I've written a bit about this phenomena in Taiwan before for weddings.
This is the first I've seen anything about this in China. According to the article:
"the more people that come to a funeral in China, the better the deceased is likely to fare in the afterlife, which is why some families have taken to hiring exotic dancers to keep attendance figures high"
It's funny, I'd never thought about this as a plausible reason for having the dancers. You learn a new thing every day...
Asian Sex Gazette - Exotic dancers banned from performing at funerals in China - China Sex News
Don't ask me why I was reading the Asian Sex Gazette (although I do highly recommend it).
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Thursday, August 3, 2006
Tai-Ke 台客: Exonym Turning Endonym
Tai-Ke came into the mainstream several years ago with this article. It had previously been used in slang with Taiwan teenagers.
Taipei Times - archives
Basically, I think this term has come to take on new importance in Taiwan. Here's a little backgrounder before I get to my point:
I think you can see that the same kind of thing has happened with 山地人 or Mountain People which is now Native People in Taiwan 原住民.
What's interesting about Tai-Ke is that it was once considered a bad word used by people outside the people in this societal group. With this very group now using it and embracing it, they have taken away the negativity of the word and have empowered themselves by making it their own.
Taipei Times - archives
Basically, I think this term has come to take on new importance in Taiwan. Here's a little backgrounder before I get to my point:
“People from an ethnic group generally wish to be called by the name they give themselves, if possible in their own language. This preference has gained importance recently as a means of avoiding ethnic discrimination.”
“An exonym is a name for a place that is not used within that place by the local inhabitants, or a name for a people that is not used by that people. The name used by the people or locals themselves is an endonym or autonym.”
-WIKIPEDIA
I think you can see that the same kind of thing has happened with 山地人 or Mountain People which is now Native People in Taiwan 原住民.
What's interesting about Tai-Ke is that it was once considered a bad word used by people outside the people in this societal group. With this very group now using it and embracing it, they have taken away the negativity of the word and have empowered themselves by making it their own.
Wednesday, August 2, 2006
Holy Huge Spider Batman!!!
Or should that read Spiderman instead???It took about half a can of cockroach strength Raid to bring this baby down. I have to say that it fought to the very end trying to drag its slowly paralyzed body to safety.
May it rest in peace!
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