TRAVEL – REVIEWS AND VIEWS OF LIFE

CHINA’S POWER

“Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister” shows that wealth, belief in something greater than oneself, and human relationship are the powers behind revolution.

Audio-book Review
By Chet Yarbrough

(Blog:awalkingdelight)
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister (Three Women at the Heart of Twentieth-Century China.)

By: Jung Change

Narrated by: Catherine Ho

Jung Change (Author, Chinese-born British writer whose autobiography is banned in the Peoples Republic of China.)

“Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister” is an historically important book about major political struggles that have shaped modern China. It is a story of three sisters who were closely connected to early twentieth century China when it was teetering between being a Republic, independent of the West, and later a communist autocracy. Though China is not yet, by definition, a republic, twentieth century China seems destined to follow Sun Yat-sen’s “Three Principles of the People”. 1) Nationalism-being independent and sovereign. 2) Democracy with Executive, Legislative, Judicial, Examination, and Yuan Control branches 3) A government that attends to people’s livelihood concern including land reform, regulation of capital, and improved living standards for all.

Sun Yat-sen notes the Qing Empire’s decline and emphasizes a need for China’s sovereignty and unity as a singular nation. He insists on independence from the influence of the West. He demands reduction of foreign influence in China from unequal treaties between the West and China. He seeks political unity by reinforcing Chinese national identity. His goal is to establish China as a constitutional democracy in stages beginning with initial military rule but evolving through political tutelage of the people about democracy. His goals are delayed (if not defeated) by the class revolution led by Mao Zedong. China’s historical transition is viewed through the history of three sisters, one which is married to Sun Yat-sen, a second who marries Chiang Kai-shek, and a third older sister who holds the wealth behind the influences of their marriages.

The three sisters of the Soong family.

The oldest of the three sisters creates wealth through personal effort and a marriage to H. H. Kung, one of the wealthiest financiers and businessmen in China. All three sisters are educated in the United States. Their father was a Methodist Christian minister educated in America. The oldest sister (Big Sister), Soong Ai-ling became one of China’s wealthiest women. “Red Sister” married Sun Yat-sen, the founder of the Chinese Republic who served as a high-ranking member of early 20th century rule of China. “Little Sister” married Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of Nationalist China.

Soong Ai-ling (Graduated for Wesleyan College, became a secretary for Sun Yat-sen.)

CHIANG KAI-SHEK (China’s ruler from 1928-1948)

Jung Change’s story unfortunately obscures the momentous differences between Chiang Kai-shek’s and Mao Zedong’s rule of China with a somewhat ponderous history of the marriages of two of three daughters born in the Soong family. All three sisters are raised as Methodists in America. Chiang Kai-shek ruled China from 1928 to 1948 and governed Taiwan until 1975. His rule is guided by the political beliefs of Sun Yat-sen.

Chiang Kai-shek ruled China as a nationalist one-party state under the Kuomintang (KMT) while Mao ruled China under the Chinese Communist Party. Mao also used the KMT to enforce his rule as leader of the CCP. The contrast between these two rulers is poorly organized in the writing of “Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister”. The author’s history obscures, if not diminishes, the book’s historical importance. It reveals many interesting and surprising facts about early and mid-century China, but the author’s focus is too fragmented.

Sun Yat-sen (Chinese physician, revolutionary and political philosopher who founded the Kuomintang and set the table for what became Taiwan.)

Chiang Kai-shek adopts Sun Yat-sen’s “Three Principles of the People” in his rule of China. The Kuomintang enforces the principle of unity of China with the presumed intent to democratize the government in the future as was envisioned by Sun Yat-sen. Democratization would take time to educate citizens on the principals of political representation. The KMT would exercise military rule until the principals of representation could be understood by China’s citizens. Even when Chiang is exiled in Taiwan, the KMT is in control of its citizens until Chiang’s death. Chiang dies from pneumonia and other ailments in 1975. Taiwan did evolve, as Sun predicted, into a democracy similar to America’s after Chiang’s death. Taiwan endorsed fully competitive elections in 1992 and had its first direct presidential election in 1996. This seems a fulfillment of Sun Yat-sen’s longer-term goal in the “Three Principles of the People”. Sun Yat-sen died from liver cancer in 1925. He was 58 years old.

Rules of nation-state leadership and representation had to be taught to the citizens in Sun’s view of China’s future.

The two sisters of the wealthy Soong family are shown to have had an important impact on the philosophy of rule in China. Sun Yat-sen’s ambition and beliefs gained credibility by being married to a daughter of the wealthy Soong family. Soong Ching-ling is celebrated as the “Mother of Modern China”. She becomes the bridge between Sun Yat-sen’s political beliefs and what became Communist China when Mao Zedong rose to power. Sun Yat-sen’s wife stayed in mainland China and supported the new Communist government.

Soong Mei-ling (First Lady of the Republic of China, wife of Chiang Kai-shek.)

As the wife of Chiang Kai-shek, Soong Mei-ling became the ambassador of China to the West. Because of her fluency in the English language, she helped America understand Chinese government’s relationship to the West. She secures American sympathy during China’s war against Japan and acts as an intermediary between Chinese and American leaders with her intimate understanding of both cultures.

Soong Ching-ling (Chinese politician and activist wife of Sun Yat-sen.)

