Elixir of life

Kazakhstan and China has a long lasting bond.

In early November 2012, scientists announced the discovery of the Elixir of Life, at an international scientific conference held at the University in Kazakhstan. They took two years to develop the “Nar” a yoghurt based drink. The 72 year old, Kazakhstan President, Nursultan Nazarbayev, gave orders to the university's scientists to come up with an 'elixir of life', soon after the institution was established in 2009. British expert, Dr Jennifer Rampling, based in Cambridge said that this secretive yoghurt had been drunk by Nursultan and has prolonged his life. She even went further to suggest that they have now approached Queen Elizabeth to test the product. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/9660827/Elixir-of-life-could-be-real-according-to-British-experts.html)

If the first emperor of unified China, Qin Shi Huang (born in 259 BC) were alive his response to last November’s scientific conference would be “I told you so”. Shi Huang Di in search for the illusive elixir sent the Daoist alchemist XuFu, together with 1000 men and women to the ‘Eastern States” in search for the elixir. They were instructed never to return without the elixir. They never came back. Legend has it that these 1,000 men and women resided on a large island and started their own community which is known today as Japan.

From time immemorial, rulers across continents had had a fascination with immortality believing that a certain potion drunk in a certain cup at a certain time will grant them eternal youth. In India, the Amrita, the elixir, has been described in Hindu scriptures. In Europe, the 18th century German nobleman, Count of St Germain, was also reputed to have the Elixir and to be several hundred years old and Frenchman Nicolas Flamel was also a reputed creator of the Elixir.

What a shame Qin Shi Huang didn't go West.

He died in 210 BC at the aged 49 – OR DID HE?

He gave up the search for the illusive elixir soon after the widespread introduction of Buddhism in China during his reign. Buddhism subscribes to the belief that we are learning souls and we continue to learn until we reach the ultimate goal – Nirvana. Until then we are reincarnated again and again to learn to be better souls. In short we never really die – we just keep coming back.

Kazakhstan and China has a common history back in 1200. Kazakhstan was part of the Mongol empire which stretched from China to Eastern Europe. Genghis Khan ruled Kazakhstan for almost 500 years and his grandson, Kublai Khan ruled China for 100 years. During this period trade, migration, cultural exchange and political imperialism created the biggest landlocked territory of ancient China.

Perhaps the President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan IS the re-incarnated Qin Shi Huang.

Who first played Soccer?

Ever wondered about the origins of the game "Soccer"?

Soccer, the world’s most popular game (according to FIFA) is played by 250 million people.

Ever wondered where it all started?

On July 15, 2004, Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA, formally announced to the world that soccer originates in Zibo, Shandong province, China. Not many know that this sport was called Cuju in ancient China.

A leather feather-filled ‘ball-like’ object dribbled by opponents with the intention of kicking it into a the opponent’s net during the Han Dynasty China (221 BC) was a popular sport within the imperial court. According to FIFA: “The very earliest form of the game for which there is scientific evidence was an exercise from a military manual dating back to the second and third centuries BC in China.” The sport was refined during the Tang Dynasty (618-907) and Song Dynasty (960-1279), when professional players would entertain the imperial court and played against the imperial officials. To add excitement and speed to the game the leather ball was filled with air replacing feather providing an afternoon's entertainment for the Emperor and his invited guests.

Paper money the biggest confidence trick ever invented by the Chinese.

"FEI QIAN"

KUBLAI KHAN

When the last Emperor of the Song Dynasty in ancient China issued the world's first printed paper money 1,500 years ago he never would have thought that his legacy provides what some would consider as the biggest confidence trick perpetuated by every sovereign government in the modern world.

This slide of hand is called - currency.

The Emperor introduced the concept of "Fei Qian" - the flying money, perhaps because it was easily blown out of your hands. A picture of 5 copper coins, authenticated by the Royal Imperial Seal block printed on one side of the bark paper was issued. The seal gave this paper its intrinsic value equivalent to the number of coins pictured on the paper. Holders of this paper could redeem their paper money for the real 5 copper coins from any Imperial representative office. Holders could also use this piece of paper as an instrument of payment. The rudimentary central bank and IOU was thus created.

COPPER COINS

Unfortunately the 'lao bai xing' or citizens did not understand nor trust this printed bark representing their hard earned copper coins. The paper's fragility and ease of being stolen further prevented its universal acceptance.

Widespread use and acceptance of "Fei Qian" only happened during the Yuan Dynasty when the Mongol prince, Kublai Khan, the grandson of Genghis Khan issued an edict that all traders must accept his paper money ON PAIN OF DEATH.

With this the first legal tender law, which underpins the currencies of today's sovereign governments, was created. For a currency to achieve widespread usage, acceptance must be universal and Kublai Khan's edict did precisely that.

