Rooted in Taiwan, Connected with the World

I just finished studying my twentieth Shakespeare play, Richard III , the second longest play in the Shakespearean canon by word count and the fourth longest by number of lines.  It was probably written between 1592 and1594, concluding Shakespeare's first tetralogy which also contains Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 , and Henry VI, Part 3 . To this end, I also reached a new milestone: completing my self-study of the Henriad, which in an inclusive sense covers both the first and the second tetralogies, with the latter referring to another four plays: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2 ; and Henry V. At the beginning of the play that bears his name, Richard famously explains how he is unsatisfied with his position as the subordinate younger brother to King Edward and George, Duke of Clarence. The only thing separating Richard from the throne are his brothers and their heirs. Yet, after Richard wins the crown through murder, Henry Tudor rises as a threat in the west. It...

I just completed my twenty-third trip under "A Day in Town," my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in each of the approximately 350 townships in Taiwan. My destination this time was Taoyuan City, the latest new founding special municipality, with the fastest population growth of any city in Taiwan in recent decades. Home to Taoyuan International Airport, over 110,000 foreign workers, and many industrial parks and tech company headquarters, Taoyuan City administers 13 districts. Since I had visited four of the 13 districts during my last trip here a year ago, this time I visited another four: Bade, Daxi, Longtan, and Pingzhen, which collectively form the central part of the city.  I spent my first day in Bade, previously known as Bakuaicuo, which literally means "eight homesteads" in reference to the eight Chinese families surnamed Hsieh, Hsiao, Chiu, Liu, Lai, Huang, Wu, and Lee that first settled here about 250 years ago. With an area of just over 33 squ...

I just finished reading Mansfield Park , a novel by English author Jane Austen first published in 1814 by Thomas Egerton, with a second edition published in 1816 by John Murray. Considered the least romantic and most pragmatic of Austen's works, Mansfield Park was the fourth Austen novel I have read recently, after Persuasion, Sense and Sensibility , and Pride and Prejudice. The book tells the story of Fanny Price, a young girl who at the age of ten is sent by her overburdened family to live in the household of her wealthy aunt and uncle at Mansfield Park. Through her development into early adulthood, Fanny navigates societal expectations, love, and moral dilemmas, with her grounded nature forming a contrast to the glamorous world around her. As she grapples with her feelings for her cousin Edmund, the novel explores themes of social class, morality, nature vs. nurture, and the role of women in society. Fanny's lowly family lives in Portsmouth, which she visits again only eight...

I just completed my twenty-second trip under "A Day in Town," my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in each of the approximately 350 townships in Taiwan. My destination this time was Taipei City, the capital and a special municipality of Taiwan, and an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that I visited last month. With a population of about two and a half million, Taipei City administers 12 districts. Since I had visited four of the 12 districts during my last trip here a year ago, this time I visited another four: Nangang, Neihu, Xinyi, and Songshan, which collectively occupy the central-eastern part of the city. Interestingly, these areas can be identified on The Map of Tamsui and Surrounding Villages, Including the Island of Keelung (Heping Island), a map created in 1654 by the Dutch and the earliest reliable map about Taipei area ever created.   I spent my first day in Nangang District,  the seat of  the Academia Sinica, Taipei World Trade Cente...