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User talk:John Hill/Archive05Happy New Year.jpg) Dear John, let's make of Wikipedia a swan in stead of an Ugly Duckling.
NervaReplied on Talk:Gan Ying. If you find it necessary to be silent, that would be regrettable; I was replacing a claim that he was describing "Roman democracy", which seems most unlikely. Septentrionalis PMAnderson 17:27, 7 January 2009 (UTC)
DYK for Tangton Gyelpo
Gatoclass (talk) 11:13, 16 January 2009 (UTC) Wonderful work John, thanks. Dr. Blofeld White cat 12:49, 16 January 2009 (UTC) Heheh I can understand how annoying "The Higher Power" can be sometimes. Strange things happen, how on earth did a plane on fire with no engines land on water and still have every single one of them saved beats me. Your reference to it though as Mr. Arthur Rightus I thought was amusing!! IThere are just too many things that happen in everyday life to consider that we are somehow an accident and that there is nothing watching over us. Sometimes I think the good Lord is laughing his head off at us. I can see though how frustrating it must be to have these physical problems which affect your writing. Take care!! Anyway of late I've been concentrating on making flickr agreements and uploading "copyrighted" images to the commons. I have made a few friends too on flickr including one lady of about 50 called Grete Howard who has visited 122 countries even Nepal and Tibet and as you can imagine has a huge amount to tell. See articles like Parakou, Cové and Bassar as an example for those I've added. I've even managed to start a few articles based on them like Attitogon etc. I thought you could do with some cheering up so here are some images I uploaded of Norfolk Island my friend! Dr. Blofeld White cat 10:28, 17 January 2009 (UTC) HiHi, I have reverted the Genectics section to what it has been for a long time. Removing the info from the following links because the above link does not quote where its information is souced from directly (e.g. which Peer reviewed study or which named expert) and so it is unreliable. You say that I added, "The association with Indo-Scythian descent is so strong the British have often used haplotype matches with Jatt Sikhs as evidence of Scythian link." Now, first of all, this is a reference to one genealogical website of rather doubtful scholarship in which I cannot find any evidence that they claim (as he states) that "the British" (which British, one might well wonder) "have often used haplotype matches with Jatt Sikhs as evidence of Scythian link." If you go through to the version before my edit you will see that it was already there before me [1]. I did not add it. I am not happy with the above section either because it looks like someone just added POV so am happy to remove it. I am happy to leave the Genetic section to what is below. This is roughly what it has been for long time (over 2 years plus) on the article. "A recent Genetic study of the Jat people of the Indian States of Haryana and Punjab (Punjab region), where about 40% or more of the population are Jat people. The study involved a genealogical DNA test which examined single nucleotide polymorphisms (mutations in a single DNA "letter") on the Y chromosome (which occurs only in males). Jat people share many common haplotypes with German, Slavic, Baltic, Iranian, and Central Asian groups.[62] It found Jat people share only two haplotypes, one of which is also shared with the population of present-day Turkey, and have few matches with neighbouring Pakistani populations.[62] This haplotype shared between the two Jat groups may be part of an Indo-Aryan (or Indo-European) genetic contribution to these populations[62], where as the haplotypes shared with other Eurasian populations may be due to the contribution of Indo-European Scythian (Saka, Massagetae) or White Huns.[62]" Moreover, I cleaned up a few other sections so do not revert my edits here. Thank you and stay well. Best regards. --James smith2 (talk) 06:19, 20 January 2009 (UTC) Positive AdviceHi, this is ment to be helpful positive advice. I noticed on the talk page of the article you seem to be in a dispute with another editor User:LRBurdak. Please try and keep the exchanges to each other talk pages as it disrupts the article talk page. Having a dispute with him is Ok but please Wikipedia:Assume good faith from other editors who work hard here to improve it, it really harms wikipedia when good editors leave wikipedia because of negative outlook of someone because they have a dispute with someone else e.g. User:LRBurdak. So please keep wikipedia positive and Wikipedia:Assume good faith from other editors. :-) Best regards. --James smith2 (talk) 06:55, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
Apologies and thanksFirst of all, I would like to make an unqualified and wholehearted apology to James smith2. I wrongly accused him of making changes to this article which were, in fact, as he points out, made earlier by someone else. They seem to have been made by a person using the IP address: 58.27.166.36 (apparently from Lahore, Pakistan) on 17th January. This was an inexcusable mistake on my part - I should have checked more carefully before I wrote and will endeavour to do so in the future. Secondly, I would like to thank James smith2 for his kind and tolerant advice to me to assume good faith - something I admit I find hard to do when I feel I am being faced by people promoting racist agendas. Finally, I would like to thank him for his sensitive improvements to the article on Jat people. Sincerely, John Hill (talk) 09:43, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
Check out this rather strange creature in Yoruba religion. Dr. Blofeld White cat 20:37, 21 January 2009 (UTC) Wow thats some experience, so sad. That sort of thing is usually too much for me to venture into, but I have a book on Benin and voodoo just happens to be engrained deeply in its culture. Dr. Blofeld White cat 11:04, 22 January 2009 (UTC) Thankyou my great friend. That has to be one of the funkiest awards I've seen!! Sorry I haven't been doing loads of work on Tibet and former Tibet but I wish I had some books like yourself to enable me to write more about things! Over the next few months though I will be creating some articles related to Amdo and north-west China as I've spotted a great deal missing from the web alone! Take care and keep in contact and thanks again Dr. Blofeld White cat 12:23, 25 January 2009 (UTC) At present I'm working on French West Africa and building content as well as Latin American municipalities. This of course is fused with getting a lot of missing LOC material onto here, my most recent today is Agriculture in Bolivia. Given time I hope to find more sources and update it into "my own" but I had to scout for virtually all of the images in the article and upload them myself as countries like this have a shocking redundancy in content both in the encyclopedia and in imagery. Dr. Blofeld White cat 16:47, 25 January 2009 (UTC) Hi. Thang Tong Gyalpo is probably closer to the Tibetan since the second syllable ends with a nga not na. Perhaps take the material from your article Tangton Gyelpo and add it to / or merge it with the one I started earlier Thang Tong Gyalpo then simply make the Tangton Gyelpo page a re direct to Thang Tong Gyalpo. This might be a useful source: Chakzampa Thangtong Gyalpo - Architect, Philosopher and Iron Chain Bridge Builder. best regards Chris Fynn (talk) 14:57, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
May I ?Hi John, I’d like to ask you if I may copy your picture ‘Maroon village, Suriname River, 1955’ (Dugouts {canoes} at the Suriname River) and post it to my user profile on myspace. http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=449599303 I’ve translated a short story that takes place in Surinam, I want to let see a few pages of it on my profile and I really would be very glad if I could use your picture as illustration (of course, with mention of your name). The original text of this story was in Dutch and I translated it into French. The French title is ‘Les bananes lumineuses’ and the author’s name is Oscar van den Boogaard. Could you please contact me on my profile? Thanks for your reply and greetings from France, Marian 86.66.224.119 (talk) 17:23, 2 February 2009 (UTC)
Dear Marian: Thank you for posting the photo. But please credit it to Dr. "Ted" Hill - not me! I am sorry I cannot add a comment because I am not a member of MySpace (and I don't have time to get involved with more on-line activities), but I would be pleased if you would like to make a comment about my father based on what I have written here. He was a doctor - a specialist in Tropical Medicine in private practice in Trinidad and, as there were so few doctors qualified in Tropical Medicine in the region in those days (late 1940s - 1960), he was often asked to go to remote regions to check on various diseases, epidemics, etc., for both local governments and companies who had workers in those areas. As a result, he visited many remote areas in the Guyanas (British, French and Dutch colonies at that time). He was very adventurous and travelled widely and loved to explore unusual places. He got on well with all sorts of people and was fluent in several languages including French (Parisian, French Canadian and West Indian Creole), Dutch, German, and Spanish, and could carry on conversations in many others. He was also an adventurous pilot and a fine photographer. He was endlessly curious about just almost everything and spent his life trying to help others. As you can tell I am very proud of my father! Hope this gives you something to work with. Cheers, John Hill (talk) 23:35, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
