“Six essays in defense of Bernard Shaw” (Publication, 1992)
Year
1992
Text
Lu, Xun. Six essays in defense of Bernard Shaw. In : Shaw ; vol. 12 (1992).
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40681349. (LuXun1)
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40681349. (LuXun1)
Type
Publication
Contributors (1)
Lu, Xun
(Shaoxing, Zhejigan 1881-1936 Shanghai) : Schriftsteller, Dichter, Übersetzer
Übersetzungen japanischer Autoren siehe Findeisen, Raoul.D. Lu Xun (1881-1936).
Übersetzungen japanischer Autoren siehe Findeisen, Raoul.D. Lu Xun (1881-1936).
Mentioned People (1)
Shaw, George Bernard
(Dublin 1856-1950 Ayot Saint Lawrence, Hertford) : Dramatiker, Schriftsteller ; Literatur-Nobelpreisträger 1925
Subjects
Literature : China : Prose
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Literature : Occident : Great Britain
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Periods : China : Republic (1912-1949)
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References / Sources
/
Translator
Chronology Entries (1)
| # | Year | Text | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1933 |
Lu, Xun. Six essays in defense of Bernard Shaw [ID D27925]. Lu, Xun. Song xiao. (Febr. 15 1933). [In praise of Shaw]. In : Lu, Xun. Wei zi you shu. (Shanghai : Qing guang shu ju, 1933). 偽自由書 = He, Jiagin. "In praise of Shaw". In : Shen bao ; Febr. 7th (1933). Before Bernard Shaw's arrival, the Da wan bao [Shanghai Evening News] anticipated that Japanese troops in North China would suspend their aggression in deference to Shaw and called him "Old Man Peace." However, after the publication of the translation of the Reuters dispatch of Shaw's speech to the Hong Kong young people, it condemned Shaw for making "Communist propaganda." According to the Reuters report of 11 February 1933, Shaw had remarked that the Reuters reporter did not look Chinese to him and was surprised that there was not a single Chinese among those present. "Are they so ignorant that they have not heard of me?" he asked. Actually we are not ignorant. We understand quite well the benevolence of the Hong Kong governor, the regulations of the Shanghai Municipal Council, the friends and enemies of certain celebrities, as well as the birth- days and favorite dishes of the wives of public figures. But about Shaw, sorry, we only know the three or four titles of his that have been translated. Thus, we do not know his thoughts before or after the European War, or his thoughts after his Russian trip. But according to a Reuters report of 14 February from Hong Kong, he said to the students of Hong Kong University, "Should you not be a Red revolutionary before the age of twenty, you will end up a hopeless fossil by fifty; should you be a Red revolutionary by twenty, you may be all right by forty," so you know that he is great. What I call greatness lies not in his asking our people to become Red revolutionaries. Our peculiar national condition does not allow one to be Red. Merely declaring oneself a revolutionary could lead to losing one's life the next day. There is no way to see a Red live to forty. I call Shaw great because he thought of our youths' future, when they will have reached forty or fifty, and he did not lose sight of their present either. The wealthy with their future in mind can hide their riches in foreign banks and leave China by airplane. But the poor, in a country where politics are whirlwinds and the people the hunted deer, hardly dare or are able to think about tomorrow. So, how can they think twenty or thirty years ahead ? This is a simple, yet big question. This is why Shaw is Shaw ! Lu, Xun. Xiao Bona jiu jing bu fan. In : Da wan bao (Febr. 17 1933). [Bernard Shaw is truly unusual]. In : Lu, Xun. Wei zi you shu. (Shanghai : Qing guang shu ju, 1933). 偽自由書 There is nothing so bad or so good that you will not find Englishmen doing it ; but you will never find an Englishman in the wrong. He does everything on principle. He fights you on patriotic principles ; he robs you on business principles ; he enslaves you on imperial principles ; he bullies you on manly principles ; he supports his king on loyal principles and cuts off his king's head on republican principles. His watchword is always Duty ; and he never forgets that the nation which lets its duty get on the opposite side to its interest is lost. This is Bernard Shaw's satirical critique of British society in his The Man of Destiny. It is quoted here by way of introducing him and to let our readers know the secret to becoming great. Satire fills his works, embarrassing its victims and delighting its onlookers; the popularity of these smart lines has established Mr. Shaw. Becoming famous by promoting "isms" is