A while back I remember Discourse around here over why American politics seems so much more religious compared to the UK, and I wonder if the answer lies in the UK being much more of a multi*faith* society. 9.77% of the UK follows a religion that isn't Christianity, vs 4.2% of the US.
![Relevant excerpt of Li Hongzhang's summary of the siege of Shaoxing, from 李文忠公奏稿 3:5-6. Approximate translation of circled element:
'On the 2nd day of the month [19 February] a continuous barrage was directed outside the Xiguo gate, effecting a breach of over 10 zhang (~30m), killing countless rebels. Tardif personally surmounted the bridge to direct troops into the city, but those traitors [i.e. the Taiping] blocked the breech with muskets and rocks; moreover, there were black foreigners supporting [them] to the number of fifty or sixty who fired foreign muskets into Tardif's brain, after which he was severely wounded and lost his life.'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wfugvqkcdak52le7rkshtigm/bafkreihatahnv6lqhqng75zzyoqu2wjmrodsccnvfkyuh3fjhk575q2loy)
![Two phonetically identical variants of 'colony' (shokumin) existed-'to plant people’ (植民) and 'to increase people' (殖民) and, as its chief policy promoter, Nitobe encouraged his government to select 'planting people' as the standardized term:
Regardless of its general use, however, the characters shokumin (植民) are used in the vernacular but not yet officially ... [Whenever] names of places like Korea, Taiwan or Karafuto are mentioned ... they are referred to as ‘new additions to the empire'. Does it suffice to name these newly occupied territories with old expressions? Wouldn't it be better to use the new term—shokuminchi (植民地)?](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:wfugvqkcdak52le7rkshtigm/bafkreib2cnk66rfalae2or3rknhwzzlla4rurjpvtibkhmshprnped2ory)
