Who is Confucius? The teachings, politics and philosophy.

Confucius was a Chinese thinker and social philosopher who continues to have a profound effect on politics and philosophy thousands of years after his death. His philosophy emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice and sincerity. Confucius sought to build a great, harmonious and humanistic society. Confucius's works are studied by scholars in China and many other Asian countries such as Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Also, on this day many of these countries hold a traditional ceremony for his birthday.

The tradition that bears his name – “Confucianism” (Chinese: Rujia) – ultimately traces itself to the sayings and biographical fragments recorded in the text known as the Analects (Chinese: Lunyu).

Confucius represented his teachings as lessons transmitted from antiquity. He claimed that he was “a transmitter and not a maker” and that all he did reflected his “reliance on and love for the ancients.” Rather than trying to build a systematic ideology or establish rules for society, Confucius wanted his disciples to think for themselves and study the outside world. He disparages those who have faith in natural understanding or intuition and argues that the only real understanding of a subject comes from long and careful study. Study, for Confucius, means finding a good teacher and imitating his words and deeds. He taught through personal exemplification rather than explicit rules of behaviour. His moral teachings emphasized self-cultivation, emulation of moral exemplars, and the attainment of skilled judgment rather than knowledge of rules. His ethical ideals and methods are conveyed indirectly, for example:

When the stables were burnt down, on returning from court, Confucius said, 'Was anyone hurt?' He did not ask about the horses.

Analects X.11, tr. Arthur Waley

Which teaches that you should value human beings over property and it leads readers to reflect on what their response would have been: would they have asked about the horses or the humans?

In times of division, chaos and endless wars, Confucius wanted to unify the world and bestow peace and prosperity on the people. He proposes a new political agenda: a revival of a unified royal state, whose rulers would succeed to power on the basis of their moral merits instead of lineage; these would be rulers devoted to their people, striving for personal and social perfection. Such a ruler would spread his own virtues to the people instead of imposing proper behavior with laws and rules. Confucius thought that a ruler who had to resort to force had already failed as a ruler:

"Your job is to govern, not to kill"

Confucius' political thought is based upon his ethical thought. He argues that the best government is one that rules through "rites" and people's natural morality, rather than by using bribery and coercion. While he supported the idea of government by an all-powerful and wise leader, his ideas contained a number of elements to limit the power of rulers. He argued for according language with truth and placed great importance on honesty.

Confucius' social philosophy focused on the concept of ren, “compassion” or “loving others.” Cultivating or practising compassion for others meant deprecating yourself which meant avoiding deceitful or manipulative behaviour, or being false and giving people the idea that you are wonderful, thus self-aggrandizing yourself. For Confucius, such concern for others is demonstrated through the practice of forms of the Golden Rule:

“What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others;”

“Since you yourself desire standing then help others achieve it, since you yourself desire success then help others attain it.”

(Lunyu 12.2, 6.30).

He saw devotion to parents and older siblings as the most basic form of putting the interests of others before your own and teaches that this practise of unselfish concern for others can be accomplished only by those who have learned self-discipline.

Confucius' goal wass to create gentlemen who carried themselves with grace, spoke correctly and demonstrated great integrity. His strong dislike of the selfish “petty men,” whose clever talk and pretentious manner win them an audience, is reflected passages of his teachings.

While many people may think of Indian or Chinese philosophy as intuitionistic or mystical Confucianism has been said to be a hundred times more rationalistic than Western philosophy. It is thought that Confucianism had considerable importance on European thinkers of the period, particularly among the Deists and other philosophical groups of the Enlightenment who were interested by the integration of the system of morality of Confucius into Western civilization.

While Confucius idea's of paternalism seem to embody conservatism, his ideas of rulers for the people remind me greatly of the early liberal enlightment thinkers giving him an almost middle ground political philosophy. Unfortunately, morals have not played a very important part in politics for a very, very long time and many of the thoughts in Confucianism could never work in today's society. Nevertheless Confucianism provides such a faith in human nature and strong virtues to strive towards, it is no wonder that Confucianism is now one of the religions of China.

Information from:

http://www.friesian.com/confuci.htm

http://www.iep.utm.edu/confuciu/

http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/confucius/#ConSoc

http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/Confucius/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius#Influence_in_Asia_and_Europe

Tourist Stereotypes And The Dangers

The fat Southern American couple that can't pronounce the names of the sights. The Japanese tourist group avidly taking photos of everything. The hippy travelling students that leave mess and noise in their wake. Tourist stereotypes are extremely common, often being endorsed in films and advertisements. But there is a darker side to these stereotypes that many of us don't realise.

Let's take a closer look at the American tourist stereotype, for example. From having a look on Google, it seems the common stereotype is for American tourists to be loud, obnoxious, ignorant, unappreciative and with a sense of superiority. Oh, and of course they are all overweight. There are web pages dedicated to helping American's keep themselves from appearing like tourists with advice like "be quiet!" "don't compare everything to the USA" and "Leave your baseball hats, backpack, fanny pack and water bottles at home".

