April 18, 2001

8:11 AM

Memorial to Wang WeiNote that there is no religion given. This might explain his sudden departure from his role as stunt man for Tom Cruise. God was not his co-pilot. No Wei.
posted by Postroad (16 comments total)

From the instructions for building a memorial page:

Please follow the law of your country and social morality when you build a memorial.*

*But do whatever you please when tearing one down...
posted by xiffix at 8:55 AM on April 18, 2001

I saw this last on Dan Hartung's site last night. This one has music and this one doesn't. Interestingly the first non-flash site where the music actually fits and I like it.

I've seen memorial sites before. But are there Western versions of a memorial portal like this? Or is this just a Chinese thing? Ancestor-worship for the 21st century.
posted by redleaf at 9:00 AM on April 18, 2001

Err. I gander I should link to the portal in questions home page.
posted by redleaf at 9:03 AM on April 18, 2001

Check out the links to the CNN and the BBC articles from the home page:
http://sg.netor.com/news/netnews/cnn.com.htm
http://sg.netor.com/news/netnews/bbcnew1.htm

I think these pages will soon be matyrs to the laws of copyright infringement.
posted by ktheory at 9:38 AM on April 18, 2001

You'll note that they've shut off the guestbook and forums for the Wang Wei memorial. I'm sure there were so many "heartfelt testimonials" to him.
posted by briank at 9:58 AM on April 18, 2001

From bigoted septics, you mean?
posted by Mocata at 10:02 AM on April 18, 2001

Bigoted skeptics, half-baked political wackjobs, bored teenagers, etc.
posted by briank at 10:11 AM on April 18, 2001

Before they pulled it down, there were large amounts of "China was wrong - you guys suck - Howard Stern RULZ!" type posts.
posted by Hankins at 10:11 AM on April 18, 2001

Ktheory: I looked at the sites you gave. Reminds me that technology changes all things. Students can "wsorship" through internet while busy with exams; so too there is a site in Israel that allows one to place a prayer (e-prayer) in the Wall, the remains of the temple in Jerusalem.
I have a close Chinese friend and I told him that China, like Russia, places cremains of heroes in the Wall In Russian it is the Kremlin. In China, The Great Wall. I told him that while ceremoney taking pace they played Pink Floyd's Just another Chink in the Wall. He called me an asshole, a word that seems to have a special and different meaning for the Chinese.
posted by Postroad at 10:20 AM on April 18, 2001

Septics, not sceptics!
posted by Mocata at 10:29 AM on April 18, 2001

Interesting, the whole thing is shut down now - all I get is (and I quote):

The memorial hasn't been open to public!

And all your pilot are belong to us! (ouch!)
posted by DiplomaticImmunity at 10:54 AM on April 18, 2001

Too bad there isn't a Chinese version of Engrish.
posted by Hankins at 11:38 AM on April 18, 2001

In related Netor news, this political statement disguised as a memorial is still up, but its guestbook has been closed, probably because of those same pest-y sceptics. Er-- pesky septics.
posted by varmint at 11:40 AM on April 18, 2001

Jakob Nielsen needs to go lay mad smack down on this website. There's 300 similar looking pages doing completely different things. In any case, you can still "leave a candle" as a memorial, I guess. Looks more like giving China the bird, though.
posted by Hankins at 11:56 AM on April 18, 2001

Septics, not sceptics!

As in the Australian variant of cockney rhyming slang:

Septics =>
Septic Tanks =>
Yanks

Generally abbreviated to "Seps" for further clarity.
posted by lagado at 4:57 PM on April 18, 2001