the trend among today's scholars. Shaw has a talent for satirizing Englishmen, though not much talent for evaluating himself. He is at the forefront of pacificism and a lifelong supporter of socialism; his plays, novels, and essays are full of exposition of his doctrines. Though he believes in socialism, he is a mean accumulator of material wealth, as well as a strong denouncer of charity. As a consequence, he has already become a millionaire sitting on immense wealth. Shaw sings the tune of equalizing wealth, speaks up for oppressed workers, and makes sarcastic remarks about parasitic capitalists ; for these he wins the sympathy of the public. When a new book of his is out, all rush to buy it. When one of his plays is presented, it usually runs for a hundred or more performances - he never has to worry about box office sales. Shaw promotes Communism by sitting in an easy chair with smiling complacency. Gaining fame by isms is like displaying a sheep's head yet selling dog meat to cheat buyers. What a deception ! Shaw is very successful and now has come to our poor China to enjoy himself. We thank him for his enthusiasm in advising our young people : in Hong King he told students, "Should you not be a Red revolutionary by twenty, you will end up a hopeless fossil by fifty; should you be a Red revolutionary by twenty, you may be all right by forty." In other words, the reason for being a Red revolutionary is out of fear of becoming a fossil or a dropout rather than for the principle itself, which certainly has very little to do with the future of the individual. To become something in society, one merely has to avoid being petrified or falling behind. How can this famous piece of advice on social behavior, so boldly expressed, not make us reverent toward Shaw the modern-day Confucius ? But Mr. Shaw, don't you look down upon our venerable China. Not that we don't have fashionable scholars like you in our country, sitting in easy chairs and casting sarcastic remarks to propagate isms. This is familiar enough to us, and there is no need for your advice. But had you known this, I imagine you would have merely smiled with delight and said, "I am not alone on this path." According to our humble understanding, the important element of a great personality is honesty. Whatever doctrine one may believe in, one must honestly practice it, not just mouth it and make it sound good. If Mr. Shaw or his compatriots really believe in Communism, please let him distribute his wealth first, then talk. But, come to think of it, if Mr. Shaw were actually to distribute his property, clothe himself in ragged proletarian garb, and come as a third-class passenger to China, then who would take the trouble to see him ? When we think about it this way, Mr. Shaw is truly unusual. Lu, Xun. Qian wen de an yu. [A footnote to the foregoing essay by Le Wen]. In : Lu, Xun. Wei zi you shu. (Shanghai : Qing guang shu ju, 1933). 偽自由書 The foregoing essay makes several important points: First, Shaw's sharp sarcasm, effective in "embarrassing its victims and delighting its onlookers," is merely a trick to achieve "greatness." Second, this trick of "becoming famous by promoting isms" is equivalent to displaying a sheep's head, but selling dog meat instead. Third, the Shanghai Evening News seems to say that, in principle, one must either sing praises without restraint or open up one's cannibalistic big mouth to swallow one's fellow men; whether one drops out of the rank and file or becomes a fossil at the age of fifty is of no consequence. Fourth, if Bernard Shaw does not agree with these principles, he ought not to sit in his easy chair nor possess any property. Of course, it would be a different story if he did. Yet, even the rottenness of China has reached such a degree that within the class of petty bourgeoisie, people still love the future and do not care to drop out. They march toward the road of revolution. They utilize every posssible personal ability to assist earnestly in the building of revolution. Though previously supporting capitalist connections, they now consciously are transforming themselves into rebels against the bourgeois class, and rebels are often more troublesome than enemies. Their attitude is that, when you are endowed with a million-dollar estate or world-wide prestige and you still rebel and still feel dissatisfied, you are utterly contemptible. So Shaw is contemptible. Fishing for fame by promoting doctrines, as they say, is loathsome philistinism, typical materialism. So Shaw is contemptible. However, you and I know that Bernard Shaw does not belong to these categories, even though he is despised by these critics. The Shanghai Evening News has also mentioned that