In contrast to Soong Ching-ling, Soong Mei-ling leaves mainland China to follow her husband to Taiwan. After her husband’s death in 1975, she returns to the United States and dies in New York at the age of 105. In the end, the three sisters were closely allied with China but ended up on opposite sides of the 2oth century’s greatest ideological divide. Soong Ching-ling (Sun Yat-sen’s widow) became a firm believer in Communist China. Soong Mei-ling sided with her husband and became a leading figure in Nationalist Taiwan, while Soong Ai-ling, the oldest and wealthiest of the three, chose to leave China and return to the United States.

It is surprising to find that three Chinese sisters with American Christian backgrounds had prominent roles in China’s twentieth century leadership. “Big Sister, Little Sister, Red Sister” shows that wealth, belief in something greater than oneself, and human relationship are the powers behind revolution.

America’s Drug Problem

China’s 19th century corruption and the opium war are penultimate examples of China’s golden age decline. One fears Ameica’s golden age may be in a similar decline in the 21st century.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Imperial Twilight (The Opium War and the End of China’s Last Golden Age)

Author: Stephen R. Platt

Narration by: Mark Deakins

Stephen R. Platt (Author, American historian, professor of Chinese history at the University of Massachusetts.)

As an audiobook listener and fortunate traveler of the world, books about China are an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Stephen Platt’s “Imperial Twilight” reinforces one’s understanding of how different and alike China’s strengths and weaknesses are to younger nations of the world. America is a newly born baby in comparison to China. One comes away from “Imperial Twilight” with the feeling that China is at the dawn of a new “…Golden Age” in the 21st century. Platt’s history clearly explains the fall of one of China’s earlier golden ages that is accelerated by the rise of Great Britain and “The Opium War…” of the 19th century.

Platt explains the opium trade accelerated the decline of China in the early 19th century.

The Qing dynasty arguably created a golden age in China between 1661 and 1796. Emperor Kangxi (1661-1722) consolidated Qing family rule by defeating three feuding factions in China. He manages to reach a diplomatic settlement with Russia that had been encroaching on Chinese territory. Kangxi patronized scholarship, science, and cartography during his reign. He is compared to Louis XIV and Peter the Great for the length and effectiveness of his reign. His two heirs carried on China’s golden age up to the end of the 18th century when Great Britain arguably grew into its second golden age (the Victorian Age of 1837 to 1901).

William Jardine (1784-1843, Scottish physician, merchant and opium dealer who co-founded the Hong Kong based conglomerate Jardine/Matheson & Co.)

Platt argues William Jardine and James Matheson were key Englishmen that grew wealthy from the opium trade in China in the early 19th century. Britain had a massive trade imbalance because the rest of the world coveted the tea, silk, and porcelain produced by China. Jardine and Matheson capitalized on the opium trade because it was not regulated by either Britain or China with China becoming a massive importer of the deadly drug. Belief in free trade exacerbated opium sales in the most populated countries of the world with China having the greatest number of users. The Qing dynasty attempts to quell the opium trade but were met with derision by British insistence on free trade despite the addictive and deadly effects of opium.

Lin Zexu (1785-1850, Chinese political philosopher and politician who led China during the decline of the Qing Dynasty.)

Jardine and Matheson are challenged by Lin Zexu, the Qing dynasty official who is ordered by China’s emperor to suppress the opium trade. Zexu confiscates and destroys large stocks of British opium in Canton in 1839. His campaign triggers the Opium war. Platt characterizes Zexu as an intelligent Chinese patriot with imprecise information about Britain and its concern about the opium trade. The emperor of China has contradictory reports about Britain’s concerns about the opium trade and their intent to regulate or eliminate its role in trade with China.

Sir George Thomas Staunton (At the age of 12, Staunton was left by his father in China to learn the Chinese language. He became employed by the East India Company and rose to be a member of parliament.)

Platt ponderously explains the history of important British citizens who live in Canton and learn the Chinese language. George Staunton, as a young child, is left to live in China by his father to learn Chinese to become a conduit for Britain’s trade in Canton, China. Staunton eventually becomes a member of British parliament that supports the Opium war waged on China. Despite the length of Platt’s book, it is an amazing story to find a father who essentially farms out his son to learn Chinese without much financial support. The advent of the Opium war is characterized by Platt as a tragic and avoidable conflict that marked the end of China’s last golden age.

Sir John Francis Davis (British diplomat and sinologist who became the second Governor of Hong Kong from 1844 to 1848.)

John Francis Davis also seriously studies Chinese and works for East India Companies that produce most of the opium that is traded in Canton. Davis becomes Governor of Hong Kong. Davis is shown to believe Britain should stand firm in pursuit of fair trade but questions the need for military confrontation. The war is strongly supported by men like William Jardine, undoubtedly because of his lucrative opium business, but surprisingly George Staunton, an Englishman who had a lifetime understanding of Chinese suzerainty and understood the Chinese language and culture, also endorses the war.

Government corruption.

Despite the length of Platt’s book, it is enlightening to hear of the rise and fall of China and the corruption that existed before the Qing dynasty. It reminds one of reports of Xi’s efforts to eliminated Chinese corruption in the 21st century. Whether Xi will succeed in restoring another golden age for China remains to be seen. Corruption in America today seems as appalling as the history of China in the early 19th century. President Trump seems more interested in increasing his family’s wealth and creating monuments to himself than serving the interests of the American public. America, like China in Platt’s history of the Opium war, has a drug problem.

China’s 19th century corruption and the opium war are penultimate examples of China’s golden age decline. One fears Ameica’s golden age may be in a similar decline in the 21st century.