Sovereign governments today have similarly enacted laws (an edict, that everyone must accept the paper note issued by the Central Bank (Emperor) or you go to jail (on the pain of death). This 'edict' is clearly printed on notes today: the US dollar “this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private”; Canadian dollar “this note is legal tender”; and Australian dollar reads, “This Australian note is legal tender throughout Australia and its territories.”

So where is the confidence trick?

It all started with Kublai Khan, the Mongol Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty immediately after the fall of Song Dynasty.

Kublai Khan needed to replenish his severely depleted treasury after the 10-year war waged against the Song Dynasty.

Noticing that most of the paper money issued by the previous Song Emperor was never redeemed for copper coins he decided to pay his Imperial staff with his own version of paper notes instead of physical copper coins. He then embarked on what would be regarded as the world's first Monetary Policy, he 'bought back' copper coins firstly from his staff and later from the public or 'lao bai xing' by issuing them with paper money. Within 2 short years Kublai Khan collected all and more of the copper he used to wage his war against the Chinese Song Emperor.

His edict "acceptance on pain of death" guaranteed widespread acceptance. Holders of the "Yuan" paper note knew that a recipient must accept payment and if they wished they could redeem physical copper coins from the Imperial representative equivalent to the number of copper coins printed on the note. With this confidence and universal acceptance, demand for paper notes exploded, as it became the preferred means of payment. Kublai Khan's treasury issued even more notes as a result and within a short period the aggregated printed value on all the issued notes far exceeded the value of physical copper coins in Kublai Khan's treasury. Despite this the demand and use of paper notes did not abate.

Just like any of the Governors of the Central Banks of today, Kublai Khan realised the confidence and thus validity of a country's currency was not reliant on the backing of the value of physical commodity behind it. The confidence trick was finally created.

Kublai Khan started this trick and is today used by every country in the world issuing currency.

Today's currency has NO asset backing behind it except the mutual trust depicted by the sovereign government. Even the Gold Standard that supposedly backed every note was abandoned in early 1971 - leaving nothing accept trust of acceptance to back the note. In short we accept currencies simply because we were told to accept it under law even though there is now nothing to back the issue, similar to Kublai Khan's excessive paper money.

The trick simply works this way. John accepts it because he thinks Mary will accept it and she

US CENTRAL BANK

accepts it because she thinks Macdonald's and Kmart will take it. In short the only thing that is backing money is the "greater fool" theory of money - "I accept a dollar note because I think I can pass it along to some dude or idiot"

Little did the Song Emperor realise his "Fei Qian" was to be one of China's most prominent export - a slide of hand accepted and practiced by all Central Bankers in the world today.

The quintessential English cup of tea - the dark side

The English cup of tea

The 165 million cups of tea per day consumed by the British has a dark side to it and I am not talking about its colour.

This ubiquitous brew, which was known to have changed the "evil" ways of the banished herbalist ShenNong of China after some dried leaves accidentally fell into his boiling hot water 5,000 years ago, has similarly changed the social fabric of Great Britain in the 17th century and beyond. Tea drinking only gained momentum when the Royal Family in 1700, namely Queen Anne, started drinking tea with her breakfast rather than the customary beer. Alcohol in the 1700 was the preferred liquid drunk by men, women and children, instead of the polluted water. With no surprise the dire consequences of such wide-spread alcohol consumption were major social dislocation in 1700 Britain. It was this nationwide adoption of tea drinking that that saved the social fabric of the British society from further deterioration.  

Within 100 years – the demand for tea by the British had grown to such proportions that it severely depleted the silver bullion reserves of the country. Great Britain was running short of silver bullion buying tea, tea wares “China”, silk and other highly demanded goods produced by the Middle Kingdom.

East India Company

The East India Company, given the tea trading monopoly by the government, was charged with solving Britain’s silver bullion crisis. It did not take long for the executives of East India Company to realise that opium from their Indian colonies can be sold into China in exchange for tea thus preserving the fast dwindling silver bullion reserves of Great Britain. Within 50 years, East India Company exported social violence from Great Britain to China creating opium addiction, starvation,  poverty and death to almost 30 million Chinese.

Slaves in the sugarcane plantations

Tea was never drunk with sugar or milk. But the English aristocrats decided to alter the bitter taste of black tea by adding extracts of a giant grass – sugar. The consequence was an international slave trade involving Britain, USA, Africa and the Caribbean. Sugar came from the Caribbean plantations toiled by black African slaves supplied by the Confederate States of America (Southern states of America). Ship loads of slaves bound for the sugarcane plantations criss-crossed the Atlantic with ship loads of tea from China via the Suez Canal.

Queen Anne’s morning cup of tea in the late 1700s had major implications internationally affecting millions of people in a number of countries and culture. So next time someone says “want a cup of tea”, spare a thought for those involved in the darker side of tea.