I've gained quite a bit of weight this week from all the eating and drinking, and although work has been relatively relaxed, I haven't really stopped. I returned "Carving Time" because I haven't had the energy to read recently, but I did start playing around with some Android development stuff.
Actually, I had a lot of inspiration when I went out yesterday, but when I opened the document, I had no idea what to write (maybe I forgot when I got home). I roughly organized my thoughts.
Accompanying My Brother#
The biggest event this week was when my younger brother had a minor surgery on the day Japan discharged nuclear wastewater, and I went to accompany him for a night. Of course, he said there was nothing wrong after the first day and told me to go back early, but I used the excuse of promising his dad to stay and observe for a night, just to be sure that everything was fine.
It's worth mentioning that the taste of the hospital's cafeteria was surprisingly good, mainly because I had a negative impression of cafeterias in general. But it's strange that they built the cafeteria on the basement floor of the hospital (next to the morgue, how can you eat there?).
In the morning, when I went to buy some supplies for my brother, I saw a girl (around the same age as me) in front of me buying two packs of salt.
Salt Hoarding Trend#
I feel like I've experienced the salt hoarding trend many times in my shallow life. It used to feel magical and exciting, but now I'm used to it. This trend originated from Japan's discharge of "nuclear wastewater," which means that sea salt can no longer be consumed, leading to a shortage of edible salt as people who used to buy sea salt now buy regular salt.
It seems more reasonable than the previous trend of using salt to prevent radiation. Actually, if you try to persuade someone not to hoard salt, they will say that you are rationalizing the "discharge of nuclear wastewater." Sometimes I feel that it's normal for some people to be easily influenced because I find it difficult to deconstruct their logic.
Of course, this may be a sociological phenomenon, or even an economic one. When a group of people influenced by rumors rush to stock up, it inevitably reduces the inventory in the market. This will then cause another group of people who are worried about resource shortages to rush to stock up, further exacerbating the reduction of inventory in the market. When the inventory in the market continues to decrease, it triggers new panic...
I remember that during the Wenchuan earthquake, there was also talk of salt wells collapsing and the need to hoard salt.
But why salt? I don't really understand the underlying logic behind it.
Publishing House Related#
While I was accompanying my brother at the hospital, I received a message from my boss asking me to come see him the next day. I was worried all night at the hospital, afraid that he would tell me that the company couldn't continue (after all, there have been several precedents). The next day, I rushed over and asked him what was going on, only to find out that he planned to publish two books and wanted me to participate in the editing process.
I thought it would be difficult to get a publishing license, but my boss calmly said that money would solve everything.
Although the publishing industry is a declining industry, I understand the need to find ways to make money. But if I find out which publishing house it is, I will definitely not buy their books in the future.
Movie Watching#
The Simpsons#
This week, I continued watching The Simpsons while jumping rope. Before selling to Disney, this show had a strong satirical meaning.
This episode should be from the third season, I forgot the specific episode number.
It's about Bart taking a career test and finding out that he's best suited to be a police officer. After experiencing the joy of being part of a legal violent institution, he becomes a "hall monitor" at school.
During the school's rectification movement, Milhouse shouts, "We have order, but what have we lost?"
When Bart chooses to take the blame for Lisa, the new hall monitor is Milhouse, who forces Bart to leave.
Art that used to be satirical all over the world has now become offensive art, and I don't even think offensive art can be considered "art."
Baghdad Cafe#
Actually, I randomly clicked on this movie. The beginning of the movie uses camera angles and colors to create a sense of restlessness, making people uneasy. A German woman leaves her husband on the highway and comes to Baghdad Cafe alone, a silent, dead cafe.
There are a lot of tilted camera angles in the beginning to create a sense of restlessness.
This silent, dead cafe is almost hostile to the German woman. The movie has few lines, so there isn't much conflict with this hostility. The biggest conflict is when the owner calls the police to check her identity.
As the German woman gradually charms the cafe, business starts to improve.
{{< notice notice-tip >}}
BBQ subjective rating: 9/10
A very heartwarming movie, with few lines but full of emotions through colors and camera angles.
{{< /notice >}}
Artistic Cell Enhancement Plan #2#
Art Seen by Chance#
Because I received a gift from a beautiful girl from Yunnan, I invited her to dinner today. I originally wanted to eat Western food, but when I arrived at the destination, I didn't feel like eating at that place, so I turned around and went to a Japanese restaurant (which was expensive).
It's a very anime-style Japanese restaurant, with stickers on the walls featuring K-On! and other similar anime. While eating, they played the opening theme song of K-On! (I remembered it from my ancient memories of being into anime).
The air conditioning in the restaurant probably caused a power outage. The beautiful girl jokingly said it was romantic and that she was going to give me a candlelit dinner (then she turned on her flashlight).
Although it was a bit expensive, the food was delicious. But that's not the point, I just wanted to share a couple of pictures to make myself happy.
After eating, we went to a tea shop and I picked up a drink and grabbed a postcard. The postcard had this picture on it:
Art is truly everywhere.
