Political Mohism in Singapore?

Contrary to WP’s strategy of “wu wei”, Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) or Barisan Sosialis (BS) in the 1960s, are fighters who want to voice out their views, regardless of personal sacrifice, sometimes even against the authority. Once they believe they are doing good things for the people, they will go ahead to do it. Just like the Mohists who are wiling to give up their lives for the good of the people. SDP even recognises that there are other means besides parliament to voice their views.

It is no wonder SDP is the most aggressive party in the net. (Mohism followers are usually poor and lack of resources, this is why they have to depend on their two legs to do the hard walking. Internet is a cheaper communication tool as compared to others). Their website is updated regularly and they have come out with an alternative budget even thought you may not agree with them. They also manage to recruit new young faces in their web broadcasting.

Many historians agree that it is Fa Jia (Legalism) that helps to build a strong Qin and finally united the whole China. In fact, in the beginning of strong Qin, Mohisim followers had helped Qin to establish a strong foundation, through their military discipline by destroying Qin opponents. A little bit like the situation in the 1950s and early days of 1960s Singapore.

People who join SDP know that it is not easy for them to get elected as they are considered as a group of “anti-establishment trouble makers”. However, they continue to fight on. Although Mohism lost its importance in Chinese history, its spirit of never give up remains as part of Chinese traditions.

Standard Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (www.plato.standard.edu) explains Mohism as follows:

“”
Mohism was an influential philosophical, social, and religious movement that flourished during the Warring States era (479–221 BCE) in ancient China. Mohism originates in the teachings of Mo Di, or “Mozi” (“Master Mo,” fl. ca. 430 BCE), from whom it takes its name. Mozi and his followers initiated philosophical argumentation and debate in China. They were the first in the tradition to engage, like Socrates in ancient Greece, in an explicit, reflective search for objective moral standards and to give step-by-step, tightly reasoned arguments for their views, though their reasoning is sometimes simplistic or rests on doubtful assumptions.

They formulated China's first explicit ethical and political theories and advanced the world's earliest form of consequentialism, a remarkably sophisticated version based on a plurality of intrinsic goods taken as constitutive of human welfare. The Mohists applied a pragmatic, non-representational theory of language and knowledge and developed a rudimentary theory of analogical argumentation. They played a key role in articulating and shaping many of the central concepts, assumptions, and issues of classical Chinese philosophical discourse.
A later branch of the school (see the entry on Mohist Canons) formulated a sophisticated semantic theory, epistemology, utilitarian ethics, theory of analogical reasoning, and mereological ontology and undertook inquiries in such diverse fields as geometry, mechanics, optics, and economics. They addressed technical problems raised by their semantics and utilitarian ethics and produced a collection of terse, rigorous arguments that develop Mohist doctrines, defend them against criticisms, and rebut opponents' views.

Central elements of Mohist thought include advocacy of a unified ethical and political order grounded in a utilitarian ethic emphasizing impartial concern for all; active opposition to military aggression and injury to others; devotion to utility and frugality and condemnation of waste and luxury; support for a centralized, authoritarian state led by a virtuous, benevolent sovereign and managed by a hierarchical, merit-based bureaucracy; and reverence for and obedience to Heaven (Tian, literally the sky) and the ghosts worshiped in traditional folk religion. Mohist ethics and epistemology are characterized by a concern with finding objective standards that will guide judgment and action reliably and impartially so as to produce beneficial, morally right consequences. The Mohists assume that people are naturally motivated to do what they believe is right, and thus with proper moral education will generally tend to conform to the correct ethical norms. They believe strongly in the power of discussion and persuasion to solve ethical problems and motivate action, and they are confident that moral and political questions have objective answers that can be discovered and defended by inquiry.
“”

Mohism and Confucianism were the two key Chinese philosophies in the pre-Qin era. Mohism had attracted so many followers that it became a great challenge to Confucianism. However, Mohism went into decline so suddenly after Qin dynasty. Some of its teachings were later absorbed into Confucianism.

A key concept of Mohism is “loving each others” (兼爱). They believe human beings should love each others and there should be no different love between family members and strangers. All are equal and even a stranger is under attack, Mohism followers should help the strangers regardless of self or any rewards. Andy Lau‘s movie 《 墨攻》is one of such examples.

This is why some of the SDP suggestions are quite Mohism. For example, minimum wage, different GST rates, HDB flats sold at cost, cut the PMO budget, human rights, ISD abolishment, etc. You may find out more in their website.