DUBLIN

Banville’s brief memoir successfully makes one wish to walk Dublin’s streets, countryside, and city to experience an environment that created some great writers.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Time Pieces (A Dublin Memoir)

Author:John Banville

Narration by: John Lee

John Banville (Author, aka Benjamin Black, Irish novelist, screenwriter, and literary stylist.)

John Banville’s memoir makes its listener/reader interested in visiting Dublin. The narrator, John Lee, has an Irish sounding brogue that offers a false authenticity to Banville’s memoir even though Lee is not Irish. Banville’s story is entertaining because it gives one some understanding of why so many famous writers came from Ireland. The list is long but the most well-known are James Joyce, W.B. Yeats, Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and Samuel Beckett. It seems from Banville’s memoir there is something about Ireland’s environment that creates great writers who become Nobel Prize winners, famous playwrights, and/or dramatists.

Location of Dublin in Ireland, accross from the west coast of the United Kingdom.

Banville implies there is something about Ireland that encourages self-reflection. He focuses on Dublin because it is where he is born and raised and has a son who still lives there. Banville, having left Dublin at 18, shows a love and longing for something that made him a writer of some fame. He reflects on his love for books to the point of stealing one from a library as a rascally but studious boy in Dublin; presumably because of the book’s appeal to his sense of self. His description of Dublin makes one wish to visit the places he describes. His peripatetic journey through his boyhood haunts undoubtedly helps him understand how and why he became a writer. Despite his recollections, one comes away from his memoir with few clues other than reading and being interested in books that makes Dublin a seedbed for great writers.

James Joyce wrote Ulysses and A Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man.

In mid-book Banville details some of Ireland’s Kings and leaders. One nearly puts Banville’s book aside but the poignant story of his courtship of a young Irish girl draws one back into his view of Dublin.

Famous Irish Medieval Kings

Dancing at a Céilí: Your Ultimate Guide to Ireland’s Joyful Dance Tradition - Secret Ireland

One gathers from Banville’s memoir that it is the environment of Ireland, particularly Dublin, that made him who he became. One imagines a city teaming with people in a wet-weather, gray-skyed city that offers an education from books, teachers, and schools in Dublin. Banville encapsulates his view of an Irish life in “Time Pieces”. He paints a picture of Dublin that he implies made him who he became. He illustrates Ireland’s culture that formed the character of many famous literary men. Banville’s brief memoir successfully makes one wish to walk Dublin streets, its countryside, and city to experience an environment that created some great writers.

LEWIS & CLARK’S AMERICA

Robert Frost wrote “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” That is the essential truth of “The Vast Enterprise” about the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Vast Enterprise (A New History of Lewis & Clark)

Author: Craig Fehrman

Narration by: Jason Culp & 5 more

Craig Fehrman (Author, journalist, historian of Presidents and American history.)

Craig Fehrman writes an excellent history of the Lewis and Clark expedition. It entertains and informs reader/listeners of the lives of Meriwhether Lewis, William Clark, an enslaved man named York, and a tribal native named Sacagawea. From President Thomas Jefferson’s reasoning and his decision to create an expedition from Kentucky to the Pacific, one learns something new, old, and troubling about America.

Thomas Jeffereson (1743-1826, President of the U.S. 1801-1809.)

Thomas Jefferson is characterized as a shrewd, partisan, and forceful political operator who had a clear vision for the future of continental America. That prescient vision of America by Jefferson hides his blindness to the truth of human equality of Black men and women as inferior to white men. However, Fehrman notes Jefferson believes natives of this continent had the potential to be the equal of white Americans. Jefferson’s shrewdness and forceful opinion is illustrated by his understanding of the importance of trading posts as a way to expand control of land possessed by native inhabitants and held by Spanish and French interests. Lewis and Clark’s western expedition is, in Jefferson’s opinion, critical to America’s future land interests.

Meriwhether Lewis and William Clark (American Explorers.)

Both Meriwhether Lewis and William Clark are characterized as relatively educated colonial citizens suited for an expedition from Kentucky to the Pacific. Though both leaders for the expedition were heroic, their personalities, leadership styles, and temperaments were quite different. Lewis is characterized as brilliant but an inwardly volatile man, while Clark is a steady, self-confident manager of people. Lewis is the visionary who works in the Jefferson’ administration as secretary to the President while Clark is former military officer who gets things done with people who report to him. Lewis clearly understood Jefferson’s objective in exploring the west, its diplomatic purpose, and geopolitical importance. Clark’s frontier experience, military discipline, and surveying skill served Lewis’s understanding of Jefferson’s objectives.

Lewis & Clark Expedition

Both Lewis and Clark understood they were not only entering a wilderness but a continent full of other nations which made them effective negotiators and intermediaries with native tribes. Lewis’s intellectual understanding of Jefferson’s objectives is complimented by Clark’s skill in managing native tribe relationships. With the help of a Black slave owned by Clark and a native Shoshone woman married to a French trader, this former military man manages to gain the aid of the Lakota, Shoshone, and other tribes to save the Lewis and Clark expedition from failure.

Image of York (Slave owned by William Clark.)