"Chinese Emperor" Tapestry Series#
In 1688, the Beauvais Tapestry Factory in France produced the "Chinese Emperor" series of tapestries, which are masterpieces of Chinese-style art in the Baroque era. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any pictures of this series on Google Art, so I had to find some images online to make up for it.
From this picture, you can tell that this is the author's imagination of China. At that time, many missionaries brought back gifts from China, which fueled the interest of Louis XIV in the mysterious ancient country of the East. He even appeared in public wearing Chinese-style clothing and sitting in a sedan chair carried by eight bearers, sparking a craze for "Chinese style" in France. If you look closely at the Rococo-style paintings of the Baroque period, you can see many Chinese elements.
I flipped through a few Rococo-style paintings, such as the classic work by François Boucher, who also painted an imagined "Chinese Lady."
Boucher also included a painting in the "Chinese Emperor" tapestry series called "Chinese Emperor Reigns," which became a model for European artists to study for decades.
In 1767, French diplomats presented this set of Chinese-style tapestries to Emperor Qianlong, who liked them and displayed them in the Old Summer Palace (Yuanmingyuan). During the Second Opium War, they were taken back to Europe.
Missionary Johann Adam Schall von Bell and "A Summary of Western Learning"#
Going back to the picture on the postcard, it depicts "A Summary of Western Learning." I found this series of works by searching for this keyword.
Johann Adam Schall von Bell, a missionary sent to China, served as the director of the Imperial Observatory during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor, holding a high rank. However, in his later years, he was sentenced to death by Lingchi, although he survived, he died of illness the following year.
It's quite normal for a foreigner to be accused when he becomes so influential in the Imperial Observatory. After all, it's the Chinese officialdom, and it's not surprising. To deal with the accusations, Johann Adam Schall and others wrote "A Summary of Western Learning." The main idea of this book is to introduce the story of Jesus and point out that the ancestors of the Chinese people came from the West, and Confucianism and Mencius' teachings are products of Catholicism, and so on. It's basically saying that Chinese history is nothing more than a Western appendage, which is difficult for high-ranking officials to accept.
In the third year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, with the support of Ao Bai and others, he was sentenced to Lingchi.
In the fourth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, under the intervention of Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, Johann Adam Schall and other missionaries were pardoned.
In the fifth year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, he passed away.
Retro Hidden in the Alley#
The beautiful girl is leaving on Sunday, and she said she wants to take purikura (photo booth pictures) with me before she goes. I thought this was such an old-fashioned thing to do.
What's even more magical is that the purikura photo booth is located in Taiping Street, which is considered the most bustling (commercially vibrant) street in Changsha. In my impression, this street is just following the tourists, and there's nothing good to eat on the side of the street, but it's all about food.
The beautiful girl didn't say anything, but she declared that all I had to do was follow her. When we arrived at Taiping Street, it was crowded, noisy, and bustling with people. Suddenly, the beautiful girl pulled me into a dark little alley.
"As if there was light, entering through the mouth, initially narrow, just enough for one person to pass. After walking a few dozen steps, it suddenly opened up."
After walking a few steps, there was an open-air courtyard with several shops that had an old-fashioned style.
Different from Taiping Street just a few meters away, time froze in the "non-mainstream" era here. But to be honest, I don't have any "non-mainstream" feelings or memories of that era. At that time, I was probably immersed in my own world and not interested in these things.
The beautiful girl enthusiastically picked out a photo frame, while I boredly flipped through a photo album and saw many anime pictures.
Tears of the era.
And there's Saber and others, although they're still popular now, they are actually works from 2005/2006.
Visiting Huogong Palace#
In [this issue]({{<ref "Week 4">}}), I wrote, "Next time, I'll go to Huogong Palace to see if the highest directive is still there." So I had this obsession, thinking that this thing shouldn't really be carved there.
And it really is there.
Huogong Palace enshrines the God of Fire, and the side hall enshrines the God of Wealth and Guanyin. The hall of the God of Wealth is the most visited, even more than the main hall of the God of Fire (in fact, I didn't see anyone go there when I visited). It's clear that everyone who comes to the temple is here to seek wealth. The hall of Guanyin seems to be deserted as well. It used to be a place to pray for children, but now no one goes there, so there's not much to say. I feel that Guanyin Bodhisattva, who saves the suffering and helps the needy, should develop some other business since no one goes there.
Huogong Palace should be on par with Confucius Temple, but it's completely inferior in terms of momentum, although it probably has a similar number of visitors.
Input#
- Don't Go Crazy When Working When people focus on productivity, they eventually focus on busyness. Every moment is filled with things to do. And there's always more to do! The goal of work should be "effectiveness." Your work is effective when you actually complete projects. As long as you complete projects effectively, you can stop. Therefore, you can strive to do less and achieve your goals in less time, which will give you more leisure and rest, which is sustainable.
- Open Source Song Typeface "Zhuque" It looks pretty good.
- Li Tiaotiao Stops Updating Damn capitalism.
- The Fastest Way to Grow: Deep Work Although it sounds a bit like pickup artistry, I actually like immersing myself in doing something.
- Podcast: Living a Good Life, Starting with Finding Recipes Reshaping life may start with cooking for yourself, but I'm too lazy to clean up.
- CS Intro Course: MIT Missing Semester Some new tricks.