Yao Ming and his idol 'Kong Ming' (long) Many of you have probably read about Yao's fascination and admiration for his idol 'Zhu Ge Kong Ming' (also known as Zhu Ge Liang, AD181-234), he is one of the best known military commander/king's advisor in the Chinese history, and someone Yao reportedly 'religiously' talk about all the time. I would like to think that Yao might have likened himself, and his path to the NBA to his idol. There are so many freakishly similarities, I just felt the need to point it out as many of these probably went through Yao's mind. 'Kong Ming' was a young scholar well known in his area, and often tooted as the person who could bring peace to China, but he was little known elsewhere. Analogy: Ming is well known in China for his abilities and potential, but little known elsewhere At the age of 24, he was approached by a general called 'Liu Bei', who after loosing a war against his arch rival, lost his northern cities and somehow ended up in a small town near where 'Kong Ming' lives. Due to Rockets' injury plagued season, it allowed them to enter the lottery, and somehow ended up with the number one draft pick with a chance to draft Yao Ming General 'Liu Bei' visited 'Kong Ming' three times over many month in hoping to gain his service before he finally agreed. It was 'Liu Bei' sincerity and vision for the future which led 'Kong Ming' to agree to help 'Liao Bei' out. Rockets sends a contingent to China in order to persuade and clear a path for Yao Ming to come and play in the NBA. The dealing process was long and complicated, but there sincerity, vision and $$$ were few of the main reasons which led to the agreement When 'Kong Ming' came, 'Liu Bei's' two top army generals highly doubted his abilities, as 'Kong Ming' has almost no experience in war battles. They thought that 'Liu Bei' totally wasted his time and effort on the guy, and that they would never work with 'Kong Ming' again if they looses in a battle as a team. Rocket's top players in Francis and Mobley wanting someone proven instead of Yao Ming who is inexperienced, and probably not worth the number one draft pick. 'Liu Bei' has many talented fighter type generals, but they previously lacked a commander who can put the pieces together. The army's first battle under 'Kong Ming's' command led them to a victory over 'Liu Bei's' arch rival who's army of 100,000 clearly out numbered Liu Bei's 5,000. After the battle, 'Liu Bei's' two top army generals were totally blown away by 'Kong Ming's' ability, and they started to work like a true team. This helped build the cornerstone to a kingdom which later lasted for more than 50 years. The Rockets has many talented players, but they lacked a defensive and center presence who can put the pieces together for a wining combination. If the story goes as planned, after playing with Yao, Francis and Mobley will come to realisation that Yao is really their missing link, and they will eventually work together to build a Rocket Dynasty that will last for many years to come. It's VERY late (almost morning) over here in Australia, so please forgive any of my tense and/or grammatical mistakes. After letting this out, I can now sleep happily -G'day-
While we are on the subject of Chinese history, I have always wondered the story behind the General Tso who invented that that tasty chicken dish. And was he any relation to General Joe?
that is one sweet post! let us hope that this dynasty comes to pass and we all live happily ever after!!!
no... General Tso's chicken is an American-Chinese invention created in a Chinese kitchen around the turn of the century when a Chinese chef was in a dilemna as to what to do with leftover chicken, he double fried it, added a new sauce and voila... General Tso's Chicken! we've already had this conversation
rockHead--It's still good to me...Since you seem to know alot of random stuff, where in Houston is good authentic Chinese food, or Chinese-American food, what is an authentic dish....I know off-topic, but I'm hungry......
Tozai Chinese-American : give fung's kitchen a try. SW Freeway at Fondren. In the strip mall with the volvo dealership. apparently, lots of ex rox used to dine there, they have pics of them. I'd try some of the seafood - steamed talapia (fish) or fried dungeness crab. it's a little more than most chinese food, but pretty decent. Authentic Chinese: Cantonese style: Jade Village, Gessner and Harwin. I like their clay pot with beef and veggies and their sizzling beef. Snow pea leaves are great if you like a vegetable dish. Taiwanese style: Papa Changs, Bellaire between Ranchester and Corporate Drive. Strip mall with DIHO grocery store, look west of the grocery store. Ask the waitress for recommendations. Most everything is good. Crispy Garlic Chicken was very good. happy eating.
I hear alot of people rave about Fu's Garden, they have 4 locations in Houston, I think. As far as die-hard real Chinese, you got me... I like Auntie Chang's Dumpling House, great dumplings and awesome General Tso's Chicken.... someone postd earlier they knew "THE PLACE" for authentic Chinese. Someone will chime in shortly...
Funny how this thread has become a Chinese food discussion. Is General Tso's Chicken some kind of Houston or American-Chinese dish? Because I don't even think I've heard of it. Hopefully a few Chinese posters on this board gets to read this analogy. I am sure they can add a few more to it. If you ever get a chance to talk with Yao and want to discuss something not basketball related, ask him about 'Kong Ming', as Yao reportely can't stop talking about this idol of his. -G'day-
Has anybody been to Lai Lai's Dumpling House? It's on Bellaire, oh man, I can't think of the other street. I just know that it is in one of the many strip malls on Bellaire between the SW freeway and the beltway. The Dumplings are great, though I don't know if they are traditional, but a buddy of mine went on a trip to China and he had dumplings there. The General Tso's chicken is very good there as well. Damn, I'm hungry.