PS : I work with a publisher. I think your father’s life could be a great subject for a novel. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.66.224.119 (talk) 21:13, 7 February 2009 (UTC) The above-linked Arbitration case has been closed and the final decision published. PHG's mentorship and sourcing arrangement is both revised and extended; the full list of new conditions are available by clicking this link. Furthermore, the original topic ban on editing articles related to medieval or ancient history has been rescinded. PHG is prohibited from editing articles relating to the Mongol Empire, the Crusades, intersections between Crusader states and the Mongol Empire, and Hellenistic India—all broadly defined. This topic ban will last for a period of one year. He is permitted to make suggestions on talk pages, provided that he interacts with other editors in a civil fashion. Any particular article may be added or removed from PHG's editing restriction at the discretion of his mentor; publicly logged to prevent confusion of the restriction's coverage. The mentor is encouraged to be responsive to feedback from editors in making and reconsidering such actions. Furthermore, the Committee noted that PHG has complied with the Committee's restrictions over the past ten months, and that PHG is encouraged to continue contributing to Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects. PHG should be permitted and encouraged by other editors to write well-sourced suggestions on talkpages, to contribute free-content images to Wikimedia Commons, and to build trust with the community. For the Arbitration Committee, Zhang ZhungShould be Zhang Zhung I think... Hey we've had a ton of snow here at the moment, pretty rare on the mild south coast. However at present the sun is shining intensively and the snow has stopped, its gonna melt preyyy quickly! Dr. Blofeld White cat 12:17, 3 February 2009 (UTC) LOL perhaps this fella has spent too long on the sunbed or tanning salon. Thats quite a tan!! Great image! Dr. Blofeld White cat 15:07, 3 February 2009 (UTC) Great news. Have you checked out the 1773 new images of Tibet from the 1930s 1940s etc from the German archives in the commons Amazing, images of the Potala etc. Might have some images of some interesting people from this period. Dr. Blofeld White cat 15:40, 3 February 2009 (UTC)  Hey buddy I've started Tsarong Dzasa using our wonderful German images. I wonder if he is mentioned in one of your works. Quite important figure by the looks of it Dr. Blofeld White cat 16:53, 3 February 2009 (UTC)
I know, the images mean a lot to me also because it pictures Tibet as Tibet not after it was brutally robbed of its independence. Did you by the way have any info on Tsarong Dzasa in your books to add? Have you heard of him? I started Trimon too a while back,which I'd like to expand in due course if possible; I'd like to see more biographies started on Tibetan cabinet leaders from earlier times indeed from today too but I am particularly fascinated by the older material. Dr. Blofeld White cat 10:07, 4 February 2009 (UTC)
I know I'm loving these photos! I'm not sure whether to stub the Gayokang article, theres probably notable information in German at least. Thanks for those finds anyway! Dr. Blofeld White cat 09:13, 5 February 2009 (UTC) Hey John. An asteroid named after Lhasa. Cool!! 7859 Lhasa Dr. Blofeld White cat 23:18, 7 February 2009 (UTC) PieGreat to meet you here has given you a fresh pie! Pies promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day a little better. Spread the WikiLove by giving someone else a piping hot pie, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Bon appetit! Spread the tastiness of pies by adding {{subst:GivePie}} to their talk page with a friendly message. -RavichandarMy coffee shop 17:32, 7 February 2009 (UTC)
Indian contacts with China by sea in the 2nd centuryDear Ravi. I have just found my note on Indian contact with China by sea during the 2nd century CE and I thought it might be of some interest to you. Although all the contacts are mentioned as "embassies," it seems probable that they would have come on merchant ships and that there would have been far more visits by merchant ships without embassies which would, therefore, not have been recorded in the Chinese records. Anyway, here is the quote from my notes: "There are records of envoys from 'India' in 159 and 161 CE travelling by sea via the Han prefecture of Rinan (on the central Vietnamese coast) to China. Others from “beyond the barrier” arrived in 173 CE and 183 CE. See The Roman Empire in Chinese Sources. (1996). D.D. Leslie and K. H. J. Gardiner , p. 153, and n. 50. There are some indications that these embassies may have been sent by Saka satraps in Gujarat rather than from the Kushans, see ibid. p. 137." I should add that if ships were travelling from the northwest coast of India to China, it is very likely indeed that ships would also have been sailing to China from southeastern India, and the product lists in the 3rd century Weilüe would seem to indicate this as well. Cheers, John Hill (talk) 23:07, 14 February 2009 (UTC)
WusunHi John. I saw your edits in the article Wusun and I suppose that you are quite educated in that field. I corrected a few poorly sourced claims in the article and tried to write a more neutral version, especially regarding the Wusun language. It would be great if you could have a look at it. I am still convinced that many parts are POV, OR, or simply wrong. Thank you. Tājik (talk) 05:22, 15 February 2009 (UTC) Contacts between Ancient South India and ChinaI came across some related stuff in the 1939 book "Foreign Notices of South India" by K. A. Nilakanta Sastri. One of the chapters is titled "Kanchi and China in the second cnetury B.C.". I shall reproduce the contents of the chapter here:
Hope you might find this useful. :-)-RavichandarMy coffee shop 04:30, 19 February 2009 (UTC) Interesting coincidence! I logged in today to message you something which I had found and I found a message from you on my talk page.:-) I'll have a look at it now-RavichandarMy coffee shop 04:47, 19 February 2009 (UTC) Qashqai
APOLOGY TO BabakexorramdinI apologise to Babakexorramdin for the accusation I made against him of misrepresenting a quote. It is clear now that he just gave the wrong reference (the one I checked) and he has now corrected it. In other words he made the simple mistake of giving this reference [2] for [3] and I did not, as the Wikipedia advises, "assume good faith" and accused him ujustly. I guess because of some of misleading changes by another user at about the same time I was upset about this site being misused - which it was - but NOT by Babakexorramdin who seems to have just made an honest mistake, which is now corrected. I unreservedly apologise and am very sorry for the misrepresentation and any other hurt I have caused. Sincerely yours, John Hill (talk) 12:38, 28 February 2009 (UTC)
Hello JohnHi John, I was editing on Dzungar people and I came across with the editing history where I saw you insisted on calling this area ruled by the Dzungars East Turkestan. I don't think that's the right name to use. I have listed some reasons on Talk:Dzungar people. Please check it out if you are still interested in the topic. --Chadsnook (talk) 10:40, 18 March 2009 (UTC)
For every category you create, you should specify parent categories to which it belongs. You can do this by listing the parents near the bottom of the page, each enclosed in double brackets like so: [[Category:Silk]] [[Category:Hypothetical second category]] I am a human being, not a bot, so you can contact me if you have questions about this. Best regards, --Stepheng3 (talk) 21:01, 25 March 2009 (UTC) Hi JohnHey John! Amit here. So did you have any luck in dealing with vandals on the Jat people page? What are you working on these days? Sorry if you mind such use of your talk page, I just was curious what you were up to after all this time :P. Cheers! :) ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 14:42, 11 April 2009 (UTC) Talkback You can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template. Omarcheeseboro (talk) 23:27, 13 April 2009 (UTC) DYK for Sumpa
Dravecky (talk) 08:31, 16 April 2009 (UTC) HiHi! How are you doing? :-) -The EnforcerOffice of the secret service 05:55, 27 April 2009 (UTC)
Hey John!!!Hello John. My sincere apologies for not replying for so long, I was at my parents' place which is more of a village and somehow the internet access here shut down for several days. Sorry to hear about your back trouble - have you met the neurosurgeon yet? I wish you a speedy recovery with the minimum of pain. Who are you living with? Any family/friend to take care of you? Just take it easy okay? Nice to know things are settling down on the Jat pages. You really helped maintain normalcy in the face of people who derive all their sense of self worth from their caste and the exaggerated notions of self-importance that come with it, heh. As for me, I'm glad to report that I have got admission into one of the top B-schools of the country. I am taking the Human Resources specialisation. So after nearly 3 years of working, it's back to studying for me. And I am bracing myself as I have been told they make you put in immense amounts of effort. Hopefully I will be able to measure up to it. Once again, wishing you a speedy recovery. Take care of yourself, and let me know how the surgery went. Best wishes - Amit :) ReluctantPhilosopher (talk) 11:46, 27 April 2009 (UTC) Dear John HillHi, Mr Hill, I try to write in english my answer. I hope you understand me. I'm very surprise and proud, that you notice my picture (actually two pictures from me and a friend, put together to form a panoramic view). I take those beautiful sand dunes in 2006 during a trip in the Gobi desert, a very nice trip in a tremendous country. I put it in Commons in order people from everywhere can use it, so no problem for me if you want to put it on the cover of your book. I just ask to my friend if there is no problem on his side. I give my name later (and the friend name) by mail, tomorow or in a few days if you can wait, just for keep my anonymity on the web ;-)). Good luck for your nice project, and send me a copy one day... Bouette (talk) 12:19, 4 May 2009 (UTC) Vesak A meaningful Vesak to you my friend. YellowMonkey (cricket calendar poll!) 05:58, 8 May 2009 (UTC) TuyuhunDear John, couldn't one just copy something from the history of Tibet article, or the Srong brtsan sgam po article, where I think this issue is handled more carefully. I don't think the Tuyuhun are actually a component of the traditional story. I have never seen any source or academic article that claims the Tibetans were jealous of the Tuyuhuns. I have always just thought the reason for invading the Tuyuhun was geographic. It stood between Tibet and China. Tibetologist (talk) 11:06, 10 May 2009 (UTC) Hello my dear friendHello John! How are you? Sorry to hear you have to take medication like that!! My father will be 61 in June and is still as fit as I am! All the luck you need huh? May I ask what your book is about? SOunds interesting look forward to seein it on Amazon. Someday I'll get around to writing books, I want somebody to pay me! All the best!!Dr. Blofeld (talk) 13:38, 10 May 2009 (UTC) This book sounds amazing, and you;ve been working on it 30 years? Wow!! As this is written from a Chinese perspective towards other parts of Europe rather than the usual Anglo-centric view of looking at the world in western society this book looks like a gem. I've also always shared your interest in the silk road and trade routes. I'm particularly fascinated by some of the lesser known sites and area sin modern day Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, even northern Iran. Something to feel proud of I'm sure! Well done!Dr. Blofeld (talk) 08:14, 11 May 2009 (UTC) DYK nomination of Sir Galba
