Asian local cultures against global warming

Dear Friends,

The Climate Change Talks in Accra (Ghana, August 21-27) have shown an accrued international mobilization against global warming. These talks are to be continued and finalized in December during the United Nations conference on Climate Change in Poznan. In between, Renlai and the Taipei Ricci Institute organize an international colloquium focusing on “culture and climate” (Taipei, October 4), featuring Dominique Baudis, President of the Institute for the Arab World in Paris as the European keynote speaker. The program and the registration form are on the eRenlai conference page.

Ying-chun Hsieh, an architect in Taiwan and China, introduces his concept of a sustainable construction in community which is why he got one of our 2008 Life Sustainability Awards. One of our contributors, Shufan Yang, shares her experience as an apprentice in the Atelier 3 founded by Ying-chun Hsieh.
A video and a short text also give example of how Taiwan tackles global warming.

In our editorial section, the Sichuanese photographer Liang Zhun presents pictures taken one hundred days after the earthquake in China during a ceremony for the dead. Less mournful is my short movie about an ominous oracle in Kyoto. Benoit Bouquin rails against stereotypes in some Hollywood movies: Movies and cultural diversity. Bob, inspired by the previous article, reflects on another kind of stereotype: An American Perk.

On the occasion of the publication of a book by Christian Cochini, Guide des Temples Bouddhistes de Chine, Benoit Vermander provides us with an overview of Buddhism revival in China. The Taipei Ricci Institute is also celebrating the launching of a new book published by Jean Lefeuvre: Collections of Oracular Bones Inscriptions which is an analytical catalogue of 412 collections of oracular inscriptions. This volume will be presented on September 19, at the Tien Educational center in Taipei, at 6pm (for more information, contact Alexandre Chen)

We hope that this month’s releases will give you lots of new energy for September!

New Book by the Taipei Ricci Institute

New Book by the Taipei Ricci Institute
Jean Lefeuvre
Collections of Oracular Bones Inscriptions
Variétés Sinologiques New Séries 97

Father Jean Lefeuvre, a Jesuit who arrived in Taiwan more than 50 years ago, is a world-renowned expert in oracle bones inscriptions. He has been also one of the main contributors to the “Grand Ricci” Dictionary, the world largest dictionary between Chinese and a foreign language. His latest publication, released in August 2008, is an analytical catalogue of 412 collections of oracular inscriptions. It is the world’s most complete repertory of sources related to the origins of Chinese writing. This hard-cover, 593 pages strong volume will be launched on September 19, at Tien Educational Center, Taipei Fr Lefeuvre, at 86, is still working hard on the completion of a Dictionary of Bronze Inscriptions.

Book launch:
Tien Educational Center, Hsin-hai road, 1st section, n.22, Taipei 100 (Taipower building MRT station), 1st floor
Friday, September 19, 6pm

For additional information, contact Alexandre Chen

alextmchentwATyahoo.com.tw

Renlai Mag à la librairie "Le Phénix" (Paris)

Tous ceux qui ont fait des études de chinois à Paris connaissent l'incontournable librairie Le Phénix située au coeur de Paris près des Halles! Certains savaient peut-être qu'on y trouve le magazine Renlai publié ici à Taiwan (donc, plus d'excuse, precipitez-vous-y vite!)

Ce mois-ci, ils nous font même l'honneur de le mettre en vitrine - JO obligent - comme indiqué en couverture : 身體．心靈．奧運會 (Le Corps, l'Esprit et les Jeux Olympiques)

A ce propos, je rappelle aussi mon petit texte écrit après avoir vu la finale de la coupe du monde de rugby cette année

Of Blood and Flesh

Bob's luxuriant prolixity

I am compiling a book of all Bob's writings: his essays, his fables and his editorials... And I can assure you that it makes a lot of pages (we must have published more than 120 texts of Bob on eRenlai, and it is only the tip of the iceberg)! While archiving past emails, published and unpublished texts, I found this fable entitled The jungle negotiators which I decided to publish on eRenlai... and to share with you! Lots of unsuspected things happen in th jungle...