China, too, has those who "sit in easy chairs and cast sarcastic remarks to propagate isms, . . . there is no need for your [Shaw's] advice." This similarity be- tween China and the West is so obvious to the editorial writer that it seems to need no elaboration, but none of us were ever aware of the existence of these armchair critics. The pity of it is that although cannibalism has been adopted by our ruling class for quite some time, it still has no supporters with Shaw's status. Alas! As for Shaw, his greatness has not been diminished in the least by the loathing of his embarrassed victims. Hence I say good riddance to the troublesome but obsequious literary men in Chinese history who allowed their property to be confiscated by their rulers. Lu, Xun. Shui de Mao Dun ? (Febr. 19 1933). [Who is being contradictory ?]. In : Lu, Xun. Nan qiang bei diao ji. (Shanghai : Tong wen shu dian, 1934). Bernard Shaw enjoys not so much cruising about the world, but rather observing journalists' faces around the world. Here in China, they set oral trials for him, and he seems to have failed the ordeal. He was unwilling to accept ceremonial welcomes, but they welcomed him and interviewed him anyway. After the interviews, all made cutting remarks about him. He evaded and hid; they spied and tracked him down. They wrote up a storm about him, then accused him of angling for publicity. They pressed him to talk when he was not in a talking mood, and they egged him on to make speeches. When he complied, the papers would not print exactly what he said and blamed him for being verbose. When he was telling the truth, they said that he was joking. They laughed at him and blamed him for not laughing himself. When he was telling the truth, they obstinately called it sarcasm; they laughed at him and blamed him for conceit. He is not a satirist at heart, but they accused him of being one and looked down on him; then they themselves used sardonic remarks to needle him. He is not an encyclopedia, yet they put trivial queries to him. His answers made them cross, as if they certainly knew better than he. He came with the intention to relax, but they forced him to philoso- phize. After listening to a few words, they were displeased and accused him of coming with the intent "to propagate Communism." Some despised him because he is not a Marxist writer. Were he one, they would not have given him a second glance. Some resented him because he has never engaged in manual labor. Were he a laborer, he would not have been able to visit Shanghai, and they would have had no chance to see him. Some looked down on him because he is not a practicing revolutionary. Were he one, he would have been jailed with the Noulens, and they would have avoided mentioning his name. He has money but he favors socialism. He does no labor and he travels. He came to Shanghai, talked about revolution, talked about Soviet Russia, and purposely gave people no peace. Therefore, he is contemptible. He is contemptible because he is tall. He is contemptible because he is old. He is contemptible because his hair and beard are white. He is contemptible because he does not appreciate ceremonial welcomes and avoids interviews. Even his affectionate relationship with his wife be- comes contemptible. But now he has left China, a Shaw who all agree is a contradiction. I think that we must swallow our pride and accept him as a literary giant of world renown, for our mumbling and backbiting are not going to hurt his image one bit. Furthermore, his visit gives us an excuse to grumble. When the contradictory Shaw declines, or the contradictions of Shaw are resolved, that will mark the time when the contradictions of the world are resolved. That will be the day. Lu, Xun. Kan Xiao he kan Xiao de ren men. (Febr. 23 1933). [Watching Shaw and those who watches Shaw]. In : Lu, Xun. Nan qiang bei diao ji. (Shanghai : Tong wen shu dian, 1934). I like Shaw, not because of my reading of his works or his biography, but because I came across some of his epigrams and heard that he often tears the masks off people. That is why I like him. Furthermore, many Chinese who ape Western gentlemen do not like Shaw, and I find that those who are disliked by those whom I dislike are often excellent men. Now Shaw has come to China. I had no special intention to search him out, but on the afternoon of 16 February 1933, Uchiyama Kanzo showed me a telegram from the Tokyo office of Kaizo magazine and asked me to meet Shaw. Since I was needed, I decided to go. On the morning of the seventeenth, Shaw was to have landed in Shanghai, but no one knew where he was hiding himself. Haifa day passed and it appeared that our meeting was not to materialize. However, by that