Giang sơn nào anh hùng nấy (To each hero, his own realm) ~ Annon I was Pissed!!! I spent YEARS looking at the placement of the I Ching. It was maddening in its complexity. I tried this way. I tried that way. I stood on my head. I looked at it upside down. I spent countless... Continue Reading →
Haiku, Decidedly
Sometimes, the best stuff is not very fancy or expensive. Sometimes, the best stuff is understated and barely registers at the conscious level of most people. I was looking for a perfume for this coming spring/summer season. Yes, I know, we barely got out of the winter season (oh heck, who am I kidding, we're... Continue Reading →
I Ching: Made in Vietnam (Part 3)
It may seem as if there is no point to many of my posts, as they diverge in very different areas. What I am attempting to do is to try to connect some far-flung dots by setting everything down in a concrete fashion that I can then use as anchor points with which to start... Continue Reading →
I Ching: Made in Vietnam (Part 2)
SOMETIMES I FEEL SO BOXED IN!!!! I have this almost unhealthy obsession to seek out so many things that are still existing at the razor sharp edge between the newly dogmatic accepted-truth and para-quasi-semi-fantasy-sci-fi-hallucinatory-magik-alchemy-mumbo-jumbo. It always starts off the same. One moment, I'm looking through a magazine trying to pick out a new perfume... Continue Reading →
Âu Cơ (嫗姬) Royal Mother
In my previous post, I touched briefly on the story of Âu Cơ and Lạc Long Quân, which I told in the style with which it was presented to me as a child, namely that of a mythical fairy tale that did not have a basis on reality. I certainly never believed that it could exist. I just... Continue Reading →
I Ching: Made in Vietnam (Part 1)
The I Ching originated in Vietnam? WOOOWWW!!! Talk about shattering the age-old glass of firmly entrenched and ancient ideology, this one takes the cake! Does this claim have even a leg to stand on? Is there any definitive proof? But more importantly, do we even care any more, at this late date, what with knowledge... Continue Reading →
Tát Nước Đầu Đình
Tát Nước Đầu Đình is an ancient Vietnamese folk poem whose author has disappeared into the smoky haze of the ages. We know only that it came out of the area around the Gulf of Tonkin (Vịnh Bắc Bộ 北部湾 ) due to the language used. It is ageless, timeless, and exquisite in its portrayal of... Continue Reading →
Ancient Việt 05: Văn Khoa Đẩu
Picture credit: Linh Nguyen We are an ancient people. Việt history goes back far, far beyond what is the current accepted history of what Vietnam is suppose to be, spanning over four thousand years into the murky past. Unfortunately, much of it was destroyed by the Han dynasty during the third (as well as the fourth) invasion... Continue Reading →
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