Asia has always been intercultural. The images (mostly artworks) on this blog are fun little reminders of that.
It's pretty well known today that the "civilisations" of our world have been trading goods and ideas for thousands of years. Wonderful blogs like Medieval POC - http://medievalpoc.tumblr.com - how European art included and was influenced by non-white people.
I'm using this platform to share examples of how the same is true of Asia: how the cultures of Asia have coloured each other and the rest of the planet (and vice versa) since forever and ever and ever.
There are good and great JTTW adaptations, but no bad ones because we skip bad and jump straight to #cursed. Not all the above tropes are bad, but they’re definitely the most likely to appear in a CURSED jttw adaptation.
This bingo card only includes so many because we should never underestimate the creativity of JTTW producers and their ability to come up with more and never-seen-before cursed ideas out of nowhere! Every cursed JTTW adaptation is unique in its own right and can’t be contained to a single bingo card!
How could I fit in “Sanzang is the Six Eared Macaque’s time traveling son from the past” and “Lady Iron Fan has an affair with Taishun Laojung and has Red Boy out of wedlock” and “Jade Emperor cheats on Queen Mother with Guanyin” and “Wukong must protect Rudolph the red nosed reindeer from Erlang Shen and Nezha” into a single card when all these tropes are special to their own adaptations???
Anthony Wong Yiu-ming - Chinese gay man living in Hong Kong & Cantopop artist who first became known as the vocalist for Cantopop duo “Tat Ming Pair” in the 80s. In 2012 he publicly came out, saying “I’m gay. I’m a homosexual. G-A-Y.” He has also worked as a DJ, a solo singer, and a music producer and founded the production company “People Mountain People Sea.”
Ataru Nakumura - Japanese trans woman & Jpop Idol who began writing songs at a very young age. Her single
“Tomodachi no Uta” deals with her struggling with her sexuality and feelings for her close friend. She wrote that song when she was just 14 and it was the first song she ever wrote!
EXO-CHIKA (Aural Vampire) - Bisexual Japanese woman belonging to the Darkwave group “Aural Vampire.” AV is led by her and RAVEMAN, with EXO-CHIKA supplying the vocals. She’s stated that she is bisexual in multiple interviews but due to the fact that I dont speak Japanese, i can’t find which ones or link them.
Harisu - Korean trans woman, Kpop Idol, model, and actress. Her stage name is inspired by the english phrase “Hot Issue” and she certainly is. On December 13th 2002 she became only the second person in the Republic of Korea to legally have their sex corrected and changed. Her music has been described as “Techno-flavored Kpop.”
Holland - Korean gay man & Kpop Idol. Holland became widely known on tumblr and other social medias as the “first gay kpop idol.” He released his first song “Neverland” in early 2018 and released a very gay music video to accompany it.
Hurong Giang - Vietnamese trans woman & pop musician. In 2012 she became the first transgender person to participate in the Vietnamese Idol music talent contest and made it to the final 4 contestant group and in 2013 she released her first album. In 2018 she was crowned Miss Transgender International in Thailand.
Moga Mogami - bisexual Japanese woman & Jpop musician who was formerly a member of the female Idol group “Dempagumi.inc”. She came out in 2017 and is focusing on her solo career right now!
MRSHLL - Korean gay man & R&B musician. He is known as the first Korean musician to come out and debut in Korea, although Holland was the first Korean gay Idol. His album “breathe” is amazing.
Secret Guyz - Japanese J-pop group consisting of all transgender men. they made their debut in 2013 with the single “HugXHug” and have some awesome and very creative videos.
Venus Flytrap - Thai 2005 pop group consisting of five transgender women. They were the first all transgender group in Thailand with a recording contract!
But wait, you’re thinking – Lakshmi is a Hindu goddess, right? She is, the goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity and the wife of Vishnu.
But this particular Lakshmi figurine was found in the ruins of Pompeii. It is beautiful proof of the trade links between the Roman Empire and the other great civilizations of their day.
Images taken from theTurkish version of ‘Aja'ib
al-makhluqat (Wonders of creation) by Zakariya al-Qazwini (died 692
AH/AH 1293) completed in 1121 AH/AD 1717 by Muhammad ibn Muhammad Shakir Ruzmah-‘i Nathani.
By the start of the westernized period in the Sinosphere, all the emperors of East Asia had adopted western clothing.
However, Vietnam was quite exceptional. Emperor Khải Định, seen on top, was actually wearing the traditional military attire of Nguyễn dynasty with the Nguyễn turban. However, as a prolific fashion and architecture designer, he littered it with western medals and epaulettes on his shoulders, making it resemble western clothing. His creativity in the arts and his contribution to Việt phục evolution is still well-known to this day.
In the early twentieth century, most Chinese immigrants coming to the United States were detained at the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay. There, they were subject to physical exams, interrogations, and often long detentions aimed at upholding the exclusion laws that kept Chinese out of the country. Many detainees recorded their anger and frustrations, hopes and despair in poetry written and carved on the barrack walls.
Poem 135 (image 2), etched into the walls of a lavatory room on the first floor of the detention barracks, and was written by a Chinese Mexican waiting to be deported to China in the early 1930s:
Detained in this wooden house for several tens of days, It is all because of the Mexican exclusion law that implicates me. It’s a pity heroes have no way of exercising their prowess. I can only await the word so that I can snap Zu’s whip.
From now on, I am departing far from this building. All of my fellow villagers are rejoicing with me. Don’t say that everything within is Western style. Even if it is built of jade, it has turned into a cage.