This is the problem with stereotypes; they all tend to be negative. As stereotypes often become our common associations to a particular group, we therefore develop negative thoughts about the group as a whole. When looking at stereotypes as a whole, this is one of the biggest arguments I can think of against them but in particular to tourists, when the locals have these associations, one emotion tends to crop up wherever the tourists do: irritation. We become irritated that these people are in our country, often their pure appearance or the fact that they are clearly foreign is enough to piss us off. This in turn leads to tourists thinking that the population of that country are rude and horrible, leading to a stereotype of that population and the vicious cycle continues.

The example that springs to mind here is France and the English. I have heard many English people complain that the French are extremely rude to English people who visit France. On the other side however, the French find it extremely rude the way the English behave while in France, with stereotypes of treating the French who can't speak English as if they are stupid with big hand gestures and speaking very slowly still in English (as if that will somehow help the French understand). Ultimately the whole problem stems from a misunderstanding of each other that has been exaggerated and cemented through a stereotype.

In future, even if a tourist does appear to fit a stereotype, don't let this cycle continue. Walk up to that overweight American in the brightly coloured shirt and just let them know that in your country the handshake is not used or most people don't speak English or the name of that tourist attraction is pronounced this way not that. By politely educating each other and generally just being kind to one another perhaps we can exchange these negative stereotypes for positive ones. Its worth a shot, right?

Buddha's Birthday

Buddha's Birthday, the birthday of the Prince Siddhartha Gautama is a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mahayana Buddhism.In all east Asian countries except Japan it is held on the 8th day of the 4th month in the Chinese lunar calendar, and the day is an official holiday in Hong Kong, Macau, and South Korea.

Japan

As same as other traditional holidays like New year, Japanese culture "translates" every traditional festival's date into Gregorian calendar's one. The 4th month in Chinese Lunar Calendar is translated into April or May. Therefore Buddha's Birthday is celebrated on April 8 or May 8 in many Japanese temples.In Japan, Buddha's Birthday is also celebrated according to the Buddhist calendar but is not a national holiday. On this day, all temples do celebratory events/festivals called Kanbutsu-e, meaning 'Flower Festival'. The first event was held at Asuka-dera in 606. Japanese people pour ama-cha (a beverage prepared from a variety of hydrangea) on small Buddha statues decorated with flowers, as if bathing a newborn baby.

India

Birth of Buddha or Tathagata is celebrated in India, especially in Sikkim, Ladakh , Arunachal Pradesh, Bodh Gaya and Maharashtra (where 6% of total population are Buddhists) and other parts of India as per Indian calendar. Buddhist People go to common Viharas to observe a rather longer-than-usual, full-length Buddhist sutra, as something like a service. The usual dress is pure white. Non-vegetarian food is normally avoided. Kheer, a sweet rice porridge is commonly served to recall the story of Sujata, a maiden who, in Gautama Buddha's life, offered the Buddha a bowl of milk porridge.

Nepal

The birth of the Buddha is often celebrated by Buddhists in Nepal for an entire month in the Buddhist calendar. The actual day is called Buddha Poornima (or Buddha Purnima), also traditionally known as Vaishakh Poornima. Although the day marks not just the birth of Shakyamuni Gautam Buddha, but also the day of Enlightenment, and Mahaparinirvana. But as a gentle effect of West, the event of Birth is given paramount importance. The event is celebrated by gentle and serene fervour, keeping in mind the very nature of Buddhism. People, especially women, go to common Viharas to observe a rather longer-than-usual, full-length Buddhist sutra, as something like a service. The usual dress is pure white. Non-vegetarian food is normally avoided. Kheer, a sweet rice porridge is commonly served to recall the story of Sujata, a maiden who, in Gautama Buddha's life, offered the Buddha a bowl of milk porridge after he had given up the path of asceticism following six years of extreme austerity. This event was one major link in his enlightenment.It is said that the Buddha originally followed the way of asceticism to attain enlightenment sooner, as was thought by many at that time. He sat for a prolonged time with inadequate food and water, which caused his body to shrivel so as to be indistinguishable from the bark of the tree that he was sitting under. Seeing the weak Siddhartha Gautama, a girl named Sujata placed a bowl of milk in front of him as an offering. Realizing that without food one can do nothing, the Buddha refrained from harming his own body.

Korea

In Korea the birthday of Buddha is celebrated according to the Lunisolar calendar. This day is called Seokga tansinil, meaning "the day of Buddha's birthday" or Bucheonim osin nal meaning "the day when Buddha arrived". Lotus lanterns cover the entire temple throughout the month which are often flooded down the street. On the day of Buddha's birth, many temples provide free meals and tea to all visitors. The breakfast and lunch provided are often sanchae bibimbap.

Sri Lanka

This is one of the major festivals in Sri Lanka. It is celebrated on the first full moon day of the month of May. People engage in religious observances and decorate houses and streets with candles and specially made lanterns.

Other countries

Some places have a public holiday one week later, on the fifteenth day of the fourth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, to coincide with the full moon. For instance, Visakha Puja in Thailand or Lễ Phật đản in Vietnam was such a holiday on May 12 in 2006. Other countries including Singapore and Malaysia also celebrate Vesak Day on the fifteenth day of the fourth month in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, a public holiday in these two countries.

