Thursday 5/16/24, Scattered Thoughts Mostly Relating to Asia
An overly long "short piece" surveying Anna May Wong, the 1924 silent film Peter Pan, Donald Trump's fearmongering about Chinese asylum seekers, Chinese in the old West at Yosemite, and NINJAS!!!!!!
Greetings, some housekeeping.
Yes, I did say that I was going to drop the Thursday short pieces. Apparently I lied. They’re here for at least another week, and I have already started on next week’s piece which should follow this same format.
What I offer here is a scattered, random selection of interesting pieces of things I uncovered this week relating to Asian studies, Chinese history, the perception of ninja, and other areas of interest. Now my cyber sensors and substack feedback sheets tell me very few of you wonderful people are actually clicking on the links I share and following them. Please do. There is some really, really good stuff at the end of those links. “You’ll love it. It’s super!” as the Europeans say when they try to speak English and sound cool like in the Mentos candy commercials.
You can find the links because they are underlined and I labelled them with “LINK” usually at both ends. (Clever system, huh?)
Anna May Wong and Peter Pan
Anna May Wong was an American actress of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. Third generation Chinese American, she was in a surprising number of films of the time. Recently, she even got a lot of new attention when her face was put on the American quarter.
In Schenectady, at Proctor’s Theater, there has been a series of awesome films put together by Paul Kazee, all round awesome film guy, and Jenelle Troxell, a professor of film studies at nearby Union College. Part of this was a series of films focused on Anna May Wong’s works.
One issue in Wong’s life was that she tended to be type cast in roles that emphasized her “Chinese-ness.” Recently, however, I saw her in a completely unexpected role.
Anna May Wong posing elegantly. Notice the center photo where she is dressed in 1920s flapper style, the height of coolness at the time.
So that’s Anna May Wong, above, at her most chic, sophisticated, and fashionable.
Below, however, we see her in a completely unexpected role, Tiger Lily, the Indian Princess (er . . . is “Indigenous North American monarch in waiting assigned with female gender at birth” the preferred term these days? If so, it’s easy to see why “Indian Princess” was used instead back in the days when people had shorter life spans. Hopefully this fad of awkward renaming of things will pass soon.) She played this role in the 1924 silent film version of Peter Pan.
The film was a lot of fun, although the experience was marred a bit by an unneccessary introduction by a vacuous pseudointellectual who spoke at length, saying very little, but seemed to be advocating promiscuity, decadence, and irresponsibility, all things that should be discouraged in this day and age, as in all ages, and not promoted. As her mother should have told her, “It’s all fun and games until someone gets their eye poked out or catches an incurable STD or suffers severe alcohol poisoning and the ambulance comes to your sorority party.”
I mean, for goodness sakes, the film was Peter Pan, not the works of Annabel Chong. 1
But getting back to the film, for those of you who don’t know, Peter Pan is a classic story about a girl, Wendy, and her two brothers who get invited to spend time in a magical place called Never Never Land, having been invited to go there by Peter Pan, a magical boy who flies and never ages. The inhabitants of Never Never Land include pirates, magical fairies, a fierce alligator, a tribe of boys led by Peter Pan, and a tribe of stereotype Indians referred to throughout much of the film as “Redskins.”
Although they have a chief, they also have an Indian Princess, named Tiger Lily, played by Anna May Wong. In the film, she flirts with Peter Pan and she and her tribe help Peter Pan and the Lost Boys in their battles with the Pirates.
Somewhere in a box, I have a print out of an academic paper on the relations between Native American Indians and Chinese when they met each other in the Old West and some day I hope to share its conclusions here. (Quick summary, they varied a lot, ranging from inter-marriage to unprovoked racially motivated violence. Stay tuned, support this project, share my writing with your friends, and encourage me to continue, showering me with gifts and positive attention and it is more likely to happen.)
Chinese American History and Yosemite National Park
I found this fascinating piece on the BBC (Britishing Broadcasting Corporation) website, and it’s well worth reading. It discusses the little known role that Chinese had in the development of what became Yosemite National Park beginning in the mid-19th Century.
I seem to be doing a lot more with Chinese American history here than actual Chinese history. This surprises me a bit, but in hindsight seems natural. One rule of journalism is to seek out the local angle, and that seems to be what I am doing.
Also, as stated, I hope to present pieces on the Chinese of the Old West and the Tong Wars of the 19th Century in San Francisco as elsewhere here periodically, so this clearly fits in with that.
But if anyone wonders, I do have a strong interest in actual Chinese history. My MA Thesis was on the so-called “Peking Man Digs” and the history of paleontology in China, which, come to think of it, actually is a story of East-West relations, and I do hope to do some writing on Chinese traditional proto-scientific thought and their ideas on how the universe functioned and the history of so-called “traditional Chinese medicine.” (Please note, “so-called” in this context means, “I would love to write five pages explaining how this term is an over-simplifiction, but won’t.”) Therefore, somewhere down the line, real Chinese history is coming. Some day. I promise. Ishl Allah, of course.