You may not agree with what SDP is doing. However, they have presented Singaporeans the other side of the picture. Whether it is good or bad, they have to right to air it. Not to forget, if there is no debate on different philosophies, we will not have Hundred Schools of Thoughts. More than 2,000 years ago, educated people were allowed to argue over different policies and thoughts, why in today we are afraid of such a debate? To advance to a gracious and harmonised Singapore, contributions of opinions from all walks of life are important elements towards a civilized and inclusive country.

Mohism and Daoism have different, unique but distinguish characters of their own. They may look odd in the main stream politics but they add colours to the society.

There are 2 important differences and lessons for Hundred Schools of Thoughts era and today’s democratic Singapore:

1. In Hundred Schools of Thoughts era, scholars or philosophers like Confucius, Mozi, Mengzi, Sunzi, etc cannot over turn the rulers but their duty is to persuade rulers to accept their ideas and suggestions. They are passive implementers of their ideas and policies. They have no right to introduce and implement their strategies, a little like the nominated MPs, or to a lesser extent NCMPs who can debate but cannot vote in the parliament. Should an ambitious candidate aim for that?

2. In today’s Singapore, all these Hundred Schools of Thoughts can form their political parties and stand for election. Mandate is given to them by the citizens to implement their manifestoes. Voters should appreciate their rights to vote and vote wisely. Political parties are given chances to approach people (like the rulers in pre-Qin era) freely in a democratic county. In Hundred Schools of Thoughts era, no scholars or philosophers were detained or killed even they offended the rulers (e.g. Mengzi, Zhuangzi etc) until Qin united China. These people were respected by the rulers perhaps because they formed no threat to their governments. The voting must reflect the wishes of the citizens, deep from their hearts.

Political Daoism in Singapore?

If you only rely on the web and internet on Singapore political development, quite obviously Workers’ Party (WP) seems to be practising political Daoism in Singapore. WP has a practice of not replying over the internet, less active in giving their views over the internet, even for budget comments, they will wait till Parliament debate.

This is like practising Daoism (Taoism) “wu wei”. Many people, especially non Chinese, don’t really understand what Dao Jia is doing and even for ancient Chinese, Daoism people were always classified as “隐士yinshi “ who live away from the society. Some even misunderstand them as religion Daoists (Taoists) and think they are a group of traditional priests practising in the temples or fortune tellers or Ghostbusters.

To have a better understand of Daoism, here are some explanations from Wikipedia:

“”
Wu wei (simplified Chinese: 无为; traditional Chinese: 無爲; pinyin: wúwéi, variantly written in traditional Chinese: 無為) is an important concept of Taoism (Daoism), that involves knowing when to act and when not to act. Another perspective to this is that "Wu Wei" means natural action - as planets revolve around the sun, they "do" this revolving, but without "doing" it; or as trees grow, they "do", but without "doing". Thus knowing when (and how) to act is not knowledge in the sense that one would think "now" is the right time to do "this", but rather just doing it, doing the natural thing.

Wu may be translated as not have or without; Wei may be translated as do, act, serve as, govern or effort. The literal meaning of Wu Wei is "without action" and is often included in the paradox wei wu wei: "action without action" or "effortless doing". The practice of wu wei and the efficacy of wei wu wei are fundamental tenets in Chinese thought and have been mostly emphasized by the Taoist school. The aim of wu wei is to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, or alignment with the Tao, and, as a result, obtain an irresistible form of "soft and invisible" power.

There is another less commonly referenced sense of wu wei; "action that does not involve struggle or excessive effort". In this instance, Wu means "without" and Wei means "effort". The concept of "effortless action" is a part of Taoist Internal martial arts such as T'ai chi ch'uan, Baguazhang and Xing Yi. It follows that Wu wei complies with the main feature and distinguishing characteristic of Taoism, that of being natural. To apply wu wei to any situation is to take natural action.
“”

However, philosophical Daoism is highly respected in the western world. Some even regard Daoism as a representative of the highest level Chinese philosophy and regard Confucianism to the teaching of moral value only. Hence these highly intelligent people like Laozi and Zhaungzi are not only ordinary scholars. Daoism is perhaps the only other Chinese philosophy that can match and challenge (and co-exist with) the powerful Confucianism in the past and perhaps in the future. It has been proved that this philosophy can survive the long history of China. And today, it is still being appreciated and contributes to Chinese traditional values and cultures. Dao Jia believes “wu wei” is the best way to tackle the current situation (warring state period). In a warring state period, “wu wei” is the most appropriate survival weapon to remain alive and according to Dao De Jing, after the failure or darkness, the success or lightness will come. Just like the coming of the Jasmine revolution and the fall of Berlin wall. The only question is timing. Who has ever predicted it to be so soon?

