and how to say happy teacher's day in Chinese. You will also know why the Chinese respect their teachers and how this respect is shown in how they address their teachers. Do not forget to express your gratitude to your teacher. 九月二十八日是孔子的生日，也是台灣的教師節。在這集節目中我們會聊聊我們對老師尊重的文化和我們稱呼老師的方式。還有一些跟老師有關的句子！別忘了在這一天跟老師說聲「教師節快樂」喔！ Recommend Level: CEFR A2 (and above) Please preview the keywords of this week on Facebook before you listen to this episode. https://www.facebook.com/howto.zhongwen Visit our website: https://howtozhongwen.wordpress.com/

September 28th is the teacher's day in Taiwan, and it is the birthday of Confucious. On this day, students show their gratitude to the teachers. In this episode, you will learn two classic Chinese idioms about teachers and how to say happy teacher's day in Chinese. You will also know why the Chinese respect their teachers and how this respect is shown in how they address their teachers. Do not forget to express your gratitude to your teacher. 九月二十八日是孔子的生日，也是台灣的教師節。在這集節目中我們會聊聊我們對老師尊重的文化和我們稱呼老師的方式。還有一些跟老師有關的句子！別忘了在這一天跟老師說聲「教師節快樂」喔！ Recommend Level: CEFR A2 (and above) Please preview the keywords of this week on Facebook before you listen to this episode. https://www.facebook.com/howto.zhongwen Visit our website: https://howtozhongwen.wordpress.com/

Pallinghurst Barrow by Grant AllenA horror story about spirits who linger in old places in the English countryisde. Published 1892. Suggested by Susan Tudor-Coulson If You Appreciate The Work I've Put In Here - You could buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/tonywalker or join as a Patron for exclusive content here: https://www.patreon.com/barcudGrant AllenCharles Grant Blairfindie Allen was born in 1848 on Wolfe Island in Ontario in Ca nada and died in Haselmere in Surrey aged 51. His father was from Dublin and he was a protestant minister. He was educated at home and then when he was 13, his family moved to the USA, then to France then to Britain. He was educated at King Edward's School in Birmingham (where Tolkien later went amongst other famous alumni) and then at Merton College in Oxford. He went to teach in Brighton and in Jamaica. He returned to Britain from Jamaica and began to write professionally. He was most famous for his scientific essays. But he also wrote science fiction. He was an atheist and socialist. He was married twice. He died of liver cancer in 1899. He was a friend and neighbour of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.Chanctonbury Ring, Old Weird AlbionThe Old Weird Albion | Justin Hopper || Landscape, Memory & MythI mention how much I enjoy the work of Justin Hopper.  Chanctonbury Rings – a spoke word and music album made with folk artist Sharron Kraus and Ghost Box Records co-founder The Belbury Poly (Ghost Box). Long Barrows were the product of a late Stone Age civilisation with additions from Bronze Age folk. They are particularly to be found in Wessex and the south and west of England. But of course megalithic structures of similar types can be found all over Atlantic Europe. Nobody would suggest that the so-called Picts created them.Theosophists & Madam BlavatskyThe Theosophical Society was created mainly by Madame Helena Blavatsky who had a background in Spiritualism. This was a time of religious change with a huge upsurge in Spiritualism. The first lodge was in Scotland. There were influences from western Occultism, but also Hinduism and Buddhism and they talked about the ascended masters. These ascended masters included Abraham, Moses, Solomon, Jesus but also the Buddha, Confucious and Lao Tzu but also Mesmer, Bohme and Cagliostro.  Theosophy has evolved into the New Age.Mrs Bruce (the esoteric Buddhist) seems to be one of these.GhostsThe story reports that we only see the ghosts from periods within our knowledge.  But of course this is not true. Many ghosts are not really identifiable at all. Flint and ironThis is an old piece of folkloreCannabis IndicaIndeed. No wonder he saw visions.Fiddlers Green, Clint MarshFiddler's Green Peculiar Parish MagazineI love this 'zine. As the Clint Marsh says, *Fiddler's Green Peculiar Parish Magazine was born of a languid afternoon of conversation on a sunny tavern lawn. Taking its name from the pleasant afterlife dreamed into being by sailors, cavalrymen, and other adventurous spirits, Fiddler's Green gathers friends, good cheer, and a bit of magic to create a better world not someday, but now.*Tarantino's from Dawn til DuskThat genre shift from tense hostage movie to vampire killl-fest.  I see something similar going on here.  Support the show

If you resist writing your artist's statement, talking about your work with your audience or even just putting words to what you make for your own understanding A. you're not alone and B. I pretty much give you everything I have on the subject in today's episode. I cover... -- the different kinds of art writing -- the areas you may need to develop more in your practice in order to help your writing -- specific aspects of your work to consider writing about, or at the very least, understand for yourself -- general tips about language, truth telling and structure -- prompts to get you going This episode is basically a mini workshop with a lot of info, and for that reason, I created a free guide to go along with it that includes all the tips and writing prompts I mention. Get the free episode guide at: www.devonwalz.com/resources If you enjoyed this episode, you'll probably really dig my artwork development workshop, UNIQUE, that will open for enrollment in a couple weeks. Join my newsletter here to hear about it, as well as the new limited edition prints dropping next week. Head to patreon.com/devonwalz for bonus episodes, including *more* tips and thoughts on writing about your art. RESOURCES MENTIONED Pennylane Shen of Dazed and Confucious. Listen to her interview here. Art-Write by Vicki Krohn Amorose How to Write About Contemporary Art by Gilda Williams FOLLOW THE SHOW @artandmagicpodcast FOLLOW DEVON IG: @devonwalzart Tittok: @devonwalz www.devonwalz.com Print Shop Recommendation Pretty Good Printing

In this episode, Tommy decodes his favorite quotes by some of the most influential people from Aritotle and Confucious to Benjamin Franklin & Mother Theresa. Often we see these quotes pass us by, and we sit back saying to ourselves "that's cool, I resonate with that". But what if we  properly decoded what these quotes mean to us, and then actually took the appropriate action that matches up with our true nature. Check it out. Drop the poddy a review. and a share. Lotsa LoveTommywww.instagram.com/tommykende

Confucious once said......is it relevant today?   Check out WE are I Podcast on the following platforms:   YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZWppHWKMs6DmXh-D3l1keQ   Podbean https://wearei.podbean.com/   Apple Podcast https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/we-are-i/id1446212772   Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/4DIhJBkNrlfXUUKxf55tim   IheartRadio https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-we-are-i-81175585/   Google Podcasts https://podcasts.google.com/search/we%20are%20i   PlayerFM https://player.fm/series/2936500   Amazon Music  https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/b9310c4d-5b9f-4909-a43f-6d9c3956326f/we-are-i   Audible  https://www.audible.ca/pd/WE-are-I-Podcast/B08JJTLFTZ   Podchaser https://www.podchaser.com/podcasts/we-are-i-767711   Stitcher https://www.stitcher.com/show/we-are-i   Podcast Addict https://www.podcastaddict.com/podcast/3063321      

For anyone that tuned into the first part thinking this would be about marijuana, I apologize. Part two also uses the title as bait so that I can talk about the near-stoning of the woman by the Pharisees, and also discuss the famous comment of Jesus in the center of that dusty circle. I won't be sharing any insights about bongs or blunts, or the perils of unwanted stems or sticks, and I won't be going at all into the pros and cons of spliffs versus fatties, nor will I make any witty rejoinders about schwag or kush or hash. I may talk about eating cereal and sugary snacks, as I often do, but as a fair warning, it will most likely talk about my ongoing battle with the very-American sin of gluttony and unrelated (in my case) to marijauna.So where was I? Ah, yes, I left off on the uplifting topic of hellfire and brimstone.As I have mentioned in other posts and episodes, in my slow conversion back toward faith, the hellfire and brimstone speeches never moved me, and even drove me away further. But in reading and re-reading the texts it's clear that hell is something very real to Jesus and he mentions it often. When you are turned away from God, the idea of hell becomes repulsive for the exact reason that you want to remain turned away, and to face the reality of the word “hell” is scary. Clinging to the modern idea of being “Good without God” means that you must reject the idea of hell, because to consider it as real shatters the worldview. But the cool, non-divine hippy version of Jesus sure talks an awful lot about hell, and readers of the cool hippy version have to consciously skip those hellish parts to keep their non-divine chill dude from throwing people into the unquenchable fire of hell for all eternity. I think some people see Jesus as a first century version of the Dude in The Big Lebowski. Jesus could not be more clear what is at stake, however, and he says the he is the way. He himself. This is a shocking claim. He is the way. The Big Lebowski, the Dude, doesn't demand much of anything from anyone, aside from his stolen rug to be returned to him. Jesus demands we give everything to him. We must surrender much more than a rug to Jesus, we must surrender our heart, mind, soul, and body to him. He requires our time, talent, and treasure. He asks that we pray constantly. He asks that we graft our branch onto the vine of his life. So Jesus implies that being “Good without God” will get you exactly nothing, as that way of life is basically works without faith. So we have Catholics saying “faith and works” and Protestants saying “faith alone” and non-believers saying “works alone.” Only non-believers hold that faith without works is the way, which Jesus clearly does not support. The both/and of the Catholic Church makes the most sense to me, as Jesus asks for all of us, both our faith and our works, and neither can be faked. We must “believe and be baptized” and also “Do God's will.” I would say that faith and works go together like peas and carrots, but no one uses that combination any more. So instead I would say that faith and works go together like chocolate and peanut butter. Peas and carrots are not even familiar to most Americans today, so a peanut butter cup of faith and works might make a better example. I think they go well together, kind of like faith and reason, (to quote JP II) where both faith and reason are the wings we need to fly. One quick aside here. Most of my closest friends are Protestants, and we usually don't go into this division around faith and works. In fact, all the arguments around faith and works tend to put me to sleep, because the Catholics and the non-Catholics I know who love God are usually out there doing charity out of love for God. The people I admire most in both Catholic and Protestant circles are those that never even bring up the argument surrounding faith and works. These people are witnessing their faith in ways that require no argument or apologetics. I'm not even sure it occurs to these silent witnesses that there is an argument, because the people that move me toward more faith are the ones that believe and are baptised are are doing God's will. I think we can go around in circles on this argument for years while the poor go un-fed and the elderly remain un-attended and the convicts sit un-visited. I'm not belittling that the argument exists and there's a place for charitable argument around the topic, but it seems that it can become a stumbling block of pride and anger between people who otherwise can say the Apostle's Creed in its entirety in total agreement. I suppose the main problem with works is when we are doing it solely to get our card punched toward salvation. Eternal life is not like a pizza punch card, where we get a free pizza after we've purchased ten, nor is it like Burger King where you can “have it your way.” The turning to God requires sacrifice, but it's a sacrifice that you will want to do once the invasion of grace storms your life. Now back to the line that is so rich in meaning:“For as you judge, so will you be judged, and the measure with which you measure will be measured out to you.” That little addendum about measuring adds major spice to the chill flavor of the prior sentence. The recipe goes from being bland Midwestern American fare into a Thai kitchen five alarm fire. A great deal changes when those who have already swallowed “judge not” gets that after-kick of “measure for measure” heat. Suddenly “judge not” does not contain the whole message. We would like it to be a nice, neat, standalone package; a two-word pithy tweet. But with the measurement phrase that follows in Matthew, it's no longer simple. Not judging was the answer a moment ago, but now Jesus lets us know that we will be judged. All of us. My concern is that the understanding I once held of “judge not” really boiled down to indifference or, again, the philosophy of Poombah or the Big Lewbowski, which is “Who cares? Ha-ku-na Ma-ta-ta!” This is just a variation of the idea that “all things are permitted,” which, in itself is a judgment. If you judge that nothing is wrong, then you have judged that morality is not objective, which is making a judgement. So you have made a judgement and will likely apply that same notion to your own life and actions. Even if we take care not to judge others, we will still be judged, and we will be judged by our actions, which are guided by our free will to judge. That sounds like word salad. To sum up, you will be judged, and even if you don't think you're judging others, you are. Poombah has judged, just as Jeffery Lebowski has judged. If I “judge not” because I believe nothing is wrong, that there is no true right and wrong except what each person decides, then I have made a judgment. Logic, rhetoric, and debate are not in my field of experience. Surely, I've committed some fallacy here. Surely this site is littered with fallacies that I'm unaware of. These words of Jesus are nuanced and I'm not quite equipped to describe the depth of these verses, but meaning rises up suggesting that our simplified understanding of “Judge not” is incomplete without considering the whole of what Jesus says, particularly about his first commandment over all to “love God” and secondarily to “love one another.” But first, always, is his urgency for us to love God. There are three parts here that must be taken in and absorbed together. First, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” meaning that it is not just a set of ethics that bring salvation but he himself. Second, Jesus says “You must love God with all your heart, mind, and soul,” and he says this is the most important rule of all. Lastly, putting a ribbon and bow on his message, he refers to himself as “I AM” four times in John's Gospel, which is the most clear declaration of saying “I am God” that a first century citizen of Palestine could possibly understand. They knew of Exodus 3:14 where God said to Moses, “I AM.” Then there are the myriad instances of Jesus calling himself “the Lord of the Sabbath” and “Son of Man” and various other nuanced references and especially the interaction with Pilate in Mark where he admits to being the Messiah. He could not be more clear that he is declaring himself to be God than if he ran up and down the temple aisle playing the bongo drums and shouting, “I created the universe, I'm God.” Sometimes I wish he had performed an act like that to make it more clear to us gentiles, but to Jews the words “I AM” and “Son of Man” was effectively that same metaphorical bongo drum. He clearly states that salvation is through him, that God must be worshiped, and that he is God. These all point to him as God, in the flesh. We think of John the Baptist as slightly “off” by eating grasshoppers and wearing a hair shirt, but he never declared anything even close to this outlandish. Moses didn't go this far, and he went far. He met God, but never declared himself to be God. Elijah riding off to heaven in a fiery chariot? That's a wild story, but it doesn't touch the grandeur of this claim. There is more to this declaration of Jesus, and this is one of those sentences that cannot easily be put aside, especially if you believe in the incarnation and resurrection and ascension. Heck, even if you can only get your head around one of those mysteries, you can't set these words aside. Certainly the apostles and writers could never have concocted this story on their own, as they were not equipped. Who would be crazy enough to claim it unless they believed it? Virgil and Homer could not have come up with an epic quite like this. The profoundness of Jesus' words is like nothing else in literature, which eliminates the notion that he was a lunatic and leaves me always turning back to him being divine. Even a great liar cannot have this kind of wisdom and also perform miracles like multiplying loaves of bread and bring himself back to life and ascend into the heavens. There are plenty of lunatics in the world, but they can't walk on water. There are plenty of people who have claimed to be God, but they haven't changed the world. There are plenty of people who have died trying to advance a person's legacy or cause, but those efforts have not inspired an ever-burning movement that has outlasted every human empire and draws people to give immense amounts of time and money toward belief in the idea. I think this is what makes it difficult for skeptics, because doubting miracles is something that comes naturally to us, especially today in the age of science. I also think people of the first century were not as gullible as we would like to pretend. However, his words have such depth and punch so hard that we see something extreme and strange happening in Jesus and in the people around him, something different from any other sage like Buddha or Confucious, so strange, in fact, that the miracles require a second look. Even once denied, these stories leave a lingering effect on us, one that causes us to look back over our shoulder now and then at the miracles even as we walk away, as if we need to re-assure ourselves, “Nah, there's no way he fed the 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish.” “No, of course he didn't walk on water.” Because if we are wrong and even a single miracle is real, then the weight of these words becomes infinite on our chests. Some people come to believe via the miracles and others via the teachings. Those gifted with faith can get to the miracles quickly, while those gifted in reason must approach through the teachings and the parables. Still others must come by experience. I think many must come by all three avenues to get up the mountain. Setting aside this story of the men awaiting to stone the woman (I've already parked it for a while here) if we remove the wisdom of his words and also remove his claims to divinity, and are only left with miracles; if he only walked on water, or if he only fed the five thousand, or if he only healed the withered hand, or if he only calmed the storm, or if he only raised Lazarus…what then? What if he only gave us the miracles and no wisdom? I hate to say it, but then he is even more so God than if we only had his teachings. If a miracle occurred at all, even once by his hand, this decides the case emphatically and completely, far more than if he was a good teller of tales or claimant to divinity, because we already know that no one can walk on water. But if you take even one miracle, perhaps walking on water, and you pair it with his wisdom and then you add in his claims about his being God, then we have a hat-trick of difficult information to handle. For anyone that believes Jesus did not say he was God, they must surely exclude statements where he most clearly said exactly that. Consider: "Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I AM.” There is no statement that could possibly affirm more emphatically and finally that Jesus declared, “I'm God.” To Jews who grew up hearing stories of Exodus, God's answer to Moses about his identity was, “I AM.” What never ceases to amaze me is that people today, after two millennia of scholarship, on the heels of the thousands upon thousands of deep thinkers who pored over these books, believe they have suddenly unearthed the secret meaning of the Gospel accounts and it somehow matches whatever side-ideology that they happen to be selling, usually some unoriginal heresy that gets warmed up again, kind of like leftovers in a dirty microwave. I've heard it said that “the plain things are the main things, and the main things are the plain things.” This is why the Apostles' Creed is a masterpiece, because it distills the story and purpose to the points that both children and adults, of all education levels, can memorize and understand. There will always be plenty of doubters who come along and announce their discovery of the hidden “truth,” but as the letter of Timothy warned, “…the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” His miracles, words, and claims overwhelm our puny minds with a question, and force us to consider the supernatural as an answer, even when we don't want to go there. You can skim the text and pretend it doesn't matter, but if you read closely and study his life, a higher form comes into focus and presents something strange, appealing, and other-worldly. This problem of his life, logic, and mysteries is that it all makes sense in the totality of the Bible, and I believe the Catechism of the Catholic Church is the handbook for understanding it all. I believe the Sacraments of the church make the invisible things visible to us and put the marks of faith upon us, and that the Holy Mass is Sacred and that the Eucharist truly is the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus, and that through Confession our sins are forgiven as the priest acts in the person of Christ. When the Sacred becomes real, there can be no substitute for Baptism or partaking in the Eucharist at Mass. Somehow it all fits together, and in the strangest way it is the Mysteries that act like the glue to hold faith and reason together. The whole picture is there but we can only see parts of it at a time. It is the totality of scripture and tradition and the very clear presence of the Holy Spirit in this world that make Jesus a magnet that we cannot peel our eyes away from still today. There is nothing quite like these scenes and stories, not to mention the parables, in all of written literature and recorded history. Ok, finally…back to the circle of stoning: when the woman sat in the middle, Jesus drew his finger in the sand, doodling while the “righteous” men warmed rocks in their hands. Some assume he was writing the men's sins in the sand, as he already knew their hearts and their errors while they proudly lied and prepared to kill the woman. But it doesn't say this explicitly in the story, so this is only speculation and Jesus may just literally be keeping his cool, ignoring the tension. In fact, since he shows calmness amid literal storms, that seems most likely - he is simply doodling in the sand, like the shortstop in little league, ignoring the stress and anxiety of the nattering small-souled adults around him. But that doesn't mean that he is writing off adultery and sin as inconsequential. We will be judged. He may not be writing our sins in the sand, but he already knows them. That's guaranteed as nothing can be hidden from God. We will be judged. Just not by each other. I can almost hear him saying, “I'll take care of the judgment, but thanks for offering to help.” Strangely enough, anyone that I've heard utter the words, “Judge not,” usually goes on to spend the next breaths judging others. That includes Tupac Shakur in his song, Only God Can Judge Me, and come to think of it, Metallica's song Holier than Thou. “Measure for measure” will we be judged, and the great warning about the unforgivable sin is the one that makes me shudder. There is a moment where Jesus says, if you do not have the change of heart, you will get to the day of judgment and God will say, “I never knew you.” (Mt 7:21-23) This means you can appear to love God, you can do all the right things, make all the right moves, but God knows what you are really all about. That pizza punch-card will be thrown in the trash. He knows my interior state. I can't fool him. Without interior change, I've made no change, and I can't fake it. Fooling people is possible. Fooling God? That's fooling yourself. Superficiality in actions and appearance is much like unrighteous judgment. You cannot fool God, just as those ready to stone the woman could not fool Jesus. Those men wielding rocks who walked away: I always wonder if they were changed. We don't know what happens to them afterward. Perhaps some were changed as Jesus spun the accusation back at them. Perhaps knowing the woman is guilty but not condemned struck them as profound on the way home, and they realized forgiveness is possible. Wouldn't we love to know what happened to those men? It's like the other nine lepers. Or what happened to the rich young ruler? We have all these cliffhangers where we have to wait for season two, but season two got cancelled due to crucifixion, so we'll never know. Or someday maybe we will, but not today. Perhaps they seethed with anger and helped put Jesus to the Cross, but later realized their sin and turned, like St. Paul after he was out torturing and killing the first followers. We don't know. But we don't need to know, because we are those people. We are the Pharisees and the nine lepers and the rich young ruler. That's the funny thing I realized when I thought about what happened to those men. I realized that wondering about them is the same as wondering about myself. Those men who came to stone the woman represent all of us, the readers, the people, the fallen souls of this world. How comical then that I read the story of the adulterer and the stoning and I spend so much time reflecting on my judgement of the Pharisees! If it didn't cause me fear and trembling, I'd be laughing. Jesus impacts this scene using few words. The woman, the target of the stoning, is not condemned. So we wonder, how can this be if Jesus has come to fulfill the law and the prophets? How can she be guilty, but not condemned? How can we be guilty, but not condemned?And that question right there is the secret sauce of the Gospel accounts. What is that secret? That all are guilty. We deserve condemnation, but forgiveness is available. Forgiveness is possible. Redemption is possible. All are guilty, but all are not condemned, as redemption can be found in the person of Jesus. Forgiveness comes through the immense sacrifice of Jesus. The fallen (hint: that's you and me) can still win because by his own choice, God chooses to be sacrificed. He comes down to earth in human form, and stands in the scene at the end, alone with the rock, and no one gets stoned to death in this story. But then at the end of his own human life, he is once again alone, in the center, but this time on the cross. There again, he is alone, abandoned, humiliated, accepting his fate. He is condemned, not us. He is guilty, though without sin. On the cross we see our own sins on full display in the agony of his torture as his life blood drains, his mouth goes dry, his lungs collapse, his muscles and tendons tear, his feet and hands rip against metal as he tries to shift and support his body on the cross. He cannot lean his head back on the wood for the thorns on his head slice him, and he cannot lean his head forward as it shifts his weight ahead and thereby wracks his feet with pain. He cannot press himself upward or his feet will dig further into the nail, and he cannot let himself be lowered or his hands will gape further on their nails. This unbearable pain must be endured for 180 minutes amid the noise of jeering and shaming and hatred and envy and malice and slander. And undeservingly, it is us who are rewarded. For his pain, we receive the gift of knowing our own weaknesses and being offered the chance at life, as he descends and spends the next two days conquering death and hell, until he returns in his infinite risen glory. So judge not, yes, but remember: you will be judged. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.whydidpetersink.com