Tie Sing was known as one of California's greatest "backcountry" chefs (Credit: US Geological Survey) He was an important person in the development of Yosemite.
Link — BBC -Untold Story of the Chinese who made Yosemite —Link
Link —From the US National Park Service --ARTICLE Forgotten Footsteps: The Role of Chinese in Yosemite's History —Link
And to follow up on that, I have found one of the stupidest questions ever asked:
Link — From "Quora" -- Is the name "Yellowstone National Park" racist to Asian Americans? —Link
Read it if you would like.
Donald Trump misrepresents Chinese migrants to produce fear, racial hatred, and hopefully MAGA votes
“They’re coming in from China — 31, 32,000 over the last few months — and they’re all military age and they mostly are men,” Trump said during a campaign rally last month in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania. “And it sounds like to me, are they trying to build a little army in our country? Is that what they’re trying to do?”
LINK — AP - Trump suggests Chinese migrants are in the US to build an ‘army.’ The migrants tell another story. —LINK
Commentary – Well, I went almost two months without mentioning Donald Trump and that’s a pretty good accomplishment for any publication in the year 2024, but here he is. Donald Trump is in many ways a very skilled man, and if you watch him he uses the same behaviors repeatedly to great effect.
Here we see a combination of three of these classic Trump behaviors, the social tools and tricks he uses repeatedly.
First, classic marketing. Convince people they have a terrible problem that they never paid attention to before. i.e. “dish pan hands” or “coffe stained teeth” or “last year’s fashions.” Whatever. Then sell them a cure. We can see that here.
Second, make people scared, really scared. Then they don’t think well and will make quick emotional decisions out of fear. And one such emotional decision, seriously, is to vote for Donald Trump, the man who has promised to protect them (from whatever new fear Donald Trump is promoting or exaggerating. His opponents rarely offer solutions or even respond well to these threats because, well, like the idea of a secret Chinese army forming in our country this month, these threats are non-existent.)
There’s a third classic Trump behavior here too. He never actual states the Chinese migrants are building an army. He implies it and then asks it, maintaining deniability. Donald Trump’s behavior tends to follow patterns. There are a few tricks he has learned and it is amazing what he is able to accomplish with them. Please consider reading and / or purchasing my book on Trump. ) 2
Where to start? The USA has for several years been having a crisis on its borders and elsewhere stemming in part from the United States’ traditionally open-minded asylum policies. Traditionally if someone comes to the United States and says “I need asylum due to political persecution at home,” the United States has had a legal process for evaluating these claims and deciding whether or not to grant them the right to live here. Our nation wants to help people imperilled by tyranny. It’s part of our ideals. It’s what we do, and it’s what we teach our children in school this nation is all about.
Like any legal process, processing such claims takes time and is best done with the assistance of a lawyer, and while the process is going on the person seeking asylum normally gets to stay here.
For a fictional example of how this traditionally worked, you might consider seeking out the 1984 film, “Moscow on the Hudson,” starring Robin Williams. This romantic comedy drama is about a Russian orchestra musician who defects while on tour in the USA and claims asylum. As the Soviet Union was a repressive state and (unlike some repressive states) was recognized as such by the US government, he was granted this asylum and has to learn how to survive in this new country.
Over time, the interpretation of who was eligible for an asylum visa was expanded greatly, often for humanitarian reasons, despite this not really being the original intent of the asylum visa. For instance, domestic violence victims were at times given legal asylum. ( See Claiming Asylum Based on Domestic Violence )
Today we have a situation where the combination of serious problems abroad, the perception that if one enters the USA you have a good chance of obtaining an asylum visa, and the increased flow of information and access to information (as well as misinformation) with the internet and smart phones, provides people from around the world who are seeking a new life with the perception that they know how to come here and apply for an asylum visa. This has produced a surge in asylum seekers entering the USA under both the Biden and the Trump administration as well as the Obama administration. Although my understanding is the actual number of people crossing the border illegally is going down, it is still quite high and much higher than 20 years ago.
This has been a problem with not just the Biden policy but the Trump administration. It needs to be stated that Trump’s policy, “Commit atrocities on the migrant families by stealing their children and hiding them around the country in housing owned by his associates and paid for by taxpayers,” did not reduce the flow of migrants significantly or solve the problem. (Another, less succesful Trump tactic. Do something crueler than everyone else has tried and hope it produces results. Watch for it. It’s a favorite of his. He likes to do this. Again, buy my book. Link below.)