Information taken from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddha's_Birthday

Get to know Japanese music!

Here are the top 5 Japanese songs in the music charts at the moment. To see the top 20, click here. We are by no means saying that this is all there is to Japanese Music, this is just what the Japanese public are loving at the moment!

Koda Kumi - ECSTASY



Tegomass-Tanabata Matsuri



AKB48 - Namida Surprise!



Again - Yui



Berryz Koubou - Seishun Bus Guide

Is Japan racist or xenophobic?

Here are different videos by people who have different views on racism in Japan, based on their personal experiences. Fascinating stuff. WARNING: there is some strong language in some of the videos but it isn't frequent.





This video is mentioned in the very first video



This video is mentioned in many of the other videos

What exactly is racism and xenophobia?

There is a subtle but important difference between racism and xenophobia so we have provided the definitions for both words below:

Racism is the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other races and discriminatory or abusive behavior towards members of another race.

Xenophobia is a fear or dislike of foreigners or people significantly different from oneself.

Still not clear? Think about it this way: a racist person would dislike a black person no matter what country they came from while a xenophobic person wouldn't care if they were black, only that they weren't from their country (for example, an American that doesn't mind black people but dislikes anyone that isn't from America is xenophobic but not racist). Xenophobia can sometimes become like racism if you do not look like an indigenous person of that country. For example, a black person in Japan would very clearly not originate from Japan.

Today's celebrations May 5th!

Today is...

Children's Day in South Korea

Cinco de Mayo in the United States of America

Constitution Day in Kyrgyzstan

Coronation Day in Thailand

Indian Heritage Day in Guyana

International Midwives Day

Kodomo no Hi / Children's Day (End of Golden Week) in Japan

Kvetnove povstani ceskeho lidu - 1945 (Prague Uprising - 1945) in the Czech Republic

Senior Citizen's Day in Palau

Liberation Day - Nationale Bevrijdingsdag in the Netherlands

Battle of Puebla in Mexico

Today's celebrations May 4th!

Today is...

Casinga Day in Namibia

Crown Prince's Birthday in Tonga

Kokumin-no-Kyujitsu / National Holiday in Japan

National Youth Day in China

Proclamation of Independence, Declaration of the Republic of Latvia in Latvia

Remembrance Day for Martyrs & Disabled in Afghanistan

Youth Day in China

Herdenkings Day (Remembrance Day) in the Netherlands

Greenery Day in Japan

Today's celebrations May 3rd!

Today is...

Constitution Day in Poland

Fiesta de las Cruces in Peru

Kempo Kinenbi / Constitution Memorial Day in Japan

La Cruz de Mayo (The cross of May) in Venezuela

National Day in Poland

Polish National Day in Australia

World Press Freedom Day

Labour Day (Queensland) in Australia

May Day (Northern Territory) in Australia

Holy Cross Day (Día de la Santa Cruz) in Mexico

Today's celebrations April 29th!

Today is...

Birthday of Sultan of Terengganu in Malaysia

Cassé Canari ou Wèt mô nan d'lo in Haiti

Ming loyalist Koxinga's Landing in Taiwan

Showa Day in Japan

Who is Kim Il-Sung?

Kim Il-sung was a Korean communist politician who led North Korea from its founding in 1948 until his death in 1994.He held the posts of Prime Minister from 1948 to 1972 and President from 1972 to his death. He was also the General Secretary of the Workers Party of Korea. During his tenure as leader of North Korea, he ruled the nation with autocratic power and established an all-pervasive cult of personality. North Korea officially refers to Kim Il-sung as the "Great Leader" and he is designated in the constitution as the country's "Eternal President". His birthday is a public holiday in North Korea.

The Communist Party of Korea had been founded in 1925, but had been thrown out of the Comintern in the early 1930s for being too nationalist. In 1931, Kim had joined the Communist Party of China. He joined various anti-Japanese guerrilla groups in northern China, and in 1935 he became a member of the Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army, a guerrilla group led by the Communist Party of China. Kim was appointed the same year to serve as political commissar for the 3rd detachment of the second division, around 160 soldiers.Kim was appointed commander of the 6th division in 1937, at the age of 24, controlling a few hundred men in a group that came to be known as “Kim Il Sung’s division.” Kim’s division only captured a small Japanese-held town just across the Korean border for a few hours, it was nonetheless considered a military success at this time, when the guerrilla units had experienced difficulty in capturing any enemy territory. This accomplishment would grant Kim some measure of fame among Chinese guerrillas, and North Korean biographies would later exploit it as a great victory for Korea. Kim was appointed commander of the 2nd operational region for the 1st Army, but by the end of 1940, he was the only 1st Army leader still alive.Kim became a Captain in the Soviet Red Army and served in it until the end of World War II.In later years, Kim would heavily embellish his guerrilla feats in order to build up his personality cult. He was portrayed as a boy-conspirator who joined the resistance at 14 and had founded a battle-ready army at 19. North Korean students are taught that this Kim-led army singlehandedly drove the Japanese off the peninsula.