I think a lot about music and the power that music has. So this week, let's talk about the role that music plays in ritual! Music was important to the Chinese philosopher, Confucious, as it has been for shamans around the world and down the ages. In fact I have a little story that tell us just exactly how music came to the earth way back when. And central to music is Rythm, singing and Dance. So we'll talk about all that stuff. And finally, we'll look at ways to write and create effective chants to be used in our rituals. Be well. Do good. Enjoy the show!

The Black Tones - "The End of Everything," a 2022 single on Sub Pop. Seattle twin sibling duo The Black Tones made a splash in 2019 with their gritty debut full-length Cobain & Cornbread which saw Eva and Cedric Walker utilize blues, soul, and grunge to explore topics both light and heavy. While “Ghetto Spaceship” and “Mama! There's a Spider in My Room” veered towards the former, songs like “The Key of Black (They Want Us Dead)” swung so dramatically towards the latter that it was clear the Walkers have important things to say. Since then, they've been using their art primarily just for that - to voice their concerns about the issues, be it political or personal, of the present moment. The George Floyd protests inspired them to write “My Name's Not Abraham Lincoln” in the summer of 2020 and, most recently, the culmination of two years of personal anxieties, grief, and anger led to our Song of the Day, “The End of Everything.” Named after the book The End of Everything (Astrophysically Speaking) by Katie Mack, the song confronts the fact that, whether it's the second coming of who or whatever you believe in, this will all end. A variety of gods and religious symbols - Jesus, Buddah, Allah, Confucious - are shouted out in the sludgey ‘90s-indebted scorcher that features vocals from former Talking Heads backing singer and member the 1970s disco group The Ritchie Family, Edna Holt. “This song is not a jab at religion or anything like that,” Eva Walker told American Songwriter in an interview. “This song is saying, it doesn't matter what you believe in, the second coming of whoever or whatever, this is all going to be over and it feels like humans might be speeding up that process.” Read the full post on KEXP.org Support the show: https://www.kexp.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The second of our mammoth Life Lessons Trilogy, lessons 17 to 33 from great minds like Confucious, Socrates and Plato. 

Hi guys!! Today we're talking about things you grow up and have to learn on your own. Resources mentioned are: The Kama Sutra, The Koran, Essential Tibetian Buddhism, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft, The Monkey Trial, The Tao Te Ching, The Analects by Confucious, and my own personal opinion :) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/aisa-abrego/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/aisa-abrego/support

Understanding the Repetition in Numbers Bible Study with Jairus – Numbers 29   Significance in Repetition A woman in our Bible study had a question in regards to why there are so many repetitions, especially with the number of calves, rams, as well as the number of matching grain offerings and other sacrifices. Seeing as the Bible is very concise, such repetition must have spiritual significance. I believe that these repetitions have deeper significance. The repetition of these sacrifices in chapters 28 and 29 illustrates a progressive change, which is a process from quantitative change to qualitative change. When we continue to add up the number of sacrifices (which indicates our spiritual practice and dedication), it will eventually bring about a qualitative change and thus bring about the completion of God's will. In the spiritual sense, the different arrangements of these festivals and sacrifices are the timelines set by God for the body of Christ to continue to mature. Jewish festivals are the prophetic foreshadowing of God's will and time for the body of Christ to reach maturity. In order for us to have a better understanding of the repetitive and cumbersome numbers in chapter 29, we must pay attention to a spiritual principle, which is to distinguish between what changes and what is constant.  The Bible has a spiritual principle that what remains unchanged is God's nature, and what changes is God's leading. When we read the Bible, it helps to receive insight from gifted teachers of the Word to better understand God's character. We also need to seek the help of the Holy Spirit and the prophets in order to discover the living guidance of God.   The Nature of God God's nature is unchangeable regardless of the history of heaven and earth because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8).  Jesus Christ is the complete manifestation of God; hence God is also eternal and unchanging. However, when reading the Bible, it appears that God changes often. Some truths were revealed one way in the Old Testament, but they are interpreted differently when the Lord Jesus Christ comes. For example, the Jews insist that no work can be done on the Sabbath, but Jesus heals the sick on the Sabbath. Why is that so? God's character or nature did not change. It is God's mercy that allows Jesus Christ to heal people on the Sabbath. Being merciful is God's nature or disposition. However, since Jesus came, God's leading or guidance changed because the Sabbath belongs to the law, and the law was meant to teach the children of Israel. This was the type of discipline needed by the Israelites when they were only children (Galatians 3:24). The law was intended to introduce Christ because the fulfillment of the law is Christ (Romans 10:4). When Christ came, there was no longer a need to be strict about the Sabbath. God's compassion did not change, but God's guidance has changed in different ages.    Changes in Repetitions Let's take a look at the cumbersome numbers and repetitions in Numbers 29 with this principle in mind and see which ones are unchanged and which ones are changed.   What remains constant is that no matter how many bulls, rams, or male lambs were offered, the number of grain offerings associated with each sacrifice remains the same. For example, if you offer a bull calf, the amount of fine flour mixed with oil you have to offer as a grain offering is three-tenths of an ephah (Numbers 29:3). If you offer a ram, the fine flour mixed with oil you have to offer is two-tenths of an ephah, and a one-year-old male lamb is one-tenth of an ephah. In other words, the amount of fine flour required decreased with the size of the sacrifice (from largest to smallest, bull calves, and rams, one-year-old Lambs). This did not change. It is also recorded in Numbers 28.14, “Their drink offerings shall be half a hin of wine for a bull, a third of a hin for a ram, and a quarter of a hin for a lamb.” It can be seen that the amount of wine that is required for different sacrifices remains consistent.  Numbers 28:5 also mentions that for a one-year-old male lamb, a quarter of a hin of oil mixed with fine flour is also used as a grain offering. However, the amount of oil used in the relatively large sacrifices such as rams and calves is not mentioned. We can assume that some of them also increase correspondingly and are proportional to the size of the sacrifice. Another constant is that if another male goat is to be offered as a sin offering, this is another thing that doesn't change. This is the same in the spring festivals such as the Passover, Festival of Unleavened Bread, Fesitval of Firstfruits, and Pentecost. It is also the same in the fall festivals such as the Festival of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Festival of Tabernacles.   So what changes? The number of bull calves, rams, and one-year-old male lambs changed with different festivals. The quantities changed. Although the fine flour and wine offered by each sacrifice remained the same, the total quantity of fine flour and wine for grain sacrifice increased. In addition, the sacrifice of a male goat as a sin offering per worship remains unchanged. However, if the number of days of worship increases, the total number of male goats also increases. For example, suppose the Festival of Tabernacles is held for seven consecutive days (Numbers 29:12), and one male goat is offered as a sin offering every day. In that case, the total number of male goats becomes seven.   Increasing Sacrifices The number of sacrifices steadily increased since chapter 28. This increase symbolizes that if we spend extra time in communion and prayer with God, we offer more spiritual sacrifices (represented by the sacrifices of cattle and sheep), which will create a more intimate relationship with God. Numbers 28 begins with the daily sacrifice of a burnt offering of a one-year-old male lamb in the morning and evening. Every Sabbath has to have a sacrifice in addition to the daily burnt sacrifice. This principle applies to all subsequent festivals where sacrifices are offered in addition to the daily sacrifices in the morning and evening. Two extra male lambs are offered every Sabbath. At the beginning of every new month, on the seventh day of the Passover, on the seventh day of the month, on the Festival of Trumpets, and on the Day of Atonement, two bull calves, one ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs are offered. Moreover, in all of the following festivals beginning at the start of each new month, a male goat is added as a sin offering. This includes the Festival of Tabernacles. However, on the previous days and for every Sabbath sacrifice, no male goat is presented as a sin offering. We could say that, in principle, the number of sacrifices increased according to the order of the festivals. However, this does not mean that there are no twists and turns.  For example, on Passover, a total of fourteen bull calves, seven rams, and forty-nine male lambs were offered for seven consecutive days. And in the latter days of the seventh festival, the Festival of Trumpets, and the Day of Atonement, the sacrifice returned to a bull calf, a ram, and seven one-year-old male lambs. However, at the Festival of Tabernacles, the number of sacrifices increased dramatically. The Festival of Tabernacles was also a seven-day festival. On the first day, there were 13 bull calves, two rams, and 14 one-year-old male lambs. The number of rams and the number of one-year-old male lambs were the same every day during these seven days. However, the bull calves decreased every day. Starting from the first day to the seventh day, there were 13, 12, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, and 1, respectively. Hence, the total number of bull calves in seven days was 71, the number of rams was 14, and the number of one-year-old male lambs was 98. So many sacrifices were offered during this festival!   Symbolic sacrifices In the New Testament, it says that our sacrifices are our praise and prayer (Hebrews 13:15), which is symbolized by the sacrifices of cattle and sheep in the Old Testament. The more spiritual sacrifices we offer to God, the greater our intimacy with Him will be. This festival was set up for the Israelites by God, and the number of sacrifices offered was prophetic indicators. The more sacrifices we offer, the more mature we become spiritually. When the Israelites of the Old Testament continued to offer more sacrifices along with the changes of the festivals throughout the year, their actions pleased God. In the New Testament, this is a spiritual representation. It is a picture of the spiritual maturity of the body of Christ. It can also symbolize the spiritual growth of individual believers. For example, at the beginning of a believer's spiritual journey, they may offer very few sacrifices. They may not attend church much, give little tithes, do only a little ministry work for the Lord and pray infrequently. However, as they grow spiritually, they may attend church more, give more tithes, pray more and become more involved in ministry. As their spiritual life matures, they offer more spiritual sacrifices to God. These sacrifices may be offered through praying, serving, evangelizing, bearing fruit, or shepherding the church as well as many other areas. The body of Christ is made up of a group of believers, and as it grows spiritually, the more sacrifices they offer to God as a whole. One day, when the body of Christ is fully mature, she will present herself to God as a flawless bride. This is the greatest dedication and spiritual sacrifice.   Decreasing Sacrifices During our study, we noticed that there was a small decline in the number of sacrifices on the Festival of Trumpets and the Day of Atonement and a large increase during the Festival of Tabernacles at the beginning of Numbers chapter 29. Why was there a temporary decline and then an increase afterward? My guess is that it is a sign that the church will also experience a decrease, weakness, and then revival. Our experience as Christians can be similar in comparison. When we first believed in God, we may have been very fervent for Him. However, our passion for God may slowly fade when we face the temptations of the world and cause us to leave our first love. Hence we need to continue to repent and deepen our dedication to the Lord so that we can always live in the fellowship and love of God. In other words, the growth of a believer's spiritual life is often not a straight line but a process of arduous repetition and fluctuation. A man in our Bible study asked why the sacrifices for the last eight days of the Festival of Tabernacles decreased every day. I replied that sacrifices are means, and worshiping God is an end, so that is the result. Over the years, many people have focused on the means or the process but ignored the results or the end. For example, fasting and prayer are means. The Pharisees fasted and prayed but were criticized by the Lord because they exalted these means and did not get actual results. David also said at the beginning of Psalm 51 that God would not delight in sacrifice; otherwise, he would offer it. Later on, David also said that God does not despise a broken spirit and a contrite heart. This was the spiritual sacrifice. In the end, David said that he would offer sacrifices in Jerusalem. When we have a contrite heart in addition to sacrifices, it is the unity of our outward form and inward content.   Freedom in Christ Israel had already offered more than seventy bulls at this time for the Festival of Tabernacles and could not offer them endlessly. At the same time, the purpose of sacrifice is to form a habit, just like our various spiritual practices in the New Testament. The goal is for us to establish a spiritual habit. After we have established strong spiritual discipline, we can experience freedom in the Holy Spirit. There is a quote by Confucious that creates a good picture to explain our Christian experience of spiritual freedom. Confucius said, “ At fifteen, I had made up my mind to give myself up to serious studies. At thirty, I had formed my opinions and judgments. At forty, I had no more doubts. At fifty, I understood the truth in religion. At sixty, I could understand whatever I heard without exertion. At seventy, I could follow whatever my heart desired without transgressing the law.”[1] This means that by the time he reached 70 years old, he would be free from the outward rules. Even though in Chinese culture, we did not have the law of the Old Testament like the Jews, a lot of Biblical wisdom can be found in the writings of Confucius. To mature in living in the Spirit, as Romans 8 talks about, we must build up healthy spiritual habits and continue to exercise these habits as Confucius did. If we keep exercising our spiritual muscles, we will eventually be set free from the law be able to overcome in Christ. This is what Paul talked about in Romans 8.   When I first became a believer, I read three chapters of the Old Testament and one chapter of the New Testament every day according to the teachings of the Local Church Movement so that I could finish reading the Bible once a year. In addition, I read Witness Lee's Life Study every day so that I could complete all of the 1,984 lessons in five years. I persevered and continued to read according to this schedule. My wife saw me reading like this every day, and yet after reading, my spiritual life did not change much. Seeing that I didn't have any revelation when I read the Bible, she joked, saying, "An apprentice monk reciting scriptures/saying what one does not mean.” This is a famous saying among Buddhists to make fun of monks who are not very gifted and devoted to the study. What she meant was that I was simply reading for the sake of reading. Her comments didn't bother me, and I continued to persevere and read the New Testament and the Old Testament once a year and insisted on finishing all of the Life Study messages within five years. I also read other spiritual articles on a regular basis. One day when I was leading our Bible study, my wife was surprised to find that the Holy Spirit often spoke revelation from the Bible through me. She asked me why the Holy Spirit spoke through me so often. I told her it was because I persevered and continued reading the Bible and other spiritual articles and offered my sacrifices every day. Hence day by day, I accumulated quantitative changes, and after some time, a qualitative change occurred. This is a spiritual principle. Anyone who perseveres as I did will experience qualitative change because God takes delight in those who persevere. God will reward us in His timing. The result of my perseverance was that when the time came, the Holy Spirit started to give me revelation through my accumulation of reading.   Spiritual Exercises A woman in our Bible study said that her daughter was anxious about her exams, so we talked about how to help her handle her anxiety. I told her that everyone experiences anxiety, but the key is to learn spiritual exercises such as calling on the name of the Lord and exercise finding peace by living in the Spirit. Anxiety is a sign that we are not communing with God. Communion with God brings peace, and we need to try our best to enter that rest. Isaiah 30:15 says, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” When I was in the Local Church Movement, I was taught to call on the name of the Lord. This teaching encouraged us to call or meditate on the Lord's name every morning for at least half an hour.  In addition to the morning, we should call on the name of the Lord loudly in any environment because the Bible tells us that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). I often practice this. For over ten years, I tried my best to persevere and call on the name of the Lord every morning and pray for more than half an hour. I even practiced calling on the name of the Lord frequently throughout the day. I used to worry about things quite often. However, when I would feel anxiety coming over me, I would stop everything and call on the Lord's name for ten minutes or more. I found that this was an excellent way to live in the Spirit and be free from all the worries. The Bible tells us, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus". (Philippians 4:6:7). Calling on the Lord's name is the easiest way to pray because the name of the Lord is Amen (Revelation 3:14), which is also the Word of God. In the beginning, the Lord was the Word of God. (John 1:1). When I kept practicing like this every day, I kept accumulating quantitative changes. Slowly, a qualitative change occurred within me, and I now live in joy and peace instead of anxiety and fear. The woman's daughter I mentioned previously was still worried. Aside from the pressure of the external environment, she lacked spiritual training. When we offer sacrifices every day, such as calling on the name of the Lord and Praying, it pleases God. On the other hand, by strengthening our spiritual muscles, we can overcome anxiety by resisting the enemy's attacks. Our spiritual life can be symbolized like the male lamb, growing into a ram and finally growing into a bull calf, just like those 71 bull calves on the Festival of Tabernacles.   Growing in Maturity Whether it's praying, reading scriptures, waiting on the Lord, or other spiritual exercises, it takes time for them to accumulate.  Our maturity will grow as we continue practicing these things. A prophetess named Donna Rigney shared that she often played worship music in the morning and waited on God. After she had entered into the Spirit, God would give her all kinds of experiences where she encountered Him. The Lord Jesus often appeared to her, took her to visit different places in heaven, and told her many things about the future. When a host interviewed her, he asked her how long would it take before someone could have this type of experience. She said that when she first started, she would have to wait for a long time. However, after she had practiced for quite some time, sometimes she would enter into a spiritual experience of encountering God as soon as she sat down. From this, we can see that even the experience of entering the Spirit takes a long time of practicing, and quantitative changes will bring about qualitative changes. In my experience, this was true in the matter of calling on the name of the Lord. When I first practiced this, it took me more than half an hour to enter into the peace of God. But since I have practiced for so long, now I can instantly enter into the peace of God if I call on the name of the Lord when I have trouble. I started actively pursuing the gift of prophesy in 2015 and began to have prophetic dreams. Whenever I dreamt in the night, no matter how late it was, I would immediately record them at the expense of my sleep. Every night before I went to bed, I prayed that God would speak to me through dreams.  I practiced this for several years and recorded many dreams and visions. I wrote them down and sent them to some publications that spread prophets' words through media publications. They did not publish the articles at first. However, I persisted in writing and submitting articles, and finally, they published some of my testimonies and dreams. Over the past few years, I have been actively trying to serve the Lord in various ways, especially in mainstream Christian churches in the United States, but the door has never been opened. However, I persevered in writing and translating my Bible studies as well as my dreams and visions. Slowly God opened a door for me. A man who attends our Bible Study commented that from his observation, it was a qualitative breakthrough that I was able to publish articles in these publications.   I have cited a few personal examples above in an attempt to illustrate that any spiritual exercise requires time and repetition to build a habit and sufficient strength. Just like when we are working out, when we continue to train our muscles, they will become stronger and even have muscle memory. Strong muscles help us have a strong body. Similarly, Christians also need to see the spiritual reality behind the representation of Jewish festivals and various sacrifices. That is, we must build good spiritual habits, exercise our spiritual muscles, and build up our spiritual muscle memory through repeated practice. Whenever we face worries and fears, we can exercise our spiritual muscles and faith to resist all the attacks of the enemy. When we keep practicing, our spiritual lives will gradually mature. As the body of Christ practices in this way, her stature will grow and mature into Christ, who is the Head. (Ephesians 4:15).     [1] http://www.myreading.cn/index.php/post/665.html