The history of York (Clark’s owned slave) in the expedition is interesting. What the author, York, and enlisted members of the expedition show is that Lewis and Clark were dependent on their crew for the success of the mission. Men like York provide the labor and skill needed to complete the journey. As a young adult, York shows the value of all human beings to the success of the expedition while being a slave. The sad fact is that York is never released from his bondage to Clark. Despite York’s alleged inferiority, Clark relies on him for his field abilities and reminds reader/listeners of the importance of other cultures and ethnicities that make America. Fehrman infers York is a symbolic bridge between ethnic worlds; i.e. not just the Black and White world but the native and English American world. York is an example the difference of human beings in America; i.e., from people of color to native tribes in a dominant white culture. Fehrman’s story infers human difference reinforces belief that native tribes (Black, white, or other) could co-exist though not be treated as equal human beings. This is no stretch of a reader/listener’s imagination based on America’s history of Indian/American wars and slavery. There is one native American that travels with Lewis and Clark. She is Sacagawea, the only woman on the expedition. Her story reflects on America’s view of women as property despite their contribution to life and their contribution to social and economic society.

Image of Sacagawea on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Fehrman suggests Sacagawea is a full participant in the expedition. To Fehrman she represents a symbol of Native nations. Sacagawea and York became part of the diplomatic fabric of the journey demonstrating the truth of human equality. Sacagawea became pregnant from her husband, Toussaint Charbonneau, a French-Canadian trapper. Her baby is born on the expedition. Charbonneau had two native wives, the first of which did not accompany them on the expedition. Sacagawea had been kidnapped by the Hidatsa tribe in a war with the Shoshone when she is 12. Charbonneau is 20 years older than Sacagawea. Sacagawea is 13 when she is forced to marry Charbonneau by the Hidatsa. The tribe had traded goods with Charbonneau. Sacagawea and Charbonneau are reluctantly hired by Lewis and Clark for the expedition. Both act as interpreters on the expedition but Fehrman argues Sacagawea represents more than being a translator because of her heritage and knowledge of the territory through which they will travel. Sacagawea’s Shoshone tribal heritage had diplomatic value beyond mere language interpretation. On the other hand, Charbonneau seems more a liability than asset to Lewis and Clark.

Shoshone Tribe in western America.

Fehrman shows the expeditionary Americans were not dominant actors in their relationships with native tribes. In the wilderness, they acted more as guests or supplicants in their dealings with various tribes. They recognized they were outsiders that needed political alliances with native tribes because they had meager knowledge of the territory and customs of indigenous tribes who controlled the river lands they explored. Their need for food, horses, guides, and knowledge of the land depends on their relationships with indigenous tribes. Without tribal help and guidance, they would have no protection or chance of safe passage. Native tribes provide horses and information that kept them on their course to the west and saved them from starvation and death. It is a combination of Jefferson’s somewhat arrogant plan for the country’s consolidation for the expeditionary force to be dependent upon indigenous tribes who are repeatedly deprived of their land in America’s growth as a nation. It is the explorer’s humbleness and humility that allows Lewis and Clark to succeed in growing an American continent that historically suppresses indigenous land ownership and use.

Most Shoshone Tribes appear more southwestern than northwestern.

Indigenous tribes were politically naive in their aid to American explorers. Without tribal’ naivete, the early days of America’s influence and growth as a singular nation would have failed. One presumes, the continent would have remained a land of tribal ownership and internecine conflicts over land and natural resources. In the early years of American government, it is humbleness, humility, and the growth of trade between natives and early Americans that transform a land of native tribal presence into a singular nation among nations. In Fehrman’s opinion the prime mover of that accomplishment began with Thomas Jefferson and “The Vast Enterprise” of explorers like Lewis and Clark.

The last chapters of Fehrman’s book leave listener/readers with notes about Lewis, Clark, York, and Sacagawea that are sad to read or hear. Lewis becomes an alcoholic and commits suicide. Clark refuses to give York his freedom. York dies from cholera while Clark lives a life of success and power. Clark becomes governor of -Missouri Territory and Superintendent of Indian Affairs. Sacagawea is leaves her French husband and dies at Fort Manuel in 1812.

Robert Frost (1874-1963.)

Robert Frost wrote “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” That is the essential truth of “The Vast Enterprise”.

HUMAN FOLLY

The weakness in Goldfarb’s idea of beaver management is that human society has never been good at “managing” animal behavior. The laws of unintended consequences seem to always get in the way.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Eager (The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter)

Author: Ben Goldfarb

Narration by: William Damron

Ben Goldfarb (Author, environmental writer, journalist based in Colorado.)

Goldfarb has written a book about beavers, a nocturnal, thick furred, waterproof coated animal with teeth powerful enough to fell trees, strip bark, build natural dams, and carve channels through wood. His history of beavers is a mixture of positives and negativities about an animal that is both ecologically beneficial and destructive. Goldfarb clearly comes down on the side of ecological value for society to endorse beaver preservation and growth.

Beaver species.

A fairly balanced history of beavers is given by Goldfarb but those who take the time to listen/read his book are likely to be skeptical. Beavers naturally create wetland habitats that store water, filter pollutants, and create habitats for fish, birds, amphibians, and insects. Beavers are natural hydrological engineers that slow water erosion, restore groundwater, and mitigate drought. The ponds and wetlands they naturally create become fire safety breaks. Beavers create ponds that store carbon, buffer heat, and aid human climate-adaptation. On the other hand, beavers cause flooding of roads, basements, and farmland fields. They destroy trees, flood crops, and interfere with irrigation systems. They naturally propagate themselves to aggravate negative impacts on human farming and habitation.

Wetland management.