after- noon, a note from Mr. Cai Yuanpei told me that Shaw was having lunch at the home of Madame Sun Yat-sen, and that I was to come forthwith. I got there as soon as I could. Upon entering a small side-room off the living room, I spotted Shaw in the seat of honor at a round table having lunch with five others. Since I had seen photographs of Shaw as a famous man, I knew right away that this was the literary giant. However, there was no special aura of eminence. His snow-white hair and beard, ruddy complexion, and kindly face made me think to myself that he would be an excellent model for a portrait painter. They seemed to be halfway through lunch already. It was vegetarian and very simple. A White Russian newspaper had speculated that there would be a plethora of waiters on such an occasion; in fact, there was only the cook serving. Shaw did not eat much, but he may have started early and therefore had had enough. Midway through the meal, he attempted to use chopsticks, but was not very successful. To his credit, he kept working at it, and soon became rather adept. When he finally got hold of a morsel tightly, he looked from face to face expectantly, but few, unfortunately, observed his success. I did not particularly notice Shaw's satiric traits as we were eating. His conversation topics were the usual things. For example, he mentioned that friends are the best because a lasting relationship can be maintained with them, whereas parents and siblings are not of one's own choosing, so a distance has to be kept. After lunch, three pictures were taken. Standing next to Shaw, I became aware of my shortness. I thought to myself that, were I thirty years younger, I would exercise rigorously to make myself taller. At about two o'clock, the P.E.N. Club was giving a reception. I went along by car. It was held in a large Western-style building called World College. Upstairs, about fifty men of letters, writers of Ethnic Literature, socialites, the king of Peking opera, and so forth had already gathered. They surrounded Shaw and asked him sundry questions as if consulting the Encyclopedia Britannica. He responded with a few words: "You are all men of letters, hence you are familiar with publicity stunts. The actors among you are practitioners, so you understand these things more than a mere writer such as I. What do I have to say to you? This gathering today is like your visiting an animal in a zoo. Now that you've seen it, it should be enough." Everyone laughed, probably considering it to be satire. Shaw also addressed questions to Dr. Mei Lanfang and other celebrities, which I shall omit. There followed a ceremony to present Shaw with gifts. These were presented by Shao Xunmei, a literary man known for his handsome looks. One gift was a box of small, stylish Peking opera masks made of clay. Another, as I was told, was a stage costume; since it was wrapped in paper, I did not see it. Shaw cordially accepted. According to a later report by Mr. Zhang Regu, Shaw asked a few questions about the gifts and Zhang made some snide remarks, but Shaw did not appear to hear them, and neither did I. Someone asked Shaw his reasons for being a vegetarian. By then, many had started taking pictures. Figuring that my cigarette smoke would not be welcome, I went into the outer room. Since there was another scheduled interview with news reporters at Mme Sun's house at three o'clock, we returned there. Forty or fifty people had already gathered, but only half of them were let in. First came Mr. Ki Kimura and four or five writers. Among the reporters were six Chinese, one English, one White Russian, and three or four photographers. On the backyard lawn, they formed a semicircle around Shaw and again barraged him with detailed questions. Shaw seemed in no mood to talk, but if he would not the reporters would not let him go, so he talked. The more he said, the less the reporters wrote down. In my opinion, Shaw is not really a satirist at all. It is just that he is gifted in eloquence. The quiz ended at about four-thirty. Shaw looked very tired, so Mr. Kimura and I returned to Uchiyama Bookstore. The press releases of the next day were far more colorful than Shaw's own words. The reporters, who had all gathered at the same place, at the same time, and heard the same words, managed to report disparate stories. It was as if the English language that Shaw had uttered had transformed itself. For example, on the topic of the Chinese govern- ment, the Shaw of the English language press said that the Chinese must choose their own favorite man as the leader; the Shaw of the Japanese press said that there was more than one Chinese government; and the Shaw of the Chinese press said that the