Monday, August 04, 2014

Rooster shape of China map



Rooster shape of China map


Looking at the map of China, its shape is remarkably similar to that of a rooster. Its head is in the North-Eastern provinces, its magnificent tail include the Xinjiang and Tibet provinces and its wings spread across resource-rich basins of the Yangtze and Yellow River. This rooster's belly is in the southeast, and Hainan and Taiwan islands are its legs. A tour guide in a Yangtze River cruise, indicating this similarity, explained: "This shows that Taiwan is definitely an integral part of China. Rooster does not like to stand on one foot for too long."

In 1949, Mao Zedong, poet and founder of New China, wrote a poem that included the verse: "The rooster sings,  the sky is clearing up." The rooster is known as a fierce fighter and it was a  declaration of the people's victory over darkness at the beginning of each day.

In this sense the wrestler rooster is symbolic, but China has a history of cockfighting that dates back to 4,000 years ago. It is, therefore, a subject deeply rooted in its culture. Training roosters for fighting is an easy matter, because their instinct is to fend off their opponents in every way from their chickens' harem. 

It turns out that everyone in China learn this as children. It's deep in their minds - that's the way they envision the shape of their country. The children are taught so from a young age so they take it for granted. When asking citizens of China if they know for what the map of China is similar, they know this answer. But this does not mean that people outside China are aware of that. Almost no one outside of China know about that. Most foreigners are really surprised. There are those who mistakenly think it's a joke. Even Taiwanese people do not know. 

If you are looking on Google for the phrase 'China Rooster', you find plenty of pages. 
Well, okay, so we learned a bit of trivia. So what? What can you tell from the shape of China of international politics? 

The first thing that comes to mind is the territorial integrity of China. Chinese people know how their country should look like, to detail:
The capital, Beijing, is the rooster's throat. 
Harbin is the eye. 
Shanghai is on the chest. 
Tibet Autonomous Region is part of the tail feathers, which are very essential part of a rooster. Try to pluck the tail feathers of a rooster and you'll see real fast how it fight you with its beak and nails. 

And speaking of those nails, Taiwan represents one of the legs and the Chinese ask: 'How long can chicken stand on one leg? '

China's territorial integrity is important to the Chinese government partly due to the history of empires collapsing following the loss of territories. If this is what the Chinese government believe, then the separatist movements in China will not be tolerated. China is a fragile superpower. 

Finally, the No. 1 reason to remember the shape of a rooster is that it is a great way to get young children to learn the geography of the country, something which is going to be increasingly important during their lives. Chickens are great fun for youngsters.

Documents released by WikiLeaks revealed that a senior official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in China officially claimed that the main reason behind the annexation of Tibet and Xinjiang to China was to ensure that future maps of Chinese territory will look like the exact shape of a giant chicken. This was said during a vivid meeting between the Minister Lu Penghuai and American diplomats which was held in June 2008, after the riots in the 'tail feathers' Tibetan province were suppressed dramatically by state security forces. 
If true, the documents can provide a tempting explanation why Beijing is so eager to keep the non-Hun regions and their populations which show great dislike to the Chinese government. 

Latest official map of China includes some more of China Eastern Sea. The addition is not very big, but it is the shape, not size, that caught the attention of some Chinese. Internet writer and social commentator published a new map of China which has been nothing like the standard rooster description Chinese kids learn in school and asked, innocently, like what the map looks like now. Cautious, in order not to attract the attention of the censors, they assessed that the shape looks more like an eagle



All of the world's greatest civilizations rose from countries in the form of familiar objects. Italy, homeland of the Roman Empire and later the nation of fascism and shoe industry, is shaped like a boot. Australia, the leader of the southern hemisphere and stuborn participant in two World Wars, looks like a head of an adult man with long life experience. The British Isles, the birth place of the greatest empire in the world, are shaped like a lady holding a Bulldog. ''If the rooster's wings and tail of Great China to be broken, how can we hope to succeed as a nation?'' Asked amused Chinese diplomats. 

