ChingMing - Easter

This year ChingMing Festival and Easter happen to be the same day.  This happens rather infrequently. I cannot recall it happening before, as far as I can remember.  In fact, Hong Kong is probably one of the few places in the world where ChingMing and Easter are both public holidays.  In most other places people generally take only one of them seriously, if at all.  It is a good time for us Chinese Christians to contemplate the two conceptions of death (and life) - the Chinese perspective versus the Christian one.  

At ChingMing, we Chinese pay respect to the dead.  We send them things: money, clothes, amenities, food, …  By burning papier mache versions of things that the dead may need in the underworld.  We hope that they will “live” comfortably and bless the living.  Until such time when the dead can ascend into a better world - which we cannot be sure whether it will happen, and when.  We recognise that there is suffering, that we may have done bad things; that we can be redeemed by praying and doing good deeds.  That is my understanding of the world view behind the customs and practice. This world view is actually not just limited to the Chinese.  Many other civilisations seem to have similar beliefs.  

On the other hand, we Christians believe that the evil and the resultant suffering in the world is so great that we cannot redeem ourselves.  Praying and doing good deeds is not enough.  Good Friday reminds us that great sacrifice from one who is without sin is needed to redeem the world from the evil and suffering.  Easter reminds us that only God can raise us from death, completing the redemption.

The Chinese perspective represents natural human aspirations and what humans can possibly strive to do. While the Christian perspective represents what is possible with intervention from the supernatural.  Many people insist that the physical world is all there is. That the supernatural does not exist. Hence there is no possibility of redemption by the supernatural.  To me, a strictly physical world view is lacking in imagination and unnecessarily self-restricting.  It does not lead to hope.  A world (as bad as ours is) that is without hope is miserable indeed.   It is one I do not wish to live in. I am glad we can learn from the wisdon of both the Chinese and Christian perspectives.  

Mongolia, then and now

Mongolia today is a huge country in land mass, roughly three times the size of France, or France, Germany and Spain added together.  Yet it has only 3.5 million people, just about half of the population in Hong Kong.  

At the time of Genghis Khan, about 800 years ago, Mongolia ruled a gigantic empire stretching from Korea to Eastern Europe, covering the land of ~40 modern day countries.  He is without a doubt the most famous Mongolian ever.  His name is ubiquitous in the country. For example, the airport for the capital, Ulaanbaatar, is called Chinggis Khan International Airport. 

That is also the reason why there is a gigantic (40 meter tall) stainless steel statue of him, on a horse, 54 kilometres east of Ulaanbaatar. It is said to be the largest equestrian statue in the world.  It is visible over the terrain from a long distance away.  

Up close, his huge, stern face was very impressive indeed.  

Mongolians were distinguished by their horsemanship, mobility, fighting skills, organisation, and more.  Yet their horses are surprisingly small.  Today, relatively few Mongolians remain nomadic herders.  Most have moved to the city.  

Much of their treasure remain in the land.  It is said there are 32 million sheep, 30 million goats, 4.7 million cattle, 4.2 million horses, and 0.5 million camels.  Their camels have 2 humps, different from those in Arabia.  Mongolia produces one third of the world’s cashmere.  

While we were checking out hotels for possible accommodation for our students for future projects, I found an unusual map on the wall of one of the hotels.  Special symbols mark where specific minerals can be found: gold, copper, silver, iron, tungsten, uranium, coal, petroleum, etc.  

Apparently, many hotels cater especially for travellers who come for the mineral businesses.  One of those we visited was said to offer special entailment.  I am sure I don’t know what that means. 

Mongolian Ger Living

Many Mongolians continue to live in gers, a kind of circular tent. I have seen gers earlier, e.g., in Kyrgyzstan. I heard that it is common in central Asia.  But this time, in Mongolia, I have the opportunity to visit quite a few, and get to know a little better how people live in them. 

The nomadic Mongolians need to move with their herd to follow the best grass. And gers are designed to provide that mobility.  

A get is essentially a big tent.  It has a circular frame, supported centrally by 2 vertical pillars in the middle.  The two pillars are topped by a ring which provides a window to let in sunlight.  Which also let out exhaust air from the stove through a chimney. The perimeter of the ger is protected by vertical panels.  Spokes link the top of the outer panels to the central ring, providing the structural integrity.  

The panels can be opened when it gets hot in summer.  The whole tent is covered by some kind of canvas.  A get is thus quite modular, making it reasonably easy to dismantled, transported and set up again.  