THE JUNGLE NEGOTIATORS


There had always been conflicts between the animals in the North Jungle and the animals in the South Jungle. Each accused the other of encroaching on its territory and was very critical of the other’s social system. The North Jungle condemned the South Jungle for its policies that seemed to favor the jungle violating the rights of the trees and the animals. The South Jungle condemned the North Jungle for neglecting the jungle by allowing too much freedom and license to the trees and the animals. It all came to a head over a dispute about the ownership of a piece of land between them. Because of this impasse it was decided to hold a meeting between both sides in a neutral territory, namely the West Jungle with monitors from the East Jungle.

Naturally the trees were unable to attend this meeting so they had to depend upon animals to represent them and all their resident creatures. The problem was which animals to send. Skunks would not be a good choice for ambassadors, because they don’t smell very pleasant. Even carefully perfumed, they would always have at hand their potential stink, should negotiations turn sour. Mice are clever little fellows, but seem far too tiny to make others take them seriously. No one trusts anything that snakes have to say. Lions and tigers would be too intimidating. Elephants and gorillas are too overwhelming. Mockingbirds can speak every language, but have nothing to say for themselves. Owls, of course, would be very wise, but it was feared that since they usually sleep during the day they would be too drowsy to stay alert during the daytime meetings.

The North Jungle finally decided to choose an eagle, because it didn’t live in either jungle and so had no personal interest in the disputed territory. The other side chose an otter from a neutral jungle, because there was no habitable stream for otters in the disputed territory, so it too would have no personal interest in how the dispute was settled.

When the conference began, the eagle contended that for centuries the disputed land had been settled by animals from the North Jungle without any claim ever being made for the land from the South Jungle.

True enough countered the otter, but for the last fifty years the North Jungle has done nothing whatever to develop the land and allowed without any opposition or complaint a large number of animals from the South Jungle to move into it and they are the ones who have developed it to its present state of prosperity with the help of subsidies from the South Jungle. The North no longer has any rightful claim to the land they ignored for so long. Why should the North reap the profits of the sweat and tears of the South Junglers?

The speeches of the eagle were applauded by the crowd of supporters of the North and booed by the supporters of the South, while the speeches of the otter were equally applauded by the crowd of supporters of the South and booed by the supporters of the North, so it was practically impossible to make any progress in the negotiation. In fact there was no negotiation.

Finally the eagle and the otter were so frustrated by the proceedings that they decided to meet together in secret without any observers to interfere. And almost at once they came up with what they expected would be an acceptable compromise.

Calling the meeting to order they announced their solution:

For years animals from both the North and the South have lived peacefully together in this territory without interference from either government.

Moreover, attracted by the natural beauty off the area, animals from North and South as well as those from East and West have flocked to the area to admire its natural attractions without any objection from either government.

Finally, the territory in dispute is not very large, so that its annexation to or secession from either Jungle has practically no significance given the already large size of each Jungle’s territory.

So we propose that the area in question be declared an Inter-jungle Park under the joint jurisdiction of the North and South Jungles between whose boundaries it is located. The present inhabitants shall continue to live there each retaining his/her original citizenship and the territory will be developed and facilities built to turn it into an ecological park for international tourism.

The plan was well received and after discussion to work our particular details, it was unanimously adopted. Both sides won and both sides lost, while the Jungles everywhere gained a beautiful model for ecological management and a wonderful site for vacation travel.

There are lessons hidden here.

The secret to successful compromise
is willingness to lose a little in order to gain much.

The difficulty is in getting the people involved
to agree on what will be lost and what gained.

The negotiators have the tricky task
of convincing both sides
that what they gain is better
than what they lose.


Watch Bob's telling a tale he wrote:

The Great weapon

(Photo by C.P.)

A liquid asset.

In Taiwan, everybody strongly advises not to drink water from the tap. Even boiled water is not enough, as the water is said to contain excessive quantities of heavy metals. Most people here in Taiwan therefore filter water before drinking it, or even drink only bottled water.