"It was the firm belief of Chairman Mao Zedong, the former Communist leader who invaded Tibet in 1950, that if China's shape will be like a cock it will give her a Feng Shui advantage against the United States," said Professor Wang Ying from the National Bureau of cartography. "Mao used to joke that the U.S. "looks like nothing, and without Alaska and Hawaii its closest similarity is to Cyprus, pathetically." 

"Tibet, along with the provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan, create the 'thighs and buttocks of the rooster," explained Professor Wang when elaborated on the concept, "and its wings spread across the Yangtze and Yellow River basins. The addition of Xinjiang province allows the rooster to spread its wings." 

The  'Rooster shape of China map' campaign was Mao's secret Politburo strategy throughout the first decades of communist rule. Global empathy to China during World War II resulted, in the words of Prof. Wang, from the fact that "our big birds head [Manchuria] was beheaded by the sword of the Japanese imperialists." This promised the return of the three large provinces in the North-East from former Soviet allies, before the relationship between the two superpowers were undermined after the death of Stalin. 

Today, every child knows the state as 'Cock of the East' and the war diaries of Chairman Mao are full of references to the political rooster as ''most resourceful of all birds."
In one of his popular articles from 1948, about 'Poultry and exploitation of the masses', Mao observes: "The Chinese farmer is like the poultry he is growing! We eat their meat and their eggs, prepared mattresses from their feathers, we make soup from the bones and use their manure as fertilizer. These traits for good example of the Chinese people, who become effective after breaking jim into the parts that comprise him".

Tibet and Xinjiang are sources of ethnic unrest which claimed many victims. Their apparent importance is that they are perceived as creators of buffer zones against the Soviet Union in the north and India in the south, as well as guaranteeing control of their precious natural resources. But during offices exchange cermony held in the the Interior Ministy, the troubled minister said that the government begin to lose patience with these provinces: ''Tibet and Xinjiang are remote, poor as dirt and the local Tibetan and Uighur people hate us. They drain massive amounts of money to stay hardly functioning. Who the hell would want them? ... Unless, of course, with their integration into our sovereign territory our national border can create the shape of a chicken," he said and paused to catch his breath. 

This confession explains why former U.S. President George W. Bush made chicken gestures of flapping wings during bilateral talks before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which failed to prevent hina's opposition of UN sanctions against Saddam Hussein. The Chinese thought it was a compliment. 

Rooster is the most eccentric sign in the Chinese zodiac. Roosters are full of dreams and romantic ideas. They are colorful and attractive, bright and bold, and they are quite proud of themselves. They are organized, accurate, and their sharp eyes seek the small details in everything. They are perfectionists and leave no room for human error. For roosters, a difficult task is a challenge. They love to start controversy. Roosters are also very good at expressing themselves in writing and speaking. They are knowledgeable in most subjects you want to discuss. When you challenge them you must be ready for a long fight. Their endurance is incredible and they win their positions at all costs. Even when they are wrong, they will still be right one way or another! Chickens can be harsh and cruel. Their direct approach to life makes them poor diplomats. They express their opinion with only slight reference to the feelings of others. Others get upset? Roosters are right, no? 

Here are some recent news headlines from recent months dealing with the connection of China to the rooster: 
- Birds flu in China. 
- Scare of expired chickens and with antibiotics in fast-food chains in China. 
- Kentucky Fried Chicken is the most popular food chain in China.
- There is concern about poultry imported from China to the United States. 
- China's naval ships conduct 'Chiken races'  against the U.S. fleet in East China Sea.

Language riddles:
- English words Chi_na and Chi_ken start exactly with the same syllable. 
- Hen is 'chicken' in English and thethe Hun people are more than 90% of China. 
- Chai - Tea is the national drink of China.
- Chi is a Chinese name for spiritual energy.