Interesting. You know strangely thats how I had pictured you (as a young man of course!)! Yes my cousin used to spend six months in Peru and six months in Canada and now he has left Peru to live in Aus he really misses the country! Dr. Blofeld (talk) 11:34, 15 May 2009 (UTC) Hey I was wondering if you have anything on Poykent?Dr. Blofeld (talk) 17:25, 15 May 2009 (UTC) I know very little about Khotan. I have some vague idea about pre-Islamic Khotan other than the fact that Western China was the home of the Kushanas and it was a part of Kanishka's kingdom. I guess Manichaeism and Nestorian Christianity were the predominant religions during the few centuries prior to the conversion to Islam. Am I right? Was the script related to Pahlavi? Or am I confusing Khotan with Sogdiana? Well, by the way, I am interested quote a bit in pre-Islamic Iranian history. I am a computer programmer as of now but would like to move to history. Would like some help and good advice on the same. Would you mind if I contact you through mail?-The EnforcerOffice of the secret service 13:45, 18 May 2009 (UTC) Biography categoryNo worries...you're far from the first person ever to do it, and I'm pretty sure you won't be the last, either :-) Bearcat (talk) 22:25, 20 May 2009 (UTC) CooktowniaHi John, Cooktownia is currently 874 b of readable prose size. You should expand it to 1500 b to be eligible. Here is the DYK rule. Good look!--Chanaka L (talk) 04:27, 2 June 2009 (UTC) Thanks a lot John, for the kind words! I found many overseas Wikipedians are Just, Impartial, very understanding of Sri Lanka's current situations. I think this is due to our NPOV policy. I will help you with any wikignome edits on Cooktownia. Regards!--Chanaka L (talk) 06:46, 2 June 2009 (UTC) Sanju PassIn the Article Sanju Pass which you created, you had not either implicitly or explicitly stated that the Sanju La was situate in a particular country. I appreciated your stance since the entire northern border of Kashmir is disputed by the Chinese holding East Turkistan and the stance of even the Chinese is that the northern border of Kashmir has neither been delineated or demarcated. Western cartographers running berserk both prior to 1947 and post 1947 have been depicting the northern border of Kashmir arbitrarily and in accordance with their whims and fancies[4] and even never consistently. In accordance with the spirit of the Article, I did not either implicitly or explicitly state in my edit, though the Sanju pass is on the northern border of Kashmir, that the Sanju is a part of Kashmir. Like your source , viz. "Report of a Mission to Yarkund in 1873 : vol.1, p. 245. (1875). T. D. Forsyth. Calcutta", I had also provided further sources.My edit is there for all to see. Res ipsa loquitur. This user:Fowler&fowler, indulging in foul play had no use of the article till I myself edited the article . The moment I edited the article, she reverts it and defying the spirit of the article, unilaterally and arbitrarily states that the Sanju Pass is allegedly in the so-called “Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”, and then in the Discussion page of the article goes to blatantly make misrepresentations that I “seek to claim the region of this pass for the Republic of India” , when as a matter of fact, I had deliberately abstained from stating that the Sanju pass is in Kashmir. As a matter of fact, I had suggested to user:Fowler&fowler that in the article, Hindutash, a consensus can be arrived at on the model of the Sanju Pass article, i.e. abstaining from stating that the pass is situate in a particular country. He/she never gave a proper reply. Infact, she/he has never given a proper reply in my entire correspondence with her/him in the entire Discussion Page for Hindutash. You or anyone else can see for yourself! What angers me is that she /he, unable to refute or disprove my assertions, references and corroboration provided, seeks the help of her/his friends and coterie to protect her/his POV version, and she/he makes false allegations against me like the one in the Talk page of Sanju Pass. I would like to know how you feel about her/ his nefarious actions, and how to deal with her/him vis-ã –vis inter alia the articles on Hindutash and Sanju Pass. Regards.Hindutashravi (talk) 04:58, 6 June 2009 (UTC)
I have replied to his allegations and accusations in the Talk Page of the Sanju Pass and Hindutash Articles and I have again thoroughly exposed him. It remains to be seen if he will atleast now give an appropriate reply refuting my reply point by point if he can some how do it! He has never done it in the past and has always evaded the issue. You can see that I have added more details in the Sanju Pass article, including more references and corroboratory evidence specifically pertaining to the Sanju Pass. Can you do me a favour? Can you up load on Wikipedia, the map pertaining to the mission to Kashgar in 1873-74, of Sir Douglas Forsyth as shown accompanying the mission report’ which I have referred to in the article on Sanju Pass in toto. The maps up loaded by User:Fowler&fowler are piecemeal and incomplete! Regards. Hindutashravi (talk) 13:57, 10 June 2009 (UTC) Hello friendHello John! Thanks for your support, it was only because a lot of people feel the same way unlike some of those nasties that I decided to return and partly because so much needs doing and few editors around who seem to want to wprk on the sort of articles I'm interested. I bought a book on the History of Nepal a while back, a book that was translated from Parbatiya. It was originally written in 1877 and the book is published in India but thanks to the Internet I got hold of a cheap copy. It covers subjects like the Gupta and Rajput dynasties in Nepal. It is quite heavy reading though and would be difficult to write encyclopedia articles based upon it but it does contain info on some 20 or so festivals in Nepal. Later I will create List of festivals in Nepal. Howeer serious computer difficulties means my firefox has crashed five times since writing this message alone so it may be while before it can be started. Regards!. Dr. Blofeld White cat 10:58, 6 June 2009 (UTC) Dan McLeodIn reference to User talk:Closeapple#Dan McLeod: Thanks for the compliment. I think the nofootnotes on the "References" section was because I wasn't sure if the entry you have in that section is just "for further reading" or an actual citation reference for facts above that hadn't gotten a proper <ref> tag yet. --Closeapple (talk) 11:39, 7 June 2009 (UTC) Oh for the love of Tibet Characene / Charax SpasinouWhy are they considered to be "on the silk road"? This area was the terminus for the sea route from Mesopotamia through the Persian Gulf to the western coast of India, but its rather doubtful that it was a significant hub for land-based trade from China or Central Asia to the Levant... AnonMoos (talk) 13:05, 10 June 2009 (UTC)
DYK for Cooktownia
Royalbroil 11:28, 12 June 2009 (UTC)
Chanyu vs. ShanyuNo problem! There are still some mistakes and inconsistencies left in the Latin-based system for sounding out 漢字 pronunciations. Since "chan" is used in the Hanyu Pinyin system as often as "shan", I suppose that the mistake is a believable one. You could argue that it's similar to calling Beijing as "Peking" and Jinzhou as "Chinchow" (i.e. the variation in Latin letters to indicate the sound). And no! Thank you for bringing this to my attention. Later John! --Pericles of AthensTalk 08:40, 14 June 2009 (UTC) Dockrillia wassellii QuestionYou recently moved Dendrobium wassellii to Dockrillia wassellii and I was wondering if you could explain why for me. I attempted to confirm that the accepted name was Dockrillia wassellii, but I was unable to do so. In the Kew checklist they list Dendrobium wassellii as the accepted name and Dockrillia wassellii as the synonym. I then went and searched under google scholar to see if I could find scholarly articles for Dendrobium wassellii and Dockrillia wassellii. There was only one for the Dockrillia search, but many for the Dendrobium article. This seems to indicate that Dendrobium would be the accepted name. So could you explain which source you used that shows that Dockrillia is the correct genus.Chhe (talk) 17:53, 15 June 2009 (UTC)
Sanju PassAh sorry for the mixup in Sanju Pass, just went through the text once more and noted the My mistake, shouldn't have edited with half a brain. --Rayshade (talk) 13:38, 24 June 2009 (UTC) BookGreat! How are you? Sad news about Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett isn't it. Would you be interested in improving the Leh article? Dr. Blofeld White cat 07:32, 26 June 2009 (UTC) I take it you aren't interested in improving Leh? Dr. Blofeld White cat 11:06, 26 June 2009 (UTC) An invitationHello John. Eric here (or, as you know me by my Wiki handle, Pericles). I am very impressed with your work here at Wiki, but even more so with your work elsewhere. I would like to cordially invite you to become a member of an exclusive online forum dedicated to all aspects of Chinese history. It is a place where academics, history buffs, professors, and language experts can congregate and share scholarly material. I believe you would fit in quite well, seeing as how our members are busy on almost a daily basis translating Chinese history sources into English. It was just launched recently and is still hidden to public view, but our (truly global) membership is growing steadily through private invitations. I hope you will accept this invitation and join our small but growing community. You can contact me at either IAmEricConnor@yahoo.com or guitargod7_5@hotmail.com and I will provide you with the necessary links. Regards.--Pericles of AthensTalk 12:28, 27 June 2009 (UTC)
GandharaHi John Hill