people had never appreciated their government, no matter how good it was. In this case, we see that Shaw is not a satirist, but a reflective mirror. Most of the news reports on Shaw were unfavorable. Reporters came to hear what they wanted, but also heard disagreeable sarcasms. So each threw barbs at Shaw, saying that he was a mere satirist. In the sarcasm competition, Shaw is the winner, in my opinion. I asked Shaw no question, and he asked me none. Nevertheless, Mr. Kimura wanted me to write my impression of Shaw. I have read reports by others who seem to know the very heart of the one interviewed at a glance; I admire their penetrating observations. As for myself, I have never studied any books on physiognomy, so even when I have met a famous man, I cannot relate a great many words about him. However, since the request came all the way to Shanghai from Tokyo, I must at least write this much to fulfill my obligation. Lu, Xun. Xiao Bona zai Shanghai xu. (Febr. 28 1933). [A preface to Bernard Shaw in Shanghai]. In : Lu, Xun. Nan qiang bei diao ji. (Shanghai : Tong wen shu dian, 1934). Nowadays, so-called humans are covered with some type of wrap, be it silk, brocade, flannel, or coarse fabric. Poor beggars wear at least pants, ragged though they be. Even primitives have a string of leaves to cover themselves. Should this covering be removed in public by the wearer or torn off by others, a man would not be considered proper. Improper though he may be, people still like to look. Some stand to watch; others follow him around. Ladies and gentlemen cover their eyes with their hands, but peek through their fingers. They want to see the nakedness of others, however careful they are about their own wraps. The words of men are also wrapped in silk, brocade, or tree leaves. Should the wraps be torn off, people want to listen and, at the same time, fear to hear. Out of curiosity, they surround the speaker; out of trepida- tion, they try to soften the effect by dubbing him a satirist. I believe this is the reason that Bernard Shaw's arrival in Shanghai caused a far greater stir than that of Tagore, not to mention Boris Pilnyak and Paul Morand, because Shaw's speeches are unwrapped. An- other reason is that tyranny turns men into cynics, but that is the worry of the English, not of the Chinese, a people traditionally trained to be mute. Yet, times are different after all. Chinese people now will listen to a foreign satirist for "humor" and for a few laughs. But one must guard his own wraps, and each has a different wish. The lame wanted Shaw to support the use of canes; the scabby-headed wanted him to support wearing hats; women who wear makeup wanted him to ridicule those who do not; and the writers of Ethnic Literature expected him to crush the Japanese troops. What is the result? From the number of complaints we know of, not very satisfactory, it seems. But the greatness of Shaw also lies here. Although newspapers owned by the English, Japanese, and White Russians fabricated different stories, in the end they attacked him in concert, which only proves that Shaw is not to be used by any of these imperialists. As for some Chinese newspapers, their standpoint is hardly worth mentioning since they are the followers of their overseas lords. This habit has existed for a long time; only when it comes to "nonresistance" or "strategic retreats" do they march in the front. Shaw was in Shanghai for less than a day, yet he gave rise to many stories. This would not happen with any other literary man. As it is not a trivial matter, the compilation of articles on him surely is important. In the first three parts, the different faces of writers, politicians, warlords, and lapdogs are reflected as in a flat mirror. Calling Shaw a concave or convex mirror [both distort reality] is not accurate. In the wake of the stir reaching Peking, British reporters drew the conclusion that Shaw did not like having the Chinese welcome him. A Reuters report of the twentieth said that the amount of Peking papers' coverage of Shaw was "enough to prove the callousness of the Chinese." Dr. Hu Shih, especially detached, said that no welcome was the highest form of welcome. The same reasoning applies to "To beat is not to beat, and not to beat is to beat." These events make me feel that I am looking at reflections in a mirror in which men, whatever their pretensions, are all revealed in their true nature. The articles about Shaw in Shanghai, though the writers are less skilled in writing than the foreign reporters and Chinese scholars of Peking, do present variety. The collection has its limits; some articles may have been left out and others may have appeared too late for inclusion, but by and large