From 'Shangri-La, E4' (or could it be renamed Shangri-Lea?)
I have been asking people what the name, 'Shangri-La', means to them. One of my early associations with that name is a memory of a bungalow in a village in Cornwall where I lived as a child. I don't know if the neat, quiet, little house - with 'Shangri-La' wrought in fancy cursive styled wire attached to the front wall near the door - actually existed.
How apt is the choice of name, 'Shangri-La, E4', for the apiary on our allotment site? I chose the name in a whimsical moment to denote an earthly paradise. Subsequent research into the origins of that name has given me cause for doubt. I found out that 'Shangri-La' is a key location in the novel, 'Lost Horizon', by James Hilton. Comparisons and similarities made between the mythical valley in Hilton's novel and our apiary (and the allotment as a whole) could be tenuous. The great majority of worker honey bees only live for about 6 weeks before succumbing to exhaustion, spent by the unrelenting instinctual drive to work and forage. The arduous shortness of the life of a worker honey bee contrasts with the serene longevity of the inhabitants of 'Shangri-La'. But this sentiment is anthropomorphism.
Our allotment/apiary is situated in a valley; the Lea Valley. The principle character in 'Lost Horizon', Hugh Conway, perceives the valley of Shangri-La as 'always tranquil, yet always a hive* of unpursuing occupations....' by which I think he means 'an infinitude of odd and apparently trivial employments' making up the 'serene purpose' of that (no) place. Our allotment is often suffused with a degree of tranquility and serenity but not always so and it is not that keeping bees and growing fruit and vegetables are necessarily trivial employments however reimagining them within some sort of idyllic context - a collocation and convergence of paradisical spaces - does make for some oddness and apparent triviality; the title of the previous post being an example of this 'apparent triviality'.
There seems to be no shortage of (names for) idyllic places with which to name different areas of the allotment site and I wonder what useful or productive purpose is served by worrying about or questioning the aptness of a name for a specific area? This naming is not really about usefulness or productivity although hours and hours of watering the allotment do require some stimulating and fanciful notions to get through what can be the occasionally serene tedium of that task. I can serenely lug watering cans from one paradise to another while wondering where the time has gone. This brings to mind Laurie Anderson's pithy assurance in Language is a Virus, that, 'Paradise is exactly like where you are right now - only much, much better.' People leaving 'Shangri-La' discover that time catches up with them very soon.
What, however, if there was a shortage of names and places with all their associated idyllic notions (a place where you will very nearly not age), ideas, hopes and imaginings? What if they vanished, were destroyed or erased from the minds of people? That is a prospect partly addressed by the fictional inhabitants of Hilton's Shangri-La.
The 'single tremendous idea' and state of mind of the (Utopian?) lamasery at the notional centre of Shangri-La is the preservation, interpretation and translation of the artfulness of civilisation that might otherwise be obliterated by a cataclysmic war 'in the great space beyond the [valley] pass' - the "outside". Hilton's fictional 'utopia' is Eurocentric and colonial in that the art being preserved is mainly European. The High Lama, in a discussion with Hugh Conway, says that Mozart is, in his opinion, the greatest of all composers. Shangri-La is then a sanctuary for great and lesser, more wayward, art and culture which may escape the ravages of an apocalypse and so be returned to the post apocalyptic world. The flaws, impracticalities and limitations of this endeavour do elicit the adjective, 'Utopian' but this confuses 'Utopia' and 'Shangri-La'.
The beehive/apiary is an enduring symbol of a social utopia, signifying cooperation without any apparent coercion (Bee Wilson). There is also a long association of monastic life with beekeeping. Conway's allusion to the valley and lamasery as a hive most likely tapped into that association however there are no other references to honeybees or honey in the Shangri-La of Hilton's 'Lost Horizon'. The Himalayas do have a native honey bee, Apis dorsata laboriosa, which is highly adapted to the highland habitat and honey bees are kept in the Himalayan Highlands and since the 2001 renaming of Zhongdian (Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China) to 'Shangri-La', honey bees are kept in 'Shangri-La' (City). There is an account of a visit to the Bee Project of Shangri-La - here.
What sort of parallel can be drawn between an apiary or rather the mind of an apiarist in Shangri-La, Chingford, E4 - and that of the apiarists of Shangri-La City, Yunnan Province - even if in a muddle of fact and fiction. The honey bees of both apiaries might be understood or appreciated as nurturing the floral culture of the surrounding landscape - a symbiotic relationship that many other species rely on. The life cycle and culture of the honey bee hive forms something of an essence and a distillation of the surrounding landscape/culture and in this there is a comparison to be made with the inhabitants of Hilton's Shangri-La who refine and keep culture for posterity.