For many netizens, they are quite puzzle and want to know why? How come WP is so inactive over the net? Are they cowards or moles of the ruling party? Partly because they had bad encounters with the authority and so to avoid getting into the “traps”, they have to maintain low profile. It could be also a strategy of less talk less mistake, as “misfortune comes from the mouth” so to say. In a democratic county, the best way is to get elected and then change the government. If one is not qualified to stand for election, there is no chance to get into the parliament. So, continuing remain silent will still be the strategy for WP prior to the dissolution of Parliament. When you are facing a giant opponent, work in silent and pretend to be doing nothing can serve as an effective strategy. Let be patient towards Dao Jia!

A brief history of WP looks also inline with Daoism. When it was formed in 1957 by David Marshall, it was not an aggressive major political force in Singapore even though David Marshall was once the chief minister of Singapore. He resigned from the post after a failed negotiation in London for a better Singapore. Resignation voluntarily as he could not meet his promise to Singaporeans. Sound likes Japanese. May be only in Daoism politics, one will happily make this decision and not wanting to hold on power forever. When the time comes for withdrawal, David Marshall did the gentleman way and obliged to his promise. Powered with this tradition, WP continues to last until now. And you may want to ask why WP can survive after 5 decades and still remain a recognised political force in Singapore.

You may call them opportunists. But for Daoism, the most important thing is to survive and live in harmony with the nature. When the situation and timing are right, you can re-appear and serve the people. It is why WP is quite difference from Barisan Sosialis (BS) in the past or SDP of today. Even though BS merged with WP in 1980s, it has not changed the “wu wei” principle of WP, especially after JBJ leaving WP.

However, they continue to work the ground as you can see from WP website, their members visit here and there from time to time. Some members have their own blogs and even books publication, but all are under their individual names. So, if individual gets into troubles, the main body is still there intact. Kaisuism you may call it, however this is politics of Singapore.

From “wu wei” to “Only those who work hard can succeed” as an unofficial anthem is a surprise! Are WP telling Singaporeans the right timing, right position and right harmony are coming soon?

More on Hundred Schools of Thought can be seen below or other websites.


Hundred Schools of Thought
In the turbulent Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) and Warring States Period (475-221BC), many schools of thought were flourishing. The four most influential schools of thought that evolved during this period were Confucianism, Taoism, Mohism, and Legalism. There were also other schools like Yin & Yang, Eclectics, Logicians, Coalition persuaders and Militarism. The hundred schools of thought showed the fierce political and class struggles for survival among regional wars between the rising landed class and slaveholder class. The flouring thoughts intensified activities and debates in the intellectual and ideology system in ancient China and exerted great influence on Chinese culture.
Confucianism
Confucius was the founder of Confucianism. He advocated a set of moral code on basis of five merits: benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness. Among them, benevolence was considered as the cornerstone, which stands for faithfulness, filial piety, tolerance and kindness. He also requested people to keep in good harmony with each other and establish a community ruled by standard manners and behavior.
Mencius (372-289BC) was a Confucian in the Warring States Period (475-221BC). He repeatedly tried to convince rulers that the ruler should cultivate moral perfection in order to set a good example to the people and the ruler who governed benevolently would earn the respect of the people. He held the view that human nature was fundamentally good as everyone is born with the ability to recognize what is right and act upon it. He also believed that people were more important than rulers.
Xunzi (about 313-238BC), also a Confucian of the state of Chu, advocated the policy making a country rich and building up its military power, and sang high praise of the state of Qin.
Mohism
The Mohism founded by Mozi flourished in the latter half of the fifth century. It resembles Confucianism in its reverence for humanism. Master Mo called for a universal love encompassing all human beings in equal degree. He suggested a harmonious relationship between people on a reciprocal basis. Thus he was an assertor of unionism who suggested a practice of a political relationship of mutual benefit or dependence between states.
Taoism
The Taoism was founded by Laozi. The most important pre-Han Taoist bible was Laozi, also known as Dao De Jing (Classic of the Way and its Power). Laozi put forward a dialectic view: Good fortune follows upon disaster; Disaster lurks within good fortune. He tried to tell people not to exaggerate the importance of man too much because human life is only a small part of the universal and the only way can human actions make sense is to act in accord with the principles of the nature. It showed an integral concept of Taoism the withdrawal from the worldly affairs and the self-cultivation. Zhuangzi was a Taoist in the Warring States Period. He understood the Tao as the Way of Nature as a whole and the origin of the world. He believed that all things were in constant changes and there was no rule of right and wrong. In his mind, life was but a dream and only destruction could lead to the final peace of the society.
Legalism
The Legalist School sought by every means possible to strengthen the state and increase its military might. It began to take shape late in the fourth century. Earlier legalists were Shang Yang, Li Kui and Wu Qi. Later in the Warring States Period, the most important legalist named Han Fei advocated harsh rules and laws.
He was born in a rich family in the state of Han. In the book Han Fei Zi, he bent on organizing society on a rational basis and finding means to strengthen their states agriculturally and militarily. He also advised elaborate means for controlling people's lives and actions through laws and punishments. In his theories, law was the basis, strategies were the means in political struggle and power was the strength and high position. Only getting command of the three factors can a ruler establish a powerful state of central power. Han Fei's theory was applied by Qin and played an important role in unification of China by Qin Emperor Shihuang.

