Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2019 May 29

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May 29

palm on fist

In period movies from China, we often see a gesture of raising the right fist and covering it with the left hand. The meaning is broadly clear from context, but what is the symbolism, the metaphor? —Tamfang (talk) 07:55, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

There's something here: [1]. Not sure at all how reliable the purported explanation is, but you might be able to search on from there, using the names and terms given. Fut.Perf. ☼ 09:12, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

This indicates that it is a kung fu salute. I'm not sure if that applies to the movies you've seen so there might be other explanations. MarnetteD|Talk 09:18, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

The name of the gesture is 武术抱拳礼, which can be translated as "covering my fist." It is usually translated as simply "kung fu" or "martial arts." But, looser translation shows the symbolism. 12.207.168.3 (talk) 11:08, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

How did Roy Jenkins wrong Paisley?

In the 'Author's Note' to the 1986 edition of his Asquith, ISBN 0002177129, Roy Jenkins says "I have... righted an old wrong which I did to Paisley, Asquith's 1920-24 constituency, in the first edition and, alas, failed to correct in the second. My knowledge of the West of Scotland has improved since 1978". What was that wrong? DuncanHill (talk) 14:08, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

Google books has a scanned copy of an earlier version, and it says "due to the enormous addition to the Labour vote, owing to the 5,000 unemployed in Paisley (of whom there were none in 1920) and the sullen anti-bourgeois feeling which is swelling like a tidal wave over the whole of the West of Scotland". Perhaps "sullen anti-bourgeois"?--Phil Holmes (talk) 14:20, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

It's not that - that's a quotation from a letter by Asquith, and is still in the 1986 edition (pp 495-496). DuncanHill (talk) 14:31, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

I don't know if the edition Phil Holmes is looking at is the 1986 edition, but that's the edition I found on Google Books. I'm guessing that it's something to do with the passage that says that Paisley is "the largest town (as distinct from the four cities) in Scotland". My guess is that the previous editions described Paisley as the fifth largest city in Scotland, or some such. --Viennese Waltz 14:56, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

I was looking at the 1969 edition, but didn't find the later edition to compare it with.--Phil Holmes (talk) 16:25, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

Phil Holmes, you can view the 1986 version here. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 20:22, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

So does the 1969 edition say anything about Paisley's status as either a town or a city? --Viennese Waltz 17:25, 29 May 2019 (UTC)

In England, a city is often a town with an Anglican cathedral. Paisley has had a Roman Catholic bishop since 1947. The nearest seat of an Anglican bishop is Glasgow. In the 1964 edition, page 489 states:

Paisley was a false dawn, both for Asquith and the Liberal Party.

and also

And I knew that our small force that day was like the little gallant garrison of a beleagured city that hears for the first time the great shout of the relieving forces.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by 2a00:23c1:cd81:f01:7423:4a7:a21c:fadd (talk) 14:34, 30 May 2019 (UTC)

Both the quotations by the IP above appear in the 1986 edition, and the latter is anyway from Violet Bonham Carter's speech at the National Liberal Club. Could I ask that, however helpful the intent, editors refrain from guessing? Thanks, DuncanHill (talk) 14:47, 30 May 2019 (UTC)