Thursday, July 23, 2026
IMPT--Rape support hotlines from the guardian--keep on your phone:
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Wednesday, July 22, 2026
from Kokochin wiki--
Accounts
There are three sources for the account of the mission to Persia – a passage in the Chinese work Yongle Encyclopedia (which however does not mention the princess), the Persian Jami' al-tawarikh written by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani, with the most detailed description given by Marco Polo:
Arghun Khan of Persia, Kublai's great-nephew, had in 1286 lost his favourite wife the Khatun Bulughan; and, mourning her sorely, took steps to fulfil her dying injunction that her place should be filled only by a lady of her own kin, the Mongol Tribe of Bayaut. Ambassadors were despatched to the Court of Khan-baligh to seek such a bride. The message was courteously received, and the choice fell on the lady Kokachin, a maiden of 17, "moult bele dame et avenant (very beautiful lady and comely)." The overland road from Peking to Tabriz was not only of portentous length for such a tender charge, but was imperiled by war, so the envoys desired to return by sea. Tartars in general were strangers to all navigation; and the envoys, much taken with the Venetians, and eager to profit by their experience, especially as Marco had just then returned from his Indian mission, begged the Khan as a favour to send the three Firinghis in their company. He consented with reluctance, but, having done so, fitted the party out nobly for the voyage, charging the Polos with friendly messages for the potentates of Europe, including the King of England. They appear to have sailed from the port of Zayton (as the Westerns called T'swan-chau or Chin-cheu in Fo-kien) in the beginning of 1292. It was an ill-starred voyage, involving long detentions on the coast of Sumatra, and in the South of India, to which, however, we are indebted for some of the best chapters in the book; and two years or upwards passed before they arrived at their destination in Persia. The three hardy Venetians survived all perils, and so did the lady, who had come to look on them with filial regard; but two of the three envoys, and a vast proportion of the suite, had perished by the way. Arghun Khan too had been dead even before they quitted China; his brother Kaikhatu reigned in his stead; and his son Ghazan succeeded to the lady's hand. We are told by one who knew both the princes well that Arghun was one of the handsomest men of his time, whilst Ghazan was, among all his host, one of the most insignificant in appearance. But in other respects the lady's change was for the better. Ghazan had some of the highest qualities of a soldier, a legislator and a king, adorned by many and varied accomplishments; though his reign was too short for the full development of his fame.
— The Travels of Marco Polo[6]
The account of the marriage was confirmed by the Persian historian Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in his Jami' al-tawarikh where she was named Kūkājīn.[3]
Rusticello who wrote down Marco Polo's travels--
Rustichello appears to have been a native of Pisa. His first known work, the French text known as the Roman de Roi Artus or, simply, the Compilation, appears to derive from books in the possession of Edward I of England when he passed through Italy on his way to fighting in the Eighth Crusade in 1270 to 1274. While written in French, it is the first known romance by an Italian author to address the Arthurian legend.[1] The Compilation contains an interpolation of the Palamedes, a now-fragmentary prose account of Arthur's Saracen knight Palamedes, and a history of the Round Table.[2] It was later divided into two sections, named after their principal protagonists, Meliadus (Tristan's father) and Guiron le Courtois. Both remained popular for hundreds of years, and influenced many later works written in French as well as in Spanish, Italian, and even Greek.[1]
Rustichello may have been captured by the Genoese at the Battle of Meloria in 1284, amid a conflict between the Republic of Genoa and the Republic of Pisa. When Polo was imprisoned around 1298, possibly after a clash between Genoa and Venice (according to tradition the Battle of Curzola[3]), he told his tales of travel to Rustichello. Together they created the book known as The Travels of Marco Polo.[1]
The Mongols are coming--
First Mongol invasion of Burma
Mongol-Pagan war (1277–1287)
Overview
History
Battles
Legacy
Copilot Search Branding
The Mongol invasions of Burma led by Kublai Khan between 1277 and 1287 toppled the Pagan Empire and reshaped the political landscape of Southeast Asia.
Background
The Pagan Kingdom, ruling central Burma for over 250 years, faced internal instability under King Narathihapate, who ascended the throne in 1256. Early in his reign, rebellions erupted in Arakan and Martaban, and the kingdom struggled with declining royal authority and growing tax-free religious landholdings, weakening its capacity to resist external threats Facts and DetailsFacts and Details+1. Meanwhile, Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, sought to expand Mongol influence into Southeast Asia as part of his broader strategy to encircle the Song dynasty of China WikipediaWikipedia.
Initial Contact and Tribute Demands
The Mongols first demanded tribute from Pagan in 1271–1272, which Narathihapate refused. Kublai Khan sent envoys again in 1273, but the Burmese king executed the second mission, prompting military action WikipediaWikipedia+1. In 1275, Kublai authorized the Yunnan government to secure the borderlands and engage Pagan forces if necessary, leading to the first military clashes in 1277–1278.