Source: chinaculture.org

History, truth and untold stories

“When you commit something bad, you will never write it in your diary.” As claimed by Li Ao, a famous Taiwanese writer who always considers himself an expert in modern history. He is criticizing another Taiwanese writer, Long Ying-tai (Lung Ying-tai) on her book published 2 years ago.

A page in Wikipedia describes Long’s book:

“Big River Big Sea—Untold Stories of 1949 is a collection of stories written by Taiwanese author Lung Ying-tai published in August 2009. It tells in detail, the events from the surrounding the conclusion of the Chinese Civil War including Chinese families that were broken up by the civil war that ended in the Kuomintang’s defeat in 1949, with some two million escaping to Taiwan. Lung Ying-tai spent more than 10 years researching material for the book and spent 400 days in Changchun, Nanjing, Shenyang, Taiwan's Mazu islands, Taidong, and Pingdong paying a visit to survivors of the Chinese Civil War in order to record their stories. “

The discussion on the book was banned in China as it tells the stories of Nationalists (Kuomintang) in Taiwan and the government of Chiang Kai-shai in Taiwan. (See below a report in New York Times).

However, after 2 years of “Big River Big Sea” publication, Li Ao published a new book called “Big River Big Sea cheating you”. Li criticized that Long is ignorance about modern history, writing the stories without referring to facts, and trying to cover up the bad things done by Chiang Kai-shai. One of the key arguments of Li is even though Chiang Kai-Shai diaries have already opened for public reference; there are still some bad things that will never be disclosed. Li asked the question: would you record down your crimes in your diary? He is very sure that Chiang will never pen down his bad things.

For people who write diary everyday, would you write and record down your bad things and ill intentions? Li said never. Just like Hitler who claimed he had never killed Jewish. Of course, Chiang would do the same thing too.

Li also criticized Long on her shortsighted in Nationalists and still under the influence of Chiang Kai-Shak (or trying to protect Chiang for the bad things he did). Long’s father is a Nationalist who escaped to Taiwan in 1949. Many of these nationalists still think positive about Chiang and unintentionally will praise Chiang’s contribution even though it may appear to be critical about Nationalists, like the book written by Long.

Li is bringing out 2 interesting questions:
1. Human nature is to cover up bad things and never record it or worst still destroy the evidence.
2. Living in an environment for a certain period, we are used to the system and unintentionally agree with the doing of the system.


However, there is a danger in such a development. As the administrators ignore the feedbacks or sufferings of the people, in return, the people will not help to protect the officials. Mengzi (Mencius), in one of discussions in the Chapter Liang Hui Wang II (see below), criticized Duke Mu for failing to understand the real problem of why people do not want to protect the officials when they were attacked by outsiders.

Officials who neglect the calls of the people and refuse to report the fact to the ruler will end up losing the protection from the people. People will stand by and watch foreigners attacking their own officials. They will not protect the officials as well as the country.