Goldfarb suggests the negative impact of beavers can be mitigated by human management of their behavior in natural habitats. To prevent flooding, he notes human actions can be taken to control water levels with flow regulation. Goldfarb notes beaver deception devices have been created by humans that effectively prevent flooding by deceiving beaver’s natural building habits that raise water levels. Goldfarb notes beavers natural dam building can continue with human oversight to control water levels with culvert diversions. Particular trees can be fenced or protected by wire mesh from being destroyed. The population of beavers can be managed by moving species to other sites or by limiting their areas of colonization. The advantage of beaver management is that beaver productivity would benefit society at less cost than human engineering and building of water management systems.

Natural beaver habitat?

With proper management by society, natural beaver habitats can improve water storage, buffer for fire damage, create natural fisheries, and restore the benefits of wetlands to the environment. Beavers could become the engineers and laborers needed to create an improved natural environment.

Mackenzie Wolf Alaskan Tundra Wolf or Canadian Timber Wolf Canis lupus occidentalis wolves in the snow

However, history shows humans have overfished habitats of Atlantic cod, Bluefin tuna, and salmon which has been exacerbated by poor hatchery management and dam construction. Predator eradication by humans wiped out wolves across Europe and North America causing explosions in deer and elk populations that overgrazed forests and caused excessive river erosion. Bison killed by human hunters nearly disappeared on the Great Plains in the 19th century. Their eradication is partly responsible for prairie ecosystem deterioration from invasive grasses, soil carbon depletion, and increasing dust storms. Mass poisoning campaigns of rats and mice led to their resistance to poisons and indirectly killed owls, hawks, and foxes.

The weakness in Goldfarb’s idea of beaver management is that human society has never been good at “managing” animal behavior. The laws of unintended consequences seem to always get in the way.

AN ACCOMPLISHED WOMAN

“A Woman in Arabia” is a compilation of Gertrude Bell’s writing and involvement in the Middle East in the early 20th century. Her experience and ability to influence the course of events in the Middle East is concrete evidence of the mistaken view of sexual inequality.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

A Woman in Arabia (Gertrude Bell–The Writings of the Queen of the Desert)

Author: Bret Baier

Edited by: George Howell

Narrated by: Sian Thomas & 2 More

Gertrude Margaret Lowthian Bell (British archaeologist, explorer, political officer, and writer.)

Gertrude Bell was educated at Queen’s College and received a first-class degree in modern history from Oxford in 1888 at the age if 19. She was the first woman to earn a first-class degree at Oxford. Women were not awarded graduation degrees at Oxford at that time, but her intellectual capability compelled the institution to recognize her accomplished study in modern history. (Oxford did not award general college degrees to women until 1920.)

Bell is born into a wealthy family that gave her advantage, but it is her work ethic, adventurousness, and intelligence that demonstrated more than her privileges.

What “A Woman in Arabia” reveals is Bell’s intelligence, erudition, desire for adventure, and research experience. She became a competent field archaeologist who learned Persian and Arabic while traveling through and living in the Middle East. She was a remarkable linguist who could speak a number of languages. Bell is born into a wealthy family that gave her advantage, but it is her work ethic and intelligence that demonstrated more than her privileges. She became recognized in the world as a person who helped shape the modern state of Iraq by supporting installation of King Faisal I as its ruler in 1921. She helped define Iraq’s borders after the collapse of the Ottoman Empire.

Mesopotamia became territories recognized as Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Israel, and Asia Minor.

Bell spent years mapping and exploring Mesopotamia after leaving England and living in the Middle East. She became intimately familiar with Mesopotamia, which became territories recognized as Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Israel, and Asia Minor. She participated in major archaeological digs and founded the Iraq Museum in Baghdad. Her numerous writings are compiled in “A Woman in Arabia”. A compilation of her writings explores her critical role in the creation of an independent Middle Eastern’ nation known as Iraq.

For anyone who doubts equality of the sexes, Bell represents the truth of a false belief perpetuated by the illusion of male superiority.

Bell shows herself as an accomplished human being, respected by governments, Kings, and the general public in the same way as the greatest men of her or our time. Bell is a woman of substance who reveals her love of two men (one an adulterous married veteran of WWI and another whom her father refuses to countenance because of his alleged unsavory character). Bell never marries. She grows to maturity to council governments and rulers about the value of Middle Eastern countries and their desire and capability to rule as independent nations. This is during a tumultuous time when the Ottoman empire is trying to take, by force of arms, as much Middle Eastern territory as they can.

Sir Percy Cox (The British High Commissioner for Mesopotamia.)

Bell counsels and significantly influences several powerful and well-known “great men” of her time. Great Britain is a major player in the Middle Eastern resistance to Ottoman control of the territories that became Syria, Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, and Jordan. The High Commissioner for Mesopotamia (the name assigned before Middle Eastern nations’ formation) is Sir Percy Cox. Bell’s correspondence shows she is highly esteemed and trusted by Cox who had appointed her as his Oriental Secretary and adviser on tribal politics of what became the nation of Iraq.

Sir Arnold Wilson (Acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia.)

Sir Arnold Wilson was the Acting Civil Commissioner in Mesopotamia before Sir Percy Cox is appointed The High Commission. Bell served under Wilson as his eyes and ears in Mesopotamia during World War 1. Her familiarity with leaders in the Middle East led to the choice of King Faisal I as the Hashemite monarch in 1921. Bell became a close friend and adviser to Faisal in the governance of Iraq which aided in peace between factions of Iraq’s Sunni, Shi’a and Kurdish peoples. Bell worked closely with T. E. Lawrence (the famed “Lawrence of Arabia”) in what became the Arab Bureau that dealt with Middle Eastern nationalism and statecraft.