Kim arrived in North Korea on August 22 after 26 years in exile. His Korean was marginal at best; he'd only had eight years of formal education, all of it in chinese. In September 1945, Kim was installed by the Soviets as head of the Provisional People’s Committee. He was not, at this time, the head of the Communist Party.During his early years as leader, he assumed a position of influence largely due to the backing of the Korean population which was supportive of his fight against Japanese occupation.One of Kim’s accomplishments was his establishment of a professional army, the Korean People's Army (KPA) aligned with the Communists, formed from a cadre of guerrillas and former soldiers who had gained combat experience in battles against the Japanese and later Nationalist Chinese troops. From their ranks, using Soviet advisers and equipment, Kim constructed a large army skilled in infiltration tactics and guerrilla warfare.Kim also formed an air force, equipped at first with ex-Soviet propeller-driven fighter and attack aircraft.

In 1948, Kim persuaded the Soviets not to allow the UN north of the 38th parallel, believing he could not possibly win a free election. As a result, a month after the South was granted independence as the Republic of Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea was proclaimed on September 9, with Kim as premier. On October 12, the Soviet Union declared that Kim's regime was the only lawful government on the peninsula. The Communist Party merged with the New People's Party to form the Workers Party of North Korea (of which Kim was vice-chairman). In 1949, the Workers Party of North Korea merged with its southern counterpart to become the Workers Party of Korea (WPK) with Kim as party chairman.By 1949, North Korea was a full-fledged Communist dictatorship. All parties and mass organizations were cajoled into the Democratic Front for the Reunification of the Fatherland, ostensibly a popular front but in reality dominated by the Communists. Around this time, Kim built the first of many statues of himself and began calling himself "the Great Leader."

After the Korean War, Kim launched a five-year national economic plan to establish a command economy, with all industry owned by the state and all agriculture collectivised. The nation was founded on egalitarian principles intent on eliminating class differences and the economy was based upon the needs of workers and peasants. The economy was focused on heavy industry and arms production. Both South and North Korea retained huge armed forces to defend the 1953 ceasefire line, although no foreign troops were permanently stationed in North Korea.

Kim's hold on power was rather shaky. To strengthen it, he claimed that the United States deliberately spread diseases among the North Korean population. While Moscow and Beijing later determined that these charges were false, they continued to help spread this rumor for many years to come. He also conducted North Korea's first large-scale purges in part to scare the people into accepting this false account.Victims often simply disappeared into the growing network of prison camps.

During the 1950s, Kim was seen as an orthodox Communist leader, and an enthusiastic satellite of the Soviet Union. His speeches were liberally sprinkled with praises to Stalin. However, he sided with China during the Sino-Soviet split, opposing the reforms brought by Nikita Khrushchev, whom he believed was acting in opposition to Communism. He distanced himself from the Soviet Union, removing mention of his Red Army career from official history, and began reforming the country to his own radical Stalinist tastes.

From the mid-1960s, he promoted his self-developed Juche variant of communist national organisation. The Juche is the official state ideology of North Korea. It teaches that "man is the master of everything and decides everything," and that the Korean people are the masters of Korea's revolution. According to Kim Jong-il's On the Juche Idea, the application of Juche in state policy entails the following:

1. The people must have independence in thought and politics, economic self-sufficiency, and self-reliance in defense.
2. Policy must reflect the will and aspirations of the masses and employ them fully in revolution and construction.
3. Methods of revolution and construction must be suitable to the situation of the country.
4. The most important work of revolution and construction is molding people ideologically as communists and mobilizing them to constructive action.

The Juche outlook requires absolute loyalty to the revolutionary party and leader. In North Korea, these are the Workers' Party of Korea and Kim Jong-il, respectively.

A new constitution was proclaimed in December 1972, under which Kim became President of North Korea. By this time, he had decided that his son Kim Jong-il would succeed him, and increasingly delegated the running of the government to him. At the Sixth Party Congress in October 1980, Kim publicly designated his son as his successor.

By the early 1990s, North Korea was nearly completely isolated from the outside world, except for limited trade and contacts with China, Russia, Vietnam, and Cuba. Its economy was virtually bankrupt, crippled by huge expenditures on armaments, with an agricultural sector unable to feed its population, but state-run North Korean media continued to lionize Kim. On July 8, 1994 at age 82, Kim Il-sung collapsed from a sudden heart attack. After the attack Kim Jong-il ordered the team of doctors who always were at his father's side to leave, and insisted that only the best be flown in from Pyongyang. Hours passed as the elder Kim lay near death in a room with his son, when the doctors finally arrived, the elder Kim was too far gone and died despite efforts to save him. Many claim Kim Jong-Il did this to ensure his father's death and his rise to power 3 years later.

There are over 500 statues of Kim Il-sung in North Korea. Some statues have been destroyed by explosions or damaged with graffiti. Kim Il-sung's image is prominent in places associated with public transportation, hanging at every North Korean train station and airport.It is also placed prominently at the border crossings between China and North Korea. His portrait is featured on the front of all recent North Korean one banknotes.

