Dynasty (왕조, 王朝)

The idea of a dynasty has been embedded in me for a long time, since I was a Chinese American kid learning Chinese history, since pretty much all of Chinese history is dynastic, with families and families of people ruling over the country for a long time and then being replaced by other families after the initial dynasty had become too corrupt, weak, or both. The idea of dynasty, though, feel strong, like planting a flag into a piece of land stating this is my territory, establishing a dynasty means sticking your flag in a stretch of time in history, something that others will always use to associate with that time. I guess ultimately that's what powerful people like kings and emperors are yearning for, the power to stand in history as defining that time. Dynasties are fun; I always yearned to call something of mine the "Yan Dynasty," like one of my fantasy teams, or my dodgeball team. You have to be pretty confident in yourself to name something a dynasty at the beginning; usually these things are annointed at the end long after the events have occurred. 

The US isn't immune to honoring dynasties; I often hear people defining major moments in their lives by who was president in the US like "I was a Bush baby", or like me, a Reagan baby, or my sister, who was a Clinton baby. For sports fans, it's often defined by sports dynasties, like the current NFL dynasty by the New England Patriots, whom everyone outside of Boston hates because of Boston. 

The latest dynasty in the NBA came to an end last night; the Golden State Warrior's 5-year stranglehold as the best team in the NBA came to an end when they were dethroned by the Toronto Raptors, coinciding with the last game at Oracle Arena. The history of the NBA is also filled with many dynasties where championship teams reigned supreme and great players defined their "legacies" by being the best players on one of those teams. I was lucky enough to be part of one of those dynasties, the 1990's run with the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and the rest who won 6 championships. I'll say that having a winning team every single year spoiled me; I expected a championship and didn't even celebrate that much when they won; now I would be so fortunate for any of my sports teams to win something, even my fantasy sports team! 

Lately, I've been learning a lot about the Joseon Dynasty in Korea, the most famous one out of many that existed. It's easy to know if I'm watching a Joseon Dynasty TV series or movie based on what the people are wearing on the show. It's really too bad that so many people have to die during the establishment of dynasties and overthrowing of the old one; it'd be so much more humane to just have a peaceful transition of power.  Japan just started a new dynasty on April 1 of this year (The Reiwa Dynasty) when the old emperor stepped down and a new one was appointed. The name was met with solid approval in its strength and unity. That's actually really important, the name of a dynasty. 

MJ and I are going to be ending our own personal dynasty in LA. (The Lee-Yan Rhymes Dynasty?) by moving to Durham, NC (headed there this weekend to look at apartments, which is always fun because I get to see the best of where other people live and all the amenities that everyone offers). Time to come up with a new dynasty name for this new adventure that we're going on! 

What will the future bring in terms of defining time? Will it still be defined by who is President? Or will it be technological dynasties taking over like the "Mars Dynasty" of sending people to Mars? 

Fantasize on, 

Robert Yan