Major Campaigns and Battles
The first significant battle occurred at Ngasaunggyan in 1277, where the Mongols defeated the Burmese army using superior cavalry tactics and strategic coordination Facts.netFacts.net+1. Subsequent campaigns in 1283–1285 saw Mongol forces advance southward, occupying key northern cities such as Bhamo and Tagaung, forcing Narathihapate to flee to Lower Burma WikipediaWikipedia+1. The Mongols organized northern Burma as the province of Zhengmian, consolidating their control over the region WikipediaWikipedia.
Outcome and Consequences
By 1287, the Mongols had sacked Pagan, effectively ending the Pagan Kingdom's dominance in central Burma Facts and DetailsFacts and Details+1. Narathihapate submitted to Mongol authority in 1286, but the kingdom never recovered its former power. The invasions triggered a period of political fragmentation lasting approximately 250 years, during which smaller ethnic Tai-Shan states emerged throughout mainland Southeast Asia WikipediaWikipedia+1. The Mongol campaigns, while militarily successful, were costly and stretched their forces, reflecting the challenges of projecting power into tropical, jungle-covered regions far from the Mongol heartland Facts and DetailsFacts and Details.
Legacy
The Mongol invasions demonstrated the empire's military reach and strategic ambition, but also highlighted the limitations of sustaining long-term control over distant territories. In Burma, the collapse of the Pagan Kingdom reshaped the region’s political and cultural landscape, leading to decentralization and the rise of new polities that influenced Southeast Asian history for centuries Facts.netFacts.net+1. Narathihapate became infamously remembered as "Tayokpyay Min," or the King who fled from the Mongols, symbolizing the dramatic impact of the invasions on Burmese leadership and society FandomFandom.
Facts and Details
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YUAN-MONGOL INVASIONS OF BURMA AND JAVA
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First Mongol invasion of Burma - Wikipedia
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Very excited today--while looking for Alaungsithu's Prayer translated by Gordon H. Luce, I found a whole special edition of The Atlantic from Feb 1958, a year after my father died.
I wonder what he would have written if he had not died.
I'll isolate the articles and post them one by one.
All the leading intellectuals of the day are represented.
For today--here is the link to the whole edition.
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/1958/02/
Special post--Alaungsithu Su Taung--translated by Gordon H. Luce.
What driving energy could have produced this vast, richly adorned city? And why did the ancient kings build pagodas and monasteries rather than stone palaces? As Professor Kyaw Thet suggests, the economic basis of this high civilization was an extensive irrigation system. But its deeper stimulus, as we learn from the temple inscriptions, was the Buddhist faith. Not content with worldly success and victories in battle, each of the kings tried to outdo his forebears in raising shrines which would glorify the Lord Buddha and in so doing insure his own spiritual progress in later rebirths. Thus, in an inscription in the Shwegu Temple, we find this beautiful prayer, written in Pali verse, by King Alaungsithu (1112-1167):
By this my gift, whatever boon I seek, It is the best of boons to profit all; By this abundant merit I desire Here or hereafter no angelic pomp Of Brahmas, Suras, Maras; nor the state And splendors of a monarch; nay, not even To be the pupil of a conqueror. But I would build a causeway sheer athwart The river of Samsara, and all folk Would speed across thereby until they reach The Blessed City. I myself would cross, And drag the drowning over. Aye, myself Tamed, I would tame the willful; comforted, Comfort the timid; wakened, wake the asleep; Cool, cool the burning; freed, set free the bound. And Alaungsithu’s predecessor, the conqueror and builder Kyanzittha (1084-1112), inscribed his edicts on massive pillars in this vein: O King of Devas, hear thou! . . . The sage Bisnu shall become the king Kyanzittha, and he shall uphold the religion of the Lord Buddha . . . . All vice, which is as a stench, shall the king utterly blot out with true morality, which is as a perfume. . . . The tears of those who have lost their friends shall the king wipe away with the hand of loving-kindness. . . With his right hand shall the king give boiled rice and bread to all the people, and with his left hand ornaments and wearing apparel to all men. . . .He shall soften the hearts of those who intend evil, and exhort those who speak evil to speak good. . . . The spirit, of these utterances is all the more remarkable when we consider that only a hundred years before the religion of Pagan had been in the hands of the debased Ari priests who had corrupted the Buddhism brought from Tibet with magical tricks, snake worship, and lewd Tantric rites. Two men accomplished this striking reformation: Kyanzittha’s father, Anawrahta, and the evangelical monk Shin Arahan, who attracted the king by his holiness and became his chief adviser. Thawka—The Atlantic,1958. End quote.
Monday, July 20, 2026
I watched the new The Odyssey--
It's EXCELLENT--Maybe simplified a bit--but it's beautiful and at last--a clearer story line.
Not explained how there were no men on the first island. Special effects, voices, script, casting wonderful.
One only noticed the "dad" at the beginning sounding America.
