Re: Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen

["Will Massey" <will@netpath.net>]

Ummm YSK is not Chinese...

----- Original Message -----
From: Marc James Small <msmall@infi.net>
To: <KOREAN-WAR-L@raven.cc.ku.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 1:06 PM
Subject: Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen


At 07:25 AM 9/4/02 -0700, ysk wrote:
It reminds me of the case of the "Yellow" Emperor of China.   An American
student of the Chinese language erroneously translated "Hwang-je" - The
First Emperor.  The Chinese character can mean 'yellow', 'first', etc.
depending on the context of its use.   In spite of this fact, some
Westerners - Sinophobes - still call 'chin-si-hwang-je" the 'yellow'
emperor of China - vs. "The First Emperor of China".  This is their way of
denigrating China.

Dean Rusk - the dean of America's anti-China lobby - insisted on calling
Beijing - "Peiping", a Western colonial term.  That was Rusk's way of
showing his contempt for things Chinese.

"Sea of Japan" is another example.  Koreans have been calling it the "East
Sea" since the days when Japan was inhabited by a bunch of head-hunting
samurais.
-------------------------

Well, it's about time your rather silly racial prejudices came out into the
open, brother.  (I call it Peking, incidentally, and got off the telephone
not ten minutes ago with a fellow from Shanghai who also calls it such.  It
is a transliteration thing -- contrast and compare, if you will, with the
difficulties Anglos have with Cyrillic words.  I have along and agonizing
fight on this with a non-Russian speaking German expert on Soviet cameras,
who insists that there is only ONE way of doing transliterations properly.
He is wrong on this, of course, though his knowledge is otherwise immense.)

You seem to look for insults where none were meant and for denigration
wherever anyone sees the world as an entity and thus ousts China -- and,
especially, Red China -- from its favored place in your mind as the "Middle
Kingdom".

Pray, quit seeking arguments over issues which are non-starters.  Your
argument over the name "Choisin" is a lame one, and silly.  I know a
half-dozen veterans of that epic withdrawal (1 British, 1 US Army, 4 US
Marines), and I would never suggest to them that the proper name is one
other than that by which they call themselves, 'the Chosen Few":  one of
them, a Marine Lieutenant at the time, would probably slug me if I
suggested that he was wrong on the name, albeit I suspect I could avoid the
impact of his swing, as he is now 75.

As Sandy noted, "who cares?" about your prolixity on diversive issues. Go
with the main thrust, as your Chairman Mao stated, emphatically and
repeatedly.  And the main thrust is that most USian citizens call it
"Peking" and the veterans of an epic battle in the northern areas of Korea
call it the "Choisin Reservoir".  "Do Not Become Involved in Trivial
Arguments On Unimportant Matters", as Mao said in his Little Red Book, a
copy of which is sitting on the bookcase before me as I write these words.

Grow up and pick your fights where you may have a chance of winning them.
The "Chosen Few" it will be to these guys until they die and, due to their
valor and committment, it shall remain such for a millenium and more.

Marc

msmall@infi.net  FAX:  +276/343-7315
Cha robh bąs fir gun ghrąs fir!