Intothefire (talk) 07:08, 28 June 2009 (UTC)Intothefire (talk) 07:09, 28 June 2009 (UTC) Reply to User IntothefireHi again! I don't know whether there is a policy that primary or secondary sources are preferred in the Wikipedia, but, in very general terms, I believe it is preferable to go to the original source to be sure the information is accurate. The quote you gave was:
This quoted text is badly punctuated and difficult to follow and contains many grammatical and spelling errors, while the final sentence does not make sense. Further, in the previous sentence, the word monasteries is so badly misspelled ("manastries ") that a reader without a very good command of English might not even know what it was meant to represent (and would not be able to check it in a dictionary). It was partly for these reasons that I replaced that quote with a much clearer quote from Al Biruni himself. While he does not mention Gandhara specifically, the statement was was made referring to Mahmud's invasion and conquest of northwestern India which, as we know, included Gandhara. I can see no difficulty here. Finally, seeing as you ask, I am "just another wikipedian", not an editor - but if I were an editor why would you, on that basis alone, accept my changes if you thought they were wrong? Are we not trying to make this article as factual and clear as we can? Please let me know if you still disagree and, if so, why. Yours sincerely, John Hill (talk) 11:49, 28 June 2009 (UTC) Hi John Hill ThanksAye, I don't know whether it is customary to thank when receiving a Barnstar, but as people so seldom express gratitude I do sincerely want thank for the appreciation. Didn't actually expect one, mind you! Another surprise was to make a certain mental connection after User:PericlesofAthens pointed out the same translation to be a work of yours—which I've used as a reference on a few articles. --Rayshade (talk) 08:40, 29 June 2009 (UTC) You earned it
Hello John! Thanks buddy! At present I'm starting about 1000 new castle articles all across central Europe! Hope you are well! If you have time check out the Ancient Egyptian mediation music 1-9 series on Youtube. See this and its related articles. Really takes you back to early civilization. Great stuff/ Dr. Blofeld White cat 18:15, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
Credit where credit is due[5] I think you meant thank User:Euryalus, not Moondyne. Moondyne did nothing in the article space. Would you mind fixing your comment? –Moondyne 01:15, 7 July 2009 (UTC)
Santiago Mariño biographyHello user John Hill, first and foremost my most sincere apologies for this kind of edit war, it was not my intention. In most of the books and works about Venezuelan history (I can give references) describes the attempt of Mariño to take power as failed, and although for a few days had a certain control, he never took the head of the executive. Caracas 2000 (talk) 13:37, 14 July 2009 (UTC)
Thanks my friendThanks, you know that there are some problems about the order of the list of presidents of Venezuela, here in wikipedia we have in the list, persons that in other investigations and books, are not considered presidents of Venezuela. Caracas 2000 (talk) 14:23, 16 July 2009 (UTC) I've emailed you. Dr. Blofeld White cat 11:08, 24 July 2009 (UTC) Do you like classical music at all? I am a huge fan of Frédéric Chopin! Have a listen to this. His range of compostions mark a true genius I think. I think he was one of the greatest pianists of all time too, quite outstanding technical ability. Dr. Blofeld White cat 14:16, 26 July 2009 (UTC)
Hi. In light of recent events and community concerns about the way in which content is transferred I have proposed a new wikiproject which would attempt to address any of the concerns and done in an environment where a major group of editors work together to transfer articles from other wikipedias in the most effective way possible without BLP or referencing problems. Please offer your thoughts at the proposal and whether or not you support or oppose the idea of a wikiproject dedicated to organizing a more efficient process of getting articles in different languages translated into English. Dr. Blofeld White cat 12:54, 27 July 2009 (UTC) Well so far me have 16 people supporting which is enough to start a new project see Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals/TRANSWIKI. If you could copy your message you left me and post your thoughts about translation classes and task I urge that you to do so on that page. I think that is an excellent suggestion and Ithink this project should be widely publicised and teachers of translation classes/schools should be urged to encourage their pupils to translate wikipedia articles. Same goes for english articles into other languages. The key to this will be a big team of translators. Dr. Blofeld White cat 11:01, 29 July 2009 (UTC) Glad you like Chopin!! Dr. Blofeld White cat 08:26, 30 July 2009 (UTC) Some ideas on how to get it running
Good idea. Here is another Chopin piece by the great Vladimir Horowitz. The first 1:30 is superb but the low part in the middle spoils it somewhat. Also Liszt. I love browsing through Horowitz's recitals! Dr. Blofeld White cat 11:59, 30 July 2009 (UTC) Hey I found my old piano teacher on the web!! Here. I can't believe!!! how much she has aged in 15 years!!! Dr. Blofeld White cat 12:45, 30 July 2009 (UTC) Given time I expect us to have decent pin maps for each chinese province so it will be a better map. P.S. did you listen to the other piano pieces afterwards? Dr. Blofeld White cat 09:54, 3 August 2009 (UTC) Image of Endeavour replica in CooktownHi. There's been a recent discussion about an image of yours - File:Endeavour replica in Cooktown harbour.jpg, which you uploaded in February 2005 and which was transferred to Commons in July of that year. The image was in the HM Bark Endeavour article which is currently a featured article candidate, but there were some queries in the discussion about the release of the image under GFDL. Your original permission was in the Wikipedia version but is less evident in the Commons one as it was transferred there by someone else. To address the issue, your image has been (temporarily) replaced with this one. However, yours is visually superior and better captures the spirit of the text. So the image can go back into the article, could I ask a favour and get you to edit its Commons page here, by cutting then re-pasting the "Permissions" text, or doing any similar edit to demonstrate that this is in fact the image you originally took and you're happy to release it into the public domain? Euryalus (talk) 23:14, 2 August 2009 (UTC)
Cooktowners, HM Bark Endeavour, and Lieutenant James CookThanks a lot for all the work - I am really happy to see the photo on the page where it is. I, also, in hindsight don't really care what name is used for the article - both names are there and properly cross-referenced with redirects - so there should be no problem - except maybe from some Cooktown residents who tend to feel quite strongly about it. An even worse sin here is to refer to James Cook, when he was here on his first voyage, as "Captain Cook". You can say "the captain of the Endeavour, James Cook" - but NEVER use "captain" as his title here or you will be written off as an ignoramus. I am just warning you in case you ever visit Cooktown. Otherwise the locals tend to be quite friendly - so don't be put off - I'd love to meet you and show you around our beautiful slice of paradise! Cheers, John Hill (talk) 04:52, 3 August 2009 (UTC)
Kuchi peopleIn the article lead, "Kuchi refers to robbers" was added in the last version, which breaches the formal tone in an encyclopedia, was it to show pure racist hatred? Since it was not sourced, I removed it, and I added sources from nps and UNHCR etc. I think the article can be further expanded, and sections regarding land, carpets and rugs etc. can be added using this source and other similar sources (some can be found here) in citations - it will be great for the article. -119.152.247.198 (talk) 16:37, 6 August 2009 (UTC) Hi John!We haven't talked in a while. That forum discussion about Charles Beckwith's book Empires of the Silk Road (2009) at GHF is underway. In the meantime I'd like to share with you my latest project here at Wiki which I have submitted for Featured status:
NowCommons: File:13 th Dalai Lama Nechung retreat.JPGFile:13 th Dalai Lama Nechung retreat.JPG is now available on Wikimedia Commons as Commons:File:13 th Dalai Lama Nechung retreat.JPG. This is a repository of free media that can be used on all Wikimedia wikis. The image will be deleted from Wikipedia, but this doesn't mean it can't be used anymore. You can embed an image uploaded to Commons like you would an image uploaded to Wikipedia, in this case: [[File:13 th Dalai Lama Nechung retreat.JPG]]. Note that this is an automated message to inform you about the move. This bot did not copy the image itself. --Erwin85Bot (talk) 18:38, 6 August 2009 (UTC)
Your edit at 13th Dalai LamaAre you saying that Qing is China? 98.119.158.59 (talk) 02:29, 7 August 2009 (UTC)
In fact, the Qing simply referred to itself as China in international treaties, including those regarding Tibet, etc. The official title of the treaty signed between Britain and Qing dynasty regarding Tibet in 1906 is Convention Between Great Britain and China Respecting Tibet[6]. And Article II of this Sino-Britain treaty stated "The Government of Great Britain engages not to annex Tibetan territory or to interfere in the administration of Tibet. The Government of China also undertakes not to permit any other foreign State to interfere with the territory or internal administration of Tibet.". Qing was officially China, as seen in treaty text, and it was certainly not that "China was just one of the colonies of Qing" as User 98.119.158.59 suggested. User 98.119.158.59, please don't push your biased view.--207.112.90.79 (talk) 00:35, 8 August 2009 (UTC) Tibetan BuddhismFinally I have become skilled enough to do it. I've changed the template to the way I desired all along saffron writing inscribed on the burgundy. Now it has been properly Tibetanized! Dr. Blofeld White cat 21:11, 13 August 2009 (UTC) Thankyou buddy!! I love the barnstar. Awesome!! I wish I had more time to spend solely on Tibet and Central Asian topics but there is so much to do!! I'll definately me trying to expand the coverage of monasteries there in modern day Qinghai and Sichuan!! There is stacks missing!! Yes I'm happy with the colours now it just looks right doesn't it!! My very best regards! Dr. Blofeld White cat 09:22, 14 August 2009 (UTC) You may not have noticed but thanks to your cabin stoway article I expanded the article on Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and it is currently on the main page! Dr. Blofeld White cat 15:12, 14 August 2009 (UTC)
