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Sun Dawu 孙大午: Philosopher (5)
"We know the good, we apprehend it clearly, but we can't bring it to achievement. To persevere, trusting in what he hopes he has, is courage in a man." Euripides, Hippolytus
Sun and I toured his agricultural business. It was clear to me that the tour served three purposes: inform me of his business interests, inspect his operation and entertain his two year old nephew. He was successful in all areas.
In terms of his business, I saw vast field of wheat, many "mu" of grape and a thriving hatchery business. I thought of the founding of Alexandria and asked him how long it would take to walk around the perimeter? His answer was a full day. On this day, he was particularly concerned about his grape business. He talked with the workers about the harvest, the pruning of vines and the spraying program. He showed keen interest in his new variety of California grape. Vines were pointed out that he had personally planted several years ago. All the time, he doted on his nephew. He carried him in his strong arms, helped him to reach a grape leaf and played stick-sword games. Then, he took him to see his nephew's favourite animal--a cow.
Sun's philosophy is composed of principles for guidance in practical affairs, so to some extent it resembles the common sense philosophy of Benjamin Franklin. The name Franklin actually derives from the Middle English word "frankeleyn" meaning freeman. A freeman was assertive of his rights as a member of an independent middle class. (Benjamin Franklin--An American Life, Walter Isaacson, Thorndike Press, Waterville, Maine, 2003, p.15)
The wisest American formed a club of mutual improvement to discuss and debate Moral, Philosophical and Public Service issues. Sun attended Confucian philosophical conferences in the capital while welcoming scholars to the village. Franklin ran his successful printing busines on the basis of industry and temperance. Sun has built an agricultural enterprise on the same principles.
There are other remarkable resemblances between these two men. Franklin began Philadelphia's first public library while Sun is completing a seven story library in a remote village. In 1751, Franklin acted in the service of man by supporting the establishment of a public hospital as Sun opened a new hospital in 2003. The philosopher Franklin was self-educated, yet founded a school; while the theorist Sun founded his middle school and planned a college after educating himself. Finally, Franklin wrote articles in the Almanac and newspapers while Sun has published articles in both print and electronic form as means to educate, inform and influence.
The legendary phoenix-philosopher Sun has arisen out of the fire's ashes after multiples of 500 years in the village of Langwuzhuang, county of Xu Shui and country of China. It is the same phoenix heralded by the occidental poets and a myriad of oriental poets. "A hungry phoenix does not scurry to pick up grains of millet; it eats but small pieces of jade". (A Hungry Phoenix, Li Pai). Its brilliance symbolizes the rebirth of a way of life whose aim is to promote intellectual, religious and spiritual values rather than crass mass materialism. "Goodness canont be obtained until what is difficult has been duly done." (Confucius, The Analects, 6-20).
At 3:00 a.m. on the 27th of May, I was awakened by a row. It took place directly across from my hotel room on the fourth floor of a student dormitory. Someone yelled in Chinese "Sit down!" I saw lights turned on and off in various rooms. I followed flashlights as they went from room to room. Then all was quiet until I heard the soft breathing a a policeman beneath my window.
At the break of dawn, I went for my regular exercise. However, Sun did not appear that morning. When I returned to my room, I found a short note left on my desk. It told me to immediately prepare to leave for Beijing. This was strange since I wasn't slated to leave for another two weeks. Later, an employee came to my room. He asked me if I had heard the police siren last night. A whirlwind of police had swept the village. He informed me that Sun had been arrested. In a surprising move, he asked for the return of his note. I said that I had thrown it away. He retrieved the note from the garbage and tore it into pieces. Then he ordered me to pack my things.
I asked him why was Sun arrested? He told me that Sun had strange ideas. I replied "Strange ideas?". He clarified his remark by saying that Sun's ideas were "advanced". I asked how anyone could be arrested for advanced ideas? He replied that it was better to know nothing.
An half hour later, the employee returned to my room. He told me now to unpack all my bags. I was not to appear to be leaving. In fact, I was under house arrest for an unknown reason.
The situation was exceedingly serious. It was obvious that my arrest was connected in some way to the arrest of Sun. He was in terrible, unutterable trouble over his advanced ideas.