Lawrence of Arabia.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBING

This is a well written and fascinating story. On the one hand, it shows the adventurous nature of human beings. On the other hand, it shows the absurdity of a human goal that can kill you with no value beyond personal achievement.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Into Thin Air (A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster)

Author: Jon Krakauer

Narration by: Philip Franklin

Jon Krakauer (Author, American writer, journalist, and mountaineer. Raised in Corvallis, Or., lives in Boulder Co.)

Human beings test themselves in many ways, some of which make little sense. Jon Krakauer is a mountain climber. Why does one choose to climb a mountain? Well, he is a writer and a magazine offers to pay the $65,000 fee required by an expedition leader to climb Mt. Everest in Tibet. At least, Krakauer has a purpose which undoubtedly is to have an adventure to write about that might offer monetary reward. It appears others have other motives but at least Krakauer took the trip for a reason that makes some logical sense. Considering the reward, one comes away from his book with the feeling that no amount of money is worth the trial he experienced and the lives lost in a climb to the pinnacle of Mt. Everest.

Mt. Everest is 29,032 feet high, located in the Himalayas of Nepal and Tibet.

Krakauer writes that he idolizes mountain climbers. He believes the opportunity of climbing the tallest mountain in the world seems worth the risk. Mount Everest is 29,032 feet high, located in the Himalayas of Nepal and Tibet. Krakauer introduces reader/listeners to Rob Hall, the expedition leader and guide who heads the adventure. Hall, a New Zealander, had created a company that offers mountain climbing expeditions. Andy Harris, who also comes from New Zealand, is Hall’s employee and an additional guide.

Rob Hall (1961-1996, New Zealand mountaineer, led the Mt. Everest climb in 1996 where he and two clients died.)

Scott Fischer, an entrepreneur and guide with his own company has another Everest climbing group. Fischer dies on a descent during the same time as Krakauer’s group climbs Everest. This is a brutal reminder of the great risk being taken by Krakauer.

Yasuko Namba (1949-1996, the second Japanese woman to climb the Seven Summits, the tallest mountains in the world.)

Yasuko Namba, a Japanese climber joins the Krakauer group. Namba is motivated to join the group because of her interest in completing the climbs of the seven tallest mountains in the world. She is 47 years old. Though not as strong as some of the younger climbers, Mt. Everest is the last of the Seven Summits she is determined to conquer. Hall, Harris, Namba, and Fischer die from the climb, either from the exertion, a storm, or their descent from Everest.

Campsites on Mt. Everest.

It is interesting to find there are many Mt. Everest expeditions that occur at the same with different companies. They camp in the same areas as they attempt their ascent. Krakauer writes of Scott Fischer’s Mountain Madness group, a Taiwanese National Expedition, an IMAX Filming Expedition, a South African Expedition, and their Sherpa support teams who aid all of the climbing groups. Krakauer notes how coveted the Sherpa are by companies that are dependent on their skills.

Doug Hansen, an American postal worker who joins the Hall expedition

Doug Hansen, an American postal worker joins the Hall expedition. Hansen dies in a storm before reaching the summit and had to be carried by the group to the summit at the insistence of Hall. Hansen had attempted to climb the peak the year before with a Hall group. Surprisingly, the group leader Hall dies on this 1996 climb from altitude sickness which confuses his sense of direction. He loses his way as they descend from the South Summit. In the descent from Everest, Harris and Fischer die during another mountain storm. The only woman on the trip, Yasuko Namba dies on the descent because of exhaustion and exposure that had killed Hall. Beck Weathers, an American climber survives after appearing to die twice. Weather’s experience leaves him with severe frostbite and requires major surgery after the climb.

Sandra Pittman

The oddest adventurer that Krakauer writes about is Sandy Pittman who is in the Mountain Madness group. Pittman is a New York socialite who is known in the fashion world. In Krakauer’s telling, Ms. Pittman seems representative of the commercialization of mountain climbing. Pittman manages to make the mountain top and survives the storm that kills some of Krakauer’s group. However, Pittman became exhausted during the descent. She requires rescue. She survives but became a symbol of privilege and wealth to some who are offended by those who can afford the extravagance she represents in climbing famous mountains. Krakhauer does not criticize her despite her wealth and privilege because he sees her as no better or worse than every person looking for adventure.

A COLD WORLD

This is a harrowing story of a terrible expedition. Having visited the Antarctic, it is inconceivable to have stayed there for more than a few hours without an interior heat source when temperatures fell below -50 degrees Fahrenheit.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Worst Journey in the World

Author: Apsley Cherry-Garrard

Narration by: Simon Vance

Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959, Author who survive a 1911 voyage to Antarctica and wrote the history of the voyage, what he experienced, and the death of many of his fellow voyagers.)

Apsley Cherry-Garrard, as an assistant biologist, accompanied a group of scientists to voyage to, and live on Antarctica for two years. It is an amazing story to one who has traveled to Antarctica. The thought of the trials Cherry-Garrard explains of his 1911 trip are extraordinary, 100% believable, and horribly tragic.

This is the route Apsley Cherryl-Garrard took in his voyage to Antarctica. Our trip to Antarctica also began in Ushuaia.