Yeah I know that place. It's at the Diho Market shopping strip on Bellaire inside the Beltway. Their dumplings are good. There are a lot of nice Asian restaurants in Houston. Some are real small so you gotta find them.
I'd hate to be a pessimist, but here is the rest of the Chinese story... actually, I'll keep this short... Though after gaining Kong Ming's services, Liu Bei died before the war was concluded. Leaving the command to Liu Chan his son. Liu Chan was never able to defeat Cao Rui (Liu Bei's rival). At the end, Cao Rui won the war and re-united China. Which could hint that, we could very well flirt with an NBA Championship. However Yao Ming's services wouldn't be enough to win it all. That story sounds like a bad omen to me, so let's pretend that the story bears no relevance whatsoever.
Actually, Cao Rui is Liu Bei rival's grandson, and he did not re-unite China. None of the three kingdoms eventually re-united China. Cao Rui's general 'Shi Ma Yi' and his sons later over threw his kingdom after he died, and was the one who re-united China. And this happened many years after 'Kong Ming' had passed away. My take is that 'Kong Ming' was able to help 'Liu Bei' build a vast kingdom from its humble beginings, thus the analogy was that Yao might help Rockets win their share of championship trophy, but obviously not to the extend of some great teams such as Jordan's Bulls who totally dominated while he was there. btw, OldManBernie, thanks for sharing your thoughts, its always good to have opinions and looking at things in different ways -G'day-
It becomes to a lesson of china history , but I think acoording to the position is the rockets team, The Boss is Liu Bei, Coach is Kong Ming, Liu Bei have five greatest warriors, so I think yao ming is Guan Yu, who can beat seven amrys in one battle and top of the five warriors, Francis is Zhao Yu who I like the best and Mobley is Zhang Fei , who could tell the other tows are whom?
Huang Zhong should be an old guy, who was best on shooting arrow. Rice is him. Ma Chao is a genius general, brave and bloody. He must be a hustle player.
first let me express my admiration for this spectacular post by C-Kompii. truly truly amazing insight. and indeed there is an incredible parallel here. i guess that would partly explain the greatness of the novel 'Romance of Three Kingdoms' (one of the Four Great Novels in the Chinese language), in its applicability and relevance to us today... (and to NBA basketball for god's sake!) to carry the analogy farther... liu bei (rudy T) - noble looking to resurrect the greatness of his house (the rockets franchise?). gained early notoriety defeating key warlords against overwhelming odds (magic, knicks, suns, bulls?). one of the most promising generals in the grand alliance against the evil hegemon Dong Zhuo (Bulls!) which eventually failed due to internal dissent within the alliance (Western Conference, i.e. Sonics, Jazz), even though only Liu Bei's three generals (drexler, barkley, dream) were really good enough to pose a serious challenge against Dong Zhuo's son Lu Bu, the greatest fighting general of the entire era... (rockets vs. bulls...) xu shu (Dream) - liu bei's previous commander/strategist and kong ming's predecessor. led Liu's forces to several spectacular successes ('94-'96) found by liu bei sleeping in a haystack (Nigeria?). tricked by treacherous northern warlord (Raptors) to leave Liu Bei... Forbidden by treacherous warlord from returning and forced to languished in permanent dejection in the north. (that damn contract...) guan yu (Francis) - hands down, the finest fighting general of his time (with the exception of one god-like Lu Bu aka Jordan?). francis is like him in been utterly unstoppable when he's on, cutting through opposing armies/teams like moses through the red sea... Charisma drew many lesser generals into his service(TMorris? Odom?). Immense abilities had Northern warlords (Vancouver?) drooling over his potential and vying for his services. But he steadfastly refused, citing his blood ties (mom?)... (ok i know that's a stretch there...) Liu Bei often listened to his advice. (like Rudy T to Francis?). his potential was never truly reached however, until he came under the guidance of kong ming. zhang fei (Mobley) - the loud-mouthed, cocky, often skeptical, and yet funny and loveable younger brother of guan yu and liu bei. sounds like mobley to me... but are they equal in ability? when zhang fei was on, 'beheading enemy generals was like getting change from his own pockets'... gotta check mobley's jumper but i'll give him the benefit of the doubt... zhao yun (MoTay) - established his fame under a different warlord. but eventually left to join liu bei after his master (clippers) was ruined. often sent during battle to lead the vanguard (opening 15 minutes?)... (i'm sorry but Zhao Yun was arguably the most complete general in the novel, but MoT.... i dunno...) huang zhong (Rice) - marksman from the south. with kong ming's help (creating open shots?), he became a devastating general and was productive (achieved true greatness) far into his old age... ma chao (Griffin) - northern general who was already a legend in his youth, when he single-handedly led a minor faction (Seton Hall?) to numerous victories against vastly more powerful opponents and made him one of the most sought-after generals in the land. tremendous physical ability and all-around skills, whose ferocity in battle made him most feared. who might be Zhou Yu (the great strategist outclassed by Kong Ming)? Shaq or Chris Webber? and who might be Sima Yi and Tsao Tsao (Kong Ming's nemeses)? Could they be Lebrun James and Mark Cuban? for those of you more interested in chicken... i conjecture that general tso was perhaps referring to zhuo zhong-ling, one of the leading officials/generals of the late Manchu dynasty... I think the dude was supposed to have led the ultimately unsuccessful effort to modernise the Chinese army.