In the centre of the get is a stove, for cooking, which also heats the ger, It is typically fired by wood or coal.  Now the government is encouraging the families to switch to electrical heating.  Partly because of of the pollution and fatalities from carbon monoxide poisoning.  Some families who continue to burn coal install a sensor above he stove to provide warning against poisoning by the gas.  The electrical power grid in essentially confined to cities.  Those who live outside have to find their own power sources.  

Herders out on the grassland typically still live in gers.  They are often many kilometres from the next family.  If solitude is what you seek, the Mongolian grassland is a good place to find it.  But you must be very self-sufficient.  

Even in the city, where most people live in houses, many gers can still be seen.  I was told it is because gers are much cheaper to acquire than houses.  Often a couple’s children grow up and get married.  The new family cannot afford to move away, but there is really not enough space in the existing house.  So they set up a ger in the yard, if they have a yard, for the new family.  Alternatively, the parents move in to the ger, and leave the house for the new family.  It is still quite common for a couple to have many children.  We have seen families with 6 children, all quite young.  

A poor family that we visited was allowed to set up their ger on the yard of a church, at the outskirts of the city.  They have very limited electrical power by drawing a power line, most likely illegally, from the church.  We installed a small solar panel for the family, to provide them with some lighting, as a trial.  We are still exploring the possibility of a sola panel project in or near Ulaanbatar. 

Beautiful Mongolia

It is still winter in Mongolia, even though it is gradually warming up from deep freeze.  The temperature has ranged from -19 to 0 degrees C, since when I arrived 3 days ago.  I was told it can get down to  -30 and beyond.  

Mongolia is huge, roughly 3 times the size of France.  In the south is the Gobi desert.  The rest are grassland and mountains. Ulaanbataar seems to be in a valley surrounded by mountains to the south and the north. Hence one often sees houses clustered at the foot of snow-covered mountains. 

At the out skirts of the city, gers start appearing among the houses. Many houses have one or two gers in the compound.  As one gets out of the city, more and more gers appear. 

A blue and white airplane is parked on the roadside. Out ofthe blue. 

One has to climb mountains to get out of the city.

One can choose to live in villages near the forests. 

Or in a cluster of houses.  Or alone, many kilometres from anyone else.  

Some live in log cabins.

Cows and horses seem to run free on the grassland.  Even when it is covered in snow. Sheep and goats tend to be kept inside, when they are not grazing.. 

Sometimes a long cargo train would break the silence. 

Tires are buried in the ground, to mark passable roads.  It is easy to get stuck in the snow.  Passing cars stop to help, if you are fortunate.  

We had to pass over meandering rivers, frozen over., to visit a herding station.  The ice is slippery.  And they can crack. Posing many dangers. 

The sky seems always blue.  

It is indeed beautiful.  In so many ways,  

Muslim Qinghai

18 years ago I came to Qinghai during the Corban Festival (Er’de Corban, Sacrifice Festival).  I heard that Muslims believed that Allah (God?) asked Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ishmail to test his faith.  Ibrahim passed the test and a goat (sheep? lamb?) was subsequently sacrificed in place of Ishmail.  Thereafter Muslims celebrate the event by slaughtering goats, and praying at the mosque.  

I was hugely impressed by the thousands upon thousands of people kneeling and praying on the street outside the mosque in sub-zero temperature, for hours.

Then we watched several goats being slaughtered, with their blood drained, then skinned, and eaten.   With the richer sharing their abundance with their neighbours.  I remember distinctly the goats’ intestines being cleared, leaving the intestines almost translucent, and then offered to the mosque, together with the rest of the internal organs.  The meat, having the blood drained, but not yet washed, being so white, and looking so clean.  

This year, I return.  Where the white, big Dongguan mosque stood, I found a dark, Chinese architecture style mosque.  At first, I thought the Chinese style mosque was built in front of the old white mosque.  When I looked closer, and compared with my old photos taken in 2008, I realised that the old white mosque was no longer.  It seemed to have been replaced with the dark, Chinese style mosque.  Is this a sign of the localization of Islam?  

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n 2008, we climbed to the roof of the building across the street from the mosque, and watched.  I was surprised to find the building still standing.  I was tempted to climb to the roof again.  But there wasn’t enough time.  

The area around the mosque is vibrant, with food stalls, restaurants, shops, schools, and lots and lots of people. We are considering bringing a team here to work at one of the schools.  We might also bring a team here to do eye inspections.  Perhaps in the big square in front of the mosque?

When I eat stuffed goat intestines, I was reminded of the intestines of the sacrificed goat offered to the mosque.  Is this where they ended up?  

My favourite dish remans the boiled lamb, eaten with spices.  

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verything seems to be linked, in some way. Qinghai is a fascinating place.  I would love to return, to explore some more.