Note: I have just moved this whole section begun by User:Dewan357 on 17th August from the top of the page to the bottom, where it belongs, as it is the most recent exchange here. John Hill (talk) 07:45, 20 August 2009 (UTC) ............................................................. Why have you erased the texts in the Kushan Empire. I gave good reference and it was well researched.(Dewan 23:12, 17 August 2009 (UTC)) Ok my bad! That makes sense. I thought you were a vandal so I undid it!(Dewan 23:28, 17 August 2009 (UTC)) No problem bro! I think it is good how it is right now. (Dewan 01:27, 18 August 2009 (UTC)) What up man! I did some reasearch and see if these claims are good enough for the beginning of the article:
The Kushans controlled a critical part of the legendary Silk Road and was the crucible in trade between India, Persia, China, and Rome. The Kushanas were patrons of Gandharan art as well as Sanskrit literature. They initiated a new era called Shaka in 78 AD, and their calendar was formally recognized by India for civil purposes starting on March 22, 1957. They lost considerable amount of lands in central Asia in conflict with the Sassanid Empire who set up the Kushanshahs, and then in the gangetic plain to the rising Gupta Empire. (Dewan 02:14, 20 August 2009 (UTC)) Reply to User:Dewan357Dear Dewan: I am sorry, but I hardly know where to begin discussing all the matters you have raised. I will do my best here and then add copies of this correspondence to the Discussion page for the article on the Kushan Empire where I think it belongs, as it may be of interest to others contributing to that article. Now, you have given above a proposed revision of the first two paragraphs of the article and asked me to "see if these claims are good enough for the beginning of the article". Unfortunately, I am not at all happy with either the existing opening paragraphs of the article, or your suggested changes. I believe the opening should be brief, factual and provide a concise overview of the subject. Now, first of all, the Kushan Empire at its height not only controlled large areas of the northern regions of the Indian subcontinent, but also much of what is now Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and, perhaps at times, even parts of the southern and western portions of the Tarim Basin. It should, therefore, NOT be referred to as "The Kushan Empire (c. 1st–3rd centuries) of Ancient India. . ." This is misleading and implies that it was an Indian empire rather than an empire that included part of the Indian subcontinent. Next, you state that the Kushans were nomadic - this is not at all certain. The Da Yuezhi of the Chinese histories are said to have been originally nomadic, one must remember that by the time of the rise of the Kushans in the early 1st century CE, they had spent well over a century living in the highly urbanised area of ancient Bactria and were likely to no longer have been mainly nomadic. Moreover, as I believe I pointed out earlier, the nature of the connection between the Da Yuezhi and the Kushans is still hotly disputed between scholars. Dewan, I have been studying the history of the Kushan Empire since 1979 and I still cannot say with any confidence who the Kushans really were. They MAY have been descendants of the Da Yuezhi, but equally they could have been a local tribe or group already present in the region before the arrival of the Da Yuezhi, or they could have been a remnant of the Greeks and Da Yuezhi mixed with local populations, or, indeed, some other group - we just don't know. I am about to publish a book soon, Through the Jade Gate to Rome which translates and examines the chapter in the Hou Hanshu dealing with the so-called "Western Regions" which included the Kushan Empire. It contains the most detailed historical account still extant on this subject. I originally had a long appendix in it on the possible origins, language(s) and connections of the Da Yuezhi and the Kushans, but removed it all at the last moment as, really, it was impossible to come to any definite conclusions, and new theories are being proposed all the time. So, in a general article such as this I think one should be very careful to not jump to (poorly founded) conclusions. Rather, I think it is important to point out the uncertainty that exists amongst scholars and, perhaps, to briefly outline one or two of the main theories (with proper qualifications and references, of course). Next, you claim: "The Kushan warriors were assimilated into Indian society as Kshatriyas." As far as I know this is pure speculation. Of course, it is very possible, even likely, that some Kushan warriors were so assimilated - but we have no evidence for it. Also, we must remember that some of them probably stayed in the region of ancient Bactria, and were never accepted into Hindu society, while others again probably became Buddhist (and, therefore, did not join any caste). It is also likely that Kushan "warriors" mixed with women of various tribes and castes (as did later conquerors such as the British), and so their descendants would not have retained their initial acceptance as Kshatriayas. Moreover, you give three footnotes for this statement: 1. http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Kshatriya which only makes one very brief reference to the Kushans with no evidence provided and, therefore, cannot be accepted as a reliable reference, 2. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Kshatriya - which is really just slightly edited "mirror" of the Wikipedia article on Kshatriyas, and therefore not accepted as a valid reference in Wikipedia, and 3. http://www.docstoc.com/docs/6282655/Kshatriya which lists a downloadable pdf file but I cannot seem to register (every Username I enter is refused as "invalid"), so I cannot tell whether this file has any worthwhile information. These cannot be accepted as valid, authoritative references and, therefore, should be removed. Dewan, I have already discussed at length why the Shaka era cannot be confidently attributed to the Kushans - I do not wish to repeat myself here. Also, the second paragraph of the article is hardly the place to discuss such a contentious subject and the Kushans' patronage of art and literature is briefly discussed later in the article and hardly needs repeating here. This section should probably be expanded and references to articles on Gandharan art, etc. made Finally, the sentence: "The Kushans controlled a critical part of the legendary Silk Road and was the crucible in trade between India, Persia, China, and Rome" brings up a valid and important point - that the Kushan Empire sat astride the main overland trade routes, thus giving the Kushans considerable control (and, one assumes, the ability to enrich themselves by taxing the caravans). However, it is grammatically very poor and, I think, deserves to discussed more fully and clearly in a separate section of the article. I am sorry to sound so negative, but that is how I feel about your suggestions and so I thought it better to speak plainly rather than to try just to be polite. In fact, I think this article needs major revision - particularly the opening paragraphs, and all the references should be checked to make sure they refer to reliable sources - not just websites containing dubious, secondhand information. Yours sincerely, John Hill (talk) 09:23, 20 August 2009 (UTC) Hello!!Hello there John!! Himalayan Explorer 12:44, 23 August 2009 (UTC) Well, it would seem some people might think otherwise... Anyway, much happier with my new name. I will still be starting new content but not enmasse at once like before. I will try to make new articles good stubs or start class if possible. Well we've hit 3 million and it suddenly seems a lot of important articles are still very poor, my energy would probably be best targetted at improving them or starting decent new content. Himalayan Explorer 13:00, 23 August 2009 (UTC)
Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo article from last yearJohn, I'm going through and cleaning up the mess I made of Jetsunma's article. I wasn't straight with you guys, though my spin-doctoring against Jetsunma was pretty obvious to the Wiki community I'm sure. I did not have scholarly integrity in how I wrote the article about Jetsunma, cherry-picking negative information to put together as negative a picture as possible -- even more negative than the most critical materials out there. I knew what to use because I was one of the main sources on the book, The Buddha From Brooklyn, which is major conflict of interest as well (especially since I didn't admit my involvement and presented myself as an outside party and then used that book extensively for the article). In fact, my real name is Michelle Grissom, formerly known as Ani Dechen, and am actually a student who broke with Jetsunma in 1996. I was one of the main reasons the book was so slanted against Jetsunma. I was not honest in that book either, slanting information exactly the same way I did here on Wikipedia: I used things that weren't really a problem for me because I knew they would upset non-Buddhists. Describing a confrontation where -- after 8 years of my rebelling against the monastic community and my breaking my monastic vows -- she yelled at me and swatted me once, I called it a "beating," simply because the police term for any kind physical contact is battery. I swept my own behavior that led to this under the rug. Jetsunma has been divorced several times, to men who either were or later became her students, and I used that in the article to make her look like she was sleeping her way through her students. I also used the generosity of her students as a way to paint her as being very greedy, even though she's never even asked for a salary, and blamed her for the ongoing struggle to build a monastery, even though the main reason the monastery hasn't been built is that the land bought for it doesn't perk. I've taken all the spin-doctoring out of the article and I am very, very sorry I abused Wiki for my own personal vendetta. Longchenpa (talk) 16:39, 23 August 2009 (UTC) Hello John Hill, some days ago I answered to your notice on my page in commons with a little request.
