User:Ghostexorcist/About ME

I've been on Wikipedia since April of 2006. I am a U.S. Army 82nd Airborne Division Paratrooper-turned-college student majoring in Physical Anthropology with an emphasis on Primatology. I would like to study primate evolution, behavior, and culture as this ultimately reflects on our own. I am most interested in the genus Pan, which comprises chimpanzees and bonobos. This is because they are our closest living genetic cousins. I also have an interest in the genus Hylobatidae, which comprises gibbons and siamangs. This is not only because they are the most monkey-like of the apes, but because the ancient Chinese considered them symbolic of Confucian gentlemen and Daoist immortals with occult powers. The latter is interesting as the concept of an immortal ape may have been an antecedent of the famous literary figure Sun Wukong, the Monkey King, from the 16th-century novel Journey to the West.

I have an interest in both Asian and Judeo-Islamic cultures. I tend to focus on the history, art, literature, mythology, and religions of China, but I also know a good deal about India and Japan. Buddhist art is also a particular interest of mine. Regarding Judeo-Islamic culture, I tend to focus on the activities of Jewish “India Traders” mentioned in the famous Cairo Geniza collection. Given my interest in both eastern and western cultures, one of my favorite subjects to research is the Kaifeng Jews, a community of Jews who have lived in China for the better part of 900 years.