journal2

Reading the excerpts of the western epics, I am impressed with the way the western people justified and glorified their colonization. Since the establishment of a colony was linked with a destiny arranged by gods’ will, these nation founders, assuming themselves to be the superior and the chosen, could seize the land and other belongings from the indigenous people and stigmatized the dispossessed as barbarian and abase with an arrogant contempt. Since there is such a western tradition of plundering under a certain self-righteous, embellished pretext, it is no wonder that European colonizers nearly deracinated the Indian civilization in American Continent and did not feel the least compunction. Then my curiosity is aroused. How about China, which used to be a vast empire holding supremacy in Asia? In China, there is no epic to glorify the founding of Chinese nation, but legend has it that the Chinese people are descendents of the Chinese dragon, the tribe totem. The earliest Chinese civilization appeared in the Central China, the Yellow River area, which is sanctified as the cradle of the Chinese empire. Later on, the Middle Plain people conquered and colonized other territories and radiated its influence. Interestingly enough, the Chinese people, who belonged to the central civilization, had such a high opinion of themselves that they denigrated the inhabitants in the peripheral areas as savages. These self-assuming people constitute the predominant ethnic group: Han people, who kept pushing constantly their frontier and clearing away the barrier by whatever means. The people, who resisted the influence of Han Civilization, were represented as dirty, uncivilized and cannibalistic in the folk tales of the Han people and this prejudice made it possible that the minority ethnic group people were either massacred or driven into the lonely mountainous area. It is ironical that most of the Chinese people are unanimous that the Chinese people are born to be peace-loving. In Chinese history there are two dynasties whose rulers are not from Han People and they are regarded as intruders and brigands though many of them have been assimilated into the Central tradition. So we can see the Chinese people, consisting mostly of Han Ethnic Group people, are self-centered and overweening though they are not invincible. Since China used to be a superpower in Asia, whose civilization had a significant influence upon such countries as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. It is obvious that China showed a patronizing attitude towards these inferior. China has an interesting version of how the Japanese nation came into being. It is said that the First Emperor of Qin Dynasty, superstitious enough, sent some chaste boys and girls to Japan to fetch some exotic medicine that could bring him immortality. However, they failed to fulfill the mission and had to stay there for fear that the atrocious emperor would execute them for their futile attempt, thus Japan being colonized. Though it is impossible for us to prove the authenticity of the story, yet one thing is clear that the Chinese think that the Japanese are the descendants of the mainland Chinese and according to Confucianism the Japanese should comply with the orders of paternal nation. China used to invade Japan several times but for some reason failed. In the neighborhood of such a large country as China, Japan always feels threatened and gradually becomes paranoid. Japan would send pirates to molest China’s coastal area and seize every opportunity of weakening China to seek a relief of anxiety. In the Sino-Japanese war between 1937 and 1945, China was humiliated and traumatized by Japan’ brutal invasion and imposed colonization. Now China is also a paranoid patient which, with smoldering hatred, regards any anti-Japanese action as boosting national pride and confidence. It is also worth mentioning that Korea is a more paranoid country. When I was in Korea, I was told that the Koreans used to communicate with Chinese characters but anyhow an Ancient Korean official, now regarded as a national hero, invented a Korean language system in case that Korea should be too Chinese. I asked the young Korean people whether it was necessary for this forefather to do that. They told me that they still had to learn Chinese characters: for one thing, nearly all the ancient books were written in Chinese and no Chinese literary will make any academic research hard to carry out, for another; a Chinese proficiency will ensure their better opportunities of employment in the Sino-Korean trade. Finally, in order to be a well-educated person, they had to read classic literature, which they failed to appreciate fully without Chinese literacy.