It would be nice, if the work is complete. Thanks and greetings. Orchi (talk) 13:55, 29 August 2009 (UTC)
Semi-protectionThe IPs being used are from a college, so blocking them would cause significant collateral damage, which we would like to avoid. I have semi-protected the article for the week. -- Avi (talk) 23:13, 31 August 2009 (UTC)
File permission problem with File:Zheng He's tomb, Nanjing.jpg Thanks for uploading File:Zheng He's tomb, Nanjing.jpg. I noticed that while you provided a valid copyright licensing tag, there is no proof that the creator of the file agreed to license it under the given license. If you created this media entirely yourself but have previously published it elsewhere (especially online), please either
If you did not create it entirely yourself, please ask the person who created the file to take one of the two steps listed above, or if the owner of the file has already given their permission to you via email, please forward that email to permissions-en If you believe the media meets the criteria at Wikipedia:Non-free content, use a tag such as {{non-free fair use in|article name}} or one of the other tags listed at Wikipedia:Image copyright tags#Fair use, and add a rationale justifying the file's use on the article or articles where it is included. See Wikipedia:Image copyright tags for the full list of copyright tags that you can use. If you have uploaded other files, consider checking that you have provided evidence that their copyright owners have agreed to license their works under the tags you supplied, too. You can find a list of files you have uploaded by following this link. Files lacking evidence of permission may be deleted one week after they have been tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you. Rockfang (talk) 04:53, 1 September 2009 (UTC) TalkbackYou can remove this notice at any time by removing the {{Talkback}} or {{Tb}} template. 119.152.247.183 (talk) 17:11, 1 September 2009 (UTC) Hello! Yes everything is fine, I've settled into my new account well and I like it. You may be interested in a recent article I wrote about the "Black Chopin", check out Ludovic Lamothe. Himalayan 11:33, 2 September 2009 (UTC) DYK that according to ancient Tibetan annals, the founder of the Tibetan Empire, Songtsän Gampo, is believed to buried at the Valley of the Kings in modern day Qonggyai County? Hey know anything about this? Any photos? I thought he interred at Jokhang? not according to the Tibetan annals.. Himalayan 14:56, 8 September 2009 (UTC)  I also discovered 867 new Tibet/western China images on flickr. All of them can be uploaded. Himalayan 18:15, 8 September 2009 (UTC) Please help me upload these AWESOME images from here into the commons. All of them have the same licensing as the photo given on the right, so can be copied and uploaded. Himalayan 18:24, 8 September 2009 (UTC) Another request! I've recently started an article on Pabonka Hermitage. Can you help expand perhaps we can go for a DYK together? Himalayan 19:32, 8 September 2009 (UTC) Eat and sleep? Funnily enough between the 1st and 5th of September I barely edited and some days only here about 10 minutes! Some days, especially if the weather is particularly bad though I can get a lot done! Right, uploading is very easy although at first a little irritating. All you have to do is copy and paste this. Make sure you click on edit on this page to you can copy the parameters. For source just copy and paste the url in of the actual photo on flickr and add a relevant category and tweak the date of original picture taken. The best way is to copy and paste the parameters and when you come to upload to skirt having to do it individually just quickly add a letter in the reuired parameters then quickly upload and over paste the following into the image description. By this I mean see this. Where the fields are on the uploading form skirt it by very quickly adding a letter to each of them and quickly upload. Then copy and paste the parameters above the initial upload form. Obviously all you have to do is find the image saved on your pictures and destination file name should show up naturally when you save the pic on flickr into your computer and upload to the commons. Then when you upload the next pic copy and paste the url of the flickr image again and add it to the source, copy and paste the whole parameters again and upload another one etc. Understand? Summary
{{Flickreview}} Hello?Hi John. Are you there? I have a question.--The LegendarySky Attacker 07:01, 6 September 2009 (UTC) Don't worry about it.--The LegendarySky Attacker 07:11, 6 September 2009 (UTC) Dewan?Hi I think hes back evading a block with sock ips [7] 86.156.208.95 (talk) 12:22, 6 September 2009 (UTC) DYK for Tawang Monastery
Wikiproject: Did you know? 11:21, 10 September 2009 (UTC) Sri Lankan buddhists in AustrailiaHi John how are you doing? After a while, isn't it? I came across an interesting piece of information in Buddhism in Australia article reading,
I didn't knew people from Sri Lanka migrated there as early as 1870. It is the popular belief that Sinhalese people didn't migrate overseas (unlike Non-resident Indian and Person of Indian Origin) for work except a little number of people going to Singapore to work in railway construction, if I recollect correctly. I was amused to hear that there were some Sri Lankan migrants in Mackay. Can you possibly say what has happened to them? Are there any information about them now? However nice talk to you again. Regards!--Chanaka L (talk) 03:48, 11 September 2009 (UTC)
Hello!Thanks, yes it is definately good to see such interesting articles on the main page! I just wish it would encourage more people to edit wikipedia and help us. You may also be interested in seeing Culture of Tunisia which I transwikied from French wikipedia but probably needs copyediting and Naqa, an ancient city in Sudan which I expanded from a one line stub this morning! you know I had always intended to focus on quality but so much work needed doing just starting stubs on article we should have it left me with less time to actually write proper articles on them! Himalayan 14:09, 14 September 2009 (UTC) Your help is much appreciated. Himalayan 15:52, 14 September 2009 (UTC) Tibetan Annals!! Well done!! Finally it has been started!! Himalayan 11:30, 16 September 2009 (UTC) Mediation Cabal CaseHello! Thank you for your fine editing. I have recently offered to mediate the discussion regarding Donghu, as listed on WP:MEDCAB by User:John Hill. I would appreciate your opinions if you have the time, as it is a subject you are obviously well-versed in. —Matheuler 17:29, 17 September 2009 (UTC) Image detail missingCan you please fill out the missing details in the information box of File:Zheng He's tomb, Nanjing.jpg? Thanks ww2censor (talk) 18:10, 17 September 2009 (UTC)
B S DhillonHi John, I noticed you mentioned Nijjars book. Have you seen "History and Study of the Jats by BS Dhillon", which is in the same vein. A lot of unsubstantiated claims, and half quotes. Best Wishes.--Sikh-History 14:28, 18 September 2009 (UTC) File:Milarepa, Pango Chorten, Gyantse .JPGHi, there's an OTRS ticket, #2009091910010001, about your Commons:File:Milarepa, Pango Chorten, Gyantse .JPG. It says: "please note the first photo of Milarepa painting is reversed. The hand should be to the right ear..not left. The painting I am sure is correct, but reversed on your internet presentation. Please note other presentations which are correct, same page. It is an insult to this famous Saint of Tibet. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milarepa". Could you check whether the image is indeed mirror-reversed? Thanks, Sandstein 09:45, 19 September 2009 (UTC)
Hi. Just to let you know I've created this template, if we could aim to get them all onto here osmetime, probably many are missing but those are the ones I know of. Most of them are called ... Gompa on the web... I started three of them a while back and noticed you had started one or two too.. Takthok looks stunning! P.S. I've come across a place in Lhasa in my guidebook called "Chomoling". It is supposed to be one of the four ling royal monasteries of Lhasa, including Muru Ningba Monastery which I started a while back and you fleshed out! Do you have any info on this. The guide says it is west of the tent factory and is "the tallest building in Old Lhasa". However a google search only turns up a nunnery which is part of Rizong Monastery in Ladakh! Himalayan 09:42, 20 September 2009 (UTC) Oi! Do you have any info about Trimön. I'm nominating for a DYK. Himalayan 11:39, 21 September 2009 (UTC) OK, start Chomoling then!! I only have a brief few lines. Himalayan 11:15, 22 September 2009 (UTC) Thanks for your kind words. I've started Tromzikhang on Barkhor Street. Heard of it? Really long building... Himalayan 11:14, 27 September 2009 (UTC) Grrr, I'm struggling to find enough info for a DYK. I've tried to find a picture there are tons of images of markets in Barkhor on flickr but not one of this building! I have a 670 page book on China I'm borrowing from my sister at the moment but it is only a travel guide... Himalayan 11:54, 27 September 2009 (UTC) I worked out the coordinates see this, you'll see the long building jsut above the cross. Himalayan 12:57, 27 September 2009 (UTC) 110 AD earthquakeHi John, I was interested by the earthquake that you added to the Historical earthquakes page. I can't seem to get hold of the original Times report. I know its title, 'City that sank sheds light on a lost empire' and I even found a link to the timesonline page, but unfortunately that no longer works. There is also apparently a report in the Shenzhen Daily from earlier that year, but the online availability of that paper starts in October 2001 and links on other sites to earlier issues no longer work. I was wondering if you had access to the original times report and can confirm that it matches the section in this source [8] (Section 13.6). If it does, that gives me a reason to add the link to the page. Thanks, Mikenorton (talk) 09:08, 26 September 2009 (UTC)
You're busy on Donghu and I don't want to get in the way. In one of your edits could you fix the broken [[Yuezhi] link? (That's the way it appears now - missing the second ']') Shenme (talk) 05:38, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
DYK for Tibetan Annals