Now, in conclusion, I am not saying that the flood of migrants into this nation is a good thing, and, honestly, the increase in Chinese asylum seekers, many of them middle class or thereabouts in China, definitely requires investigation and a different response than the sad and desperate folks and families who walked all the way here from Central American hellholes fearing death, and there might even be some spies among the Chinese migrants (probably are to be honest, just as there are probably a small number of Chinese spies among the graduate students and immigrants just as there are awesome doctors and engineers and such who will greatly aid our society) but to characterize them as “an army” is not accurate or helpful or a truthful representation of what is actually going on.
Donald Trump is playing evil, deceitful games here, just as he often does.
And finally, more ninja stuff!! Yes, modern ninja stuff.
“Hatsumi-sensei has overwhelmingly taught to a non-Japanese student base, and in my experience, it’s not unique to the Bujinkan,” says Reynolds, a daishihan (senior instructor) and head of Bujinkan’s Nezu dojo. “Generally speaking, most Japanese people see martial arts as antiquated and even a bit uncool. It’s often taken for granted here because it originates from this place and is associated with ancient culture.”
LINK — Japan Times -- The unexpected acolytes helping to keep ninja heritage alive —LINK
In this fascinating and well-done article, readers learn about the current state of ninjutsu in Japan as well as what Masaaki Hatsumi is up to these days. (In a previous article here, I stated that it is my impression, an impression possibly subject to change as I learn more, is that all modern claims of actual existing ninja, as well as the belief that black-clad, shuriken throwing, ninja super agents being an important factor in pre-modern Japanese warfare, can be traced back to at least one of three people in the twentieth century, with Masaaki Hatsumi, age 92, being the only one still alive.
According to this article, he is still actively teaching at the Tokyo Budokan, but most of his students are non-Japanese Caucasian men who have travelled to Japan for the express purpose of studying ninjutsu. While this was a surprise, in hindsight I realized that it makes a great deal of sense and is exactly what one would expect if I am interpreting things correctly.
The article also talks of a two year postgraduate program in Ninja Studies from Mie University. The program is small, having awarded five degrees with seven current students. As the course work requires being able to read 15th Century AD Japanese language documents, few foreign people are qualified for the program and so far the students have all been Japanese.
“We want to advance academic and interdisciplinary research activities on ninjas, educational activities based on ninja research and academic information exchange and dissemination activities about ninja,” explains deputy director Yuji Yamada.
conclusion
Thanks for reading. You know what to do. Share with everyone you know. Share with people you don’t know. Heck, share these writings with anyone and everyone you can find. And come back next time and make me feel wonderful about doing this and it will, no doubt, continue.
footnotes
Annabel Chong was the stage name of a Singaporean born, pornographic movie actress who at one time held the world’s record for world’s largest “gang bang” or for having sex with the most men in one session. This event was done for a film, Honestly, I have never seen this film, and have no desire to as I have read it is “about as erotic as a National Geographic special on the mating habits of frogs.” Please don’t make me go and find a source for that quote. I probably could, but it would take an hour or two, I think. It might come from Chuck Palahniuk, the author. Perhaps some day I will write a piece on her. Although I have never seen this or her other films, I have, believe it or not, watched a documentary on her and read a biography. Why? Well, as for the biography, I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand, suffering from health problems and reading a lot, and it was in one of Chiang Mai’s excellent second-hand bookstores, so I picked up a copy of “Singapore Rebel -Searching for Annabel Chong,” by Gerrie Lim, also originally of Singapore, and it was indeed a quick and interesting read although obviously rushed and superficial. As for the documentary, “Sex, The Annabel Chong Story,” I sought it out later. It’s interesting although Chong asserts now that the producer and documentarian misrepresented some things, which is ironic as when it came out, the documentary was criticized because she and the same producer had not disclosed that they were romantically and sexually involved during its production. Now she says that despite sleeping with the producer, the documentary still did not say what she wanted. Oh well, it seems that Chong, the woman who advertised that she slept with 250 men on film at one sitting, and then later disclosed that it was actually only a little more than 70 because they could not find 250 men who wished to participate, while periodically saying she did all this in part to challenge gender stereotypes (which I assume includes that dread boogieman “slut-shaming”) is simply not very good at ensuring that she is presented in a good light on film and controlling her own media image. As for me, personally, I thought there were scenes in the documentary where she was unnecessarilly cruel to her mother and made her cry, so I am inclined to feel no pity for her.
Which sort of explains why, if anyone wonders, why I tend to find the behaviors of people involved in pornography more interesting than the actual pornography itself. The pornography tends to be icky and poorly done, while the people themselves are at times engrossingly weird, out-of-control, and self destructive and at times frighteningly loud while voicing strange ideas. Reading about them is often like watching a car wreck, you can’t turn away.
I wrote a whole book on Donald Trump. You should all consider reading it. Seriously. And tell your friends, too. It’s cheap. I made it cheap because I wanted people to read it and share it. And it was edited by a professional editor even!! Please, please, please read it. And after you do, get involved in the upcoming election if you are able.
LINK — Scams from the Great Beyond -The Presidential Edition —LINK