But it looks like drinking bottled water is not so environmentally friendly either. Some environmental activists are actually calling to boycott bottled water, which they describe as a far more wasteful product than tap water. Mayors of some cities in the US are urging their citizens to drink water from the tap instead of bottled water.

And so arises my dilemma in Taiwan. On one hand, I would like not to buy bottled water or bottled drinks so often, but on the other hand, I do not completely trust the filtering efficiency of my house tap (since I moved in one year ago, I think we only have changed the filter once!) I sometimes use the fountain at the office but I do not really picture myself carrying liters of mild water from work to home!

On the official website of the Taiwan Water Corporation, it is said that although Taiwan’s rainfall is the triple the global average, only 1/5 of that rainfall is exploited. I am not trying to throw stones but it looks more like a problem of management than a lack of water itself. Furthermore, I have never seen any campaign against wasting water in Taiwan! A Spanish friend living in Taipei indignantly told me that he was surprised by the total absence of rules to avoid wasting water here, when in Spain basic ones like closing the tap while brushing one’s teeth are very common.

On June 26, the WHO published a report entitled Safer water, better health which depicts country-by-country estimations of the burden of disease due to water, sanitation and hygiene. According to this report, dirty water is the cause of 10% of deaths and 6% of illnesses in the world, with strong inequalities between highly developed and less developed countries. The report stresses the importance of clean water but also the fact that investments in drinking-water and sanitation can be highly profitable not only from the health point of view but also from an economical point of view. Its benefits come in several forms, such as healthcare savings, gains in productivity from such things as improvements in school attendance, time savings resulting from more convenient drinking-water and sanitation services etc. Thus, the total return on an annual US$ 11.3 billion investment would be US$ 84 billion per year—that is to say 7 times the initial outlay.

CQFD

Follow the flow:

An interview of Joël Cicéron, director of Veolia Water in Taiwan

Veolia: Water and Social Responsability

China's Water Challenge, a flash presentation by Sabrina Bourouga

Global Challenges of Water Resources, by Michel Camdessus

(Photo by Aurelie Kernaleguen)

Jeux de mots, jeux de ...vélos?

Il n'y a pas longtemps, j'ai retrouvé à Shanghai un groupe d'amis parmi lesquels il y avait des chinois venant de Shanghai -même, d'autres venant de Pékin et du Sichuan ainsi que des amis venant de Taipei et quelques étrangers. Nous nous amusions à comparer différentes expressions et mots de vocabulaires: par exemple "bicyclette" se dit "自行车" sur le continent (ce qui signifie (véhicule mû par lui-même)" alors qu'à Taiwan, il se dit "腳踏車" (véhicule à pédale). Et ce n'est qu'un exemple parmi d'autres! De plus, il ne s'agit pas seulement de différences de vocabulaire, on retrouve aussi des différences d'usage, d'accent et de prononciation.

En plus d'être grandement divertissant, ce jeu de comparaison m'a aussi frappée car j'ai déjà observé cette même pratique chez les hispanophones ; ils s'amusent eux aussi à imiter leurs accents respectifs et à comparer leurs différentes manières de parler. Ainsi en argentin, un "gars" se dit "un chabon", les colombiens disent "un man" (ou "un mancito", un "petit man"...), les espagnols "un pavo" (littéralement "une dinde")...

En parlant d'Amérique latine, ne manquez pas notre série de photos et d'articles sur le Brésil. Ma contribution particulière est mon remix de samba qui accompagne l'article de Roberto Ribeiro sur le carnaval de Bahia... Si vous vous sentez une âme d'artiste ou d'inventeur sonique, participez au concours d'installations audio-visuelles mis en place par Jose Duarte au Costa Rica!

Nominate 2008 Life Sustainability Awards recipients!

Dear friends,

You are invited to nominate recipients for the 2nd Life Sustainability Awards. eRenlai magazine and Renlai monthly will distinguish 9 people making significant contributions to life sustainability in Taiwan, thus helping to give a new image of Taiwan’s spirit and mission in the international community.