Gatoclass (talk) 08:28, 27 September 2009 (UTC) 12:42, 27 September 2009 (UTC) Congratulations!!! Himalayan 12:43, 27 September 2009 (UTC) I'll be brewing an article about Tibetan beer next... which is quite uniqie given that it is supposed to be forbidden amongst Tibetan Buddhists.... Himalayan 14:46, 27 September 2009 (UTC) It is really quite a sad article actually as it shows the corrupting influence the Chinese and western society is having on the Tibetans. Personally I;d rather see them retain their prohibitive beliefs, really makes me sad to think what the Chinese are doing to this beautiful country. The article nonetheless is relevant but it is a sad indicator of the modern changes in Tibet.. Himalayan 16:52, 27 September 2009 (UTC) Urgh, Could you correct the article then, the background section particularly, it is supposed to be prohibited yet the monks widely consume chhaang, that's confusing!! You have a better knowledge about it than I do, I don't want the article to be inaccurate, I can imagine light beers being sold in some towns but I couldn't find any evidence that beer was being massed produced in Tibet itself before the 80s. I am aware of Chhaang but I wouldn't call that factory beer consumption" as such, it is made domestically I believe? Himalayan 09:58, 28 September 2009 (UTC) P.S. thanks for uploading those photos! Himalayan 10:06, 28 September 2009 (UTC) Nyalam sign. LOL!! Himalayan 12:12, 29 September 2009 (UTC) Some new requests. Can you check Likir Monastery. I believe the volumes mentioned in it mean the Kanjur and Tengjur but I need you to verify it. Also, I think we should have articles about the kings of Ladakh.. Himalayan 20:18, 6 October 2009 (UTC) Thanks! I stubbed Takthok Monastery yesterday, have you any mentioning of it? Thanks for your great help with the Likir Monastery article, looks really good now! Thanks! Himalayan 09:07, 8 October 2009 (UTC) Thanks for your help, I've sent out some image requests on flickr. I've also started Template:Infobox Tibetan Buddhist monastery. I've made a proposal, if you have any further ideas please let me know on the template talk page. Once made we can merge the translation boxes and cleanup the articles by having a single box for tibetan buddhist monastery! Himalayan 16:40, 8 October 2009 (UTC) And more for us to feast on, Diskit Monastery, Phyang Monastery and Matho Monastery. Wow what a spectacle! That'll do for a few days.. Himalayan 17:21, 8 October 2009 (UTC) Wow!! Now you have been busy too! Excellent work my dear friend! Hopefully I can find some images... Himalayan 14:29, 9 October 2009 (UTC) I've also started a series on the kings of the Malla Dynasty of Nepal. I started Jitamitra Malla yesterday using the 1877 book I have but it is hard to read!! In due course I will get these rulers started on here... Himalayan 15:03, 9 October 2009 (UTC) I'm fascinated with Ladakh at the moment and its connections with the Silk Road. I've just started Sengge Namgyal, much needed article but as yet we have no articles about the Ladakhi kings either!! Once there monasteries are started I will be trying to start articles on all of the Ladahki and Nepalese kings. We should have articles about them don't you think? Next on the agenda is Shey Palace and Basgo Monastery. Can you expand the Sengge article? Do you know where we can find all of the kings of Ladakh like we have for Nepal? Himalayan 20:23, 9 October 2009 (UTC) I've made a rather poor attempt to start listing the Ladakhi kings from the 7th century to present!! Template:Rulers of Ladakh. I've listed so far what I found in the Ladakhi Chronicles not sure if transliterations are correct... What we need is a comprehensive list of rulers from ancient to present and dates or approximate dates of rule... Can you document any more? I've found Ladakhi Chronicles, maybe this will help? Himalayan 21:03, 9 October 2009 (UTC) I'm sooo happyyyyy. I found an A-Z index of the Ladakhi chronicles from pages 283 to 309. It lists a wealth of topics related to the history and that. Awesome! This means I can get several hundred missing articles related to Ladakh and Indian Tibet onto here. There also seems to be much talk of a kingdom of Tibet called Kulu. Kulu (Tibet) I'll see if I can conjure something up, the chronicles mentions several of its kings.. Himalayan 21:24, 9 October 2009 (UTC) Wow that's interesting about the Kullu Valley. There is a lot of mention in that book you have including rulers of the area, the article is very lacking at the moment!! My best wishes to the family... Himalayan 08:55, 10 October 2009 (UTC) One thing, sources for Lhachen Gyalpo says he was the fifth king of Ladakh not Utpala.... Himalayan 10:11, 11 October 2009 (UTC) Good idea.... Perhaps though you could also make a list of kings on that page?? Himalayan 10:00, 11 October 2009 (UTC) Wonderful, I love having somebody like you on here who feels the same way as I do about Central Asia! Himalayan 11:36, 11 October 2009 (UTC) Halloween replyThere are some suggestions on the DYK Halloween page. When does Trinidad celebrate horror? If you add the word "horror" or "dracula" etc to your favourite subjects and fire them into google then do you find an unwritten article? Just ideas... surprise us Victuallers (talk) 22:14, 11 October 2009 (UTC) More on BarkhorHey I just saw your bar image from Lhasa, I love that model of the Potala! Wouldn't it be great to have a model of the Potala in your home!! More on Barkhor. Where Tromzhikang was nearer Jokhang there is a small chapel called Jamkhang which has a 30 foot statue of Maitreya. It was built in the 15th century. That is all I have. Do you think it is worth starting the article? There is some pictures on flickr but they are copyrighted. Himalayan 22:45, 12 October 2009 (UTC) Excellent. Hey check out Tashilhunpo. Finally we have the monastery infobox I desired!! I'll be adding this to out Tibetan Buddhist monasteries over the next few days. Should help clean them up. Himalayan 11:37, 13 October 2009 (UTC) Wow that's old! What do you think of Template:Infobox Tibetan Buddhist monastery? Himalayan 11:57, 13 October 2009 (UTC) HI. I wondered if you could list the colleges of Sera in the new infobox here. Himalayan 15:45, 13 October 2009 (UTC) New infobox looks good on Mongolian monasteries like Gandantegchinlen Monastery and Amarbayasgalant Monastery too! Himalayan 17:18, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
OK, there is just so much to do!! Sheesh! I've managed to fix us a Tibet locator map but its only works for area sin the centre, luckily it works for Lhasa so the Potala Palace and the othershas a Tibet locator, I also created a gold temple stupa for the locator marker instead of a big red blob!!.... Sorry to hear you are still in pain. May you feel at peace. Himalayan 19:54, 13 October 2009 (UTC) File:Mesney stamps 1992 lo-res.jpg listed for deletionAn image or media file that you uploaded or altered, File:Mesney stamps 1992 lo-res.jpg, has been listed at Wikipedia:Files for deletion. Please see the discussion to see why this is (you may have to search for the title of the image to find its entry), if you are interested in it not being deleted. Thank you. ww2censor (talk) 16:32, 14 October 2009 (UTC) DYK for Takthok Monastery
Thank you - have a rest! Lots of time to get a Halloween hook Victuallers (talk) 21:28, 14 October 2009 (UTC) PortalsHi John. Can you please not add these templates at the bottom of less generic articles like you did to Bardan Monastery. It is unnecessary I think. If people want to know about all of the main concepts they can click the Buddhism article - the templates are linked. Even the use of the Tibetan Buddhism template in some articles is inappropriate. It is good to connect articles together but I think 3 or 4 footer templates at the bottom of pages doesn't look good, why for instance would I want to read about Bardan Monastery and then about Indian atheism. I mean I might but I don't see a need for adding them to non main articles. Himalayan 11:29, 17 October 2009 (UTC) Yeah, if you feel that the templates are all necessary, you can reduce the clutter for them by adding a cluster group template as shown below. My personal feeling though is that unless the footer template connects actual articles to that given subject and doesn't exclude any that that is the best way to have them. I feel the same way about the aviation template which is by far the worst culprit of generic template usage on wiki. For instance if I'm reading about a Soviet plane of the 1930s I would rather have a template linking together other Soviet aircraft of that period not a generic template on all topic related to Aviation, some of them annoyingly generic.... I'm sure you know what I mean.... Best regards. Himalayan 12:00, 17 October 2009 (UTC) I've responded to your email.. Himalayan 12:18, 17 October 2009 (UTC)
