It seems like everyone is cutting down on everything these days. What a world. I have been thinking about the whole notion of capitalism and its negative effects on the once innocent human society. I guess, like the Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution in China, it has created an irreversible imprint that we all have to deal with. Worst than the GPCR, it will reoccur periodically and will never go away, If I am not mistaken, this is the second major hit within the past 10 years. I have this impression that the construct of human civilizations has reached a point where its survival relied tremendously on the sustaining of the ‘bubble economy’ (I am not sure if this is a right terminology). The breaking point is always the crash of stock market and the effect immediately dispersed through out the rest of the world. I heard from my former colleague that Singapore government is using national reserves to deal with the economical crisis this time. The act was questioned by some of the citizens. What if the crisis strikes again? I guess we all have to prepare for the coming of such days. All the retirement plans that people have been working toward might eventually burned down to ashes.
I think time was much better when people lead a simple and self-sustainable life. They might not have the luxuries that modern world can provide but they needless to worry about "economical malfunction" as we have today. However, again, they perhaps have other things to worry about. I guess Heaven is very fair on that account.
I have been translating, on and off, one of Pan Gongkai’s essays this summer, it’s 20 pages in length (Chinese character, but I think it will double the size when translated to English), published in 2007. I believe due to his social status in China, his perspective represented one of the possible official views on where Art in China should be heading in contemporary (Modern) world.
I am re-reading, in a crawling pace, The Morning Deluge by Han Suyin that John Baldacchino., my advisor, lend me (need to learn how to read faster though); well, I am taking notes and putting down historical/recorded events on a chronological chart. It was fun, and I can see the picture/context better. The chart is forever expanding with the adding in of other stuff that I am reading or watching. The more I read about Mao, the more I feel he is like the Monkey King (Sun Wukong, 孙悟空) in The Journey to the West (西游记). It finally makes sense to me why the youngsters of the GPCR act in such a radical manner. Mao was like them, or should I say they emulated Mao so much that they lost their own selves totally. Perhaps, for Mao, the society that he grew up with was packed with restrictions that gave him a reason to fight against and at the same time prevented him from going way over board, whilst the youngsters of the Cultural Revolution were cleared of all obstacles; they actually have the freedom to do anything in the name of revolution at all cause.
Maybe I am getting older, somehow, I feel like perhaps a Red China might not be a desirable outcome in the history of China at all, and again, maybe it’s an unavoidable route for the Chinese to value and appreciate their tradition and culture more in the future.
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