most are included. Lu, Xun. Lun yu yi nian. (Aug. 23 1933). [On the anniversary of the "Analects" : another occasion to talk about Bernard Shaw]. In : Lu, Xun. Nan qiang bei diao ji. (Shanghai : Tong wen shu dian, 1934). The journal Analects has reached its first anniversary, and its editor, Mr. Lin Yutang, has asked me to write a piece about it. This is like having to asked me to write a piece about it. This is like having to write an old-fashioned "eight-legged essay" in the vernacular under the assigned title "Xue er." Impossible though this may be, write I must. To tell the truth, I am often against what Lin promotes. In the past, he has promoted "fair play," and now "humor." I believe that humor is a plaything created by those who are in favor of holding international roundtable conferences. The meaning of the word "humor" is impossible to translate into Chinese. In our country, there were Tang Bohu, Xu Wenchang, and the most famous Jin Shengtan. Jin said once, "Beheading is painful, yet I have arrived at it unexpectedly. Is that not marvelous?" Whether this quotation is truth or joke, fact or fiction, at all events it shows that, first, Jin Shengtan was not a rebel and, second, that he converted the cruelty of butchering into a laughing matter. He made a happy ending of a sad fact. This is the kind of thing we have, but it has nothing to do with humor. In the pages of Analects, there is a long list of names, but very few of these people actually contributed any writings to it. This is the custom in China, to lend one's name, but not one's labor, to a cause. Hence actually publishing two issues a month of "humor" is quite humorous. This humor gives me a pessimistic feeling, though I do not care much for it and I have not been enthused about the Analects. But its Special Issue on Shaw is a good thing. In it, articles rejected elsewhere have been printed, thus exposing twisted remarks about Shaw's speeches. This undertaking has made a few well-known figures unhappy, and some bureaucrats angry and disgruntled. The longer they hate it and the more the people hate it, the more the influence of this Special Issue is proven. Shakespeare may be the English bard of drama, but few of us ever mention him. When Ibsen was introduced to China during the May 4th Movement of 1919, he fared quite well. This year, Shaw's arrival has been a disaster. Even today there are people who are still indignant about him. It is probably because Shaw smiled. Who can tell the meaning of his smile ? Did he smile sarcastically or amusedly? No, it was neither. Was his smile filled with barbs which pierced the viewers' vulnerable parts? No, it was not that either. Litvinov explained that Ibsen was a great question mark, while Shaw was a great exclamation point. Needless to say, Ibsen and Shaw's audiences are mostly upper-class ladies and gentlemen, those concerned with maintaining "face." Ibsen, though he puts them on stage and exposes their weaknesses, offers no conclusions. He deliberately says, "Come, think about it. Why is it this way?" The dignity of the audience is shaken, but it is allowed to return home to contemplate, so it saves people "face." Whether people indeed contemplate or what it is they contemplate is not the issue. Therefore, when Ibsen was introduced to China, public tranquility was undisturbed, and those against him were far fewer than those who enjoyed him. This is not the case with Shaw. Shaw also puts upper-class folks on stage, but he tears off their masks and their finery, and then he grabs one by the ear and points him out to the audience saying, "Look, here is a maggot!" He does not give them the chance to evade or cover up. At this moment, those who can still smile are the lower-class members who do not have the shortcomings he points out. Hence, Shaw is closer to the lower and further from the high and mighty. What is to be done ? There is an ancient way to counteract, which is simply to yell as loudly as one can: He is wealthy! He is pretentious! He is famous! He is tricky! or at least the same as, or worse than, they are. If they themselves live in a cramped latrine, they believe that Shaw too lives in such a place, or must have climbed out of a large one, but is a maggot nevertheless. They believe that those who introduced him are stupid and those who praised him are hateful. Yet I think that even if Shaw were a maggot, he would be an extraordinary maggot, just as among many exclamation points, he is a great point. For instance, there is a certain crowd of maggots, whether they call themselves ladies and gentlemen, writers and scholars, politicians or celebrities, who nod to one another, bow to one another, and all is in peace. But then they are all