Information from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juche

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Il-sung#Leader_of_North_Korea

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/02_04/BowDownAP_468x293.jpg

Today's Celebrations April 14th!

Today is...

Cambodian New Year in Cambodia

National Fast and Prayer Day in Liberia

Pan American Day (Day of the Americas) in Honduras

Pan-American Day in Haiti

Songkran Days (Thai New Year) in Thailand

Youth Day in Angola

Pi Mai (Laos New Year) in Laos

Orange Day in Japan

Vaisakhi in Sikhism

Today's Celebrations April 8th!

Today is...

Birthday of the Sultan of Johor in Malaysia

Flower Festival in Japan

ASPCA Day in United States of America

The second month of Breaking Perceptions!

Who is Chiang Kai-shek?

Chiang Kai-shek (October 31, 1887 – April 5, 1975) was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He was an influential member of the Kuomintang (KMT, the Chinese Nationalist Party) and Sun Yat-sen's (a Chinese revolutionary and political leader) close ally. He became the commandant of Kuomintang's Whampoa Military Academy and took Sun's place in the party when the latter died in 1925. In 1928, Chiang led the Northern Expedition to unify the country, becoming China's overall leader. He served as chairman of the National Military Council of the Nationalist Government of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1928 to 1948. Chiang led China in the Second Sino-Japanese War, during which the Nationalist Government's power severely weakened, but his prominence grew.

Chiang's Nationalists engaged in a long standing civil war with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he attempted to eradicate the CCP. Ultimately, bolstered by support from Soviet Russia, the CCP defeated Chiang, forcing the Nationalist government to retreat to Taiwan, where martial law was continued while the government still tried to take back mainland China. Chiang ruled the island with an iron fist as the President of the Republic of China and Director-General of the Kuomintang until his death in 1975.

Chiang's legacy has been target of heated debates because of the different views held about him. For some, Chiang was a National Hero that led the victorious Northern Expedition against the Beiyang Warlords in 1927 and contributed to unify China and subsequenly led China to ultimate victory against Japan in 1945. Some blamed him (often unjustly) for not doing enough against the Japanese forces in the lead-up to and during the Second Sino-Japanese War, preferring to keep his armies to fight the communists, or merely waiting and hoping that the Americans would get involved. Some also see him as a champion of anti-communism, being a key figure during the formative years of the World Anti-Communist League. During the Cold War, he was also seen as the leader who led Free China and the bulwark against a possible communist invasion. However, Chiang presided over purges, political authoritarianism and graft during his tenure in mainland China, and ruled throughout a period of imposed martial law and White Terror in Taiwan. His governments were accused of being corrupt from before he even took power in 1928. He also allied with known criminals like Du Yuesheng for political and financial gains. Some opponents charge that Chiang's effort in developing Taiwan was mostly to make the island a strong base from which to one day return to mainland China, and that Chiang had little regard for the long term prosperity and well-being of the Taiwanese people.

Today, Chiang Kai-shek's popularity in Taiwan is divided along political lines, enjoying greater support among KMT supporters. He is generally unpopular among DPP voters and supporters. In sharp contrast to his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, and to Sun Yat-sen, his memory is rarely invoked by current political parties, including the Kuomintang.

In the US and Europe, Chiang was often perceived negatively as the one who lost China to the communists. His constant demands for Western support and funding also earned him the nickname of "Generalissimo Chiang Cash-My-Cheque". Finally, he has been criticized for his poor military skills. He would often issue unrealistic orders, or persistently try to fight unwinnable battles, leading to the loss of his best troops.

In recent years, this view however has started to change. He is now increasingly perceived as a man simply overwhelmed by the events in China, having to fight simultaneously communists, Japanese and provincial warlords while having to reconstruct and unify the country. His sincere, albeit often unsuccessful attempts to build a more powerful nation have been noted by scholars such as Fenby or Mitter. The latter wrote that, ironically, today's China is closer to Chiang's vision than to Mao's one. He argues that the Communists, since the 1980s, have essentially created the state envisioned by Chiang in the 1930s. Mitter concludes by writing that "one can imagine Chiang Kaishek's ghost wandering round China today nodding in approval, while Mao's ghost follows behind him, moaning at the destruction of his vision".

Information from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek#Death

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuomintang

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Yat-sen

All About April Fools Day!

What is April Fool's Day?

April Fool's Day, also known as All Fools Day, is always celebrated on April 1st and marked by the commission of hoaxes and other practical jokes of varying sophistication. Traditionally, in countries such as the UK, Australia and South Africa the jokes only last until noon, and someone who plays a trick after noon is called an "April Fool". Elsewhere, such as in Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea, The Netherlands, and the USA, the jokes last all day.

Where does it come from?

