Insights into an old culture

The more one reads the more one is convinced of how less one really knows. Kudos to Raana Haider for her wonderful work. The slimness of the volume belies the depth of knowledge and wisdom embedded in it. The work is a wonderful appetizer/eye opener to a more in depth appreciation of China. Indeed a savoury appetizer with delectable observations and morsels of wisdom interspersed at regular intervals.
Development economists have been saying with some conviction since well before the curtain was brought down on the 20th century that "the 21st century belongs to China". Well, even before the first decade of the new century has come to a close we know how correct the prediction is turning out to be. The writing is on the wall. The global citizen --- rather the global "village dweller" --- ignores China at his or her own peril !
That the author's work has been based on painstaking research and first hand observations is evident even before one has read a fourth of the book. The book is loaded with vignettes of information, observations and anecdotes that will appeal equally to the casual reader and the devoted Sinologist.
Indeed, western historians have until now successfully denied China its rightful place in history, principally because they - western historians - have been transcribing history and also because fortuitously English came to be the global lingua franca. Hence, the trumpeting of the virtues of Europe, "the new world" and "the west". Just imagine, what might have happened if the Chinese language had the position and status of the English language! Almost all inventions, philosophies, marvels of engineering, medicine and the sciences would have had Chinese authors!
Over the centuries China has been visited by intrepid Western, European and Middle Eastern travellers, scientists and philosophers, all of whom lived to tell the tales of a wonderful China. Alas, their works were overtaken or obscured by developments in the West, Eurocentric Europe and the New World. Raana Haider's tome helps to bring this glaring oversight into sharp focus.
The observations in the book that I have found most thought provoking are :
1. Around the Middle Ages trade routes that were land based for centuries gave way to maritime trade and the overland "Silk Route" lost its primal importance to the blue water "Spice Route".
2. Fascinating theory on the discovery of the Americas by the Chinese long before Columbus discovered America. Enough scientific evidence is now at hand to substantiate this hypothesis.
3. The invention of porcelain in China in the 16th century B.C. Nothing is more Chinese than porcelain the very word "china" has been incorporated in the English language. "Pottery belongs to all mankind but porcelain is China's invention"- is a thought-provoking dictum.
4. Impressive, provocative, intricate and elaborate description of the genesis and history of the "Forbidden City".
5. Other items that are genuinely Chinese and immediately evoke images of China are "Acupuncture", "Feng Shui" (also known as Geomancy), Chinese food, tea, opium, bamboo, the sensuous "Cheongsam", calligraphy and Taichi. All have been touched upon and leave the reader with an appetite to learn more.
6. Between the 7th and 20th centuries China was ruled successively by the Tang, Song, Ming and Qing dynasties each with its own distinctive phases and imprint on history.
The book describes the writer's peregrinations in three cities of China and their surroundings Beijing, Shanghai and Kunming.
Beijing takes in an evocative description of the city itself, its history, the peculiarities of its hardworking population. A visit to the Forbidden City. A visit to the Great Wall. A visit to a Tea House. A visit to a Chinese Restaurant. Elaborating upon these would rob the future reader of the scintillating details and the passion and brilliance of the author in providing her unique insight on matters that are centuries old.
Shanghai takes one's breath away. It is a "new city" in the sense that "it was a small town that lived off fishing and weaving" until the East India Company "discovered" it in 1832 and commenced commercial operations in 1842. The British 'taipans' arrived from Hong Kong and through the introduction of the opium trade gained a stranglehold on the city, converting it into the gateway of China. And Shanghai has since never looked back. It usurped the position of the engine of China's growth gained such tremendous momentum, in the last couple of decades only, to propel the entire Chinese economy headlong into the 21st century. Such has been the Shanghai driven phenomenal growth that other global economies are still reeling from its impact. The author describes the cheek by jowl coexistence of the old with the breathtakingly new. The expose is brilliantly done peeling away layer after layer of the magic of this enchanting city. The information is presented in a very authentic and well documented manner comparing and contrasting the city with other global metropolises. Giving new meaning to China's obsession with the "greatest, "oldest", "largest" and other such superlatives.
Kunming brings to a close the author's visit to China being her port of exit therefrom. Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province, is an industrial heartland now, though it has been an important trading portal for centuries. The flourishing of a wide variety of bamboo makes it the sanctuary for the Giant Panda. It is the birthplace of the greatest Chinese maritime navigator Zheng He. This 15th century Muslim admiral is credited with the 'discovery' of the Americas decades before Christopher Columbus landed there.
The author has conducted extensive research followed up by a focused and introspective visit to provide the reader with this remarkable armchair travelogue.

Tanveerul Haque ([email protected])is a businessman with keen interest in travel, books, film and music.