Pilot

In an attempt to dedicate myself further to my studies, to my personal historical roots and to my declared undying passion for writing, "Dinner Parties from the Past" will be a devoted series of studies and analysis on topics in Chinese history.

I spent the better part of a day in the office in an attempt to come up with a suitable title for this blog. Me, being me, wanted something sophisticated and meaningful, that conveys both the 'history' element in the discussions on the page and make references to China. Being a big fan of quotes, I chewed on the end of a black Uni-ball Eye black ink pen (Mitsubishi model UB-150, incidentally, probably one of the only things in this office not made in China) and forced my very tired brain to remember something worthwhile from my fifteen years of education.

After having to resort to the internet anyway due to my distracted and futile brainwork attempts, I finally arrived at the title "Dinner Parties from the Past". For those who are not aware, for those who don't care and for those who do not understand my (possible) ambiguity, I wanted to reference Mao Zedong's famous quote "A revolution is not a dinner party...", on the violence and internal turmoil that he predicted would overtake China.

The other part of my blog title comes from a mis-remembering of the lyrics of a song. A song that is coincidentally, from my past, and may have indirectly contributed considerably in my fanatical interest in Chinese history. It's a song about persecution and poverty, injustice and inequality, and of course, a song with overwhelming overtones of liberation and a better present and future.

Living in the 'future' of this song, I feel obligated to consider the conditions and the specifications of this predicted betterment, and whether if it was ever meant to be a reality. This is essentially what I want this blog to be about--a search for clues that may be pertinent to teaching us about a nation's journey into maturity, a critique of representations that make us wonder about why we are what and where we are, a testament to the amazement to be found in this field of study...

So let's begin, shall we?