I could just leave it at that - Shangri-La/Shangri-Lea - sweet as the harmonies of a sixties girl band - a 'dumb dumb ditty' to entertain my parched mind while the rest of me labours in the allotment. But what if I tried to see beyond the edge of the allotment horizon, to explore more of the field encompassed by the name, 'Shangri-La'?
I have been trying to understand why Zhongdian was renamed Shangri-La. The Shangri-La of Hilton's 'Lost Horizon' is, according to the Wikipedia introduction, located in the western end of the Kunlun Shan. This mountain range is one of the longest in Asia, stretching for 3000km. The western end appears to be in Tibet or rather what is now the Tibet Autonomous Region, closer to Afghanistan/Kashmir and Pakistan than Yunnan Province. I assume the decision was influenced by the long running troubled geopolitical history of the region. The Wikipedia page on the mythical 'Shangri-La' goes into some detail about various efforts made to clarify where Shangri-La - and the inspiration for it - was and is. A failed attempt to establish a 'China Shangri-La Ecological Tourism Zone' seems to have lead to a treaty and compromise made between Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region - and so the subsequent renaming of Zhongdian to Shangri-La.
My appropriation of the name is certainly more modest geographically although I am mindful that the mythology of 'Shangri-La' has still more bitter sweet associations involving renaming. F D Roosevelts' veiled and ironic reference to an attack aircraft carrier as 'Shangri-La' supposedly led the US Navy command to rename the vessel as 'USS Shangri-La' - representing a break with US Navy ship naming tradition. US intervention in Southeast Asia included involvement in the Chinese Civil War; something that could be seen as a proxy war between the US and USSR - with the latter providing confiscated WWII Japanese weaponry and munitions to the forces of the Communist Party of China and the US funding and arming forces loyal to the Kuomintang led government of the Republic of China. The scale of losses on both sides and geopolitical consequences were huge. That an aircraft carrier, named USS Shangri-La floated on the horizon of some of the catastrophic wars of that region makes for a very different view of how 'Shangri-La' occupies popular imaginations.
While James Hilton's 'Shangri-La/Lost Horizon' involves the threat of near total devastation by war, it seems to have entered the popular western imagination principally via more sentimental, gooey means, 'Lost Horizon' (1937) - the movie. Columbia Studios indulged Frank Capra's artistic cinematic ambitions and abilities by financing what was, at that time, one of the most expensive, spectacular movies ever made - one that lost money for the studio. The film, a fantasy epic, was/is however a great success otherwise - and seems to have provided some popular escape and consolation during World War II - Ronald Coleman and Jane Wyatt leaning on a garden gate in a warm otherworldly glow, discussing choosing to stay in or leave paradise. The popularity of the film also required Robert Riskin's script to be changed because of popular perceptions about the people of Southeast Asia - in particular, China. There is a fascinating anecdote, told by Frank Capra in a television interview, about how he tossed the first two reels of the original movie into an incinerator following a disastrous preview/premier. The drastic edit (lost footage) made for the success of the movie.
What did James Hilton make of Capra/Riskin's adaptation of his novel and of how 'Shangri-La' reemerged from cinemas? Hilton went on to become a very successful Hollywood writer. Hilton lived in Walthamstow and later, in what is now, a house in a close or cul de sac just off Woodford New Road. There is a story of how, in a blue funk, struggling to write, he went for a long cycle ride in Epping Forest and so found the inspiration for 'Mr Chips'. I wonder if he also found some of the inspiration for 'Shangri-La' in a secluded spot in Epping Forest on the edge of the Lea Valley and that naming an apiary after his fictional 'Shangri-La' is an apt choice?
The 'single tremendous idea' and state of mind of the (Utopian?) lamasery at the notional centre of Shangri-La is the preservation, interpretation and translation of the artfulness of civilisation that might otherwise be obliterated by a cataclysmic war 'in the great space beyond the [valley] pass' - the "outside". Hilton's fictional 'utopia' is Eurocentric and colonial in that the art being preserved is mainly European. The High Lama, in a discussion with Hugh Conway, says that Mozart is, in his opinion, the greatest of all composers. Shangri-La is then a sanctuary for great and lesser, more wayward, art and culture which may escape the ravages of an apocalypse and so be returned to the post apocalyptic world. The flaws, impracticalities and limitations of this endeavour do elicit the adjective, 'Utopian' but this confuses 'Utopia' and 'Shangri-La'.