The terrible crossing from Ushuaia to Antarctica has not changed since the story told by Cherry-Garrard. The difference is–his mates were in a 1911 vessel while we traveled on a sleek science research vessel built in the 21st century. The rough sea of the Drake Passage made us seasick in a ship that was undoubtedly larger and more comfortable than his. The turbulence Cherry-Garrard writes of must have been terrifying in a craft of his time. Their vessel is filled with horses, dogs, and other animals to sustain their 2-year expedition. It is unimaginable to think of what it must have been like with water sloshing into their hold and nearly sinking their vessel. The sight of Antarctica’s land must have been calming after their rough passage. Their stop might have been near where we took a smaller craft to the icy land. It is fascinating to think how the penguins reacted to their arrival, particularly with dogs that are hungry.

One of the disturbing things about the story the author tells is how many dogs and horses were lost because of breaking ice flows that stranded their animals and either required killing them with an axe blow or seeing them die from isolation or a plunge into the sea.

The penguins initially waddled up to the strangers in curiosity but were greeted with the bared teeth of liberated and hungry dogs.

We did not see any killer whales when we were there. Cherry-Garrard reminds readers of the intelligence of these whales as they contemplate how they might dine on some of the animals near the shore. He explains a pod of killer whales that dive under an ice flow and break a 2-foot-thick ice sheet to get closer to a possible meal. They miss the meal, but it must have been an astounding view of the whales’ strength and intelligence. It is surprising to find Cherry-Garrard views the Orcas as dangerous. It is also interesting to note that when they first arrived, the sun is shining and the climate is moderately comfortable. That is the same experience we had in 2020.

Cherry-Garrard surprisingly notes aggressive eating habits of Killer Whales.

As the animals they brought with them were brought to land, they adapted to their environment. Some of the animals were tired from their long voyage, but most were useful in exploring the vast land of their icy home for the next 2 years. Craftsman on board began building their base camp. In contrast, what fellow travelers in our 21st century’ voyage did is set up field goals to play a game of soccer while others climbed a hill to see what was on the other side.

Image result for trek on antarctica for apsley cherry-garrard

Horses accompanying the expedition.

Cherry-Garrad explains the purpose of their expedition is for scientific discovery, geographic exploration and national prestige. The science included collecting emperor penguin eggs to test evolutionary theories. In 1912 Robert Scott (the expedition leader), Edward Wilson, Henry Bowers, Lawrence Oates, and Edgar Evans were lost on the expedition. Though Cherry-Garrad respected Scott, he believed the expedition is poorly planned and overly complex. He felt the rationing was inadequate for the expedition and the equipment did not meet the requirements needed for the severe weather. He feels some sense of guilt in not having tried to reach Scott and his companions when he was an 11-day march away from them. However, he was following orders to return to his base camp. Retrospectively, most believe he could not have saved the lost men if he had taken the 11-day march.

CHINA YESTERDAY

Winchester’s biography of Needham offers valuable insight to scientific discovery and its intersection with socio/political structure of government. Government bureaucracy can either aid or impede nation-state’ discovery and innovation.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

The Man Who Loved China (The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom)

Author: Simon Winchester

Narration by: Simon Winchester

Simon Winchester (Author, historian, British American author, journalist, and broadcaster.)

Having traveled to China a few years ago, it is interesting to listen to Simon Winchester’s biography of Joseph Needham, who is considered one of the foremost historians of Chinese science and technology.

Noel Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (1900-1995, British biochemist, historian of science and sinologist who wrote a history of Chinese science and technology based on his British education and experience in China during the 1940s.)

Discovery of the new can improve or impede society. In listening to this biography of Joseph Needham, one wonders how farther ahead science might be if it was more widely shared between countries of the world. Needham is characterized as a polymath who became educated as a biochemist at Cambridge. Needham is a freethinking eccentric, a nudist, a folk dancer, and a thoroughly unconventional human being.

Dorothy Moyle Needham (English biochemist.)

Needham meets a fellow student at Cambridge with whom he pursues a scientific/intellectual partnership and an “open” marriage that lasts until the death of his wife in 1987. Needham’s first wife, Dorothy Moyle Needham, offers stability to his life while accepting a second woman, Lu Gwei-djen, as an intimate in Needham’s life during their marriage. Dr. Gwei-djen was also a biochemist who studied at Cambridge. When Needham’s wife dies in 1987, after 63 years of marriage, he marries Lu Gwei-djen.

Japan creates what is misogynistically characterized as “comfort women” in their attack and domination of China in the early years of WWII.

As WWII began and the Japanese were attacking China, Needham is engaged by the Sino-British Science Cooperation Office to document scientific manuscripts, meet Chinese scholars, and build a record of China’s scientific networks. His wife joins Needham in 1944 just before Needham’s return to Great Britain. Needham’s separation from his wife gave him time to become an important historian of Chinese Science. His grasp of the Chinese language from his association with Lu Gwei-djen is a great aid to his accumulation of China’s extraordinary advances in science that created many discoveries–long before the rest of the world.

Mao at the time of Needham’s travels in China.

Needham fell in love with China and became acquainted with the war years of China and its communist movement. Needham looked favorably on the communist philosophical movement. However, his political leanings were inconsequential because his primary focus is on China’s scientific history.

Early discoveries in China.