The origin of April Fools' Day is unknown. One likely theory is that April Fool's Day comes from the Persian tradition of Sizdah Bedar, which is believed to be the oldest prank-related tradition in the world still alive, celebrated by Persians as far back as 536 BC. Another theory is that the modern holiday was first celebrated soon after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar; the term referred to someone still adhering to the Julian Calendar, which it replaced. In many pre-Christian cultures May Day (May 1) was celebrated as the first day of summer, and signalled the start of the spring planting season. An April Fool may have been someone who did this prematurely. Another possible origin lies in the fact that when King Charles IX of France officially changed the first day of the year from April 1 to January 1, some of his subjects continued using the old system.

The best April Fool's of all time

The Museum of Hoaxes lists the top 100 April Fool's day hoaxes of all time, and we have picked our top 10. If you want to see the full list, click here.

1. 1976: The British astronomer Patrick Moore announced on BBC Radio 2 that at 9:47 AM a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event was going to occur that listeners could experience in their very own homes. The planet Pluto would pass behind Jupiter, temporarily causing a gravitational alignment that would counteract and lessen the Earth's own gravity. Moore told his listeners that if they jumped in the air at the exact moment that this planetary alignment occurred, they would experience a strange floating sensation. When 9:47 AM arrived, BBC2 began to receive hundreds of phone calls from listeners claiming to have felt the sensation. One woman even reported that she and her eleven friends had risen from their chairs and floated around the room.
2. 1996: The Taco Bell Corporation announced it had bought the Liberty Bell and was renaming it the Taco Liberty Bell. Hundreds of outraged citizens called the National Historic Park in Philadelphia where the bell was housed to express their anger. Their nerves were only calmed when Taco Bell revealed, a few hours later, that it was all a practical joke. The best line of the day came when White House press secretary Mike McCurry was asked about the sale. Thinking on his feet, he responded that the Lincoln Memorial had also been sold. It would now be known, he said, as the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial.
3. 1959: The residents of Wellingborough, England woke to find a trail of white footprints painted along the main street of their town. At the end of the trail were the words, "I must fly."
4. 1974: Residents of Sitka, Alaska were alarmed when the long-dormant volcano neighboring them, Mount Edgecumbe, suddenly began to belch out billows of black smoke. People spilled out of their homes onto the streets to gaze up at the volcano, terrified that it was active again and might soon erupt. Luckily it turned out that man, not nature, was responsible for the smoke. A local practical joker named Porky Bickar had flown hundreds of old tires into the volcano's crater and then lit them on fire, all in a (successful) attempt to fool the city dwellers into believing that the volcano was stirring to life. According to local legend, when Mount St. Helens erupted six years later, a Sitka resident wrote to Bickar to tell him, "This time you've gone too far!"
5. 1915: On April 1, 1915, in the midst of World War I, a French aviator flew over a German camp and dropped what appeared to be a huge bomb. The German soldiers immediately scattered in all directions, but no explosion followed. After some time, the soldiers crept back and gingerly approached the bomb. They discovered it was actually a large football with a note tied to it that read, "April Fool!"
6. 1965: Politiken, a Copenhagen newspaper, reported that the Danish parliament had passed a new law requiring all dogs to be painted white. The purpose of this, it explained, was to increase road safety by allowing dogs to be seen more easily at night.
7. 1997: An email message spread throughout the world announcing that the internet would be shut down for cleaning for twenty-four hours from March 31 until April 2. This cleaning was said to be necessary to clear out the "electronic flotsam and jetsam" that had accumulated in the network. Dead email and inactive ftp, www, and gopher sites would be purged. The cleaning would be done by "five very powerful Japanese-built multi-lingual Internet-crawling robots (Toshiba ML-2274) situated around the world." During this period, users were warned to disconnect all devices from the internet. The message supposedly originated from the "Interconnected Network Maintenance Staff, Main Branch, Massachusetts Institute of Technology." This joke was an updated version of an old joke that used to be told about the phone system. For many years, gullible phone customers had been warned that the phone systems would be cleaned on April Fool's Day. They were cautioned to place plastic bags over the ends of the phone to catch the dust that might be blown out of the phone lines during this period.
8. 1993: Westdeutsche Rundfunk, a German radio station, announced that officials in Cologne had just passed an unusual new city regulation. Joggers going through the park would be required to pace themselves to go no faster than six mph. Any faster, it was felt, would unnecessarily disturb the squirrels who were in the middle of their mating season.
9. 1993: The China Youth Daily, an official state newspaper of China, announced on its front page that the government had decided to make Ph.D. holders exempt from the state-imposed one-child limit. The logic behind this decision was that it would eventually reduce the need to invite as many foreign experts into the country to help with the state's modernization effort. Despite a disclaimer beneath the story identifying it as a joke, the report was repeated as fact by Hong Kong's New Evening News and by Agence France-Presse, an international news agency. Apparently what made the hoax seem credible to many was that intellectuals in Singapore are encouraged to marry each other and have children, and China's leaders are known to have great respect for the Singapore system. The Chinese government responded to the hoax by condemning April Fool's Day as a dangerous Western tradition. The Guangming Daily, Beijing's main newspaper for intellectuals, ran an editorial stating that April Fool's jokes "are an extremely bad influence." It went on to declare that, "Put plainly, April Fool's Day is Liar's Day."
10. In 1994 National Public Radio's All Things Considered program reported that companies such as Pepsi were sponsoring teenagers to tattoo their ears with corporate logos. In return for branding themselves with the corporate symbol, the teenagers would receive a lifetime 10% discount on that company's products. Teenagers were said to be responding enthusiastically to this deal.