The Thinker. The Theologian. The Teacher.This is the story of Confucius.Instagram (@madeofmettlepodcast)Facebook (Made of Mettle Podcast Group)madeofmettlepodcast.comSupport the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/madeofmettle) Support the show (https://www.buymeacoffee.com/madeofmettle)

Change the way you speak to yourself and you will see positive change in your life. Be more kind to you and your thoughts. Focus on the positive ways you speak to yourself.   Wright Thurston “Self-talk is the most powerful form of communication because it either empowers you or it defeats you.”   Winston Churchill  “The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”   Johann Wolfgang von Goethe “Thinking is easy, acting is difficult, and to put one's thoughts into action is the most difficult thing in the world.”   "Positive self-talk is to emotional pain as pain pill is to physical pain" Edmond Mbiaka   "The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world and the world at large" Confucious   "Be very careful what you say to yourself because someone very important is listening....YOU!" John Assaraf   Find us on social media https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKvKY93BmNp9D-uuStspcEQ/featured https://www.facebook.com/groups/727711128046733 https://www.facebook.com/sprinkledwithhopepodcast https://twitter.com/sprinkledhope20 https://www.instagram.com/sprinkledwithhopejason_shane/  

Are you ready for Thanksgiving next week?! I will exercise an additional 15 minutes and the sweat pants are already laid out! Perhaps above all else, we should take time to thank God for our salvation. Peter gives us a starting point… Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,​ ​to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,​ ​who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5 Peter is writing to Christians who he terms as, ”strangers in the world.” You will be a stranger in the world if you choose to follow in the footsteps of Jesus because the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world are very different. The kingdom of this world says to look out for number 1. The kingdom of God tells you to think of others as more important than yourself. The kingdom of this world tells you to live in unrestrained passions; the kingdom of God tells you to exhibit self-control. The kingdom of this world is ruled by Satan, the kingdom of heaven is ruled by God. A good question to ask yourself is this – Does this world seem strange to me? If not, then perhaps you have bought into it a little too much. Notice the reason for our hope according to Peter. It is because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Why is there hope in that? His resurrection (the historical evidence for this is overwhelming) leads to your resurrection. Jesus has the power to raise you from the dead unto eternal life. This is what sets Jesus apart from all other religious leaders. You can visit the graves of Mohammed and Confucious; you can see the ashes of the Buddha, but you cannot unearth the bones of Jesus because they are not here. But there's more...When a person places their faith and trust in Jesus, they are destined to receive an inheritance. I don't know if you have ever received an inheritance but the inheritance that Jesus has secured for you is unlike any other because it will never perish. It's already there, waiting for you. So what is the Christian response to all of this? The answer is found in verses 6-8. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials,​ ​so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.​ 1 Peter 1:6-7 Peter has been forthright in telling us we will face trials that cause us to grieve. He also says this suffering is necessary​ because it makes our faith stronger if we allow God to do his work in our hearts. Best yet, there is praise and honor to be received when we see Jesus face to face. So we can be thankful for our salvation and our suffering. Let's let both have their proper place in our lives during this season of gratitude.

Confucious once said, “choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life”... Today on the show, we welcome celebrity makeup artist, Tania Grier. Incredibly talented Tania is the former UK Make-Up Artist Ambassador for Sisley-Paris. She has worked with top fashion magazines, from Vogue to Harpers Bazaar as well as famous faces such as Emma Thompson, Poppy Delevigne, Jemima Khan, Sabine Getty, Suki Waterhouse, Laura Bailey, Charlotte Dellal, to name a few. Neri and Tania have been friends for a long time and during this fun and spontaneous conversation, they cover a lot of ground! Grier opens up about her beginnings when she set out to be an actress and worked in New York City. However, it was shortly after that the universe revealed a different plan for her, therefore conceiving a new and unexpected career path. Tania broke into the beauty industry in one of the most organic ways possible and until this day, she makes sure she keeps it that way. Besides her phenomenal skills as a makeup artist, Tania shines at the art of letting things flow, enjoying what she does, and never forcing anything. She highlights the importance of staying true to yourself regardless of how big the people you work with, turning up early, and staying focused at all times in order to succeed in the industry. Want to hear some of the artist's best beauty tips and all about her favorite makeup product? Our host and guest talk about that too! We're very excited about this conversation and we hope you enjoy it just as much as we did! Thank you for tuning in! If you haven't listened to episode 8 where Neri and Louise Xin chat about the world's first rental-only, non-sale Haute Couture brand, then go back and check it out! Also, don't forget to check out our 3 in 3 episodes released every week after our interviews where Neri shares her knowledge and expertise! In this episode, we cover: -The journey that led Tania to become a makeup artist. -Finding your professional tribe and aligning with your values. -Challenges Tania faced at the beginning of her career. -The importance of evolving as an artist. -Sustainability and diversity in the fashion and beauty industry. -Tania's advice for those looking to start a beauty brand. Resources and links mentioned during this episode: -Connect with Tania on Instagram @taniagrier Connect with Neri: -Follow Neri on Instagram @nerikarraworld and @modametiers. -Visit modametiers.com and check out our services, resources, and previous work. -Enjoying what you hear? Follow and leave a review HERE.

In this episode Mark talks with Hip Hop artist Confucious about his upcoming album "From Start To Vision". We also discuss his past projects, how lyrics in verses are constructed, the legacy of Nas, Jersey cuisine and even some Star Wars talk. Four songs, including two exclusive tracks from the forthcoming album are featured within the episode. Check out Confucious on iTunes and YouTube- https://m.youtube.com/channel/UCPL5koIDEwxtT3kpx46TJOg/videosEpisode is sponsored by Db Journey - https://bit.ly/37cP8YP

drink beer, pop culture 1989, confucious, mira sorvino, naomi watts, hilary duff, thomas crapper, janeane garafalo, ben e. king, bridgitte bardot, koko taylor, ed sullivan, 1st night football game, napolean

Another 3 hours of dope new hip hop joints for your enjoyment...plus I explain the reasoning behind the no mixing format for the show....The Good People x MiLKCRATE f John Jigg$, King Magnetic, Sum-01, Lxvndr, K-Prez, Lee Ricks, & Tone Spliff - My People ( Olive Ave Remix )Chris G - Intro Ruste Juxx & Amadeus360 f Skanks - Yeah I Said It Jay Cartesian & The Audio Unit - F L W R SPostman L x Nonchalantly Zay - Violin Bodies Bub Styles & ARXV - Head CracksApathy f Hayze - Remember The NightBash Brothers - Cashmere Ostrich FeatherBarbaric The Foul Mouth Jedi - '07 Sean Price 38 Spesh x DJ Green Lantern - Landscaping Celph Titled & Chino XL - Bouquet FinalRunt Dawg f Rim Da Villian & Reef The Lost Cauze - Same Energy ( Rated R Remix )DJ MattyLite f Tones & Cut Supreme - DeuxDave East & Harry Fraud - 60 For The Lawyer Chuck Chan x Flu f Substance810 & DJ Optimus Prime - Deadly MedleyCarta P & Phries - CheersUltra Beast f Punchline, Wordsworth & Number 2 - Animal House Chris G - Break Priest Da Nomad - Confused Substance810 x Onaje Jordan f ethemadassassin & DJ Grazzhoppa - Grim Predictions ELLI$ & Brain Trust f Elcamino - Oh Lord 2Styliztik Jones x DirtyDiggs f TriState - Seafood Scampi Boldy James & The Alchemist f Elcamino - Don FlamingoRJ Payne - Back On My Sh*t DJ Davito f Akir & Supastition - Terence Figub Brazlevic & BlabberMouf f DJ Robert Smith - Space Is The Place Benny f Elcamino & Rick Hyde - '73Da Cloth - All About The Money Ramson Badbonez f Kashmere TrueMendous, Joker Starr, Micall Parknsun, MysDiggi, Jehst, Gee Bag, Confucious, Phoenix Da Icefire - Black Hole Cypher Chase Fetti x 38 Spesh - The Life Kahlee x Krohme - Devil Is A LieB Barber - RandomRevenge Of The Truence(R.O.T.) - Dial Up DaysBlack Geez - Testimony Chris G - Break 2Raf Almighty & BigBob f Ruste Juxx & Skanks - Bullseye King Author f Magno Garcia - Life Isn't Short Planet Asia x Lord Goat x Bumpy Knuckles - Return2PowerWounded Buffalo Beats f Wordsworth & Craig G - The Battlefield Deuce Ellis f Napoleon Da Legend - Smirking Revenge Slick Deville - Pandemic PricesContac f Azariah, Piff & Crotona P - Real Sh*tSkanks - Legend Of The Eyepatch Runt Dawg f Nems, Runt Dawg, & Wayne Danger - Keep It On MeBronze Nazareth & Recognize Ali f Willie The Kid & Tristate - Olympic Gold MedalistsJSWISS - BetterNapoleon Da Legend x Nejma Nefertiti - No Limit Wais P f Termanology & Lil Fame - Suicide Recognize Ali - WhyChris G - Outro

Sebastian Terry was backpacking around the world when he received tragic news of a friends accidental death. Confucious said, "we have two lives & the second begins when you realise you only have one". That realisation forced Seb to consider his own mortality & it revealed that he was unhappy & unfulfilled. He was inspired to write a list of things that he thought would help him find true happiness. Along the way, his own journey of self discovery led him to helping others find real meaning in their own lives. '100 Things' was born & he now helps thousands around the world to build their own list & grant themselves permission to pursue their happiness. A very inspiring chat that resonated with me & I believe it will with you too. Don't forget to subscribe, like & comment & check Seb out on the platforms listed below:- Pod: 100Things Podcast Youtube: @100things Insta: @seb100things https://100things.com/ Big Love, Brad 'The Captain' Dryburgh.