The beehive/apiary is an enduring symbol of a social utopia, signifying cooperation without any apparent coercion (Bee Wilson). There is also a long association of monastic life with beekeeping. Conway's allusion to the valley and lamasery as a hive most likely tapped into that association however there are no other references to honeybees or honey in the Shangri-La of Hilton's 'Lost Horizon'. The Himalayas do have a native honey bee, Apis dorsata laboriosa, which is highly adapted to the highland habitat and honey bees are kept in the Himalayan Highlands and since the 2001 renaming of Zhongdian (Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China) to 'Shangri-La', honey bees are kept in 'Shangri-La' (City). There is an account of a visit to the Bee Project of Shangri-La - here.
What sort of parallel can be drawn between an apiary or rather the mind of an apiarist in Shangri-La, Chingford, E4 - and that of the apiarists of Shangri-La City, Yunnan Province - even if in a muddle of fact and fiction. The honey bees of both apiaries might be understood or appreciated as nurturing the floral culture of the surrounding landscape - a symbiotic relationship that many other species rely on. The life cycle and culture of the honey bee hive forms something of an essence and a distillation of the surrounding landscape/culture and in this there is a comparison to be made with the inhabitants of Hilton's Shangri-La who refine and keep culture for posterity.
I could just leave it at that - Shangri-La/Shangri-Lea - sweet as the harmonies of a sixties girl band - a 'dumb dumb ditty' to entertain my parched mind while the rest of me labours in the allotment. But what if I tried to see beyond the edge of the allotment horizon, to explore more of the field encompassed by the name, 'Shangri-La'?
I have been trying to understand why Zhongdian was renamed Shangri-La. The Shangri-La of Hilton's 'Lost Horizon' is, according to the Wikipedia introduction, located in the western end of the Kunlun Shan. This mountain range is one of the longest in Asia, stretching for 3000km. The western end appears to be in Tibet or rather what is now the Tibet Autonomous Region, closer to Afghanistan/Kashmir and Pakistan than Yunnan Province. I assume the decision was influenced by the long running troubled geopolitical history of the region. The Wikipedia page on the mythical 'Shangri-La' goes into some detail about various efforts made to clarify where Shangri-La - and the inspiration for it - was and is. A failed attempt to establish a 'China Shangri-La Ecological Tourism Zone' seems to have lead to a treaty and compromise made between Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces and Tibet Autonomous Region - and so the subsequent renaming of Zhongdian to Shangri-La.
My appropriation of the name is certainly more modest geographically although I am mindful that the mythology of 'Shangri-La' has still more bitter sweet associations involving renaming. F D Roosevelts' veiled and ironic reference to an attack aircraft carrier as 'Shangri-La' supposedly led the US Navy command to rename the vessel as 'USS Shangri-La' - representing a break with US Navy ship naming tradition. US intervention in Southeast Asia included involvement in the Chinese Civil War; something that could be seen as a proxy war between the US and USSR - with the latter providing confiscated WWII Japanese weaponry and munitions to the forces of the Communist Party of China and the US funding and arming forces loyal to the Kuomintang led government of the Republic of China. The scale of losses on both sides and geopolitical consequences were huge. That an aircraft carrier, named USS Shangri-La floated on the horizon of some of the catastrophic wars of that region makes for a very different view of how 'Shangri-La' occupies popular imaginations.
While James Hilton's 'Shangri-La/Lost Horizon' involves the threat of near total devastation by war, it seems to have entered the popular western imagination principally via more sentimental, gooey means, 'Lost Horizon' (1937) - the movie. Columbia Studios indulged Frank Capra's artistic cinematic ambitions and abilities by financing what was, at that time, one of the most expensive, spectacular movies ever made - one that lost money for the studio. The film, a fantasy epic, was/is however a great success otherwise - and seems to have provided some popular escape and consolation during World War II - Ronald Coleman and Jane Wyatt leaning on a garden gate in a warm otherworldly glow, discussing choosing to stay in or leave paradise. The popularity of the film also required Robert Riskin's script to be changed because of popular perceptions about the people of Southeast Asia - in particular, China. There is a fascinating anecdote, told by Frank Capra in a television interview, about how he tossed the first two reels of the original movie into an incinerator following a disastrous preview/premier. The drastic edit (lost footage) made for the success of the movie.
What did James Hilton make of Capra/Riskin's adaptation of his novel and of how 'Shangri-La' reemerged from cinemas? Hilton went on to become a very successful Hollywood writer. Hilton lived in Walthamstow and later, in what is now, a house in a close or cul de sac just off Woodford New Road. There is a story of how, in a blue funk, struggling to write, he went for a long cycle ride in Epping Forest and so found the inspiration for 'Mr Chips'. I wonder if he also found some of the inspiration for 'Shangri-La' in a secluded spot in Epping Forest on the edge of the Lea Valley and that naming an apiary after his fictional 'Shangri-La' is an apt choice?
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