Reflections on Life in Old Age

Author: Niu Geng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: The joke of "Ma Ji laying an egg" During a late-night show, the famous xiangsheng (Chinese crosstalk) artist Ma Ji and his disciples performed a crosstalk skit. Several people who didn’t know Ma Ji spread a "new" rumor—Ma Ji had laid an egg. The first person said Ma Ji had laid a chicken egg, the second said a duck egg, and the third said a goose egg. No matter how much Ma Ji denied it, the spreaders insisted it was true. To convince the audience, they claimed to have witnessed it themselves. This absurd rumor, combined with the actors' brilliant performance, made the audience laugh uncontrollably. After the laughter subsided, people couldn’t help but wonder if such ridiculous things really happened in life. They did, and they were quite common. Many conflicts arose in the neighborhood over this. In a certain residential area, there was a Mrs. Z, a retired worker in her 60s. Her husband had passed away, and her children lived separately. She lived in a two-bedroom apartment on the second floor and had two small dogs, making dog walking her daily duty. She noticed Mr. W often came and went with a beautiful girl and immediately assumed she was his "little mistress." She spread this as explosive news. Soon, it reached the ears of Mr. W’s wife, and what was once a harmonious family was suddenly filled with tension. She saw Mr. S grinning as he left his house and suspected he had argued with his son and daughter-in-law. She exaggerated the story, and Mr. S fell seriously ill as a result. Spreader often claim to be well-informed and reliable, making their stories vividly detailed. Even if you don’t fully believe them, there’s no basis to refute them. Moreover, they often whisper mysteriously to the listener, "I’m only telling you this." Yet within a day or two, the rumor is known by everyone. This irresponsible spreading of rumors isn’t a new phenomenon. Confucius once said, "Believing in rumors heard on the road and spreading them is a moral failing." This behavior is what morality disapproves of. It shows that as early as the Spring and Autumn period, spreading rumors was considered immoral. As early as 1937, Mao Zedong listed "not speaking face-to-face but gossiping behind the scenes" as the second manifestation of liberalism and strongly opposed irresponsible behind-the-scenes gossip. Although most people view rumor-mongering as a very bad phenomenon that should be condemned by upright people, in real life, it hasn’t disappeared but has even been on the rise. Its underlying causes are worth exploring. The creators of rumors often use them as weapons to target those who have grievances with them. They observe problems through biased lenses, exaggerating minor issues into major ones and judging others with suspicion. The spreaders, driven by curiosity, become the echo chambers of the rumor-mongers without realizing they are being used. The spreaders have a harmful mindset—they treat others’ affairs as jokes, indifferent to their own interests, which further fuels the spread of rumors. Whether one is enthusiastic about creating rumors or spreading them, it is a deeply immoral act. Irresponsible rumors undermine unity, harm good people, and are both a vulgar practice and a corrosive agent. To reduce the spread of such rumors, moral awareness must be strengthened, starting with oneself. As the saying goes: