正文
The following is a reply I sent to a commentor.
I wrote in Chinese too slow, so I wrote as little as possible in the previous essay. Maybe I should have given more details about what I really saw when I was there standing before that stature. I was shocked, paralyzed and frozen in a summer day when I saw it. You have to see it yourself to understand my feeling. I have never seen a stature that demonstrates so much valor, spirit and determination. I have no doubt any Japanese who see it will see the spirit and tradition of their nation. The very spirit that raised Japan to the top of the world by war and did it again by economy.
I cannot help but thinking of my people and my country. What is the symbol that will inspire the same feeling in the heart of a Chinese, with such a monumental force. The American have stars and strips. The Jews have Tora. The Japanese have Samurai. All of them impart a spiritual strength to its followers. To me the dragon is a imaginary creature in the mind of superstitious people, which is directly responsible for the poverty and weak of China. Do you feel proud and your heart feel warm when you see a dragon? I do not. What is the spirit of a dragon? It only reminds me the vast number of Chinese people stupefied by governing power. Even though I respect the national flag for its the symbol of our country, I do not agree with it for it is the wish of a party, not a people.
That is about why I think China need a different symbol that demonstrates the generosity, hospitality, wisdom and diligence of Chinese people and our culture.If you can spare me the personal attack, we can definitely exchange more ideas. The 8 years in States have made me a believer of democracy, its liberty, equal right and happiness.
BTW, I have to admit I was a little scared when I saw that stature. I am afraid Japan will do it again with that spirit in their blood. We need to do something about it. I love my country by thought and deed, not just word.
I wrote in Chinese too slow, so I wrote as little as possible in the previous essay. Maybe I should have given more details about what I really saw when I was there standing before that stature. I was shocked, paralyzed and frozen in a summer day when I saw it. You have to see it yourself to understand my feeling. I have never seen a stature that demonstrates so much valor, spirit and determination. I have no doubt any Japanese who see it will see the spirit and tradition of their nation. The very spirit that raised Japan to the top of the world by war and did it again by economy.
I cannot help but thinking of my people and my country. What is the symbol that will inspire the same feeling in the heart of a Chinese, with such a monumental force. The American have stars and strips. The Jews have Tora. The Japanese have Samurai. All of them impart a spiritual strength to its followers. To me the dragon is a imaginary creature in the mind of superstitious people, which is directly responsible for the poverty and weak of China. Do you feel proud and your heart feel warm when you see a dragon? I do not. What is the spirit of a dragon? It only reminds me the vast number of Chinese people stupefied by governing power. Even though I respect the national flag for its the symbol of our country, I do not agree with it for it is the wish of a party, not a people.
That is about why I think China need a different symbol that demonstrates the generosity, hospitality, wisdom and diligence of Chinese people and our culture.If you can spare me the personal attack, we can definitely exchange more ideas. The 8 years in States have made me a believer of democracy, its liberty, equal right and happiness.
BTW, I have to admit I was a little scared when I saw that stature. I am afraid Japan will do it again with that spirit in their blood. We need to do something about it. I love my country by thought and deed, not just word.
All he tries to say is he likes Japan better and would sucumb to their violence. We should be glad he isn't born 60 years ago, otherwise, our ancestor have to waste another bullet to get rid of one more Japanese henchman.
First, I am really impressed that you could have so many thoughts on a samurai statue. Would you mind telling me what type of spirit have you actually been reminded of by that statue? As you said later, you are a believer of democracy, liberty, equal right and happiness, but I just can't feel anything alike from a samurai statue. besides that, what jps did in China 60 years ago was nothing but robbing, raping and killing...if that is what the statue stands for, then perhaps I can't help much in that matter. To me, a samurai statue is no more than a Nazi's swastika.
Then you talked about the symbol of China, the dragon. I don't know when or where we used the dragon symbol. Maybe what you meant is that we describe ourselves as "炎黄子孙" or "龙的传人"。I might not feel anything about a dragon symbol, but I do feel something whenever being called "炎黄子孙" or "龙的传人"。I do feel that I have a root, whole-heartedly. I do feel that "United we stand, divided we fall". I won't make any comment on the "national flag", but I do love our "national song" -- the only problem here is that I am not sure if we are talking abou the same "national song". I need to say that I don't think that you grew up in Mainland China, and it is quite interesting that you did not make that part clear (at least I can't tell from your essay).
After that, I am really surprised when you said "The 8 years in States have made me a believer of democracy, its liberty, equal right and happiness."
because to me, I was a believer of democracy, liberty, equal rights and equal protection before I arrived in this country. My years in the US only tell me one thing -- 天下乌鸦一般黑。
What I really respect is how the people of the US fought for their rights. Maybe I should remind you that those civil rights you admire were not in the original Constitution, but the Amendments. The "people" in the Declaration of Independence only referred to white men -- everyone else was excluded. The fight for freedom of speech started more than a hundred years ago, not to mention the civil rights movement -- you've stayed here for 8 years, you should have known that better than me. If you came here 180 years earlier, I am sorry, but I really don't think you could ever enjoy the democracy or liberty or equal rights, because they were not meant for you, or me.There was a period of time in CA （should be） when almost all the applications for operation of landrymat filed by Chinese were denied. In this matter, I can only say thanks to those people who stood up to fight. We were merely thrid party beneficiaries.
When I was in college in China, I read an article written by a "海归" on a bbs. I still remeber its ending. "口口声声爱中国，却只敢隔着海指指点点，得了吧您，装什么大尾巴羊。。。" things like that. I don't know. Maybe I AM a coward. At the time when I chose to be a bystander, I guess the only choice left for me is to love China by words, no matter how many times I claim that I really, really love China.
以上只是一家之言。不敬之处，请多包涵。
The highest act a Samurai can offer is typified in the events of the 47 Ronins. The Samurai’s greatest duty is to his lord and emperor as explained by Shinto. A Samurai must protect the honor of his lord and keep loyalty to his emperor. This created a dilemma where a troupe of Samurais revenged their fallen lord by killing a member of the Emperors court. But by doing so, they had offended the emperor’s law. As a result of their act, the emperor believed that while they have also avenged their fallen lord which is reasonable to the Samurai’s belief, part of that belief is also to remain loyal to the emperor. As a result, all 47 Samurais committed suicide for their emperor as was guided by their beliefs. This was the highest act and sacrifice a Samurai could offer to their lord, emperor and country. This is what a samurai symbol represents.
http://www.samurai-archives.com/ronin.html
As for your expectations of China, that’s just not shared by consensus. Whatever your doubts maybe most nations around the world see China as becoming the largest economy globally in the years to come, and a superpower in the position to displace the US. Something a majority of Americans foresee as well.