A religious order, a great man and an intriguing Chinese map on display in Washington

Some called them the Pope's "spiritual commandos." In the 1500s and 1600s, they travelled the world in missionary work and education and left their mark in many unexplored places. Courageous, tenacious and erudite, they followed a form of military disciple. That is not surprising, considering their teacher was himself a former soldier. He became a fighter for the church after he was wounded defending a Spanish citadel. A cannonball broke his leg. He survived, and during his convalescence he studied the great spiritual heroes of Christianity. After a period of study in several European universities, he gathered a growing number of followers. They pledged a bond of poverty and chastity and then presented themselves of service to the Vatican.

We are speaking about the Jesuits and the founder of their order, Ignatius of Loyola.

They certainly left their mark in history. And now the work of one of their own, a large map on display in Washington, is drawing the attention of scholars and the public alike.

The Jesuits travelled widely and converted many people in remote areas of the world, including the Indian sub-continent, North America, South America and also in Japan, where they established a connection with Japanese ruling class, who admired their sense of discipline and hierarchy.

The Jesuit presence in China is remarkable, too, because of the work of one man in particular, Matteo Ricci, who worked in China for 27 years. During that time, the Italian scholar rose to the position of court mathematician in Peking and successfully bridged the cultures of Western Europe with those of the Chinese empire. He adapted completely to Chinese customs in dress and behaviour and wrote extensive scientific works in Chinese.

He is remarkable for another of his many talents: map making. Ricci produced incredibly detailed maps of Asia. His world map of 1602 made a significant contribution in bringing together the political and religious goals of both Rome and the Chinese emperors. It seems odd that a map could do this. But the document was much more than an accurate geographical representation of land masses and geographic features; it was a layered record of subtle and important diplomatic undertones. Henry Kissinger must be an admirer of his work.

What's of notable interest these days is that the Matteo Ricci map of 1602 is now on display at U.S. Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. There is much more to learn about this exhaustive work.

The New York Times' presents an interesting perspective. The article is linked here: "A Big Map That Shrank The World."

For more information, see the following:

Matteo Ricci and his contributions to science in china.
History of the Jesuits.

Image of Ricci is in the public domain, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Solar forest

This elegant concept by designer Neville Mars is an ingenious solution to a question related to electric vehicles. I admit the problem has been tugging at me, too. The dilemma is this: if so many people want electric cars for a greener world, then where is all that additional electricity going to come from? Won't it just boost our demand for even more energy and add to our carbon footprint in other ways?

This clever design answers that question with another : why not solar power?

The trees in Mars' concept have branches that hold photovoltaic leaves. They slowly move to follow the sun's trajectory in the sky and also provide shade. A power outlet is located at the base of each tree trunk so that a driver can recharge a vehicle while he or she goes shopping.

Mars has put together a video demonstration that you can view here. (You will need Quicktime to play it. Let the video load fully before you press the "play" icon. It takes a few seconds.)

Mars founded the Dynamic City Foundation in 2003, an organization focused on researching and designing the rapid transformation of China's urban landscapes. He also launched burb.tv, a collaborative web site also focused on holistic urban development of China.

You can read more about him at his bio page, here.

Images by Neville Mars

Source: http://burb.tv

Human rights: we're all in this together

In the spring of 1961, two Portuguese students raised their glasses in a restaurant in a toast to freedom. Unfortunately for them, that act landed them in jail. At the time Portugal was under the dictatorship of Antonio de Oliveira Salazar, whose regime did not tolerate dissent. A British lawyer, outraged by their arrest, wrote an article entitled "The Forgotten Prisoners" about the plight of many such people around the world and the need to do something about it. The London Observer newspaper published the article on its front page. The lawyer, Peter Benenson, made the case for fundamental rights. He urged readers to write letters of protest to the Portuguese government. The document used the term "prisoners of conscience" for the first time.

Here come the Olympics

Well, here we are.

The Beijing Olympics are getting underway with auspicious numbers on the calendar: 08.08.08.

Let's hope this global event contributes to more harmony, better understanding and greater openness between all people.

The Games, of course, have been overshadowed by concerns over human rights, pollution and freedom of expression, among other things.

As the Olympics begin, editorial cartoons provide a sense of how the event is perceived in the West against the political backdrop of the moment.

The tension between the Chinese central government and the people in Tibet who seek the preservation of the Tibetan language, culture and religion remains a hot topic. Signe Wilkinson jabs with humour in this example.

In South Africa, meanwhile, Zapiro addresses the issue of censorship with this original take.

Jim Morin of the Miami Herald focuses instead on the big concern over air quality in Beijing. Not so funny, but very illustrative.

Finally, for a lighter look, we turn to Stuart Carlson, whose funny cartoon reminds us that we should be careful when we criticize.

Let's hope for the best for these Olympics. The spirit of the Games is a positive one -- may the sports competition help bridge differences and lay the groundwork for progress.
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Thanks to gocomics.com for the links.

Would you want to vote for a World President?

Will it ever be possible to create a world democracy to govern the planet? Something that could replace the United Nations, perhaps, and allow people from all countries to participate in an international democratic government? Could such a government help us overcome the challenges of global warming, for example?

These are some of the intriguing question posed by a world-wide project called "Why Democracy?"

The project revolves around a series of documentaries; ten unique films. The documentaries are being used to stimulate a global discussion about democracy.

One of these films is called "Please Vote for Me." It's a gripping, personal story of eight-year-old children voting for Class Monitor in a school in Wuhan, China. Director Weijun Chen conducts a clever experiment to see how democracy might be received if it developed there. He explores the question of whether democracy is a shared human value, and he does it in the heart of a country where elections only take place strictly within the Communist Party.

The "Why Democracy" project presents another nine documentaries, most of which have been shown at international film festivals and won awards.

"Why Democracy" has a website, http://www.whydemocracy.net/home, that is run from a house in Cape Town, South Africa, where young people from different countries coordinate the project. They also produce an interesting blog, that you can see here.

A number of media organizations are supporting the project, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). The CBC and the Metro Express chain of commuter newspapers have been interviewing famous people on the subject of democracy. Former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali noted that "in a great part of the world 50 per cent of the population are illiterate" and that this represents an obstacle to democratic participation, particularly for women, who are more disadvantaged than men in many parts of the world.

The democracy project asks a number of intriguing questions in its web polls.
Here are a few:

Who would you vote for as President of the World? (Boutros Boutros-Ghali picked Nelson Mandela.)

Is religion more powerful that politics?

Are democracy and capitalism compatible?

It's an interesting project and a wonderful dialogue.