Butchering anything is disagreeable work. But if a person is going to eat meat, he can hardly avoid the work just for that reason and not be a hypocrite. And because chickens are the one animal eminently practical for all homesteads (even the smallest), knowing how to butcher them can be a very handy skill to acquire.
Chinese emperor's lavish quarters are restored
By CHARLES HUTZLER, Associated Press Writer Charles Hutzler, Associated Press Writer – Mon Nov 10, 9:25 am ET
BEIJING – In between dispatching armies to secure the empire and building China into the richest country in the world, the Qianlong Emperor commissioned a retirement home for himself in the Forbidden City palace.
Never intended as a simple hideaway, the garden quarters built in the 1770s by the fifth emperor in the Qing Dynasty set a standard for opulence befitting an emperor renowned for his power and refinement: screens inlaid with rare hardwoods, intricate silk embroideries, delicate carvings of jade and bamboo.
To Chinese eyes of 200 years ago, it screams wealth. "It's as if everything is gold-plated," said Nancy Berliner, a curator of Chinese art at Massachusetts' Peabody Essex Museum.
Unused and sealed off for most the past century, the garden is three years into a 12-year restoration. One part, a lavish apartment and private theater for the emperor — the Studio of Exhaustion from Diligent Service — was officially completed Monday and will be open to the public next year for the first time ever.
Having been largely abandoned, damaged by neglect rather than the vandalism that ruined many Chinese antiquities, the studio contains one of the best-preserved interiors from Imperial China.
More than that, the garden marks a time when China's wealth and power reached an apex. When the Qianlong Emperor started the garden at the age of 61, his armies had extended the Qing empire's borders deep into Central Asia and to the Himalayas. China's economy was the world's largest, more than a quarter of the globe's output. A few decades after Qianlong's death, China would sink into war, famine and civil strife.
"The importance of the garden is that it is the most sophisticated design. This was the climax of the period," said Liu Chang, an architectural historian at Tsinghua University, who worked on the $3 million restoration, a joint project of the Palace Museum in Beijing and the New York-based World Monuments Fund.
A Manchu who rode in military campaigns and a visionary governor who ordered peasants to plant New World crops of corn and sweet potatoes to increase food production, Qianlong was also known for his love of arts. He poured that passion into the retirement studio and drew upon the talent of the empire, said Berliner, the curator who edited a catalog issued for the studio's renovation.
Craftsmen from southern China were brought in for the elegant woodworking. The walls of his private theater were covered with European-style trompe-l'oeil murals done by the students of Giuseppe Castiglione, a Jesuit missionary who became a court painter, bringing European painting techniques of perspective to the halls of power.
The murals of a green pine, cranes and vines of purple flowering wisteria posed a challenge for the restorers, World Monuments Fund executives said.
After the last emperor, Puyi, left the Forbidden City in 1924, the two-acre (0.8-hectare) garden area was abandoned while the rest of the sprawling 180-acre (72-hectare) palace complex was turned into a museum. The settling of the buildings over time and Beijing's dry winters and humid summers left some murals cracked and discolored.
Experts from the U.S. and the Palace Museum separated the paintings done on silk from the walls and ceiling, restoring them in a separate studio before returning them to their original location.
Yet the greatest challenge was finding craftsmen who could replicate the refined decorations that are no longer fashionable, said Berliner. One surprising find, she said, was an 80-year-old man in the eastern city of Yangzhou who still knew how to carve lanterns from goat horns.
Artisans from Zhejiang province have preserved techniques for using the inner skin of bamboo and bamboo thread in woodworking, skills needed to restore a two-story screen in the apartment's entrance.
The zeal the Qianlong Emperor showed for the project underscored the diligence he applied throughout his 60-year reign. Though he retired in 1796, he never moved into the studio, preferring to stay in the western half of the palace to watch over his son, the new emperor.
"Ultimately the greatest delight he derived from it may have been the creative process," Berliner wrote in the catalog.
On the Lateran Basilica
"The Temple of Stones Is a Symbol of the Living Church"
VATICAN CITY, NOV. 9, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Here is the address Benedict XVI delivered today before reciting the Angelus together with the crowds gathered in St. Peter's Square.
* * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
Today the liturgy celebrates the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, called “mother and head of all the churches of the city and the world.” In fact, this basilica was the first to be built after Emperor Constantine’s edict, in 313, granted Christians freedom to practice their religion.
The emperor himself gave Pope Miltiades the ancient palace of the Laterani family, and the basilica, the baptistery, and the patriarchate, that is, the Bishop of Rome’s residence -- where the Popes lived until the Avignon period -- were all built there. The basilica’s dedication was celebrated by Pope Sylvester around 324 and was named Most Holy Savior; only after the 6th century were the names of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist added, and now is typically denominated by these latter.
Initially the observance of this feast was confined to the city of Rome; then, beginning in 1565, it was extended to all the Churches of the Roman rite. The honoring of this sacred edifice was a way of expressing love and veneration for the Roman Church, which, as St. Ignatius of Antioch says, “presides in charity” over the whole Catholic communion (Letter to the Romans, 1:1).
On this solemnity the Word of God recalls an essential truth: the temple of stones is a symbol of the living Church, the Christian community, which in their letters the Apostles Peter and Paul already understood as a “spiritual edifice,” built by God with “living stones,” namely, Christians themselves, upon the one foundation of Jesus Christ, who is called the “cornerstone” (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:9-11, 16-17; 1 Peter 2:4-8; Ephesians 2:20-22). “Brothers, you are God’s building,” St. Paul wrote, and added: “holy is God’s temple, which you are” (1 Corinthians 3:9c, 17).
The beauty and harmony of the churches, destined to give praise to God, also draws us human being, limited and sinful, to convert to form a “cosmos,” a well-ordered structure, in intimate communion with Jesus, who is the true Saint of saints. This happens in a culminating way in the Eucharistic liturgy, in which the “ecclesia,” that is, the community of the baptized, come together in a unified way to listen to the Word of God and nourish themselves with the Body and Blood of Christ. From these two tables the Church of living stones is built up in truth and charity and is internally formed by the Holy Spirit transforming herself into what she receives, conforming herself more and more to the Lord Jesus Christ. She herself, if she lives in sincere and fraternal unity, in this way becomes the spiritual sacrifice pleasing to God.
Dear friends, today’s feast celebrates a mystery that is always relevant: God’s desire to build a spiritual temple in the world, a community that worships him in spirit and truth (cf. John 4:23-24). But this observance also reminds us of the importance of the material buildings in which the community gathers to celebrate the praises of God. Every community therefore has the duty to take special care of its own sacred buildings, which are a precious religious and historical patrimony. For this we call upon the intercession of Mary Most Holy, that she help us to become, like her, the “house of God,” living temple of his love.
[After the Angelus the Pope greeted the pilgrims in various languages. In Italian he said:]
Today is the 70th anniversary of that sad event, which occurred during the nights of Nov. 9-10, 1938, when Nazi fury was unleashed against the Jews in Germany. Shops, offices, dwellings and synagogues were attacked and many people were also killed, initiating the systematic and violent persecution of German Jews, which ended with the Shoah. Today I still feel pain over what happened in those tragic circumstances. The memory of these things must serve to prevent similar horrors from ever happening again and must lead us to dedicate ourselves, at every level, to fight against every form of anti-Semitism and discrimination, educating the younger generations in respect and reciprocal acceptance. I invite you to pray for the victims of that time and to join with me in manifesting a deep solidarity with the Jewish world.
Troubling news continues to come from the North Kivu region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Bloody armed skirmishes and systematic atrocities have caused and continue to cause many casualties among innocent civilians; destruction, looting and violence of every type have forced tens of thousands of persons to abandon even what little they had to survive. The number of refugees is estimated at more than 1 and a half million. To all and to each one I desire to express my special nearness, as I encourage and bless those who are working to alleviate their sufferings, among whom are the pastoral workers of the Church of that region. To families and their loved ones I offer my condolences and assure my prayers. Finally, fervently call upon all to work together to restore peace, respect for law and the dignity of every person to that land, for too long martyred.
In Italy today the Day of Thanksgiving is celebrated. This year’s theme is: “I was hungry and you gave me to eat.” I join my voice to that of the Italian bishops who, guided by these words of Jesus, draw attention to the grave and complex problem of hunger, which has become more dramatic due to price increases on staple foods. The Church, re-proposing the basic ethical principle of the universal destination of goods, following the example of the Lord Jesus, puts this principle into practice with multiple initiatives. I pray for farmers, especially for small farmers in developing countries. I encourage and bless those who work to make sure that no one lacks healthy and adequate food: whoever gives succor to the poor gives succor to Christ himself.
