I edited and expanded this old blog entry for a new blog that I created named "Blabber." Blabber will be my public blog on books, pop culture, the past and the current, and other things of the universe, featuring a more formal writing, as opposed to this blog Carpe Diem, which consists of more casual writings about my personal life.
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Peter Hessler's Oracle Bones showed me both the China I already knew and the China I have no clue about. Peter Hessler, a typical elite white American, spent seven years in China first as a peace corp volunteer than as a journalist and a freelancer. He was present right at the center of many historic events such as the period when Falun Gong was banned from China. He read so many famous and obscure Chinese literature and research on China. He had developed profound friendships with so many Chinese and foreign people, both prominent individuals and common folks like you and me. I truly believe the China this man has seen and met far exceeds the China that most average Chinese themselves know.
Many Chinese people think that they know a lot and like to make comments about China, but in reality they are just using ignorance as a weapon. On the other hand, when a foreign white man like Peter Hessler begins commenting on the current events of China, many Chinese people--before even reading a word of his book--presume that there is no way he would be able to objectively, correctly, and thoroughly evaluate China simply because he is not Chinese like they are. In some way, I believe that Peter Hessler knows more about the Chinese people and Chinese mentality than Chinese people know themselves. Unlike many writings on China I read, I do not sense bias in his writing. He does criticize China at many points throughout the book but he does so in what I believed a highly objective manner. During a conversation with my economics professor, he commented on Peter Hessler: "this man obviously loves China, but that doesn't mean he has to be sentimental about China." Too many Chinese people including myself are sometimes overly sentimental about China. We feel the right to mock the government ourselves but get ridiculously outraged when a foreigner tries to say the same thing--except not in mockery, but in a more constructive manner.
I vaguely remember my former high school English teacher Ms. Armstrong said about mockery in writing. It was something about how if you only rely on that then there would be no meaning to your writing. I didn't really understand what she said at the same--I was, and we all were, at a cynical age when we just want to mock the entire world that displeases us so much. We put ourselves in such a high moral position that our eyes can't let in a grain of dust. Through all the mockery that we have done, however, we begin to lose the bigger picture--how do we fix the problems, and then how do we prevent us from making the same mistakes again?
The Chinese people are like our high school selves. They mock, they criticize. But when they come to the very cruel realities that they mocked and criticized--in private, they conform and they yield. They sigh and say that this is just how the things work, and how life is.
The popular and controversial author, blogger, and racer Han Han recently wrote a blog post titled "Just truth, or the truth we want," in which he talks about a seemingly shady death of a Chinese who refused to give up his home and land to the government. There was a huge outcry on the internet and in the media, questioning the "truth" provided by the officials and suspecting the death is a result of murder. Many doctors and experts of other fields investigated and concluded that it was just an accident, but the outcry grew ever louder and these doctors and experts became the new targets of conspiracy theories and so on. Han Han wrote that he rather believe in the opinions of the doctors and experts than the popular suspicions, which are based on little to no evidence. That is, however, not the point. It is sad that the people would always jump to conclusions when things like this happen. He wrote that the government has been so opaque with its operations in the past that it is making simple and straightforward matters seem shady. The government should reflect upon the reason why it has lost the trust of its people. Han Han once again eloquently expressed his opinion, which is certainly not anything ultra progressive or uncommon, logically and convincingly.
Well, if we examine the other party in Han Han's story, the conclusion is people like the truth that makes most sense and entails most drama. Our judgment is often clouded by our emotions and prejudice. To make my point brief, Peter Hessler is not one who is clouded by the popular conceptions and prejudice of what China is. He writes with beautiful fluidity and honest language. He is certainly one of the most inspiring figures of mine.
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