I don't understand all the hemming and hawing below--after all all the goddesses are female--and Hermes is not a scarf--maybe played by a ballet dancer--
It's a lot better than all the modernized rewrites I have read.
kmk
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Harish P I from Conscientious Reflections To:
Sent: Monday, July 20, 2026 at 02:52:35 AM EDT
Subject: Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey: Breaking the Code
There is only one word to describe the cinematic experience that The Odyssey, directed by Christopher Nolan, provides—exhilarating. It is a visual spectacle that also resonates emotionally with the audience, with elements of horror, thrills, and action smoothly blending with the larger narrative.
When we look at the movie as a modern-day adaptation of the Greek epic, there are many elements that vary from the original. Some variations are significant while many are too minor to notice. For example, the omission of Penelope testing Odysseus in the climax didn’t make much difference to the narrative. But the inclusion of Agamemnon sacrificing his daughter, which isn’t Homeric but based on later myths, significantly alters the moral compass of the narrative.
Before the movie released, the casting and many narrative and stylistic choices had caused controversies among the public. But none of them have any significance in the larger narrative. The concerned characters appear only for minutes in the movie and end up ultimately as minor cosmetic alterations from the original.
An actor’s statement about the lack of female perspective in Homer’s Odyssey sparked quite a controversy. But the ‘screen time’ that Nolan gives for female perspectives is rather less than that of Homer and not as diverse. The anti-war narrative about the perils of war on everyone involved is also dealt with in a rather cliched manner.
I’ve seen many color-blind or age-blind adaptations of classics, like the Hamlet adaptation in which an elderly Ian McKellen plays the young titular prince, or the one starring Riz Ahmed in which the plot is placed in an Indian business family. In these adaptations, such choices become essential in providing a different context and an alternate perspective to an already known story. The Odyssey displays several such choices with its casting, language and costumes, but never attempts to place them in any interpretative framework.
Though it contains several regular features of Nolan movies like an overtly complex protagonist, non-linear narrative, and themes about grief, guilt, and obsession, the movie never manages to challenge the intellect of the audience like how Inception, Interstellar, or even Oppenheimer did. The plot is narrated vividly with little ambiguity or intricacy.
One aspect of the film, however, made me probe beyond the spectacle to find what the larger purpose of Christopher Nolan in adapting The Odyssey may be. Every adaptation updates the sensibilities of the original to its contemporary period. The Odyssey updates the original while also being self-aware of it. So you observe the characters speaking about an upcoming invasion by the ‘sea people,’ the destruction of their civilization, and the end of the Bronze Age with apocalyptic foresight. The characters behave as if Christopher Nolan transferred his benefit of hindsight to them.
The movie places xenia, the code of hospitality, christened Zeus’s Law, as the cornerstone of Greek civilization. The inviolable host-guest relationship ensured the world stayed together. Odysseus realizes that it was his plan of the Trojan Horse that breaks the code, beginning the unraveling of civilization. What Odysseus’s crew believes to be the wrath of the gods causing innumerable delays and dangers they encounter on different islands is a reflection of the breaking of this code. Odysseus realizes this and tries to re-establish the code once he reaches Ithaca.
When Agamemnon sacrifices his daughter, he is breaking another Greek code of oikos that governs the household. Although he wins the war, the effects of his actions catch up to him after his homecoming. When Agamemnon advises Odysseus in Hades not to enter his home without assessing the situation, he speaks from the belated awareness of the consequences of his actions, which he doesn’t want Odysseus to suffer.
Odysseus in the film is the same person as in the epic—resourceful strategist, clever, proud, and always homesick for his wife and son. Additionally, Nolan makes him regretful of his actions in Troy after seeing how the same attributes affected the violent and destructive outcome of the war. This aspect gives him a spiritual connection to Nolan’s Oppenheimer, who also realizes that he has broken a code that altered human civilization permanently.
More than just a visual spectacle, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey is a cautionary tale about how pride makes people blind to the moral codes that bind a civilization together—and how breaking them carries far-reaching consequences beyond the temporary victories.
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Sunday, July 19, 2026
Opium wars, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt's grandfather--
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars
How we get to the China Connection with Soong Family--(Mrs. Chiang Kai Shek/Mae Ling Soong.
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Last days of the Romanovs--There is also a documentary called The Romanovs.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/thousands-intimate-photographs-reveal-the-everyday-lives-the-romanovs-russias-last-imperial-family-180989126/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us
I have read most of Robert K.Massie's books.
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Friday, July 17, 2026
Poem --Timothy Snyder explains History.
Fri, Jul 17 at 2:40 AM
He's dressed all in grey and black.
He's very lean though not mean, I am sure.
As he talks about the role of history
how we can change it, his white head stands in the middle
while, his big white hands, flap about like
seagulls or albatrosses. Or big white butterflies encountered by
Stillwell trecking out of Burma
and the thousands of mostly Indian refugees walking out of Burma to
Manipur, beginning of WW II. 1939.
Most died.
Kyi May Kaung
7-17-2026
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