common maggots. Should there be one who suddenly jumps out and shouts, "We are actually mere maggots!" then, though he too is from a latrine, we have to admit that he is an exceptional maggot. Even maggots vary in size and quality. The theory of evolution was proposed by Charles Darwin, who let us know that our distant ancestors were related to the monkeys. The behavior of these ancients was exactly the same as that of humans today, yet today's beings deride Darwin as a monkey. Dr. Lo Guangting's experiment of natural creation of the species at Sun Yatsen University has not been conclusive, so suppose we just accept the theory that man is a relative of the monkey, undignified though it may be. Among the relatives of the monkey, Darwin cannot but be the greatest. Why ? Because though he believed that, he did not make it taboo to point it out. Rela- tives of the monkey also vary in size and quality. Darwin was good at research but not at making cutting remarks; hence he was laughed at by upper-class gentlemen for half a century. The one who defended him was Thomas Henry Huxley, who called himself Dar- win's bulldog. Huxley, with his profound learning and excellent writing, attacked and demolished the last citadel of those who considered them- selves the descendants of Adam and Eve. The denunciation of calling a man a dog is currently in vogue. But even dogs vary : some eat meat, some pull sleds, some work in the military, some help in police work, some race in the Zhang Garden's racecourse, some follow beggars as their masters. How does a lapdog which gives pleasure to the wealthy compare with a Saint Bernard who rescues the distressed in snow? Huxley was a good dog who benefited mankind. Dogs vary in size and quality too. In order to comprehend, one must first distinguish. Lin Yutang said once, "Humor is something in between cleverness and dignity." Without distinguishing between cleverness and dignity, how does one understand the "in between"? Although we have been branded as the disciples of Confucius, in fact we are the followers of Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi said in his work, "That view involves both a right and a wrong, and this view in- volves also a right and a wrong." So why does one bother to distinguish them? Did Zhuangzi dream about being a butterfly, or did the butterfly dream about being Zhuangzi ? Dreaming and waking, too, are indistinguishable. Life must be chaos. Should chaos be made sensible, life would be no more. Zhuangzi said, "At the end of seven days Chaos died." In chaos, is there a place for an exclamation point ? There is no place for a smile either. The headmasters of the old-fashioned schools never allowed students to show a trace of anger, sad- ness, or gladness. Despots did not smile. Slaves were not allowed to smile. Once they were to smile, they might progress to anger and stir up trouble. Today those who live on royalties of writing dare to make only sad or sarcastic remarks. This shows you that there is no humor in China. This also shows that my pessimism regarding Analects is not due to oversensitiveness. If those having royalty income make only pitiful noises, can we expect those who must live with the dangers of bombing and floods to have a sense of humor ? I am afraid that they make no sound of sadness or sarcasm, not to mention that of a prosperous time. In the future, some of us may be present at a conference roundtable, but we will be the guests. In that case, between host and guest, no humor is necessary. Gandhi refused to eat time and again. Newspapers of his host country suggested that he deserved a whipping. This shows that in India there is no "humor" either. The most severe whipping given to a host country was by Bernard Shaw. For that, some of our Chinese ladies and gentlemen dislike him. This to Shaw is like the case of Jin Shengtan, arriving at a treatment totally unexpectedly. But that would make a good source for a new magazine, Filial Piety, since piety agrees with the ways of our bureaucrats, especially toward their foreign lords. The titles of the Confucian classics, The Golden Mean, The Great Learning, and now the Analects, have been adopted as modern magazine titles. Eventually, Filial Piety must also be put out. Should that happen, the next after could be entitled Zuo zhuan [The Leftist Biography]. In the present situation, how can Analects prosper? Twenty-five issues is good enough for us to say, "What a joy!" |
Cited by (1)
| # | Year | Bibliographical Data | Type / Abbreviation | Linked Data |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000- | Asien-Orient-Institut Universität Zürich | Organisation / AOI |
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