[Translation by Joseph G. Trabbic]
[In English, he said]
I greet the English-speaking visitors and pilgrims who are here today, especially the groups from Billingham in England, Heulen in the Netherlands and Los Angeles, California. Today we celebrate the dedication of the Lateran Basilica, the Mother Church of all the churches throughout the world. Let us rejoice in this great sign of our unity in faith and love, and let us resolve to become living stones, constantly growing into a holy Temple in the Lord. May God bless you all!
© Copyright 2008 -- Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Over the weekend President-elect Barack Obama scrubbed Change.gov, his transition Web site, deleting most of what had been a massive agenda copied directly from his campaign Web site.
Gone are the promises on how an Obama administration would handle 25 different agenda items - everything from Iraq and immigration to taxes and urban policy - all items laid out on his campaign Web site, www.BarackObama.com.
Instead, the official agenda on Change.gov has been boiled down to one vague paragraph proclaiming a plan “to revive the economy, to fix our health care, education, and social security systems, to define a clear path to energy independence, to end the war in Iraq responsibly and finish our mission in Afghanistan, and to work with our allies to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, among many other domestic and foreign policy objectives.”
“We are currently retooling the Web site,” said Obama spokesman Nick Shapiro.
Celebrations in honour of the Clarist nun end in the presence of former Indian President Abul Kalam and Card Leonardo Sandri. In mentioning the recent wave of anti-Christian violence the prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches said: “Orissa is a name that is alive in our hearts and on our lips as well as those of the people of Europe—we are with the persecuted Church. We ask for freedom of religion in order to live in freedom and peace.”
I am simply calling attention to the difficulty Shalit, in common with most women, seems to have with putting herself imaginatively in the place of a male. There may well be an evolutionary explanation for this. Men instinctively protect women because the future of the tribe lies in the children they bear. Women have adapted to this state of affairs, and it colors their moral outlook. They do not spend much time worrying about the well-being of men. Even getting them to cook supper for their husbands is probably a triumph of civilization. Their natural inclination is to let men look after themselves and take their chances in life. At the same time, they count on men to shield them from the harsher aspects of reality, and become extremely indignant at any men who fail to do so. In other words, women are naturally inclined to assume that men must take responsibility for everyone, while they are only responsible for themselves and the children. Young, still-childless women have no one left to think about but themselves and easily fall into self-absorption. One popular women's magazine is actually titled Self. I would not want the job of promoting a magazine of that title to men.Is self-absorption and narcissism a problem for members of both sexes? Yes. And there is a rationale for giving women the power when it comes to courtship and rules governing social interaction (e.g. chivalry).One aspect of female narcissism is a failure to think in terms of moral reciprocity. For example, here is a male columnist (Fred Reed) praising the intolerance of Mexican women for infidelity: "They can also be savagely jealous, to the point of removing body parts. But for this I respect them. Any woman worth having has every right to expect her man to keep his pants up except in her presence. He owes to her what she owes to him. Fair is fair." This is the way a man thinks. A woman is more likely to think, "I get to do as I please and you get to do as I please: fair is fair."
Does the reader suspect me of indulging in a cheap shot here? Consider, first, this passage from Shalit's first book: "Many etiquette books, in both England and America, stressed a woman's prerogative to greet a man on the street first, particularly if he was not a close friend. If she chose to greet him, he was obligated to respond in kind, but if she passed him by, there was absolutely nothing he could do about it." (RM, p. 56)
I do not mean to take issue with this rule of etiquette, which may well have a sensible rationale. My point is simply that its one-sidedness does not seem problematic or in need of explanation to Shalit. A man might at least ask whether there is some larger context that explains why, in this particular case, all rights should be with the woman and none with the man.
In fact, such "romantic" pictures amount to a kind of gold digger's pornography. In contrast to Jane Austen's plot lines, where real risks and difficulties are encountered and moral lessons can be learned, these movies are mere wish fulfillment. They set women up for disappointment by teaching them to have unrealistic expectations about love and life. And, of course, they create absurdly unattainable standards for men.