Professor Kozlowski ventures into Eastern Philosophy to discuss alternative attitudes toward love and friendship, as well as draw comparisons and contrasts to Western traditions like stoicism. It's hardly a comprehensive study, but hopefully it will help to offer a sense of Eastern traditions and the questions asked by those traditions. Today we discuss Chapters 15-16 of the Dhammapada; Chapters 2, 3, and 5 of the Kama Sutra; Chapter 1 of the Analects of Confucious, and Chapter 15 of Mozi. If you have questions or topic suggestions for Professor Kozlowski, e-mail him at profbkozlowski2@gmail.com To see what else Professor Kozlowski is up to, visit his webpage: https://professorkozlowski.wordpress.com/

In this episode, I speak to Eric Weiner, the author of the book Socrates Express: Life Lessons from Dead Philosophers. Eric is an award-winning journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. His books include The Geography of Bliss and The Geography of Genius, as well as the spiritual memoir Man Seeks God. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages. Eric is a former foreign correspondent for NPR and reporter for The New York Times. He is a regular contributor to The Washington Post, BBC Travel, and AFAR, among other publications.  In this interview, Eric and I discuss life lessons from philosophy: How to wonder like Socrates. How to listen like Schopenhauer.  How to be kind like Confucious.How to cope like Epictetus How to die like Montaigne and much moreConnect with Eric Weiner:Homepage: https://ericweinerbooks.com/Twitter: twitter.com/eric_weinerInstagram: instagram.com/EricWeinerBooks/Follow In Search of Wisdom:Twitter: twitter.com/searchofwisdomInstagram: instagram.com/searchofwisdompodcastSign-up for The PATH our free newsletter (short reflections on wisdom). 

Virginias most infamous son, Trijiconfucious, gives us wisdom on homesteading and his personal projects.  Quails are in; ducks are out. What can happen with livestock?  Should you get an antenna for radios? The answer won't surprise you.

Episode Notes “Its better to light a single candle  then to  curse the darkness”- Elenor Roosevelt, Confucious  and FDR are all said to have originated this quote, but no matter whom the author Sunday Edition wants to light many candles this week.  The year 2020  has been long, dark and difficult for most of us   Pandemic roars even as we have a light in this dark tunnel; in the form of a vaccine. The election and its continuing aftermath drained the little energy most of us had to try to keep positive but this week on Sunday Edition we want to share in the good or great moments that have happened this year.  In the darkest of times children and grandchildren have been born, marriages began and love has flourished. Some of us have worked hard on advocacy  and to change the narrative of so many issues. No matter how hard it is out there ACB created a community that stepped up to support each other  So this Sunday we call for stories and or reasons to celebrate this 2020 holiday season. Join us live on ACB Radio Mainstream at 1pm or if you wish to share follow the Zoom info below.  Sunday Edition can also be found on most pod catchers by searching: ACB Sunday Edition Looking forward to sharing all the beautiful reasons we have to celebrate!

A quick observation on Confucious' teachings about the proper structure of a society and why conservative values are necessary.

Science in antiquity was at times devised to be useful and at other times to prove to the people that the gods looked favorably on the ruling class. Greek philosophers tell us a lot about how the ancient world developed. Or at least, they tell us a Western history of antiquity. Humanity began working with bronze some 7,000 years ago and the Bronze Age came in force in the centuries leading up to 3,000 BCE. By then there were city-states and empires. The Mesopotamians brought us the wheel in around 3500 BCE, and the chariot by 3200 BCE. Writing formed in Sumeria, a city state of Mesopotamia, in 3000 BCE. Urbanization required larger cities and walls to keep out invaders. King Gilgamesh built huge walls. They used a base 60 system to track time, giving us the 60 seconds and 60 minutes to get to an hour. That sexagesimal system also gave us the 360 degrees in a circle. They plowed fields and sailed. And sailing led to maps, which they had by 2300 BCE. And they gave us the Epic, with the Epic of Gilgamesh which could be old as 2100 BCE. At this point, the Egyptian empire had grown to 150,000 square kilometers and the Sumerians controlled around 20,000 square kilometers. Throughout, they grew a great trading empire. They traded with China, India and Egypt with some routes dating back to the fourth millennia BCE. And commerce and trade means the spread of not only goods but also ideas and knowledge. The earliest known writing of complete sentences in Egypt came to Egypt a few hundred years after it did in Mesopotamia, as the Early Dynastic period ended and the Old Kingdom, or the Age of the Pyramids. Perhaps over a trade route.  The ancient Egyptians used numerals, multiplications, fractions, geometry, architecture, algebra, and even quadratic equations. Even having a documented base 10 numbering system on a tomb from 3200 BCE. We also have the Moscow Mathematical Papyrus, which includes geometry problems, the Egyptian Mathematical Leather Roll, which covers how to add fractions, the Berlin Papyrus with geometry, the Lahun Papyri with arithmetical progressions to calculate the volume of granaries, the Akhmim tablets, the Reisner Papyrus, and the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, which covers algebra and geometry. And there's the Cairo Calendar, an ancient Egyptian papyrus from around 1200 BCE with detailed astronomical observations. Because the Nile flooded, bringing critical crops to Egypt. The Mesopotamians traded with China as well. As the Shang dynasty from the 16th to 11th centuries BCE gave way to the Zhou Dynasty, which went from the 11th to 3rd centuries BCE and the Bronze Age gave way to the Iron Age, science was spreading throughout the world. The I Ching is one of the oldest Chinese works showing math, dating back to the Zhou Dynasty, possibly as old as 1000 BCE. This was also when the Hundred Schools of Thought began, which Conscious inherited around the 5th century BCE. Along the way the Chinese gave us the sundial, abacus, and crossbow. And again, the Bronze Age signaled trade empires that were spreading ideas and texts from the Near East to Asia to Europe and Africa and back again. For a couple thousand years the transfer of spices, textiles and precious metals fueled the Bronze Age empires.  Along the way the Minoan civilization in modern Greece had been slowly rising out of the Cycladic culture. Minoan artifacts have been found in Canaanite palaces and as they grew they colonized and traded. They began a decline around 1500 BCE, likely due to a combination of raiders and volcanic eruptions. The crash of the Minoan civilization gave way to the Myceneaen civilization of early Greece.  Competition for resources and land in these growing empires helped to trigger wars.  Those in turn caused violence over those resources. Around 1250 BCE, Thebes burned and attacks against city states cities increased, sometimes by emerging empires of previously disassociated tribes (as would happen later with the Vikings) and sometimes by other city-states.  This triggered the collapse of Mycenaen Greece, the splintering of the Hittites, the fall of Troy, the absorption of the Sumerian culture into Babylon, and attacks that weakened the Egyptian New Kingdom. Weakened and disintegrating empires leave room for new players. The Iranian tribes emerged to form the Median empire in today's Iran. The Assyrians and Scythians rose to power and the world moved into the Iron age. And the Greeks fell into the Greek Dark Ages until they slowly clawed their way out of it in the 8th century BCE. Around this time Babylonian astronomers, in the capital of Mesopomania, were making astronomical diaries, some of which are now stored in the British Museum.  Greek and Mesopotamian societies weren't the only ones flourishing. The Indus Valley Civilization had blossomed from 2500 to 1800 BCE only to go into a dark age of its own. Boasting 5 million people across 1,500 cities, with some of the larger cities reaching 40,000 people - about the same size as Mesopotamian cities. About two thirds are in modern day India and a third in modern Pakistan, an empire that stretched across 120,000 square kilometers. As the Babylonian control of the Mesopotamian city states broke up, the Assyrians began their own campaigns and conquered Persia, parts of Ancient Greece, down to Ethiopia, Israel, the Ethiopia, and Babylon. As their empire grew, they followed into the Indus Valley, which Mesopotamians had been trading with for centuries.  What we think of as modern Pakistan and India is where Medhatithi Gautama founded the anviksiki school of logic in the 6th century BCE. And so the modern sciences of philosophy and logic were born. As mentioned, we'd had math in the Bronze Age. The Egyptians couldn't have built pyramids and mapped the stars without it. Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar couldn't have built the Mesopotamian cities and walls and laws without it. But something new was coming as the Bronze Age began to give way to the Iron Age. The Indians brought us the first origin of logic, which would morph into an almost Boolean logic as Pāṇini codified Sanskrit grammar linguistics and syntax. Almost like a nearly 4,000 verse manual on programming languages. Panini even mentions Greeks in his writings. Because they apparently had contact going back to the sixth century BCE, when Greek philosophy was about to get started. The Neo-Assyrian empire grew to 1.4 million square kilometers of control and the Achaeminid empire grew to control nearly 5 million square miles.  The Phoenicians arose out of the crash of the Late Bronze Age, becoming important traders between the former Mesopotamian city states and Egyptians. As her people settled lands and Greek city states colonized lands, one became the Greek philosopher Thales, who documented the use of loadstones going back to 600 BCE when they were able to use magnetite which gets its name from the Magnesia region of Thessaly, Greece. He is known as the first philosopher and in the time of Socrates even had become one of the Seven Sages which included according to Socrates. “Thales of Miletus, and Pittacus of Mytilene, and Bias of Priene, and our own Solon, and Cleobulus of Lindus, and Myson of Chenae, and the seventh of them was said to be Chilon of Sparta.”  Many of the fifth and sixth century Greek philosophers were actually born in colonies on the western coast of what is now Turkey. Thales's theorum is said to have originated in India or Babylon. But as we see a lot in the times that followed, it is credited to Thales. Given the trading empires they were all a part of though, they certainly could have brought these ideas back from previous generations of unnamed thinkers. I like to think of him as the synthesizers that Daniel Pink refers to so often in his book A Whole New Mind.  Thales studied in Babylon and Egypt, bringing thoughts, ideas, and perhaps intermingled them with those coming in from other areas as the Greeks settled colonies in other lands. Given how critical astrology was to the agricultural societies, this meant bringing astronomy, math to help with the architecture of the Pharoes, new ways to use calendars, likely adopted through the Sumerians, coinage through trade with the Lydians and then Persians when they conquered the Lydians, Babylon, and the Median. So Thales taught Anaximander who taught Pythagoras of Samos, born a few decades later in 570 BCE. He studied in Egypt as well. Most of us would know the Pythagorean theorem which he's credited for, although there is evidence that predated him from Egypt. Whether new to the emerging Greek world or new to the world writ large, his contributions were far beyond that, though. They included a new student oriented way of life, numerology, the idea that the world is round, numerology, applying math to music and applying music to lifestyle, and an entire school of philosophers emerged from his teachings to spread Pythagoreanism. And the generations of philosophers that followed devised both important philosophical contributions and practical applications of new ideas in engineering. The ensuing schools of philosophy that rose out of those early Greeks spread. By 508 BCE, the Greeks gave us Democracy. And oligarchy, defined as a government where a small group of people have control over a country. Many of these words, in fact, come from Greek forms. As does the month of May, names for symbols and theories in much of the math we use, and many a constellation. That tradition began with the sages but grew, being spread by trade, by need, and by religious houses seeking to use engineering as a form of subjugation.  Philosophy wasn't exclusive to the Greeks or Indians, or to Assyria and then Persia through conquering the lands and establishing trade. Buddha came out of modern India in the 5th to 4th century BCE around the same time Confucianism was born from Confucious in China. And Mohism from Mo Di. Again, trade and the spread of ideas. However, there's no indication that they knew of each other or that Confucious could have competed with the other 100 schools of thought alive and thriving in China. Nor that Buddhism would begin spreading out of the region for awhile. But some cultures were spreading rapidly. The spread of Greek philosophy reached a zenith in Athens. Thales' pupil Anaximander also taught Anaximenes, the third philosopher of the Milesian school which is often included with the Ionians. The thing I love about those three, beginning with Thales is that they were able to evolve the school of thought without rejecting the philosophies before them. Because ultimately they knew they were simply devising theories as yet to be proven. Another Ionian was Anaxagoras, who after serving in the Persian army, which ultimately conquered Ionia in 547 BCE. As a Greek citizen living in what was then Persia, Anaxagoras moved to Athens in 480 BCE, teaching Archelaus and either directly or indirectly through him Socrates. This provides a link, albeit not a direct link, from the philosophy and science of the Phoenicians, Babylonians, and Egyptians through Thales and others, to Socrates.   Socrates was born in 470 BCE and mentions several influences including Anaxagoras. Socrates spawned a level of intellectualism that would go on to have as large an impact on what we now call Western philosophy as anyone in the world ever has. And given that we have no writings from him, we have to take the word of his students to know his works. He gave us the Socratic method and his own spin on satire, which ultimately got him executed for effectively being critical of the ruling elite in Athens and for calling democracy into question, corrupting young Athenian students in the process.  You see, in his life, the Athenians lost the Peloponnesian War to Sparta - and as societies often do when they hit a speed bump, they started to listen to those who call intellectuals or scientists into question. That would be Socrates for questioning Democracy, and many an Athenian for using Socrates as a scape goat.  One student of Socrates, Critias, would go on to lead a group called the Thirty Tyrants, who would terrorize Athenians and take over the government for awhile. They would establish an oligarchy and appoint their own ruling class. As with many coups against democracy over the millennia they were ultimately found corrupt and removed from power. But the end of that democratic experiment in Greece was coming. Socrates also taught other great philosophers, including Xenophon, Antisthenes, Aristippus, and Alcibiades. But the greatest of his pupils was Plato. Plato was as much a scientist as a philosopher. He had works of Pythagoras, studied the Libyan Theodorus. He codified a theory of Ideas, in Forms. He used as examples, the Pythagorean theorem and geometry. He wrote a lot of the dialogues with Socrates and codified ethics, and wrote of a working, protective, and governing class, looking to produce philosopher kings. He wrote about the dialectic, using questions, reasoning and intuition. He wrote of art and poetry and epistemology. His impact was vast. He would teach mathemetics to Eudoxus, who in turn taught Euclid. But one of his greatest contributions the evolution of philosophy, science, and technology was in teaching Aristotle.  Aristotle was born in 384 BCE and founded a school of philosophy called the Lyceum. He wrote about rhetoric, music, poetry, and theater - as one would expect given the connection to Socrates, but also expanded far past Plato, getting into physics, biology, and metaphysics. But he had a direct impact on the world at the time with his writings on economics politics,  He inherited a confluence of great achievements, describing motion, defining the five elements, writing about a camera obscure and researching optics. He wrote about astronomy and geology, observing both theory and fact, such as ways to predict volcanic eruptions. He made observations that would be proven (or sometimes disproven) such as with modern genomics. He began a classification of living things. His work “On the Soul” is one of the earliest looks at psychology. His study of ethics wasn't as theoretical as Socrates' but practical, teaching virtue and how that leads to wisdom to become a greater thinker.  He wrote of economics. He writes of taxes, managing cities, and property. And this is where he's speaking almost directly to one of his most impressive students, Alexander the Great. Philip the second of Macedon hired Plato to tutor Alexander starting in 343. Nine years later, when Alexander inherited his throne, he was armed with arguably the best education in the world combined with one of the best trained armies in history. This allowed him to defeat Darius in 334 BCE, the first of 10 years worth of campaigns that finally gave him control in 323 BCE. In that time, he conquered Egypt, which had been under Persian rule on and off and founded Alexandria. And so what the Egyptians had given to Greece had come home. Alexander died in 323 BCE. He followed the path set out by philosophers before him. Like Thales, he visited Babylon and Egypt. But he went a step further and conquered them. This gave the Greeks more ancient texts to learn from but also more people who could become philosophers and more people with time to think through problems.  By the time he was done, the Greeks controlled nearly 5 million square miles of territory. This would be the largest empire until after the Romans. But Alexander never truly ruled. He conquered. Some of his generals and other Greek aristocrats, now referred to as the Diadochi, split up the young, new empire. You see, while teaching Alexander, Aristotle had taught two other future kings : Ptolemy I Soter and Cassander.  Cassander would rule Macedonia and Ptolemy ruled Egypt from Alexandria, who with other Greek philosophers founded the Library of Alexandria. Ptolemy and his son amassed 100s of thousands of scrolls in the Library from 331 BC and on. The Library was part of a great campus of the Musaeum where they also supported great minds starting with Ptolemy I's patronage of Euclid, the father of geometry, and later including Archimedes, the father of engineering, Hipparchus, the founder of trigonometry, Her, the father of math, and Herophilus, who codified the scientific method and countless other great hellenistic thinkers.  The Roman Empire had begin in the 6th century BCE. By the third century BCE they were expanding out of the Italian peninsula. This was the end of Greek expansion and as Rome conquered the Greek colonies signified the waning of Greek philosophy. Philosophy that helped build Rome both from a period of colonization and then spreading Democracy to the young republic with the kings, or rex, being elected by the senate and by 509 BCE the rise of the consuls.  After studying at the Library of Alexandria, Archimedes returned home to start his great works, full of ideas having been exposed to so many works. He did rudimentary calculus, proved geometrical theories, approximated pi, explained levers, founded statics and hydrostatics. And his work extended into the practical. He built machines, pulleys, the infamous Archimedes' screw pump, and supposedly even a deathly heat ray of lenses that could burn ships in seconds. He was sadly killed by Roman soldiers when Syracuse was taken. But, and this is indicative of how Romans pulled in Greek know-how, the Roman general Marcus Claudius Marcellus was angry that he lost an asset, who could have benefited his war campaigns. In fact, Cicero, who was born in the first century BCE mentioned Archimedes built mechanical devices that could show the motions of the planetary bodies. He claimed Thales had designed these and that Marcellus had taken one as his only personal loot from Syracuse and donated it to the Temple of Virtue in Rome.  The math, astronomy, and physics that go into building a machine like that was the culmination of hundreds, if not thousands of years of building knowledge of the Cosmos, machinery, mathematics, and philosophy. Machines like that would have been the first known computers. Machines like the first or second century Antikythera mechanism, discovered in 1902 in a shipwreck in Greece. Initially thought to be a one-off, the device is more likely to represent the culmination of generations of great thinkers and doers. Generations that came to look to the Library of Alexandria as almost a Mecca. Until they didn't.  The splintering of the lands Alexander conquered, the cost of the campaigns, the attacks from other empires, and the rise of the Roman Empire ended the age of Greek Enlightenment. As is often the case when there is political turmoil and those seeking power hate being challenged by the intellectuals, as had happened with Socrates and philosophers in Athens at the time, Ptolemy VIII caused The Library of Alexandria to enter into a slow decline that began with the expulsion of intellectuals from Alexandria in 145BC. This began a slow decline of the library until it burned, first with a small fire accidentally set by Caesar in 48 BCE and then for good in the 270s.  But before the great library was gone for good, it would produce even more great engineers. Heron of Alexandria is one of the greatest. He created vending machines that would dispense holy water when you dropped a coin in it. He made small mechanical archers, models of dancers, and even a statue of a horse that could supposedly drink water. He gave us early steam engines two thousand years before the industrial revolution and ran experiments in optics. He gave us Heron's forumula and an entire book on mechanics, codifying the known works on automation at the time. In fact, he designed a programmable cart using strings wrapped around an axle, powered by falling weights.  Claudius Ptolemy came to the empire from their holdings in Egypt, living in the first century. He wrote about harmonics, math, astronomy, computed the distance of the sun to the earth and also computed positions of the planets and eclipses, summarizing them into more simplistic tables. He revolutionized map making and the properties of light. By then, Romans had emerged as the first true world power and so the Classical Age. To research this section, I read and took copious notes from the following and apologize that each passage is not credited specifically but it would just look like a regular expressions if I tried: The Evolution of Technology by George Basalla. Civilizations by Filipe Fernández-Armesto, A Short History of Technology: From The Earliest Times to AD 1900 from TK Derry and Trevor I Williams, Communication in History Technology, Culture, Leonardo da vinci by Walter Isaacson, Society from David Crowley and Paul Heyer, Timelines in Science, by the Smithsonian, Wheels, Clocks, and Rockets: A History of Technology by Donald Cardwell, a few PhD dissertations and post-doctoral studies from journals, and then I got to the point where I wanted the information from as close to the sources as I could get so I went through Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences from Galileo Galilei, Mediations from Marcus Aurelius, Pneumatics from Philo of Byzantium, The Laws of Thought by George Boole, Natural History from Pliny The Elder, Cassius Dio's Roman History, Annals from Tacitus, Orations by Cicero, Ethics, Rhetoric, Metaphysics, and Politics by Aristotle, Plato's Symposium and The Trial & Execution of Socrates.

