I made it safe and sound back to Conway this evening. I spent my drive time thinking and pondering and praying and listening to Damien Rice's album O. One of the things on the forefront of my mind is how I will possibly ever be able to attack this thing I'm calling a thesis. It still seems like a mountain of information into which I cannot find an entrance. I need a metaphor into which I can fit my history and conjecture (I considered using the logos of the first chapter of the Gospel of John, for example). Perhaps a trail of artifacts like Peter Hessler used in Oracle Bones could work-- I already have the Nestorian stele in Xi'an from 600 AD. I feel a bit like I'd be raiding Hessler's work, though, in doing that. Another aspect of this work that I have yet to really consider to the full is the personal element. How will I be relating my experiences and my perceptions to the history I'm learning?
One idea I had that sounds tantalizing, is to figure out the path of the high points of the journey of Christianity into China and into the present, and to actually visit those sites this summer. It wouldn't be impossible to do in a couple months, especially if I utilize my proximity while in Shanghai. Xi'an, Macau, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing. We'll see. I'd certainly love to find a reason to do all this traveling. And the money...
I read this article about rebranding the No Child Left Behind Act. My fav0rite suggestion for a name change: the Double Back Around to Pick Up the Children We Left Behind Act.
Also, I just learned that Matteo Ricci was burried in Beijing. Good to know.
T
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