TibetYour input is needed in the conflict a the bottom of Talk:Tibet. Please set the record straight... Thanks. Himalayan 18:24, 19 October 2009 (UTC) Monastery templatesRight... I've been busy this evening sorting out templates, I find that many often get exluded from templates and are difficult to find. I want them all easily found in a given area and eventually brought up to good status,. One would dream of having over 3000 articles about Tibetan Buddhist monasteries including those which were destroyed eventually!! Anyway if you know of any missing please add them: They look a bit horrid together but OK individually! What we can do about Ladakh is maybe create a template for Buddhist monasteries in Jammu Kashmir, and include those which lay just outside in Zanskar etc. Sound good? Himalayan 21:34, 19 October 2009 (UTC) Book looks promising, very exciting indeed. I was going to create a template for Gansu too for Labrang Monastery but I couldn't find any others. Is it worth creating one? I've added Nepal and Mongolia... We have Template:Buddhist monasteries in Himachal Pradesh although intuition tells me there are likely many more... P.S. fantastic work on Tawang Monastery! Sometime we'll have to start the gompas/hermitages of this monastery is is fabulous! I'd say Rigyalling and Taktsang are maybe part of it... I'll continue with the Jammu monasteries and link them all together and start a few. I also wanted to start Urgelling Monastery, the birth place of course of the naughty 6th Dalai Lama! Himalayan 21:58, 19 October 2009 (UTC) Thanks for clarifying on the Tibet talk page. I've added an infobox to Sakya Monastery amongst others but I am unsure if it is still Sakya as it says Gelug in the article but I'm pretty sure it is the seat of the Sakya lineage which continues in exile today. Aside from Sakya, I can't believe we are missing Rakya Monastery, both Frenh and German wiki have an article on it... I've made a templae for monasteries in Tibet, I think I will order by prefecture, I did consider by sect but I think it will probably be easier to think of them in terms of location. Himalayan 10:44, 20 October 2009 (UTC) Thanks for that. I've finished ordering the monasteries by prefecture. The confusing thing I find is the contradictions between past and present, that a monastery was in former Tibean territory but is in present day Sichuan or Qinghai and do we categorize and template it as Tibet or not.. Especially if the article (like a lot of the stubs we have) don't actually say where it is it involves detective work to find out where it is. One confusing one is Tsozong Gongba Monastery which by location appears to be in the Ngari Prefecture yet the Assam Himalaya as location makes this confusing.. Himalayan 11:49, 20 October 2009 (UTC) Another error.. Bangxing is obviously not in the Shigatse prefecture. Google search and location indicates it is in Mêdog County, Nyingtri Prefecture. I wonder why this was placed in the Shigatse prefecture and referenced...? Himalayan 12:10, 20 October 2009 (UTC) Ah I figured out what you meant about Stongde. I've started Stongdey Monastery, Namgyal Tsemo Monastery , Stok Monastery, Stakna Monastery, Spituk Monastery and Shanti Stupa ready for expansion! Check out the thankgka I found on flickr of Stakna! Should Tonde Monastery be included in the Stongdey article? Himalayan 15:08, 20 October 2009 (UTC) CongratsCongratulations on the publication of your new book. I checked Amazon (US) for Through the Jade Gate to Rome, but the only listing is a bibliography reference in Beckwith 2009. I look forward to reading your work. Best wishes, Keahapana (talk) 19:17, 20 October 2009 (UTC)
Congratulations!!! Himalayan 11:44, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
I am truly honoured!Thank you so very much for the "Book writer's Barnstar". I am truly honoured - especially as it comes from you, PHG - one of the true giants and heros of the Wikipedia! What a welcome and wonderful surprise to find on my Talk page! I am so excited to have the book out in print after all these (30) years - I can hardly believe it has happened. It is already listed on www.Abebooks.com but I expect it will be on Amazon.com sometime next week (and they usually have cheaper shipping rates). The retail price is US$ 39.99. May I take this opportunity of thanking you once again for your innumerable superb contributions to the common pool of knowledge that is the Wikipedia. You are truly a great inspiration to us all. All my very best wishes, John Hill (talk) 16:23, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
DYK for Lhasa Zhol Pillar
BencherliteTalk 05:42, 21 October 2009 (UTC) DYK for Sani Monastery
Royalbroil 07:07, 25 October 2009 (UTC) the last words of Dalai Lama XIIIHi, I happen to find a speech of Dalai Lama XIII in 1932[10] and I don't know if it is the same as your quotation in the article "Tibet". I suppose not because they almost have nothing in commun. Regards--LaGrandefr (talk) 16:36, 25 October 2009 (UTC)
Oh, I forgot about this. Care to update it with a change of article/fact/pictures? Himalayan 18:24, 27 October 2009 (UTC) I wondered if you could recommend the best book on Ladakh. FOr Christmas, what would be the most detailed book (with lots of beautiful photographs) of Ladakh? Himalayan 18:17, 29 October 2009 (UTC)
suspicious statement at Tibetan sovereignty debateHi, since you asked everybody to maintain vigilance, I have found a somewhat strange statement at Tibetan sovereignty debate. It reads According to historian Zahiruddin Ahmad, since at least the 18th century, when the Qing Government was setting up its local government structure and promulgated laws for the governing, Beijing has, in the words of a foreign missionary who witnessed, had "absolute dominion over Tibet". The source given is Zahiruddin Ahmad, Tibet and China 1708-1959. The problem I have is that it sounds a bit like a paraphrase from Tom Grunfeld's "Making of Modern Tibet", p. 45, i.e. I suspect whoever added this sentence might not have consulted Zahiruddin Ahmad, but only Grunfeld. Additionally, the context given by Grunfeld is quite different, only the time just after 1720 rather than the whole time from the 18th century to 1911. I don't think Zahiruddin Ahmad would claim that there were missionaries who witnessed a representative part of that period from the 18th century to 1911. Also the word "absolute dominion" seems a bit odd when used for the full period. Last not least if the quote is used correctly, it would of course be nice if someone could find out who said this in the first place. The choice should be rather narrow: Ippolito Desideri or some capuchin. So, should you have access to Zahiruddin Ahmad's original article, it would be cool if you could check out the quote. Regards, Yaan (talk) 16:51, 29 October 2009 (UTC)
Ordered!Hi John! I ordered your book online today! Cheers! PHG Per Honor et Gloria 06:25, 30 October 2009 (UTC)
Please don't give up!Hello there! I wanted to apologize for the problems that have developed at the Donghu people mediation. User:Alexjhu has started to behave in a counterproductive manner. He has been blocked from editing Wikipedia for legal threats and general incivilities. If he returns, hopefully he will stop acting in such a confrontational manner. I appreciate your contributions to the article, and hope you don't give up on it! Thanks! —Finn Casey * * * 02:28, 31 October 2009 (UTC) manuscripts of DunhuangDear John, Could you please help me in understanding the difference and subdivision of three articles concerning Dunhuang? If I state: "two of the Dunhuang manuscripts are 1) Old Tibetan Chronicle and 2) Tibetan Annals", have I made a correct subdivision in this way? I hope you can help; thank you in advance. Best regards, Davin (talk) 17:39, 31 October 2009 (UTC)
TurkmenistanHi. I've started some articles Tolkuchka Bazaar and M37 highway. I did wonder if any of these had anything to do historically with the silk road trading routes? The m37 of course is the main road running out of Bukhara leading to the Caspian Sea.. Himalayan 15:14, 1 November 2009 (UTC) You may also be interested in Ulug Depe and Ulugh Beg Observatory! Himalayan 21:15, 1 November 2009 (UTC)
History TagsHi John. Which one of these tags "History of Afghanistan" or "History of Greater Iran" is more relevant and should be added to topics like Drangiana, Balkh, Bactria and Greco-Bactrian Kingdom? You added "History of Afghanistan" tags to all these articles but another user continuously replacing them with "History of Greater Iran" tags. I know this topic was discussed before by other Wikipedians + admins and this is what they came up with Talk:History_of_Afghanistan#History_Template however the user is ignoring that. Any suggestions? Thank you (Ketabtoon (talk) 00:01, 2 November 2009 (UTC))
IP 159.91.20.65, 159.91.16.82 and so onThanks for noticing the "contributions" of this editor. He is an indefinitley blocked user known as User:Dewan357 (see also User talk:159.91.20.43). Just to let you know. --Neutralpointofyou (talk) 17:04, 13 November 2009 (UTC) HiHi John! I just received today you book Through the Jade Gate to Rome through Amazon. Quite an amazing and hefty piece of work! Congratulations again! PHG Per Honor et Gloria 18:49, 13 November 2009 (UTC)
Hello John. Hope book sales are doing well! I was wondering if you knew of Lukhangwa . He has an article on French wiki and I believe he was prime minister of Tibet around the time of the signing of thr 17 point agreement in 1951. Can you check this out? Also I've been cleaning up the counties and beginning to try to fill out some of the place articles. Perhaps you know of Pagri (Phari)? Himalayan 21:00, 16 November 2009 (UTC) Somebody keeps moving the Shannan Prefecture to Lhoka Prefecture. What is your view on this? Himalayan 19:13, 17 November 2009 (UTC) Ha ha, now that is a rare occurence! I've finished now anyway all yours. You might also be interested to know that I've expanded the articles on Lhorong County · Lhünzhub County · Damxung County · Nyêmo County · Qüxü County. You may have historical sources which would greatly benefit them as I couldn't make sense of the history in chinese. For some reason economy, geography and demographic info always seems to translate well but history at times is typically illegible! I've also been creating or cleaning up some of the town articles like Qüxü. Perhaps you also have info about Nyêmo Town but I understand you have limited time what with promoting your book and all. Its gonna take a long time though to sort out all the stubs on Tibetan villages and organize them by county and prefecture! At least now google maps have developed so you can actually see the villages rather than the 2007 era maps which only showed the plateau and made you wonder if the settlement was real or not! Himalayan 12:16, 21 November 2009 (UTC) Hehe I've been busy today new monastery articles Zangla Monastery, and those in Template:Buddhist monasteries in Himachal Pradesh and Template:Buddhist monasteries in Sikkim! Himalayan 16:12, 21 November 2009 (UTC) How are book sales? Himalayan 17:36, 21 November 2009 (UTC) GRRR why don't those darned people say WHERE IT ACTUALLY IS. It is getting very frustrating finding image slike this and it just called "Tibet". You know I had to work out which county photos which had point locations on them earlier so I could upload it to the right article. Check out Doilungdêqên County, Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture etc. The source didn't have a single label in them! Himalayan 21:23, 22 November 2009 (UTC)
Need some help. Doilungdêqên County. Is the main town Doilungdêqên Town (does this exist?) or is it Donggar? Himalayan 21:06, 29 November 2009 (UTC) DYK for Kursha Monastery
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