April Fool.... Wait.... No it isn't!

The frequency of April Fools' hoaxes sometimes makes people doubt real news stories released on April 1. Below are some events that were taken to be April Fools jokes, but weren't!

• The April 1, 1946 Aleutian Island earthquake tsunami that killed 165 people in Hawaii and Alaska resulted in the creation of a tsunami warning system (specifically the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre), established in 1949 for Pacific Ocean countries. The tsunami in question is known in Hawaii as the "April Fools' Day Tsunami" due to people drowning because of the assumptions that the warnings were an April Fools' prank.
• In 1979, Iran declared April 1 its national Republic Day. Thirty years on, this continues to be mistaken for a joke.
• On April 1, 1984, singer Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his father. Originally, people assumed that it was a fake news story, especially considering the bizarre aspect of the father being the murderer.
• Gmail's April 2004 launch was widely believed to be a prank, as Google traditionally perpetrates April Fools' Day hoaxes each April 1. Another Google-related event that turned out not to be a hoax occurred on April 1, 2007, when employees at Google's New York City office were alerted that a ball python kept in an engineer's cubicle had escaped and was on the loose. An internal e-mail acknowledged that "the timing…could not be more awkward" but that the snake's escape was in fact an actual occurrence and not a prank.
• On April 1, 2009, A school was almost burned to the ground in the Danish town Albertslund; apparently, the fire department refused to believe that the news was true the first two times that people called to report it.
• Also on April 1, 2009, a Virus/Worm was called Conficker and spread to millions of computers and releasing personal info and deleting files. This was supposed to be a joke, but random computers throughout America were hit. Before this happened, news media like, NBC, Fox News, ABC and CBS told the viewers to install firewalls and updates to their Windows Computers before it hit.

Information from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools'_Day

http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/P60/

Today's Celebrations March 14th!

Today is...

Constitution Day in Andorra

Day of Solidarity with South Lebanon in Lebanon

Señor del Cautivo in Peru

Pi Day in the United States of America

White Day in Japan

World Book Day all over the world!

The Summer Day (Dita e Verës) in Albania

Sikh New Year in Sikhism

Today's Celebrations March 3!

Today is...

Declaration of Establishment of Authority of the People in Libya

Martyr's Day in Malawi

Mother's Day in Georgia

National Anthem Day in the United States of America

National Day in Bulgaria and Morocco

National Unity Day in Sudan

Hina Matsuri (Doll Festival) in Japan

Fete Du Trone in Morocco

International Relations and the Politics of China and East Asia

Joshua, UK, has been applying to Universities to do International Relations, many of which have a year abroad. For one University he had to write this essay on why he wants to study International Relations with a year in China/Hong Kong.

"Why are you interested in the politics of China and East Asia and what do you expect to gain from studying Politics and International Relations with a Year in China/Hong Kong?"

The East and the West are polar opposites that excite intrigue of the other. I have been born and raised surrounded by the interesting world of western politics and affairs; from democratic ideals, to John Locke’s political philosophy on liberalism and Hobbes’s social contract theory. There is no denying these ideas of western politics are engaging, but there is a differentiation between the political west and the political east. Never the less I am fully aware that the politics of the west is, in many cases, inexplicably linked to that of the rest of the world and that of China and East Asia. However, I feel that there is a whole new dimension of challenges and depth when they are studied in the context of the East alone, allowing me to gain a better understanding of international relations in a global context. Likewise acquiring knowledge of the various areas throughout the world individually, will allow me to establish a greater and deeper understanding of the international arena, in which I hope to venture into in the future.

One could ask why I have chosen China and East Asia as opposed to other equally important, interesting and politically complex countries. One of the reasons I begun to look into the Politics of China, and therefore East Asia, was a result of the Beijing Olympics. Here we have a country that was considered somewhat underdeveloped and most definitely not a country in pursuit of, as many would call it, super power status putting on this show that stunned the world. Subsequently China arguably became the most spectacular Olympic host ever seen. Most important for me however is that the Olympics served as China’s announcement to the world and indeed it caught many people’s attention, including mine. As a result I was compelled to look into the historical context of China’s political situation and how they had risen in power, wealth and influence on an international scale.

