Lyrical Allusions

China and the internet | Imperial bubble? | Economist.com

So the whole Baidu.com IPO story is interesting in its own right, but more than a week old (basically, shares have soared 354% on its debut day, from $27 to $123). But here's what I really like about The Economist's article:

"CHINA'S leading internet search engine, Baidu.com, is named after a 900-year-old Song Dynasty love poem about the search for a beautiful woman. Baidu's literal meaning—“hundreds of times”—represents the tortuous quest for the ideal....
...As the Song poets realised long ago, the achievement of perfection requires judgment as well as enthusiasm."

Brilliant. It's like Quixotic (or perhaps Sisyphean, I delve in to how J defines that for himself).....but in Mandarin. While I love the quest for the ideal bit, I *love* the recognition that it requires the balance of judgement and enthusiasm..... realism and idealism, neoclassicism and romanticism, pragmatism and passion..... only taken together is there true success, or a definition of happiness is my world view.

To make this a little less of a "fluff" post for those of you that don't like swimming around in ideas, I also love it when company's and individuals celebrate literature, culture, and linguistics in the careful choice of their name or branding....when its appropriate. Certainly things are abused often enough (how many companies are out there named Phoenix for instance...), but the truly artful ones that neccessitate a command of culture---they are something to laud and appreciate.