It was a sense of belonging, of group pride, that drove me to the learning of Chinese history. Have you ever played those strategy games like “Romance of the 3 kingdoms” or similar ones? For me, it was that which aid in forming my Chinese identity. For when one reads history, or play such games, or imagine a war, one needs to take side. As an avid reader of history, I frequently read about the war …showed first 75 words of 328 total…

…showed last 75 words of 328 total…and Hittite chariots and the Persian “immortals.” But those picture books also provided me with a look at ancient life. The costumes and rituals were amazing. The pyramids and the mummies, the scribes and the cuniforms, Helen of Troy and Paris. Creeping in were also ideas influenced by my nascent sexuality. Ritual and sacrifice were reoccuring themes: half-naked minoans jumping bulls, blood baths of the Aztecs who though the world would end unless this continued.