I am interested on cartography. I like maps, in other words. I want to paint one wall of the kids’ playroom to resemble one massive Mercator Projection.
Imagine my glee, then, when we were in China and visited a factory where Cloisonne pottery is made. This method of firing, layering, and refiring pottery creates an exquisite product. And there in the factory store were a series of globes and maps created using this technique. I have not the words to express how beautiful the world looked in pottery.
But when I looked at the maps, I felt disoriented (those of you who know me well enough may think I was going for a pun there, China and all that; but I assure you that was purely occidental). Every map I have seen since birth had Greenwich, England at dead center (horizontally, not vertically). But not these maps.
The center of the world on these Chinese maps was…Beijing. The rest of the world was all relative to that line, the line that defines the “Middle Kingdom,” the line that splits the box in two to form the character that means “China.” That line runs down the center of the Forbidden City, and right through the Monument to the Peoples’ Heroes that was so prominent during the protests of 1989. Yep, to the people of the world’s most populous nation, they are the center.
The Chinese New Year carries some of that same sense of self-identification and self-importance as well. Much of Asia will celebrate the year 4706 starting next Sunday. A week later, everyone who is Chinese has a birthday. The birthday of the common man is celebrated on the seventh day of the new year. Imagine the size of that cake.
So, happy new year. Life and properity to you.
Hmm, “live long and prosper“…where have I heard that before…