By “life sustainability” is meant the promotion of cultural and natural diversity through initiatives that foster community spirit, personal development and awareness of global challenges. Readers are encouraged to nominate recipients who have shown special creativity at the grassroots level and whose story proves to be an inspiration for other people. This year, their experience should at least illustrate one of these three aspects:
-some significant commitment to the fight against global warming
-promotion of cultural diversity by realizing or encouraging the encounter of different cultures
-participation in the enhancement of a healthier mental environment

The prices will be announced in Renlai monthly and its website on September 1st and the award ceremony will take place on October 4, during the international Forum on “Cultural Partnership against Global Warming: Taiwan’s Contribution” held by Renlai Monthly／eRenlai Magazine in association with ROC’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Council for Cultural Affairs, Taipei County Government and WeShare Education & Charity Fund.

Please nominate recipients before July 15 through email at awards@erenlai.com or by fax at 02-2365-4508. Nominations should include name and address of the nominated person plus a description of his/her achievements. Please, also leave us your contact information (telephone number and/or email address).

How well do you drive?

Some of you might remember my previous post on my pondering about buying or no a scooter...

Bob did drive before... read here his advices about driving...

Chamanisme et Christianisme

Bonjour à tous,

En mai, un vent de spiritualité souffle sur eRenlai : explorez avec nous les liens entre chamanisme et christianisme en Asie du Sud-Est. Le Focus de ce mois-ci accompagne la publication d’un livre édité par Olivier Lardinois et Benoît Vermander, Shamanism and Christianity, religious encounters among indigenous people of East Asia (Ricci Institute, 2008), bientôt disponible sur la librairie en ligne d’eRenlai. Découvrez en avant-première des extraits de cette ouvrage inédit :

Ten Theses on Shamanism and Christianity
by B. Vermander

Korean Shamanism from Christian Perspectives
by Daniel Kister

Traditionalist health and healing in a Western and Christian world by Brian McCoy

Revival of Christianism and Shamanism among the Indigenous peoples of Siberia
by Tatiana Bulgakova

Par ailleurs, nous vous proposons de retrouver les temps forts de la conférence sur les “Ressources culturelles du developpement durable” organisée à Shanghai le 25 avril 2008. Lisez les contributions de Michel Albert, Li Tiangang, Yao Dali, Wang Li ou Jérémie Rombaut entre autres … Nous y ajouterons très bientôt le son et la vidéo!

Nous nous permettons de vous recommander deux autres livres ce mois-ci :
Le Guide des temples bouddhistes de Chine (Indes savantes)
par Christian Cochini

La Chine, ou le temps retrouvé
Les figures de la mondialisation et l'émergence chinoise (Academia Bruylant)
par Benoît Vermander

Book Sale!! Food for your brain !! Don't miss it!!

BOOK DISCOUNT SALE
The Ricci Institute is organizing a one-day book sale with very special discounts.
The large-scale sale consists of

- duplicate copies coming from its library, in English, French, Chinese and other languages, including some rare books

- discounted copies of its publications over the last forty years

- Renlai copies and collections, and other periodicals.

Up from 10 NT per book

Time: Saturday, May 17, 1.30pm-9pm.
Place: Tien Educational Center, 22 Hsin-hai road, 1st section, first floor.
MRT station: Taipower building, exit 1.

http://www.riccibase.com/


珍貴藏書折扣出清
利氏學社將舉辦一場超低價書籍出清活動，只有一天、敬請把握 !
包括中、英、法及其他語文各領域、種類的書籍、雜誌，四十年來的出版品以及人籟叢書...等，這些具收藏價值的新舊書全部超低折扣 (十元起)，歡迎大家前來尋寶 !

時間：2008年5月17日 (周六)
下午1 :30 ~ 21 :00
地點：台北市中正區辛亥路一段22號
耕莘文教院一樓大禮堂
捷運站：『台電大樓』站1號出口
電話：(02)2368-9968