Confucious once said, “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” Is this true? How, then, do we better notice beauty around us? Perhaps we might find beauty in a person, a place, or even a story, like here on The Apple Seed! Today's collection of stories explores the definition of beauty. Storytellers John McCutcheon, Kevin Cordi, Fran Stallings, Margaret MacDonald, Holly Robinson and Ed Stivender share the lovely, the good, and the uplifting in their stories from around the world.  On today's episode, enjoy the following:“Streets of Sarajevo” by John McCutcheon from Untold/Unsung (4:41) A song honoring a cellist who dutifully played every day outside of a bakery where 22 people lost their lives in Sarajevo.  “Listen to the Strings” by Kevin Cordi from Wisdom Keepers: Wise Tales and Wise People (8:28)An aspiring young guitarist who worries his songs have lost their beauty, but a suggestion from a mentor proves him otherwise. “Too Much Help” by Fran Stallings from Stories and Songs for a Green Earth (8:52)When a village fails to care for the town they've created, magical wooden figures are built to put the place in order. According to the legend, these figures become what we know as monkeys! “Kanji-Jo, the Nestlings” by Margaret MacDonald from Tuck-Me-In Tales (15:23)When a family of baby birds hatch, they can't seem to find their mother! Questing to find her, they use the only identifier they know of to seek her out: her songs. “The Most Beautiful Thing” by Holly Robinson from Folk Tales Utah Storytelling Guild Story Collection: Volume 2 (4:38)In our next story, the mighty Lion holds a competition for the other animals to bring him “the most beautiful thing.” A mother monkey can't help but bring the most beautiful thing to her: her new baby. “The Gospel of Beauty” by Ed Stivender from And Once Again... (1:44)Here's a poetic piece from Ed Stivender expressing his ideals for what makes the world beautiful to him.  Radio Family Journal: "Eye of the Beholder" (6:05)In an episode filled with stories exploring the beauty around us, Sam takes a moment to reflect upon his first ideas about what was beautiful in the world, and how they tie in to his hometown.  

Yep. Your read it right, not left --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Are you ready? Summer Jam 2020 is online and as badass as ever. Join The Breaks' Confucious and Fresh as they host performances and interviews with Mike Melinoe, J Soulja, Vintage Jay, TEDDYTHELEGACY, and Chief Cleopatra...

An excellent discussion of the paradox of uselessness in all areas of our life. A very in-depth discussion on the role of a sponsor and how to be useless in sponsorship. Contact us at Wisdom56321@gmail.com The Way of Chuang Tzu – Thomas Merton https://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/MertonChuangTzu.pdf Join our private Facebook group and continue the conversation! Here is the link; https://www.facebook.com/groups/TaoPodcast/ or search Tao of Our understanding Podcast. Zen Home Meditation Training https://www.aszc.org/sitting-with-sensei Meetings during the pandemic; 1 pm EDT Mon-Fri - Direct Link: www.DailyRecoveryMeeting.com 9 pm EDT Nightly 7 Days a Week - Direct Link; www.ZoomAAMeetings.com (You must log in to a free zoom.us account for authentication to attend this meeting) Would You like to receive a free daily topic email with the most popular AA resources, accompanied by a secret Facebook group for discussion? Go to www.DailyAAEmails.com for more information! www.DailyAAEmails.com also includes a list of recovery podcasts and recovery resources! Are you interested in listening to sober meditations, where a thought is shared per meditation that helped the meditator with their recovery? Here is a link to a 100% free app called Sober Meditations or search Sober Meditations in both Apple and Google App Stores. Here are two google calendars you might like. One is a daily thought that is a mix of Christian, ACIM, Tao, and AA thoughts, one per day, and the other is A Course In Miracles calendar of the daily lessons throughout the year. Thought for the Day; https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=M203cHZkbXQ0ZjRzOHRmNnI4ZjJpdmt2YmdAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ ACIM; https://calendar.google.com/calendar?cid=aTZuc2x0cnV2Z2I1YzhrOXJ0aG80MXUwYmtAZ3JvdXAuY2FsZW5kYXIuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbQ&authuser=0

This episode is all about our Chinese moms: their stories, our mother-daughter relationships, and the ever uncomfortable shit when we try to talk with them. Highlights:  Angie reconciles the disrespect she had for her parents  Kristy shares her mom's story about coming to Canada Physical vs Emotional boundaries with our mothers  Short term vs. long term pain in relationships Our moms are having more sex than we are  Takeaway:  Physical boundaries can be very helpful in maintaining healthy relationships. But it's also an easy way to avoid having uncomfortable talks about emotional boundaries. It's time to get uncomfortable. Concepts of filial piety are more universal than we may think. If you have the privilege, ask your family about their immigration story.  Sometimes we just need to rip the bandaid off. Which area in life are you using a bandaid? Go on a friend date with your mom. Resources:  Twitter: Tony Lin @tony_zy   All Is Well (TV Drama) The Empty Nest Companion by Susan Gross and Briget Bishop (Book)The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (Book)  What is Reparenting and How To Begin (Article) Enjoyed this episode? Share with a friend who might benefit! Hit subscribe to get the latest episodes and leave us a comment so we know what you love about the show!---- Let Kristy & Angie know what cringy and uncomfortable conversation topics you would like to listen to! Record us a 60-second voice message and share with us your thoughts, comments, or questions. Drop your love here!Instagram @shitwedonttellmom Email: shitwedonttellmom@gmail.com 

The Hug Rule (EP.245) Introduction The Hug Rule: It takes four hugs a day for survival, Eight hugs a day for maintenance, and Twelve hugs a day to thrive. That is the subject of today’s 10-minute episode.  Continuing During these COVID days (daze), I am falling below the survival level. But the no-hug COVID days will eventually be behind us. Will the division bordering on hatred also recede? It does seem to be growing.  In the 1969 British romantic drama film “Women in Love” one memorable scene has two men wrestling physically, and apparently emotionally as well. One of the men asks the other, “Why can't men say ‘I love you’ to each other as freely as women do?” Dang good question. And, just perhaps, women should be more free with verbal expression of love as well. So, let me be the first in this conversation to say it: I love you. BTW, hugs are not only an expression of love, but can lead to beginning to learn to love another, and to further bind that love.  Practically every religion on earth commands us to love one another. When asked which is the greatest commandment, the Christian New Testament depicts Jesus paraphrasing the Torah: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind," before also paraphrasing a second passage; "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Islam is similar: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, ‘You will not enter Paradise until you have faith and you will not have faith until you love each other. Shall I show you something that, if you did, you would love each other? Spread peace between yourselves.’” Love in Hinduism is a sacrament. It preaches that one gives up selfishness in love, not expecting anything in return. It also believes "God is love". Picking up on the God is Love theme in the Christian Bible, John 4:8 and 16 state that "God is love; and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." Buddha teaches about love in a way that speaks very clearly to some of the great issues of our day. “In true love, there's no more separation or discrimination. His happiness is your happiness. Your suffering is his suffering. You can no longer say, ‘That's your problem.’” We’ll close this section with Confucious reflecting on one of the great truths that is becoming more and more evident in our world. “It is easy to hate, and difficult to love. This is how the whole scheme of things works. All good things are difficult to achieve; and bad things are very easy to get.”  One of the core Revolution 2.0™ beliefs is that Life is hard--as it should be. Perhaps Confucius will subscribe--from wherever he is…:).  And a piece of enduring wisdom from a friend: “When you hug your children, never be the first to let go.” From Healthline.com “The stress-reducing effects of hugging might also work to keep you healthier. In a study of over 400 adults, researchers found that hugging may reduce the chance a person will get sick. The participants with a greater support system were less likely to get sick.” And from Adventisthealth.org. “You know in your heart that a warm, close hug feels good to the core. But did you know that it may actually have health benefits?  For starters, there’s evidence that a hug — such as from a partner, a loved one or a friend — may help tame daily tension, ease our worries and even help us avoid getting sick.” Take that, COVID! We have heard from Jews, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and followers of Confucius--and respected health organizations. Love and hugs are crucial to our healing, to our coming together. Let’s close with some thoughts from the Beatles from their “Come Together song: Come Together ... One thing I can tell you is You got to be free Come together, right now Over me ... You can feel his disease Come together, right now Over me ... 'Cause he's so hard to see

Often found in history textbooks is the idea of Confucious as the founder of a Chinese philosophy named Taoism. Our Taoism is more than just this- it is a religion with a deep history that roots back to centuries ago. Find out more about the magic powers of true Taoism and discussions about the pre-heaven and post-heaven.

