POTD

Apothecary Shop #1
Nanjing, China
2018

One of the more interesting exhibits in the museums I visited in Nanjing was the recreation of an entire area of a town back in the “old days” of China. (I have to use the term old days because I was mostly gawking at things so never did figure out what era they were supposed to be recreating in the exhibit.)

Language Barrier
Nanjing, China
2018

There is a line of small type below “why nobody fights’ on this woman’s jacket that says “let me do the fight.” English words are quite popular on jackets and t-shirts in China. Quite often it seems they don’t know exactly what they are saying; at least it’s nothing I can figure out a reasonable meaning for. That is no different, I’m sure, from a lot of Americans who put Chinese symbols on their clothes (or tatoos, or artwork, etc.). They do it because they like the way it looks but don’t really know what they are saying or if they are getting their point across correctly.

Old School Buffalo
Nanjing, China
2018

A prehistoric buffalo skull, of a species I believe is a true buffalo as opposed to the American bison which is popularly known as a buffalo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Encrinite
Nanjing, China
2018

If it were not in a collection of fossils it would have been a surprise to me to discover that this is in fact a fossil and not an artistic relief sculpture. On doing some research, it was definitely a surprise to find out these are animals, not flowers. (My guess would have been poppies.)

Encrinite is the name for the rock that is formed from crinoids, the name for the individual animals. The name crinoids comes from the Greek word krinon which means lily. A common name for the plants, er animals, is sea lily.

Wicket Lady
Nanjing, China
2018

And you thought that title was a typo. 🙂

Old School
Nanjing, China
2018

So old they are fossils, these fish look like they were caught in mid-swim.

Dem Bones
Nanjing, China
2018

Probably should have saved this one for next Halloween.

Cultural Appropriation
Nanjing, China
2018

I’m not a Buddhist but I find the architecture, lighting, and artwork of Buddhist temples to be impressive spaces that are generally in their own way calming and relaxing places. (This is also the case with old cathedrals.) So it was very jarring for me to be wandering around peacefully in this temple and see this swastika on the sleeping Buddha statue. Even though backwards from the Nazi swastika it still did a heck of a job disrupting my otherwise calm attitude.

Long before Hitler made the swastika into a hated symbol, it was a common and important symbol to Buddhists, as well as many other groups around the world including some Native Americans. To my knowledge, none of these earlier uses has ever been associated with the kind of horrors perpetrated by the Third Reich. (The Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. has a nice history of the symbol on their website here.)

This is probably one of the most obscene examples of cultural appropriation there is. I suppose you have to give the Buddhists credit for not abandoning their sacred symbol given it’s more recent negative connotations, but boy did it spoil the mood in that temple for me!

Buddha Wall
Nanjing, China
2018

 

Meant to Impress
Nanjing, China
2018

This statue, called Reclining Buddha, or Sleeping Buddha, is probably 30-40 feet long and 10-15 feet tall. It was surround by a circular moat filled with fog. The walls behind it are filled with niches containing additional Buddha statues.