: A Collection of Essays by Fei Xiaotong

Author: Fei Xiaotong / Country: Mainland China
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: "It could be said, or it could not be said. This is my idea." Then he mentioned that when we were in Nan'an, Chongqing. It turned out he had been thinking about the question I had proposed back then. "How can we make the Chinese people cherish and skillfully use machines." This question, for this friend who never forgot the children in his heart, was easily linked to the issue of education. A person who truly has children in their heart would never think about children's toys. As people age, they tend to forget their own childhood; especially in a society where everything is designed for adults, it's questionable whether we have truly had a childhood. Children are seen as incomplete adults, and incompleteness implies a defect. We adults have always tried to conquer the "defects" of children, dressing them in long gowns and horse collars, speaking politely, and bowing to people, with the goal of making them miniature adults. The house is certainly not allowed to have a mouse nest-like world for children, not even the mud and sand in the corner is allowed to be the children's playground. A lock is placed around their neck, and at one year old, silver coins, banknotes, and writing tools are placed in a tray for them to touch, used to test their interests in life. Toys are, not only redundant but also "playthings that lead to ruin," something to be avoided. Elementary school textbooks that teach the sounds of dogs and cats have been adapted into slogans of paying homage to the national flag and the founding father. Recently, I often read books like Little Friends and Children's World with my child. Fairy tales have grown into political satire. I dare not say it's bad, but children seem to have no understanding of these subtle writing techniques. —We still consistently deny that children have their own childhood. I picked up that "heavy-duty machine," turned the screws, and carelessly dropped it. For some unknown subconscious reason, I took this "heavy-duty machine" apart into several pieces. Zhao Liang watched me laughing beside me: "You also used to take apart the main hall of P39 Su Gong Ci when you were a child. There are three tablets enshrined there, in addition to Su Shi and his son Su Guo, there is also a student of the Su family named Qiang Tang Zhao. His name can reveal that he was a local ethnic minority. Hainan's culture was nurtured by scholars who came to it willingly, and it was only in the Ming Dynasty that figures like Hai Rui, who could be called a "Pillar of the South," could emerge. The people of Hainan never forget the well-diggers. They have long used the method of building temples and shrines to commemorate these figures who developed Hainan's culture. The current Su Gong Ci, which has been preserved as a key cultural relic since the Southern Song Dynasty under the name "Su Shi's Study Place," was established as the "Su Shi College" in the Yuan Dynasty and later as Su Gong Ci in the Ming Dynasty. During the three years Su Shi spent in Hainan (1097–1100), he mainly lived in what is now Dan County, but we did not visit this place during our visit. Su Gong Ci is in Haikou. After crossing the sea, Su Shi rested here, and when returning north, he stayed here temporarily for more than twenty days. Yet the people of Haikou never forget this cultural disseminator. People's aspirations are selective. Linked to Su Gong Ci is the Wugong Ci. The Five Lords are Li Deyu from the Tang Dynasty, Li Gang, Zhao Ding, Li Guang, and Hu Quan from the Song and Ming Dynasties. On the upper hall's pillars, there is a couplet that summarizes the common characteristics of the Five Lords: "Only knowing the country, not knowing the self, no matter how much torment, only strengthens their resolve." The people built the shrine to commemorate them for this very "integrity" they demonstrated throughout their lives. After leaving Wugong Ci, I went to pay my respects at Hai Rui's tomb. Hai Rui was from Qiongshan County in Hainan and was also known as Gangfeng. He opposed corruption, cleared wronged cases, and was known in the folk as the "Second Bao Gong." Due to his upright and incorruptible nature, he dared to remonstrate with the emperor and was dismissed from office and imprisoned. Later, he was reinstated and buried in Haikou. His life became the model of a clean official in the feudal era. P245