What can you do to be more productive, efficient, effective, and get stuff done while working from home during the COVID-19 crisis? No matter how much work you do or get done, there’s always more to do. Today’s guest is Thanh Pham from Asian Efficiency, which has helped more than 15,000 clients worldwide. Also, Thanh hosts a growing and flourishing podcast called, The Productivity Show. You’ll Learn... [01:53] Asian Efficiency: Positive stereotype and memorable name for company. [02:55] Thanh turns hobby of documenting productivity processes into a business. [03:47] Groundhog Day: Businesses operating from home lose time and progress. [05:06] Work/Life Balance: Nothing going on, no way to work, long days, and no variety. [06:33] Planning: Take it to the next level via different dimensions, contingency options. [07:23] Productive vs. Interruptive: Seek clarity to set one goal a day to accomplish. [09:10] Sense of Momentum: What you want and why it matters should drive your life. [12:15] Structure/Strategy: Create own schedule, design ideal day, and set cutoff time. [14:57] Five Whys: Identify root cause and motivation. Money, freedom, flexibility? [17:55] Energy vs. Time: Don’t do everything, do what you like and others do the rest. [25:44] Ideal Day: Map it out the night before to start the next day right away. [27:08] Do’s and Don’ts: Don't eat at your desk; do step away from your office or home. [32:05] What keeps you up at night? Entrepreneurs are known for worrying too much. [34:40] Chinese Proverb: The palest ink is better than the best memory. [35:41] Analog vs. Digital: What’s the difference? Depends on personal preference. Tweetables Restore order in your life to gain a sense of relief and energy to help you recover. “Whenever we're working from home, one of the most important things is to plan our day. That's such a simple thing that we can do, but most of us kind of skip that process.” “Set one goal a day. If you accomplish just one goal a day, no matter how big or small, you had a productive day.” “If we don't have energy, if we don't have any of that when we're starting our day, it's just so much more challenging to be productive.” Resources Asian Efficiency The Productivity Show The ONE Thing by Gary Keller Oura Ring Evernote OmniFocus Jira Mont Blanc Pens DoorGrow on YouTube DoorGrowClub DoorGrowLive DoorGrow Website Score Quiz DoorGrow Cold Leads Calculator Transcript Jason: Welcome, DoorGrow Hackers, to the DoorGrow Show. If you are a property management entrepreneur that wants to add doors, make a difference, increase revenue, help others, impact lives, and you are interested in growing your business and life, and you are open to doing things a bit differently, then you are a DoorGrow Hacker. DoorGrow Hackers love the opportunities, daily variety, unique challenges, and freedom that property management brings. Many in real estate think you’re crazy for doing it, you think they’re crazy for not because you realize that property management is the ultimate high-trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management businesses and their owners. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. I’m your host, property management growth expert, Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow. Now, let’s get into the show. I have a special guest with me today. Just down the street in Austin hanging out. This is Thanh Pham. What's up, Thanh? Thanh: Hey, Jason. Good to be here. Thanks for having me and I'm super excited to chat with you here today about productivity and anything that we can do to be more productive. Jason: All right. Did I say your name right? Thanh: Yeah, you did. First time, first attempt, 100% correct. Jason: I thought I did, but I thought I would make sure. I'm really excited to have you. You have a great sense of humor. We're chatting it up before the show and your company is called Asian Efficiency, right? Is this correct? Asian Efficiency? Thanh: That is correct. That is a positive stereotype that we have going on here in most of America and the Western world so I thought, “You know what? That's such a funny name. Such a name that sticks out and is memorable.” So we started off as a joke in a way because I just want to document my journey of being more productive. I remember one time I was staying at a house in Miami with some friends, all fellow entrepreneurs. We went out for one night, then we had a few drinks. We had a great time, then the next morning I was being productive in getting stuff done; waking up really early. By the time it was noon, I was done with my day and everyone else was waking up really late. I said, “Oh my gosh, Thanh. You're so productive. That's some Asian efficiency right there,” and that's when the name was born. Jason: So this almost became a theme around you or a nickname attached to you before it was a business. Thanh: Yeah. Honestly, it just started as a hobby. I just wanted to document how I did things as I was learning about productivity and how to be efficient, be effective, managing my time better, and I just started to blog about this back in the day in 2011. After a while, it just started to grow and took a life of its own after about six months. Then people kept asking me, “Thanh, this is so helpful. I'm learning so much. I would love to hire you. Do you have any courses or products?” And I said, “Actually I don't. But that's a great idea.” I accidentally turned this into a business, and now, almost nine years later, we helped over 15,000 clients all over the world. We have a podcast that's growing and flourishing, and just continuously impacting people, people that are listening here today as well. Jason: Awesome. Our topic today is productivity while working from home, which a lot of people are doing right now. Due to the Coronavirus, COVID-19, a lot of people are on lockdown. A lot of people have been stuck at home. Businesses are operating, some are still operating, but they're doing it from home, and a lot of people are joking right now. The big joke is it's all one big day that's been running forever. Everybody feels like there's no difference between one week to the next. The month has gone on for three months now. We're kind of losing a sense of time, it seems to be the theme, and things just keep repeating so we lose a sense of because everything seems so similar each day and we're lacking variety in our day to day, it feels like we're not making any progress I think, maybe subconsciously as well. What are you doing to stay out of that Groundhog’s Day sort of movie type of scenario in your own mind, cognitively? Thanh: I think one of the interesting things that are happening now is some of those are working more than others and some of those are going the complete opposite route. We don't have a job. There's nothing going on and there's no way for us to work. In either spectrum, it feels like days are so long as a result because as you said there's no variety. It's nice to be able to go to work and then come home relax and do nothing. When we miss one or the other, it feels like we're completely out of balance or some of us are just working all the time. If you've been working from home for a while, then you're just working more now because there's nothing else to do. You can't leave your home. You can't go anywhere so you just work more. For those who don't have a job right now, or not working as much, or can't work, you are stuck as well. You can't do anything else but stay at home and relax and do relaxing activities. Jason: And binge Netflix. Thanh: And binge Netflix, yeah. I've watched so many shows. Money Heist was one of my favorite ones that I just finished. A great show, watch that one. Jason: I just went through that too. My girlfriend and I were watching that one and it was good. Thanh: Oh my gosh. Season Four, that really got me. But that's a whole completely different podcast. Jason: I wasn’t mad at the cliff hanger left at the ending though. My girlfriend was upset and I was like, “No, that makes me excited about the next season.” Thanh: [...], you just have to watch it whenever you have time. Jason: I'm sure the character, the professor, you'll get excited about. He's got everything planned out. He's incredibly efficient and he always finds a way to make things work. It seems like when nothing else seems like it'll be possible, he finds some [...] Thanh: I thought I was a planner until I saw this character. Then this guy takes planning to a whole nother level because I thought planning a vacation was great, fun, and easy, then this guy takes planning of the robbery to five different dimensions, so you go whoa, this is crazy. Jason: Right. He's got all the contingency plans. He's got names for all of them and something happens, he's like, “No problem. We're just going to bust out plan C,” and they just pop it out and everybody knows what to do. Thanh: That's a beautiful thing and when we're working from home we can take the same approach. Whenever we're working from home, one of the most important things is to plan our day. That's such a simple thing that we can do, but most of us kind of skip that process. If you're listening to this and you feel like most of your days are unstructured or you go about your day and you feel like, “Man, I wish I was more productive,” or, “I wish I had that one particular thing done.” I know many of you who are listening probably find it very challenging to schedule stuff. You want to say, “You know what? I want to work on this particular task, or call this particular tenant or client at 11,” and then something comes up. A fire, someone calls you, you got an important email, you're on call the whole time, you have an email client open, interruptions coming all the time, you feel like you're on edge, and it makes it very difficult to focus. It makes it very difficult to concentrate and have focus blocks where you're actually working and doing stuff. When you're in that kind of situation, one thing I've found is when you're trying to work with people who have that interrupt-driven day, one of the best ways you can approach that is to set one goal a day. If you accomplish just one goal a day, no matter how big or small, you had a productive day because the rest of your day is typically driven by interruptions and things you have to deal with anyway. But if you can make progress on one goal, or one big outcome, or one big task, that's a really productive day, so let's aim for that. Jason: That reminds me of Gary Keller's The ONE Thing. He's got his one thing question which is, “What's the one thing that, by doing it, everything else will become irrelevant or easier?” That one thing question, so maybe that's something the listeners can ask themselves. What's that one thing that if I do this, it's going to get me a sense of momentum today? It's going to make me feel like I've done something. I've accomplished something. I moved the needle just slightly on my goals. Thanh: I think a great reframe to add on top of that to help people because one of the things I see people struggle with is, “Jason, I have five million things I have to do and they all have to be done. How do I pick one thing to work on?” Oftentimes, we ask ourselves that question. It's a sign that you don't have any clarity about your goal or the destination you want to go towards. So, when you don't have that, everything feels equally important and whenever you get that sense when everything is equally important, that's a sure sign that you don't have clarity about what your goal is or what your destination is. I want to challenge you as a listener to say, “Hey, what is the goal that I'm trying to accomplish?” Because once you know what that is, prioritizing or finding the one thing or the few things you have to do becomes so much easier. As an example, if you're publishing a book, that is your big goal for the year, then if you have a to-do list that says I need to redo my finances, organize my closet and write chapter two. One of those three sounds more appealing because it's aligned to a goal which is just writing chapter two. That doesn't mean redoing your finances and organizing the closet is not important, they are important, but they're not, in relationship to the goal, important enough for you to prioritize over something else. Once you have absolute clarity about the goal, this is what I'm trying to accomplish, you start to notice that certain tasks on your to-do list stand out because they will help you get you closer to your goal. That makes prioritizing them really easy and that makes it easy for you to say, “Okay, this is the one thing or maybe the two things I have to do today, and if I do that then I had a really productive day.” Jason: I love that. I think some of the coaches I've worked with in the past, one of their big questions would always be to ask what do you want? What do you want? That first gut reaction deep down that we're going to respond to that. What do you want in your business? What do you want I think is really important because it's very easy I think for us to just end up becoming a slave to our business or doing things for other people. I think a simple question of what do you want, then the follow-up question was always why does that matter? Because if it doesn't matter, we're not really going to do it. There has to be a why behind it especially if that’s work, if it's painful, if it's difficult. So what do you want and why does it matter. Really, that ultimately should be driving our business. It should be driving our life. All these things are vehicles to serve as. They're all vehicles to make us happier, or more fulfilled, or give us a sense of momentum. Let's get into some specifics. People are listening and are like, “Thanh, I've got my one goal but how do I create this structure for my day that you've talked about? How do I do this?” Thanh: If you're working from home, one of the best things you can do is to create a schedule for yourself because after working from home since 2009, I've consulted so many clients over the years. There's a lot of different strategies out there when it comes to being productive and trying to be efficient working from home, but the one strategy that I see that is most effective for most people is creating your own schedule. You want to design your ideal day and one of the biggest things that you want to pay attention to is that again, one, you want to have one big goal for today especially for people who are listening to this who are interrupt-driven schedule, you want to create that. Then the second thing is you want to make sure that you have the cutoff time for when you stop working as well. I know that's going to sound crazy for a lot of property managers and you go, “Thanh, I can't do that. I'm on call 24/7 and I need to be reachable whenever people contact me.” I totally get that, but if you want to have some sense of balance in your life or if you feel like you're always on call, you're tired of being that way, you want to then start creating some systematic solution around that so that if people do call you after a certain time, it's still being handled. When I'm working with a lot of owners and operators, their main fear is, “Man, if I stop working after six. I'm going to lose a lot of business. I'm going to get a lot of complaints.” Those are rightfully so in the beginning, I would say, but what if you could hire someone to be able to work even part-time to deal with stuff outside of your normal office hours? To be able to handle that request and things that people need so that you don't have to do that. You can pay someone else to be able to do the things that need to be done while you have time for yourself. As you're growing your business and have specific boundaries for yourself, it makes it easier for you to have that work-life balance because most of us who are entrepreneurs and are working all the time, after a while we get so tired. One of the main reasons businesses stop existing or quit is because the owner is tired. They're just like, I'm so done with— Jason: They’re burned out. Thanh: Yeah, they have this burnout. So we want to create boundaries. We want to create systems in place so that we don't have to work all the time. When we do work, we can work on the things we have passion about or we're really good about, that are in alignment with what you were talking about earlier which I love is the whole why thing. If you've never done that exercise, it's called the five whys. Basically you ask yourself why five times, you start to come down to the root cause, the root motivation for you why you started this business. Oftentimes it's not because you wanted to make more money even though that was I'm sure a strong motivator for a lot of people. Oftentimes, it comes down to having your own freedom in your life. Having a flexible schedule. Having quality time with your family and friends. Once you really connect with that, you start to realize I don't have to work 18 hours a day. I can accomplish everything I need in six, or seven, or eight, and the rest of the time I can spend it with my family because that's why I started my business. To be able to spend time with them, not necessarily work more until midnight fixing stuff or trying to attend to tenants, even though that is important. Someone else can do that as well and get paid for it. You employ someone and that's a beautiful thing too. Jason: I think ultimately when we boil anything down, it comes down to usually a feeling that we want to have. Somebody just says I really want a Tesla, or I want to drive. I want this car. When you really boil it down, people always want what we think we will feel when we have that. How would it feel to have a business that runs itself or I had the freedom, the time? Ultimately, it boils down to some sort of feeling that we want to have. Then if you work it backward, once you figure it out, once you get to that bedrock why, then the question is can I have this why without that? Or is there a faster vehicle or a way to get to that in that? If I just want to feel powerful, are there other things I can do to feel powerful besides what I was thinking about how to look this one certain way? One coaching or program that I went through, this phrase they always drove into us was, “It doesn't have to look a certain way.” They recognize it. Everybody always gets so attached to things looking a certain way. We want a specific outcome and we want to get there in a specific way. It has to look this way. No, no, no. It has to be like this. Sometimes we end up becoming control freaks and I'm sure sometimes productivity can become a control freakish mode for people to get into. They're micromanaging every second. They're doing too much. Planning everything out in so much detail that they kill all the life and spirit of their life, fun. Ultimately, that could lead the burnout, unless people really just thrive on that situation. I'm a big fan of energy management over time management. Spending your time doing the things you really enjoy like you're talking about and that's going to help you avoid getting burnout because if I'm doing the things that I love, I can work crazy amounts of hours in a week because I love it. I'm not getting burned out on it. I'm far less likely to get tired. People aren't going to annoy me or frustrate me in those situations because I feel alive. I feel like I'm doing something that brings me joy, life, and momentum. I think ultimately everybody needs to find that in their business because I think the great secret that nobody talks about is that as a business owner, you don't have to do all the stuff people say a business owner has to do. You can do whatever you want. If you want to be the receptionist in your company, you can be the receptionist. It's your choice. It's your company. If you want to do accounting and you love that, you can do the accounting. If you want to do customer service, you can do that being the business owner. Let's go to the cutoff time. I really like this idea. I like this idea because there are so many beliefs that prevent us from stopping and cutting it off. I had a job working for an internet service provider and I started managing their support department after being there for a short period of time, then I was moving up and then I was just underneath the two owners. I was working really crazy long hours. I had to commute sometimes during that job, like two hours because I was driving into LA (Los Angeles), and traffic was crazy. And then driving out. S.o I would just stay even later and I was working, working, working. The thing I realized is that no matter how much work I did there was always more. There's never an end to finishing all work that could or possibly will be done. There's no exact stopping point that you'll eventually find that all the work you need to do as a business owner or even just as an employee is done. But creating a healthy stopping point when it hits this time, I'm going to stop my day and pick it up again tomorrow. It's always going to be there waiting for you. It's still there and what I find is, is it the Pareto principle? It is the idea that if you constraint your time to a certain limit, “I'm going to be done by five o'clock. Five o'clock I'm cutting it off.” What happens is you start to become more productive because you start to innovate. You start to be creative. You're forced to constraint and because of that constraint, you have now to innovate. Without a constraint, it could be endless. You give somebody in your team an endless amount of time to do something, they can take weeks. You're like, “No, I need this done by Friday.” Then they start to innovate. “It's not possible the way I currently do it to get done by Friday. Okay, what can we do to change that?” Every week you can have this done. Then, you start to get innovative. I think there are secret benefits to doing that cutoff time that psychologically feel backward but we're going to become more productive as a result of creating that cutoff time. Do you agree? Thanh: I one hundred percent agree because there are actually multiple benefits to setting that cutoff time. You mentioned one [...] of them right there which is like setting a deadline first. We know that there's nothing better than having a really good deadline that forces you to get a lot of things done in a shorter period of time. Having that cutoff time every single day is like having a deadline every day for yourself to say, “Okay, I need to get all of these work done before a specific time,” and if we don't have that, then we take up the whole day and even more than that to get the things done that we need to get done. That goes back to what you're saying early like Parkinson's Law. Something takes up as much time as we give it to. If we say, “I want to have this done in two weeks,” it can be done and if you tell yourself it can be done in one year, it will be done in one year. It's just a matter of how much time we give ourselves to get something done. By having a daily cutoff time, by forcing ourselves to do the things that need to be done, especially if you focus on one or two major things like the one thing or the two smaller things and say, “Okay, I need to have this done before five,” then you will find ways like you said to get it done. The other big benefit of that is that when you have that balance to say, “Okay, after five I'm going to stop working,” you can then go to bed earlier. You can enjoy time with your family. You can spend time with your kids or you can do some personal hobbies. You can run some errands. You can do all these different things that restore order in your life. They give you a sense of relief. They give you a sense of energy to help you recover. Guess what? You're going to show up as a better owner, as a better property manager the next day because if you're sleeping well, you're eating right, you have the time to do all the things you need to do, you're going to show up the next day feeling refreshed and having more energy. Like we talked about and like you mentioned earlier, energy is such an important factor. It's such an important currency for productivity and when we have the energy to focus and do the things we need to do, we are so much more productive than without it. It's like if you have really nice sports cars sitting in your garage, you're the perfect driver. You know exactly how to drive it. You know every single feature, but the car has no gas. Guess what? You're not going to go anywhere even if you have the right tools, you know exactly what you need to do, you have no gas? Guess what? You're not going to drive that thing anywhere. It's the same thing for us. If we don't have energy. If we don't have any of that when we're starting our day, it's just so much more challenging to be productive. Then we have to caffeinate. We have to drink more coffee or tea getting ourselves ready. That's not a success [...] for us to be able to focus and be productive for the rest of our lives. We want to be able to start our day, get things done that need to be done, and have the energy to focus and do the best work that we're paid to do, essentially. By introducing that cutoff time, it has so many benefits that come with that. Just think about all the benefits that come with having more energy. Sleeping better, running the errands you need to get done. Having that sense of order in place because you can do all these different things. It makes it so much easier and makes you so much happier as well. That's going to be reflected in your work you do the next day, and the day after that, and the day after that. Jason: I think ultimately what all of these creates is presence. It allows us to be more present or more there when we need to be there. If a property manager is communicating with a tenant, they need to be on when things get difficult or sticky. They need to be on with an owner and they need to cognitively have the ability to make decisions, and move quickly, and think. All of this gives us power. It gives us power when we're able to be more present because if you're tired, you're not present, not nearly. If you're cognitively burned out, then you're almost in a situation that is painful that you're forcing yourself to do something. Forcing your body to do something that is uncomfortable. You're done and you keep going. Let's go back to the idea of this ideal day. How do we create a map for our ideal day? When do you do this? Thanh: Ideally, you want to plan your ideal day the night before. That's something that is such a simple habit that I teach and very few people actually do. But once they do it and follow through with it, they start to know this huge productivity jumps because it allows you to start your day right away, as soon as you're done with your morning routine or you're sitting down on your desk instead of just starting your day where you're scrambling, trying to figure out what to do. Also, the other benefit that comes with planning your day the night before is that you can go to bed knowing that everything is being addressed and is going to be addressed the next day as well. You can feel relaxed and not stressed out as much because you know anything that needs to be addressed needs to be done the next day, so you can sleep a lot better. It has so many energy benefits as we talked about earlier. Planning your day the night before is one of the first things I would recommend people do. The second thing is to have one big goal. One big win for the day, then the third thing is the cutoff time. You have those three pieces in place, plan it the night before, one big goal, and having a cutoff time. You will have an ideal day figured out for yourself. If you're working from home, one of the things I would also recommend that you don't eat at your desk. Actually leave your office or your home. This applies also if you're working on an office because most of us are just sitting at our office or desk the whole day and we get so burned out by just looking at a screen, being on Zoom meetings, or being on the phone the whole time that it's actually nice to be able to step away. Go for lunch for an hour and go for a walk. By the time you come back, get outside. Get some sunlight, some vitamin D and you feel so much better. Your mood is elevated. You have a new sense of urgency, a new sense of energy. Stepping away from your desk to have lunch, as simple as that sounds, will make a big difference. I was working with this coaching client. He had all these big goals and we were committed for a three-month engagement. The only thing we did is I told him to go for an hour-and-a-half every single day because he was working at a big bank. He was super busy. He felt like he just had to work 80 hours a week. The only difference that we truly implemented was just going out for lunch because it's like a mid-day reset for him. I gave him a new sense of energy, a resurgence of focus. He was able to work from going to 80 hours to 55 hours, which was a huge improvement for him. The only change was because he had a longer lunch and is going outside. Going out for lunch away from his office. As a result, he was just more focused, had more energy, and knew exactly what he needed to do. He had more time to think about stuff. So, instead of just sitting there all day at his desk feeling lethargic and just sitting there for the sake of sitting there, he wasn't actually truly productive. Again, plan your day the night before, have one big win, set a cutoff time, then definitely go out for lunch outside of your home and office. Jason: I love it. It's like breaking up your day into two chunks to tackle. It's a lot easier than doing an eight-hour chunk. The night before, why not do planning in the morning? Maybe you can touch on that. Some people do this. They get up in the morning. They sit down. They're like, “I'm going to plan out my day,” and they do it in the morning. Advantages? Disadvantages? What are your thoughts? I'm sure you've had clients doing that. Thanh: Yeah, I've done both for many years. Planned the night before and I also planned the morning of. One thing I found is if you're somebody who is a morning person, you have the energy you have in the morning, then planning the night before gives you the most benefit because you can just start your day right away and just use your energy and focus on the important task that needs to be done. You just get started right away. You're not wasting time or energy planning something. You already did that the night before. If you're a morning person, then I would say that's the way to go. I would say for a majority of people that applies too, even if you're not a morning person. Even if you're somebody who starts a little bit later, let's say 10, 11, or 12. It's still beneficial to plan the night before because you can go to bed knowing that, "Okay, I have an idea what to do." Also, there's the sense that once we know what we need to do the next day when we go to bed we can just feel assured that we're going to do this, but also, our brain will start thinking about how do we solve this particular task or problem or knowing exactly what we need to do the next day. That's very powerful as well whereas if you plan the day off or the morning of, often it's easy to get distracted, or to have an excuse for something, or just continue to lay on the bed a little bit longer because we wanted to. Because there's no sense of urgency or clarity about, "Okay. I need to do this today," because that planning process still hasn't come up. I think for many reasons and for many people planning the night before is more of a preference, ideal, something that you will make a habit of because I do think it has much more impact. But if you're somebody who doesn't' really get started until two or three o'clock in the afternoon, then I'd say it's okay to do it in the morning because you're not going to be as focused anyway. Those are some of the pros and cons, but if I were to work with a client, I would always recommend doing it the night before. Jason: I like the idea you touched on there that if you do your planning the night before, you're then allowing your subconscious to work out a lot of the details. A lot of entrepreneurs operate based on their gut, their intuition. It's things that they're subconscious, or deep down are coming up for them, or they’re figuring out. I think that gives them more of an opportunity to use that supercomputer that our subconscious mind is. That makes a lot of sense. I'm going to play around on that. That sounds cool. You always hear the phrase, “What keeps you up at night?” Entrepreneurs are notoriously known for being kept up at night because they're worried about something or working on something. Maybe just the act of offloading everything at the end of the day and saying this is going to be a plan for tomorrow, instead of leaving it there feeling like you need to work on it, that's going to allow your subconscious to work on it, but also create the space so that you can get good rest and you aren't kept up worrying about things. It'll allow you to lower that anxiety or that pressure, noise, or that stress that every entrepreneur tends to carry. Thanh: Yeah, that's why I always recommend that people journal at night as well because when we have so many thoughts before we go to bed, it's just so hard to fall asleep. I've been really geeking out on this even further because I have an Oura ring, one of those fitness trackers, and one thing I've [...] is that when I journal and I put all my thoughts away, my REM sleep goes up significantly. REM sleep is when [...] frustration for our brain, for our mental health, and when I don’t journal, the number of minutes of REM sleep goes down quite a bit. I think it's really because when our brain is occupied with all these different things, it cannot actually relax as much because there's just so much going on. But when we journal and put it on paper, put it away from our head and actually put it on paper, our brain can relax knowing that we don't' have to use this as memory or store anything. It's on paper. It's there. If we need it, we can access it. We don't have to worry or stress about it. You can actually focus on recovery while we're sleeping. It also helps you to sleep better. You feel less stressed when you do that. It's a nice winding down routine for you as well to decompress and just destress. I like to journal in the morning as well just to reflect and think. Also at night before I go to bed just to honestly put my stray thoughts away. If I wanted to do something, or I had a particular task, or I had an idea that I don't want to lose, just write it down real quick. It's out of your head and as you know, our memories are terrible. I've had so many ideas and then go, “Oh, what was the thing I was thinking about? That was such a brilliant idea.” Or I had a catchphrase and I was like, “Oh, I should use that on my podcast or marketing copy. Oh my gosh. I forgot what that was. I wish I had written that down.” Our memory is as not strong so it's always a good idea to write stuff down as quickly as possible especially before you— Jason: [...] about the palest ink? Thanh: That I don't know. Jason: It's the palest ink. I'm being Asian Efficiency now. It's my turn. There's this Chinese proverb that the palest ink is better than the best memory, or something like that. Thanh: Oh, I've never heard of that. I might have to borrow that from you. Jason: You could look it up. I don't know who said it, maybe it was Confucious, he says everything. But anyway the faintest ink is better than even the best memory because it's there, it’s tangible, it can't be forgotten, We know our brains are not really great at accuracy or remember things, so I love that idea. Related to that, Mr. Asian Efficiency, how do you feel about typing versus writing? Because what you're saying is writing in my journal, writing in my journal. Are you actually writing or it sounds like it can be more digital, nerdy, tech, whatever way of typing everything. A lot of people are, “Type it all. Type this note. I'll type it on my phone. Type, type, type.” Do you find there is any difference? Are the things you feel like writing is better suited for? Do you write anything? How does this work for you? Thanh: I think this whole analog versus digital is an interesting conversation for many people. What I have seen in my own personal life and amongst thousands of our clients is that there's no one best way to do something. It's really a personal preference. You can have a paper to-do list, or a physical planner where you write your to-do list, or you can have a digital one. I tend to prefer to use a digital planner myself, but when I'm writing notes down or journal, I usually like to do it on paper. There are scientific studies that show if you write something down, you tend to remember better. Your retention is a little bit better. There's some value in that as well. You also need to look at the functionality, utility value that comes with that because you leave a piece of paper at home, you can't really access it anywhere whereas if it's something in the Cloud or Evernote. If I write it down on my computer or write it down on my phone, I always have it with me whenever I need to. I like to have a combination of both so for example my to-do list is digital, I use OmniFocus as an app for that. Then in my company we use something like Jira, a project management tool. For notes and just storing ideas and just random stuff I use Evernote. That's on my phone and also on my computer and available on the web. That's an easy way to access stuff very quickly too. But when it comes to journaling, I like to have a physical planner. I use something like a five-minute planner or just a self journal which is a physical planner. I use it every single night and every morning to either plan my day, to think about stuff, or to just write down and just put some thoughts down or ideas that I have. Whenever I am traveling, I'm also carrying one with me. If I don't have it with me, then I'll store it in Evernote real quick. Most of the time, I like to use something physical because it allows me to disconnect from my computer. I'm sitting behind my computer most of the days and when I'm sitting there, I'm just not as creative because I'm associating computers and screens with work. Sometimes, if I want to be creative, I have to actually step away from that to be able to go to my whiteboard. That's another tool that I use which is physical or pen and paper-ish. Just go to my whiteboard and start mind mapping, brainstorming ideas, or creating a quick list of things I need to do or want to remember because I can be so much more creative when I'm away from my computer. The same thing with pen and paper. Sometimes, if I'm doing thinking questions for myself then I say, “Thanh, what will it take to double my business over the next six months?” That’s a simple question that I ask myself. If I do that behind my computer, I get easily distracted. There's notification popping up. “Oh, let me just quickly check this email. Someone's messaging me on Slack or Microsoft Teams. Oh my gosh, I'm getting so distracted,” whereas if I'm away and I have my favorite beverage. I'm sitting at a nice coffee shop or something, I see beautiful people walking around, there's a nice atmosphere, and I'm just sitting there and thinking, there's a different level of engagement, commitment, and clarity that I get from doing that. I like to use a combination of both. Again, there's no perfect solution for everyone. There's no one-size-fits-all, and a lot of times people have to figure out on their own what they prefer and also depending on their lifestyle, but I think everyone can benefit from digital and paper. Jason: Yeah. Like every podcast episode, I'm writing down notes. This is just this episode, that's page one. I'm already on page two. Thoughts as they come to me, things I need to do, like I just wrote down I need a cool box for my mic like you have because I don't have that. That's kind of cool. I'm always thinking and the brain is always going, so writing things down (for me) is a big deal. I use all kinds of digital stuff to keep track of things. Keep track of tasks, keep track of what my team is doing, tons of software and my business so I get it. Then even on my iPad, I have an iPad with an Apple pencil so I can write on that and it's digital. There are a whole plethora of different ways. I guess ultimately it's what works for you. What's going to actually help you feel creative, feel the momentum, and get your thoughts out. I do think there's magic in writing. As nerdy, as digital, and tech-savvy as I am, I think there's magic in writing. They found that even when you write stuff out, if you lose your main writing limb and you start writing with your other hand, your handwriting will eventually be exactly the same once you get used to it again. Handwriting analysis, if you geek out on some of those stuff, is actually like brainwriting. It's like a brain to paper. I think there's some magic in writing that I think there's also something therapeutic about writing for me that I just don't get by typing something. Thanh: Absolutely. I have a beautiful pen that was gifted to me. Someone gifted me a Mont Blanc pen and the really funny story about that is like four or five years ago when I got this gift. Someone gave me this pen and when I got this pen, back in the day I didn't know anything about pens so I'm like, “Wow. Okay, this is a nice gesture.” So I put that pen away. I didn't really think much of it and a few months later, one of my employees comes here and says, “Thanh, is that a Mont Blanc pen?” and I go, “I have no idea. What does that even mean?” He says, “Oh my gosh, this pen is like $700, Thanh. Did you not realize that?” I was like, “No, but let me use it because it's so expensive.” That's when I started using my pen and that's when I realized wow this is really actually a beautiful pen. The weight of the pen, the way you hold it, then I actually started writing down stuff a lot more as a result of that. As you said, it's kind of a therapeutic thing. It's a beautiful tool that I have that I like to use. It's really smooth and sits nicely in my hand. Because I'm away from my computer, there's no crazy stuff going on. There's a lot to that. If you make it really enjoyable for yourself where it's a therapeutic fun thing for you, you have tools that you use that you enjoy, then it makes it really easy and fun. Something that I always talk about in my podcast is called minimalist luxury. How can you have very few things, but the thing you do own or the best quality that you can afford is absolutely the best thing that you want to own and have? For example, having one really nice pen allows you to do so many cool things with that. Writing a contract, or agreement, or journaling every single day. It's a fun process for you because you love to use that pen or maybe it's a really nice jacket that you love to wear and anytime you wear it, you feel so much more confident. Going back to that feeling that you want, that you're looking for, it's like if you want to feel powerful you wear that particular jacket. There's one jacket that I have, anytime I wear it I feel so powerful. It's my favorite jacket and every time I go to speak, that's the one I always like to wear because I associate it with being powerful. Jason: I think I saw the post on your Instagram or your Facebook. Your power jacket, does it have a little shield on it? Thanh: Exactly, yeah. All these different things that we can buy and there's not many things that we need, but the few things that we need or want to make sure it's the best one that you can afford because oftentimes it will last longer. It's better quality. You'll enjoy using it more. That's something I learned from using that pen because I don't want to use any other pen, that's the one pen I want to use and every time I want to use it I feel so happy using it. Jason: Yeah. Thanh, we can probably talk about this stuff for hours. We can go on and on and I'm sure there's lots of stuff that you can share and teach people. Maybe we should wrap this up. How can people learn more and what things do you teach or share at your company? Thanh: Absolutely. Thank you first and foremost for serving your listeners and audience. If people want to find out more about me and what we do at Asian Efficiency, we have a podcast called The Productivity Show; it’s the number one podcast on iTunes. Also, you can go to asianefficiency.com. You can find anything there about productivity, being efficient, automation, what kind of tools to use. There's so much free content there that I would love to share with people, so just go to asianefficiency.com and we'll take care of you there. Jason: Awesome, alright. Thanh, it's been great having you here on the DoorGrow Show. I appreciate you being here. Thanh: Thank you. Jason: All right. We will let Thanh go. Check his stuff out. Really cool guy. Anybody that is focused on something as much as he has, has some really cool ideas to share and it's fun to have people like that on. If you are a property management entrepreneur, and you're wanting to add doors, you are wanting a better website, a better presence, you are wanting branding that makes you feel confident to look good when you go showcase your business to other people, helps you improve your sales, whatever you're looking to do for your property management business so that you can improve your growth, we can help over DoorGrow. Check us out. Go to doorgrow.com and we look forward to having you as a client and supporting you in your growth. We love our clients. We have some amazing, awesome clients. Check us out at doorgrow.com and be sure to join our community at doorgrowclub.com and that's it for today. Until next time, everyone, to our mutual growth. Bye, everyone. You just listened to the DoorGrow Show. We are building a community of the savviest property management entrepreneurs on the planet, in the DoorGrow Club. Join your fellow DoorGrow Hackers at doorgrowclub.com. Listen, everyone is doing the same stuff. SEO, PPC, pay-per-lead, content, social, direct mail, and they still struggle to grow. At DoorGrow, we solve your biggest challenge in getting deals and growing your business. Find out more at doorgrow.com. Find any show notes or links from today’s episode on our blog at doorgrow.com. To get notified of future events and news, subscribe to our newsletter at doorgrow.com/subscribe. Until next time, take what you learn and start DoorGrow hacking your business and your life.

On this Resurrection Sunday, we can be distracted by family dinners, Easter egg hunts, or just trying to make this holiday as normal as possible during a time of quarantine. Today's episode is to remind you about the true reason we celebrate today, Jesus rose again! He was crucified on the cross, buried, and on the third day, He was resurrected. That's what makes Jesus different from the other leaders in other religions... Confucious is dead. Buddha is dead. JESUS LIVES! Spend some time with Jesus thanking Him today.

On this episode is one of the most creative, outgoing people I know, so it’s hard to believe she spent seven years in the world of tax law before going after her passion. Lisa Teh is the cofounder of CODI Agency, a content and digital marketing agency focused on lifestyle brands with offices in both Melbourne and New York. Lisa and her business partner, Thom Whilton, took their first steps into creative entrepreneurship in 2011 with Couturing, an online fashion, beauty and lifestyle platform. In addition to launching CODI, Lisa and Tom co-authored two best-selling books, Australian Style and Australian Beauty, published by Thames & Hudson. Lisa’s love of skincare also led her to cofound 101 Lifestyle, a natural brand stocked by Mecca in Australia and New Zealand and soon to launch in China. She lives by the motto ‘do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life’ – a quote from Mark Twain, not Confucious as you’ll hear on the show! She’s also a big fan of collaborating with and supporting fellow female entrepreneurs, and gives a shoutout to two of her faves – Ann Mitsios from Edible Beauty and Mia Klitsas from Moxie. I sat down with Lisa in person for this interview and her energy is simply contagious. I hope you enjoy our conversation about escaping the grind and doing what makes you want to leap out of bed every morning. Leave feedback or get in touch here:   Samantha Dybac Managing Director and founder The PR Hub www.theprhub.com.au/podcast https://www.instagram.com/influenceunlockedpodcast/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/samanthadybac/   Producer: Andrew Menczel http://www.piccolopodcasts.com.au/

Infinite Banter Podcast Episode 10 "King And Da Dope" In this episode, Mark talks with New Jersey MC and Bar Gods member Confucious about his career and his new album "King And Da Pope" which can be found at https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/confucious-king-and-da-pope/1450086010 also, Mark talks about WWE Money in the Bank and Zombie Raccoons.

"It does not matter how slow you go as long as you do not stop" - ConfuciousFollows on from yesterday's quote focusing on one foot in front of the and today we say do not stop. Keep going. You know, resilience is a super power, a super power we all have. For some of us it may be buried deep. But resilience and discipline is one of the keys in which we build our own levels of success. Resilience, persistence and discipline.Join us at the Coach Curl Academy on Facebook and get more of the #conquer2020 Programhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/coachcurlacademy/

In the late '90s, I played in a ska band called [Grandpa's Army](http://www.witchpolice.com/2009/04/every-grandpas-army-song-ever.html), and my old friend Alex Seville was the keyboard player. Alex has been living in San Francisco for the past few years, where he's not playing music, but is – in a turn surprising to anyone who knew him in Winnipeg – participating in freestyle rap-based improv. We talk about all of that, plus the weird creative projects we did back in the day (including a [documentary about Grandpa's Army](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoMrwRIHrhk&list=PL7AAE58E5EC81BEB4)) that - in a roundabout way - eventually led to me doing this podcast. Songs on this episode: Grandpa's Army - "Train to Hicksville" Grandpa's Army - "The Land of Nod" (both live recordings) A Auspicii - "Boris" (weird backwards thing we did) Jesse Matas feat. Confucious tha Ruthless - Rolling in the Juicebox (recorded by Alex) This episode is brought to you by our friends at [The Park Theatre](http://myparktheatre.com/), who are hosting the second annual [Manitoba Podcast Festival](http://www.facebook.com/mbpodfest) Sept. 29. It's also brought to you by MCMA Award-nominated country artist [Brian Jacobs](http://brianjacobsmusic.ca/), whose debut solo record '[Highways and Backroads](http://https://brianjacobs.bandcamp.com/album/highways-backroads)' is available now!

Sometimes you feel that you have a comfortable life but the reality is that this comfort is holding you back --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/gustavogayer/message

In this episode, Tracy shares a quick method for discovering your character strengths. Learn why it’s so important for those with an ADHD brain to focus on what we’re interested in and how we can internally motivate ourselves. Tracy talks about the VIA Character Strengths Test and how it can help us determine if we’re moving in the right direction in our careers and life. This test: Looks for the personality traits that represent the essence of who you are Shows you what drive you, gives you energy and keeps you in integrity Focuses on 24 character strengths Discover the difference between values and character strengths and the benefits of being in positive emotion. Learn also how positive emotion and our strengths are related. Tracy introduces Dr. Martin Seligman and shares how the VIA Character Strengths Test came into being and how she initially thought it was just another personality test. Several years later she was reintroduced to it through ADDCA. In creating the Via Character Strengths Test, Seligman and his associates looked at: All the world religions Virtue catalogues by Plato, Aristotle, Confucious, William Bennet, Benjamin Franklin etc. The work of psychologists including Thorndike, Erickson, Cawley, Gardner etc. Learn the six themes or virtues and 24 character strengths that make humans their best and how the VIA Character Strengths Test can be so helpful in understanding who you are, what you should do next and/or why what you’re currently doing is not working. Tracy then shares what Signature Strengths are and why they’re so important to our well-being and energy. She also talks about her Signature Strengths and gives examples of why it’s so hard for her to get things done when she’s not employing them. Finally she covers common Phasic Strengths for the ADHD brain, what they are and how we can use them successfully during times of challenge or crisis. Here is the link for the FREE VIA Character Strengths test.

