Discovering that horoscopes could be a discipline in itself, Taiwanese art historian Chiang Hsun takes back his earlier dismissal of them as a cheap thrill. Studying the stars and how they gather and scatter with the life choices one makes is a teaching in itself.
Culture
Culture
Musing at the way modern hands are preoccupied with the mindless scrolling of mobile phones, art historian Chiang Hsun remembers his mother who knew the weight of things with one touch of her hands. Those same hands made countless beautiful sweaters and embroidery for her family — it was her labour of love.
Culture
Ordinary is beautiful, says art historian Chiang Hsun. That’s what the frenzy of war taught his mother; that’s what the simplicity of home cooking reminds us.
Culture
Chiang Hsun ruminates on a myriad of ingredients, marvelling most at the eight vegetable ‘aquatic immortals’ in Chinese cuisine, which showcase the pure and delicious flavours of the season. Best of all, he enjoyed the heavenly dishes during autumn, in a little Shanghai restaurant that feels like home.
Culture
Taiwanese art historian Chiang Hsun reminisces about the good old days of simple food and heartfelt folk religious festivals, where regular households threw banquets and opened their doors to friends and strangers. It is in those vignettes of daily life that all of Taiwan’s generosity, harmony, magnanimity and acceptance are on display.
Culture
Amid the grandeur of his friend’s deluxe kitchen, Taiwanese art historian Chiang Hsun remembers his mother, a skilled cook. With simple tools and deft hands, she whipped up artisanal meals worthy of many a great restaurant.
Culture
Ensconced in Dapu village in Chishang, a Hakka enclave where air-drying is a common way to preserve food, art historian Chiang Hsun muses about the ways that Chinese and others around the world have ingeniously learnt how to preserve food for long periods of time from methods ranging from pickling to salt-curing and air-drying. In food preservation as in life, time builds character and patience often yields rewards.
Culture
Have we lost more than we gained with the invention of the refrigerator? With giant fridges in each household, sometimes more than one, stuffed to the brim with frozen food and leftovers, are we eating less well now than when we had no means to store food? Chiang Hsun ponders the question.
Culture
Like the art of cooking, which often involves a mastery of heat control, living a good life is determined by how we can temper our souls, do what we are put on this earth to do and not take things for granted. We may not know what our life’s purpose is immediately, but if we stay the course, we can adjust the embers of our lives as we walk on.