Needam’s research results in a book titled “Science and Civilization in China”. With the help of Lu Gwei-djen, his book became a societal corrective to the West’s bias about China’s technological backwardness. Needam reveals amazing discoveries made by China long before the rest of the world. He found papermaking is developed in the 2nd century BCE, the magnetic compass was used in China in the 11th century, gunpowder is discovered in the 9th century, and printing began in the 7th century. Adding to these discoveries are the many engineering and mechanical innovations of China. They discovered the value of differential gears to aid vehicle function, the idea of a sternpost to guide ships, water power to aid clockworks with escapements for timekeeping.

Agricultural invention in early China.

Needham discovers the agricultural and industrial breakthroughs of China. They used multi-tube seed drills and advanced iron plows to improve agricultural yields centuries before European innovations. Between the 5th and 3rd century BCE, China had developed blast furnaces and iron-working innovations that were not discovered in the west until the medieval period. The Song dynasty in the 10th century pioneered the use of paper money backed by the government.

Silk making in early China.

In the science of chemistry, silk production began thousands of years before the west understood its value. Porcelain innovation with hardening through a high-temperature process was used long before its discovery in Europe in the 18th century. Natural gas drilling was discovered with the invention of bamboo derricks and piping for industrial use. Chinese gas drilling dated back to when Roman legions were invading Europe.

China’s centralized bureaucracy.

What is puzzling about Needham’s book is not only how early these discoveries were made in China, but why these remarkable innovation capabilities did not continue through the twentieth century. He argues the foundation of their advances is its powerful, centralized bureaucratic state, a culture that valued practical knowledge, and a worldview that is comfortable with pattern, process, and observation of nature.

Management of China’s waterways is critical for agriculture and flood risk to those who lived near rivers. Life experience with the threats and benefits of water demanded Chinese attention. Literacy and standardized examinations in China created a cadre of technically motivated officials. With systematic observation of nature, these technocrats harnessed the power of water. So why has there been nothing like the scientific revolution that happened in Europe. To this reviewer, something changed with the rise of communism.

China’s education system.

Needham’s book argues the bureaucracy of China became too conservative and discouraged independent initiatives while emphasizing stability through exam-driven education. Conformity became more important than innovation. Needham infers the scientific revolution went into hibernation in China while blossoming in Europe. One may speculate that is partly due to emphasis on communism, a socio/political rather than a science/nature focused view of life, i.e. a view toward social stability more than one of curious exploration,

CHINA

ART

Wallace’s brief history of Michelangelo and Titian make one see each artist through different lenses. Michelangelo was a multifaceted artist who could sculpt, draw, and paint the human body with perfection. Titian could paint with a vibrancy of color that reveals emotion.

Books of Interest
Website: chetyarbrough.blog

Michelangelo & Titian (A Tale of Rivalry and Genius)

Author: William E. Wallace

Narration by: Mack Sanderson

William E. Wallace (Author, internationally recognized authority on Michelangelo, Professor in the Dept. of Art History and Archaeology at Washington University.)

At the beginning of “Michelangelo & Titian”, one may be skeptical of a comparison of Michelangelo with Titian but by the end of Wallace’s history, one begins to understand and appreciate the Professor’s vignette of these famous artists. Michelangelo considers himself a sculptor who knows how to draw and learns how to paint. Titian is a colorist and painter who influences Michelangelo without becoming his equal. Titian is ten years younger than Michelangelo and lives some years after Michelangelo’s death. Though Michelangelo is judged to be more versatile and accomplished than Titian, Wallace shows both made great contributions to the world of art.

Italy’s republics.

Titian is born in Venice, Michelangelo in Florence. Both live into their 80s but Titian is 10 years younger. Wallace suggests these two men knew each other’s work but may have personally met only twice. Once in Venice around 1529 and a second time in Rome around 1546. In 1529, Michelangelo had fled Florence to seek refuge in Venice because of political turmoil in his home Republic. He had become a favorite of the Medici family but changes sides when the Medicis are overthrown by Emperor Charle V and Pope Clement VII in 1527.

Michelangelo is impressed by Titian’s work in Venice because of his use of color. Wallace alludes to Michelangelo’s praise of Titian in a letter written sometime in the 16th century. Wallace argues they were well aware of each other’s talents which created an unspoken rivalry that influenced their work as artists.

Wallace argues these two artists brief acquaintance undervalues the influence each has on the other’s art. An example alluded to is the way they depicted Adam and Eve in their paintings. Michelangelo’s painting is based on his drawing skill and intimate knowledge of muscular/anatomical features of the human body. (When learning to become a sculptor, Michelangelo dissected cadavers to improve his understanding of the body.) Though Titian did not have the experience of dissecting cadavers, he uses color to give emotional immediacy to his painted images. In the Sistine Chaple painting, Michelangelo envisions the gravity of what Adam and Eve represent while Titian incorporates the sensuality of humanities fall from grace. Each artist influences the other but remain distinct in their ways of representing the world through art.

The representation of Adam and Eve on the Sistine Chapel ceiling by Michelangelo is perfectly anatomical but only shows Adam’s image above Eve who is looking away from God. (One wonders what message is sent to humanity by that detail.) In contrast, though the painting is less anatomically pleasing, the Titian painting shows the emotions of two people with Eve being restrained by Adam. (Another subtle message about the inequality of the sexes?) Wallace implies the anatomical correctness, and the creation story of Michelangelo is what makes the Sistine Chapel painting great art. For Titian, it is the emotional message he offers with the use of color and expression that make his painting remarkable. These two geniuses had complementary skills. Michelangelo’s superior understanding of the body offers body idealization, and Titian’s use of color gives sensuality and emotion to his art. Both artists tell a similar story but in complementary ways.

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