Reading the City: Beijing Through the Eyes of Masters

Author: Liu Yida
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: The streets are filled with a different kind of people. At first, I noticed the national flags hanging under every household eaves, reminding me it was a holiday. I asked someone in the shop and learned it was related to respecting teachers, and that a grand ceremony to commemorate Confucius was being held that day, which would be observed across the country. I recalled the large but desolate Confucius Temple in Suzhou's Pingjiang Prefecture. Would those dozens of robust Japanese military horses kept in the temple's corridors be temporarily led out by the guards, allowing the elderly teachers from Suzhou, who had served for twenty years and were now emaciated, to pay their respects at the temple without being reminded that classrooms were being used as stables, causing their emotions to weaken and revealing a sense of bitterness? The military horses could be temporarily led out, but what about the countless unidentified bats in the main hall? Confucius Temples across China certainly housed more than just the one in Pingjiang Prefecture, and the one in Qufu might be even worse. This only shows that while teachers were respected in rituals in places like Beijing and Nanjing, those in other regions were still struggling to survive among military horses and bats, and it can be imagined how difficult their lives were. I began to stroll through the streets of Beijing. I wanted to find some small insects or creatures that possessed a different will, expressed through their strange shapes, mottled colors, or flying, chirping, resting, and eating habits. Unfortunately, I found nothing satisfactory. There were many people, with cars, tricycles, rickshaws, and bicycles all carrying passengers. The streets were wide and clean, and the passengers on the vehicles seemed unconcerned about colliding with each other. However, many of them looked the same, lacking sleep and proper nutrition. The well-fed special individuals, including celebrities and butchers, shared a similar demeanor. They had lived for generations in a state of lack of confidence, purpose, and ideals, and their facial features showed signs of fatigue or degeneration due to poor utilization. Another type of person was the smooth-tongued, the kind found among shrewd merchants, corrupt officials, and detectives. He might be reminiscing about some days from his past in a small village named Sanlang, or planning how to use his past connections with someone who had land or islands to participate in cultural activities again, perhaps even obtaining some new special privileges.