I was told that my meals would be brought to my room. Did I want anything special? I replied no salt, no MSG and no garlic. In other words, I wanted nothing to eat. My meal was brought to me at supper time. I refused it. It was explained to me by telephone that I must accept the food; so I allowed the food to be placed on my desk. I ate nothing for two days.
I was also informed me that the Xu Shui police would conduct an interview. I was told that I had been arrested for staying at a hotel and not reporting my presence within 10 days to a police station. I told him that I wished to speak to the Canadian Embassy. At no point in my detention was I allowed to speak to the Canadian Embassy.
I had never seen police at the Langwuzhuan village, so to be interviewed by police here was an extraordinary event. In fact, there had been no need for police at this village. There had been next to no crime.
Communication was chaotic. The internet connection was cut on my personal computer. I was asked by the government official if I had spoken to anyone outside before the denial of service. On the previous day, they had reconfigured the computer in the teacher's room along with changed passwords. A fax message had been thrown out the window to two bystanders. I was neither allowed to speak with the Canadian Embassy personnel nor contact a lawyer.
The next morning the atmosphere was surreal. There was no exercise program in the courtyard. The music was somber as if a death dirge. The announcer spoke in hushed tones. All was calm. Too calm. I don't know that if a butterfly flaps its wings there will be a hurricane on Mars, but it seemed to me that events here were leading to something. That something was a horrific storm.
As I looked out the window that morning, an unusual phenomenon was transpiring. The sky was an ominous curtain of dark gray while the courtyard which held hundreds of children was bathed in the light of the sun. A storm was approaching. The dark curtain moved closer, but the children were oblivious to the sinister looking sky because their view was obstructed by the building, they were immersed in the sunshine and they were occupied with play. I was unable to warn them of the curtain because I was incarcerated in my hotel room.
In a matter of minutes, the courtyard darkened. Day turned into night. Gale force winds raced through the confined area. A sandstorm blew. Many children raced to the buildings with hands to their eyes. Others were disoriented by the blast of the sand as they stood motionless. Some children were still on the outdoor phones talking with their parents who were thousands of miles away. I could not shout a warning to the children over the tumultuous roar.
I heard a pelting on the window. At first, I didn't know what it was, but then I realized that it wasn't sand, but hail this time. They were large sized hail pellets. However, there were children returning to the courtyard to retrieve their laundry which was lashed and lifted away by the wind. They were hit on the head by the hail. Yet they persisted in collecting together their few clothes which were all these peasant children owned. The merciless hail drove them inside. The children on the phones were cowering under the cowls of the phone stations. They retreated to their dormitories through a torrential rain. And through all of this I stood helpless to assist.
In summary, Sun wants to establish an ideal city-state which will serve as a model for the rest of China. It is founded upon practical Confucian principles which have formed the basis of Chinese society for thousands of years. His goal is to transform a rural community based on agriculture to a civilized city-state (based upon culture) which has Chinese and international characteristics. Specifically,he wishes to improve the quality of life for farmers and peasants by job creation.
Sun has "demanded greater freedom for farmers to speak out and organize in an effort to protect and develop their economic interests". (Agence France-Presse) However, while under arrest, he is held under the strictest constraints of silence. It is Sun's golden silence that instructs us now without words as the sun shines seemingly without sound. One can say of Sun that "Stainless trust doesn't rust".
The terms "up" and "down" have a fixed meaning in nature. For example, up is the direction of a plant's shoot and down is the direction of its root based on gravity. In human affairs, up and down are positioned relatively since what is up today may be down tomorrow and vice versa. A philosopher might develop that the "p" which is the last letter of the word "up" actually points downward, while it might be punctuated that the "d" which is the first letter of the word "down" points upward; in other words, the first rifts in the clouds will end conciliation and the last salt of the earth shall render cooperation. Let the last words seen be those of Sun.
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
Hold fast to dreams
For when dreams go
Life is a barren field
Frozen with snow.
孙大午 孙大午 孙大午 sun dawu sundawu sun_dawu
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Sun Dawu 孙大午: Philosopher
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