On this episode I discuss words of wisdom from Confucious. I hope the words provide anyone who hears them with some motivation. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rippleradio/support

What does the future of healthcare look like? Today, Dr. Michelle Robin is joined by her good friend and internal medicine physician at Reinvent Your Health, Dr. Diane Voss. In this episode, they discuss how healthcare practitioners can make a difference in other people’s lives through sympathetic medicine, better communication via tools like the Spruce app, and affordable healthcare via direct primary care with organizations such as The Midwest Direct Primary Care Alliance. Dr. Diane Voss has been practicing internal medicine for more than 20 years. She is a member of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine (ACAM)- the foremost group of physicians who practice integrative medicine. In addition to standard American medicine, Dr. Voss has an ardent interest in holistic alternative/sympathetic medicine, nutritional therapies, exercise and coaching people to improve their lifestyle to enjoy better health. Dr. Voss finds she learns something new from her patients every day and believes healthcare should be a partnership between doctor and patient.  To help her make that connection, her and her team at Reinvent Your Health use the Spruce app which is a safe and confidential way for patients to get in touch with them whenever they need to ask a question or see someone in person at either the clinic or at their own home. Listen and discover how you can help your patients find a healthy lifestyle that resonates with them, empower them to find their joy, and take their lives back. Life is really simple but we insist on making it complicated. - Confucious

Let food be thy medicine; let medicine be thy food. - Hippocrates In the second Small Changes Big Shifts podcast episode with Author of The Paleo Cardiologist and Host of The Healthy Heart Show, Dr. Jack Wolfson, he shares his own personal health journey, how he decided he needed to change his focus both in life and career for better wellness, and what steps we can take to begin to honor and celebrate our own physical bodies, mind, and wellbeing by clearing out all the “noise”. Specifically in this interview, Dr. Michelle and Dr. Jack, discussed how mental health is highly linked to cardiovascular risk if you are facing situations of isolation, depression, stress, or anxiety. Listen and find out how heal and feel better by meeting with a professional health coach, social worker, or psychologist and doing activities such as meditation or yoga to break the cycle. Discover how being outside, eating a Paleo-based diet, and getting enough sunshine can boost your emotions, decrease your stress, and help improve your overall wellbeing. Life is really simple but we insist on making it so complicated. - Confucious

Welcome to the first ever episode of the Be Ultimate podcast. Travis shares his inspiration and intention for launching a podcast. He provides an overview of what topics you can expect each week along with his path to finding Ultimate. "I see and I forget. I hear and I remember. I do and I understand." -Confucious

Join the opinionated duo for a discussion on asian familial values, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Beer of the Week: "Confucious" from 42 North Brewing CompanyAdditional Talking Points: Going over Niagara Falls in a barrel; worst Christmas songs; best Christmas songs/albumsContact: rustbeltbeertalk@gmail.com, Twitter: @rustbeltbeerMusic via hooksounds.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

FAR 173 Expected Air Date: 7/23/18 Opening What are the guiding principles you use in your investing activity? We all think about returns, but do you consider other data points as well? Ok, some of you right now are asking, “what other data points?” If you are looking at a property to buy and hold and you are only looking at cash flow or only looking at capitalization rate, or only looking at net income, you are not looking far enough. Even if you are considering all three of those, and they ARE separate numbers btw, there is much more to consider. You need to think about the area, the past trends, the future projections, infrastructure, employment opportunities, and much more. So you need data. If you listen to the show much you know that our analysis is data driven. And we look behind the data for assumptions, theoretical models, and the methods used to combine data to reach conclusions. I realize that not all of you listening to this show can be that much of a nerd. It’s ok. We get our hands a little nerdy around here sometimes so we can help you make the best decision possible. That means we have sources for our data. One of our favorites is Attom Data Solutions. Coming up in a few minutes I have Daren Blomquist, Executive VP for Attom Data and we are going to bless your life with a little data talk. Now before you turn this off and switch over to yet another rerun of Gilligan’s Island or Big Bang Theory, let me tell you a few things we are going to be talking about. Attom data is the same company formerly known as RealtyTrac.com. That means they are experts on foreclosure data. We will talk about that. Want to know about crime rates in a prospective area? How about information about the particular property and its history? They’ve got those. Want to know what a neighborhood is like? Income level, percentage of college grads, crime rate, and more? They have it. Want some juicy stats on investor activities? Done. How about a list of distressed or potentially stressed properties? Where do you think the list brokers get theirs? Yeah - go straight to the source and we are going to tell you how. We are going to tell you how to get your hands on their Bi Annual Report on Single Family Rental Home prices. And you don’t want to miss this part -- in the last segment I ask Mr. Blomquist to look into his crystal ball and tell us what he sees happening with housing prices and the markets. His answer is coming up! With RealtyTrac since 2001, Daren Blomquist has been instrumental in many facets of the company’s business as it has transformed into the industry leader it is today. In addition to being one of the company’s longest-term employees, Daren is RealtyTrac’s primary media spokesperson and resident go-to expert on foreclosure statistics and trends. Daren is also managing editor of the company’s monthly newsletter, the Foreclosure News Report, which was named the “Nation’s Best Newsletter” by the National Association of Real Estate Editors, and is directly responsible for the creation of the company’s U.S. foreclosure market and sales reports, which are cited by thousands of media outlets nationwide — including all the major news networks and leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and USA TODAY. How to Reach us www.flippingamericanetwork.com Facebook.com/flippingamericamedia Twitter and Instagram @FlippingAmerica YouTube: bit.ly/FlippingAmericaOnYouTube Linkedin: bit.ly/FlippingAmericaOnLinkedIn We now have a profile at houzz.com for what it’s worth. Call our National Comment Line: 404-369-1018, ext 1. Leave your message or your question. Announcements: Lunch with me every Wednesday. Flipping America App is in the app store. You can listen to the show, read the show notes, and the entire catalog of shows is now available to you. It’s a free download and there are no upsells or in-app purchases. Free to download, free to listen. Go ahead and give it a try and drop me a line and let me know what you think. Want a quick analytical tool to tell you how strong a potential fix and flip deal is? Download the Property Grade app. You answer 10 simple questions about the property and the app instantly tells you what you can expect to make, your return on investment, your return on cash, and then the program gives the project a letter grade using the proprietary Flipping America Investment Property Grade algorithm.   Guest: Daren Blomquist www.Homefacts.com www.homedisclosure.com www.Realtytrac.com Check out the Neighborhood Index. Look up Flip Transaction Data Read the Bi-Annual Report on Single Family Rental Home Prices Topic: Flash in the Pan Flash in the Pan: https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/flash-in-the-pan.html Comment Line calls and Questions Call 404-369-1018, press 1 and leave your message! Emails: Questions@flippingamericaradio.com Tell us where you’re from! Alissa, Grand Rapids MI, “What do you do for security in your fix and flips? I have one in a marginal area and I’m a bit worried about materials left on site and basically the house itself.” Motivational Thoughts for the day “It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” -Confucious.

Life is "change and chance" and every moment is unique. What if there was a way to read "this unique moment" in such a was that it gave insight to blind spots and potential for the future? Welcome to the "Book of Changes", the "I CHING", an ancient oracle that allows us to see into our unconscious and around corners.

“Life is simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” ~ Confucious  When I think about the way I travel, I’m not surprised at how simple my set up is, I’m surprised as how complicated it is for everyone else. In many ways, minimalism has made me an outcast. There’s almost no material possession you […] The post 2018 Ultra-Light Travel Guide: My Gear & Mindset appeared first on Boodaism.

This week the guys are unenthusiasticly learning about ancient China again. The guys find out that priests need tripods for their side short film, Chinese nerds like Confucious, and breaking free from the distractions of life. TLDR: Monday is when I'll become ascetic... but right now, lets party!

Confucious once said to find a job that you like and you would never need to work a day in your life... And in my humble rephrasing of his legendary words, Find a Job where you receive Your Value's Worth! Listen to this episode to understand one of the secrets of my success.

If the only thing we have to fear is fear itself, what is the one almost magical thing we could be grateful for? The answers will vary of course, but here are perspectives from two Franklins and Confucius.

In our 55th episode, Captain Jack Sparrow played by Johnny Depp is brought back to life to suffer from STDs once again in this DISNEY masterpiece. We also examine how Davey Jones would have fornicated the sea, why Bootstrap may have dementia, how Calypso’s crabs got so big, Where Weatherby may floated his way next. Will Turner played by orlando bloom and Elizabeth played Keira Knightley who really cares.  Listen as we break down, brutally joke on, and parody the movie's plot and the characters, as well as give each of our scores out of 10. Hopefully you'll laugh or will be healthily offended. Listen to the previous released movies in our Pirates of the Caribbean series where we talk about Dead Man’s Chest (Ep. 54), Curse of the Black Pearl (Ep.53), and Dead Men Tell No Tales (Ep. 52). Subscribe and be sure check out all our previous episodes on all the movies in Fast and the Furious (Ep. 44-51), X-Men (Ep. 33-43), Star Wars (Ep. 24-31), Harry Potter (Ep. 15-23), and MCU(Ep.1-14) movie series'. Hit us up on Twitter and Facebook with how you feel about At World’s End or if you want to cry over your ex-girlfriend with Davey Jones.    

“Study the past if you would define the future.” - Confucious

Three-time Grammy award winning lyricist and multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean started a movement as the founding and guiding member of The Fugees’, whose album Score certified six times platinum. Take a journey through the inspiring story of this producer, author, and humanitarian as he sits down with Tom Bilyeu in this episode of Impact Theory. SHOW NOTES 1. Wyclef talks about growing up in Haiti, giant birds, and imaginary friends. [3:21] Tom and Wyclef discuss how he developed an orchestra in his brain. [8:45] Wyclef describes his obsession with words and how he fell in love with battle rapping. [12:48] Wyclef explains how he shaped his brain with jazz and learned music discipline. [16:00] Wyclef recalls a phone call from Michael Jackson and how he experienced music theory. [17:27] Wyclef shares the importance of transferring knowledge and not limiting yourself. [19:44] Tom and Wyclef sing together and discuss the importance of understanding theory. [21:58] Wyclef exposes the secrets to getting great. [26:31] Wyclef talks about the significance of crafting a strategic message and starting a movement. [31:36] Wyclef applies the philosophy of crawling before you walk to learning anything in life. [35:53] Wyclef defines the impact he wants to have on the world. [40:03] Wyclef gives a freestyle performance on a topic of Tom’s choice. [42:32] MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE BANDS Christian Rock Band Petra - http://bit.ly/2lBZ08k [9:56] Police Synchronicity - http://bit.ly/1J4hqzq [10:20] Pink Floyd - http://bit.ly/2lCcLn6 [12:13] Coldplay - http://bit.ly/1qL4ie4 [16:43] PEOPLE DJ Red Alert - http://bit.ly/2mdUc5o [12:20] Kool G Rap - http://bit.ly/2m3mwIt [13:14] Charlie Daniels - http://bit.ly/2lm4DVx [14:55] Curtis Blow - http://bit.ly/2kDDYGn [15:23] Dillon - http://bit.ly/1dDos1l [16:44] Ella Fitzgerald - http://bit.ly/2kDzkIq [16:45] Avicii - http://bit.ly/1USZZvQ [20:48] Brian Grazier - http://bit.ly/2kPXoTX [23:36] SaLaAM ReMi - http://bit.ly/2ldan5D [31:39] Confucious - http://bit.ly/1INVZlc [35:56] SONGS | MOVIES | VIDEOS Wyclef’s first music video appearance with Eric B and Rahkim - http://bit.ly/1rQ0AwM [15:32] Gone Till November - http://bit.ly/1raMhD2 [18:52] Life - http://bit.ly/2m3to90 [23:39] Hotel Rwanda Theme Song - http://bit.ly/2kPOE04 [23:55] Amy Winehouse documentary - http://bit.ly/1cPeU6H [31:43] Kendrick Lamar’s first mixtape - http://bit.ly/2lZX3D8 [37:43] Jouvet - http://bit.ly/2l9gMia [41:46] BOOKS | TERMINOLOGY Dorian, Ionian, Phrygian, Mixolydian - http://bit.ly/2megNia [19:18] Alchemist book - http://amzn.to/2lyDxMR [38:01] FOLLOW WYCELF TWITTER: http://bit.ly/2lXsiyr INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/2m0pspo FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/2kMMduX SNAPCHAT: @wyclef Tom Bilyeu is the co-founder of 2014 Inc. 500 company Quest Nutrition — a unicorn startup valued at over $1 billion — and the co-founder and host of Impact Theory. Impact Theory is a first-of-its-kind company designed to facilitate global change through the incubation of mission-based businesses and the cultivation of empowering content. Every piece of content Impact Theory creates is meant to underscore the company mission to free people from The Matrix and help them unlock their true potential. Impact Theory exists to inspire the next generation of game-changing companies and creators that will make a true and lasting impact on the world. FOLLOW TOM BILYEU TWITTER: http://bit.ly/2iyjY5P INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/2j7vqX8 FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/2hPStWo FOLLOW IMPACT THEORY TWITTER: http://bit.ly/2iC5lN3 INSTAGRAM: http://bit.ly/2hPSGJa FACEBOOK: http://bit.ly/2iystOf

Great interview with a world-record holder and awesome wing chef and wingpreneur (yeah, I just coined that) Eytan White. In this interview you will learn about what the steps were he took to open the first Wing Bar in Israel and the amazing Hashagacha Protis stories along the way. You’ll hear about the World Record he holds with a couple of other people for the largest Shabbos Meal ever to take place! If you are thinking about opening a restaurant (especially in Israel) you will want to listen to this interview. Name: Eytan White Website: http://wings.co.il (www.wings.co.il )– great domain name LinkedIn: https://il.linkedin.com/pub/eytan-white/24/201/b39 (Eytan on LinkedIn) Lives In: Tel-Aviv (From New Rochelle, NY) https://frumentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/eytan_white_wings.jpg () http://www.americardpayment.com/frumentrepreneur/ (This Episode is Sponsored By:) http://www.americardpayment.com/frumentrepreneur/ () http://www.americardpayment.com/frumentrepreneur/ (CLICK THIS LINK FOR A SPECIAL OFFER JUST FOR OUR LISTENERS!) https://frumentrepreneur.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/wings.co_.il_.jpg () People, Companies, Products & Books Mentioned in this Podcast Amir White https://frumentrepreneur.com/the-frum-entrepreneur-episode-2-interview-with-mordy-rapp-amir-white-from-video-sparks/ (Frum Entrepreneur Episode 2: Interview with Amir White and Mordy Rapp from VideoSparks) http://www.jpost.com/Not-Just-News/Get-down-and-dirty-and-delicious-376176 (The Article in JPOST that my Mother Showed me about the Wing Bar) http://www.levhatorah.org/ (Lev HaTorah (Eytan was part of the first class)) http://www.sunyrockland.edu/ (Rockland Community College) http://www.umd.edu/ (University of Maryland) http://www.touroisrael.org/ (Touro College) http://www.ivolunteer.org.il/Eng/Index.asp?ArticleID=541&CategoryID=125 (Machal Volunteer Program) http://www.whitecityshabbat.com/ (White City Shabbat) https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/guinness-book-of-world-records-world-s-largest-shabbat-dinner#/story (Successful Crowdfunding Campaign for Largest Shabbat Dinner on Indiegogo) http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-shabbat-dinner (Documented on Guinness World records!) http://amyisraelfoundation.org/jaymshultz/ (Jay M. Shultz) http://www.hangar11.co.il/ (Hangar 11) Asaf Zamir Leon Alkelay Robert Ben Or http://www.schnitzi.com/ (Schnitzi) http://wtop.com/nfl/2015/01/super-bowl-sunday-1-25b-chicken-wings-eaten/ (1.25 billion chicken wings eaten on Super Bowl Sunday) http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Anchor_Bar (Anchor Bar – Home of the Original Buffalo Wings) https://il.linkedin.com/pub/mordy-rapp/16/b41/235 (Mordy Rapp) Quote “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Confucious ——— https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-frum-entrepreneur/id975678776 (Are you enjoying this podcast? Please take 30 seconds and rate it on iTunes! Every 5 Stars helps us get more noticed!) To learn more about me, please check out http://nachum.co (Nachum.co) Thank you for listening!!  

Why is religion so offensive to Christ?

Why is religion so offensive to Christ?

What is Confucianism? What are the core beliefs of Confucianism? Who was Confucious?

Confucious said that as the music of a kingdom changes, the kingdom changes. Civilization changed enormously when we went from the Solfeggio frequencies to our current 8 note scale as the basis of our music. Music, art and writing are so much more important than we realize as a culture. We will listen to some examples of the Solfeggio frequencies, also often called the Ascension Frequencies. "When I was in art school," Lois states, "we were taught that artists were in the position of seeing which direction the culture was headed. They said this was obvious because the art always showed the changes before they occurred. What I now realize is that the art did not predict the change, it caused the change. Artists, musicians, writers and filmmakers have an enormous responsibility to humanity to create very carefully thought-out change, not just sensational garbage that gets morbid attention, or generates fear. Artists of every kind are the creators of the future, and need to be aware of this and take responsibility for their creations. Why? Because we now know for a fact that mass consciousness creates our reality, and artists are manipulating that consciousness."