A group of Chinse people comes to a western country, when asked what they want to eat for dinner, western-style or Chinese-style, Beefsteak or rice, the leader of the delegation would reply, ‘Anything is OK. We’ll do as the Romans do.’ If one changes the question and asks him, ‘Do you want freedom or autocracy?’, he probably will first keep silent and then answer, ‘As you like.’
Chinese people don’t believe in theory, neither things close at hand nor things that they have never experienced.
The revolutionists in the 20th century angrily rebuked and criticized Chinese people for being too casual to fight for their own right, But, after the revolution, when thought over with a tranquil heart, one will realize that the nature of Chinese people to have a casual attitude is not as bad as one expected. As a matter of fact, in Chinese people’s deep heart, the relationship between man and the world is one of casualness.
Casualness not only means doing things as one pleases, but as the heaven and the earth please. Thus, the Chinese ancestors didn’t regard the earth as the springs of all resources. The earth is a paradise which is not far away, but closed at hand. The popularity of Chinese traditional landscape painting and poetry was not by chance. Casualness is just freedom. Freedom doesn’t mean egoism as it is understood presently, but means living a nature life and letting everything go according to the 20th century from ‘how it should be’. Now they become casual again. In fact, people have no choice, since everyone is thrown to earth by the unseen hand of God. This is not their own choice, all they can do is be casual. Modernism believes in that life is elsewhere and to change and fight against nature and other people is joyfull.
Actually life is not elsewhere forever. The beginning is the ending. And I believe in the beginning, which is followed by time. Finally we will realize that nothing has ever begun and everything comes back to the beginning. Modernism will resist destiny. In ancient time, Chinese put themselves in the hands of God and trusted the “five-elements-transmigration.”
Thinking with Chinese mind in the 20th century, “metal” and “fire” are vigorous, but “wood”, “earth” and “water” are lacking or suppressed. Since the balance of “yinyang” is broken, unceasing suffering encroaches. In Chinese, the character “Tolerance” is a sword above the heart. The Chinese are recognized as remarkably in caricature words. In fact, it just seems this way on the earth. Accept it and respect it, thus “man and sky as one”.
But nowadays, Chinese people can’t live according to their own will. It is inconvenient, which is the essence of modernism, while flaunting the banner of “more convenience”, making the world more and more inconvenient. Convenience is partial: people realize that cars are invented, but air is polluted; bumper harvest occurs, but toxins concealed.
On the other hand, the casualness of ancient china is partially inconvenient, such as walking on foot, riding horses, no toilets and so on. But it adjusts to the earth’s will; partial inconvenience can’t threaten life, but creates rich moments an process for life.