It is no mystery that China is the world’s fastest developing economy, despite the global recession, and this is perhaps due to the fact that they still have a significant domestic market to cater for the 1.3 billion inhabitants of China. In the context of East Asia, China are the pre-eminent power in the Far East/Pacific basin, indeed it appears that only Japan are in a position to rival China. Likewise Japan does have superiority in terms of technology, but their peace treaty that resulted at the end of WWII hinders their ability to rise into the upper ranks of ‘superpower status’. For example despite Japan’s peace force being invariably large, powerful and heavily financed it is, unfortunately, almost unknown and is not written about. Moreover it plays a small role in the operations of the UN, particularly in comparison to China who in 2007 reapplied to the ROC to gain full UN membership. Overall they are held back by their history and in turn Japan does not have the same unrestrained position as China, whom in a hundred years time could potentially be the world’s pre-eminent power. Thus the opportunity to experience, contribute and be a part of the country that is perhaps going to be the driving force behind global affairs in the future is unparalleled. In addition to this, the fact that China’s prominence is potentially on our horizon warrants a wealth of study and would allow me to step outside of studying the dynamic political systems of the past, and experience the study of a present day developmental marvel. This is not only exciting but intriguing in the sense that it is very likely in my career in British Intelligence, the EU, UN, NGO (UNICEF) or other suitable international role, this knowledge and experience will be directly applicable to current affairs. Thus this gives me an advantage in tackling the issue at hand and allowing me to contribute to my personal development, career and hopefully the world around us.

Another reason why I have an interest in the politics of China in particular regards its political system. Other countries in East Asia do not offer such a unique, alternative political train of thought. For example Malaysia adopts a multi party idea run under a federal constitutional monarchy, and Singapore and Vietnam take on the ideals of democracy. On the other hand China is a vast country, and the political system of China is dictated by its size. Thus in order to maintain control of a large space China must retain a strong central bureaucracy to govern each state. As a result China has a communist political system, but remains unique because of its implementation of a capitalist economy. Naturally from the perspective of a person who is interested in politics and international relations the individuality of China’s political system sets it apart as a dynamic place of study. With its rare culture and politics that contain numerous aspects I have never come across and now wish to understand.

Notably for me Communism is somewhat of an untouched subject, something that I have always known about, been aware of and wanted to learn more about, but it was never tangible. Thus I believe that the only way to truly experience and understand a communist system would be to live, and even study, within one. My interest in communism within China specifically was heightened following my reading of the events of Tiananmen Square, in which I begun to contemplate democratisation with regards to China. The protests which were sparked by the death of the democratic figure Hu Yaobang initiated the people’s instinct to call for reforms within the Chinese political system, reforms that took a democratic slant. What is even more interesting, yet unquestionably shocking, is that the Chinese government attempted to quell the rebellions by proceeding to shoot their own people. Such an audacious statement compels me to try and find the motivations and reasons behind such an act, never the less these motivations are complex and it appears they can only be deciphered in an environment of higher education that delves deeper into Chinese politics.

Furthermore upon learning about the event I began to question the idea that democracy as an unassailable good that should be seen as fundamental political intent within all countries. Instead it appears that it is essential to take into account the cultural implications with regards to the political system. Specifically in the case of China and the ideas of Confucius one could argue that democracy is not a principle embedded in the culture and general mindset of the Chinese people. Indeed China has been ruled as an empire because of emperors for numerous years through out its history. So it is no wonder that the Chinese people may not be accustomed to democracy. Never the less it is a flourishing nation on the rise and communism, despite common belief, can be argued to be working on a number of levels. Although to make this statement definitive, would be to look at China in a superficial context, it is true that while their economy is on the rise so is their rate of inequality. In addition China’s communist state causes them to censor their media exposure, which some would argue is an infringement of human rights. Taking these points into consideration it seems that China has a duality in which it is hard to ascertain if, in the grand scheme of things, their method of ruling is for the better or worse. I for one look forward to seeing China in the future but in the present – through higher education – I will endeavour to understand how China reached the position they are in today, so I can help understand where China will be going in the future.

As an emerging key player in the global arena, it is very likely China will begin to branch off into other countries. Indeed as a person who wishes to work in international relations it is likely that I will be required by many employers such as MI6 to possess competency in Chinese (Mandarin). Similarly employers such as MI5, GCHQ and UNICEF state Mandarin is a highly favourable attribute. Likewise as I wish to apply for a British intelligence position upon graduation the opportunity to become highly competent if not fluent in such a desirable language would be of my complete benefit. Aside from my career, I am intrigued by the world and I wish to learn several languages, of which Mandarin is perhaps the most challenging, hence becoming fluent would enhance my ability to learn yet more languages. Furthermore the difficulty of the language also means that unlike Spanish or French it is unlikely that I will have another opportunity to learn Mandarin outside of the academic environment. Particularly as my knowledge can be compounded by the year abroad, a principle that I feel is integral to learning such a complex language and a feature that is very hard to replicate outside of this course. Overall regardless of its difficulty, the language will enhance me personally as well as professionally.

Ultimately for an international relations applicant the experience of studying in China is invaluable. China to an international relations student is what the brain is to a medical student. A place of undiscovered study that will be at the forefront of research in the future. The prospect of learning the language so early in my career, gaining a deeper understanding of Chinese politics, along with analysis and interpretative skills, independence and a new outlook on global affairs that reaches beyond the headlines, can not be found elsewhere.

What do you think about China and the politics of China? Do you live in China? Are you interested in Chinese politics? Comment and let us know!

Today's Celebrations February 11!

Today is:

Armed Forces Day in Liberia

National Foundation Day in Japan

Youth Day in Cameroon

Anniversary of Lateranensi Pacts in Vatican City State