“
梁惠王下:
鄒與魯鬨。穆公問曰：“吾有司死者三十三人，而民莫之死也。誅之，則不可勝誅；不誅，則疾視其長上之死而不救，如之何則可也？”

Liang Hui Wang II:
There had been a brush between Zou and Lu, when the duke Mu asked Mencius, saying,'Of my officers there were killed thirty-three men, and none of the people would die in their defence. Though I sentenced them to death for their conduct, it is impossible to put such a multitude to death. If I do not put them to death, then there is the crime unpunished of their looking angrily on at the death of their officers, and not saving them. How is the exigency of the case to be met?'

孟子對曰：“凶年饑歲，君之民老弱轉乎溝壑，壯者散而之四方者，幾千人矣；而君之倉廩實，府庫充，有司莫以告，是上慢而殘下也。曾子曰：‘戒之戒之！出乎爾者，反乎爾者也。’夫民今而後得反之也。君無尤焉。君行仁政，斯民親其上、死其長矣。”
Mencius replied, 'In calamitous years and years of famine, the old and weak of your people, who have been found lying in the ditches and water-channels, and the able-bodied who have been scattered about to the four quarters, have amounted to several thousands. All the while, your granaries, 0 prince, have been stored with grain, and your treasuries and arsenals have been full, and not one of your officers has told you of the distress. Thus negligent have the superiors in your State been, and cruel to their inferiors. The philosopher Zeng said, "Beware, beware. What proceeds from you, will return to you again." Now at length the people have paid back the conduct of their officers to them. Do not you, 0 prince, blame them. If you will put in practice a benevolent government, this people will love you and all above them, and will die for their officers.'

Source: ctext.org
“

Untold Stories of China and Taiwan

By VERNA YU
Published: October 5, 2009, NT Times

HONG KONG — When Ying Meijun bade farewell to her 1-year-old son at the train station in September 1949, little did she know that it would be 38 years before she saw him again.
The baby was crying so much that she decided not to take him onto the overcrowded train, so she left him in the care of his grandmother.
Thinking they were only leaving China temporarily, she promised: “We’ll be back soon.”
By the time she saw her first-born child again in 1987, he was a 40-year-old man wearied by years of hard labor on a mainland Chinese farm. Fighting back tears, he told his elderly parents how, as a young child, he used to chase trains that went pass their front door, shouting, “Mother! Mother!”, thinking that she would be on them.
Ms. Ying and her husband, Lung Huaisheng, who was an officer in the military police under Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang government, fled with his family to Taiwan a few months after the Communist Party declared itself the new ruler of China on Oct. 1, 1949.
Even in his old age, Lung Huaisheng often wept as he took out the shoe soles that his mother knitted and gave him when they saw each other for the last time at the train station.
These family memories are just some of the heart-wrenching stories told by their daughter, Lung Yingtai, a Taiwan-born author and University of Hong Kong professor, in her latest book “Da Jiang Da Hai 1949” (“Big River, Big Sea — Untold Stories of 1949”). The book is published by Taiwan’s CommonWealth Magazine and Hong Kong’s Cosmos Books.
Ms. Lung, who was born two years after the family moved to Taiwan, is a leading cultural critic, well-known for her sharp and candid writing. Her book of social-political criticism, “The Wild Fire,” published in 1985 when Taiwan was still under Kuomintang’s one-party rule, was seen as influential in the democratization of the island.
Her new book is a tribute to the tens of millions of people “who were trampled on, humiliated and hurt by the era.” It tells the story of the many Chinese families that were broken up by the civil war that ended in the Kuomintang’s defeat in 1949, with some two million escaping to Taiwan. Many, like her own parents, hastily said goodbye to loved ones in mainland China and would never see them again.
Apart from the stories of her own family and other Chinese people born in that era — including President Ma Ying-jeou of Taiwan — there are tales of elderly people who as young men fought for the Kuomintang, the Communist Party, or both, and even Japan (which ruled Taiwan from 1895 until 1945).
Many have not openly talked about their experiences. One 89-year-old man who was held by the Japanese as a prisoner of war told Ms. Lung he waited all his life to tell his story.
Ms. Lung’s book has become an instant best seller — more than 100,000 copies have been sold in Taiwan and 10,000 in Hong Kong since its publication in early September. Ms. Lung, who will be giving a talk at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Oct. 15, said the book did not have an English-language publisher yet. Although Ms. Lung had expressed a wish to publish it in mainland China, it seems almost impossible now, as the government has banned all Internet articles and discussions on the book.
Ms. Lung hopes to break down her readers’ preconceptions about events around 1949. Under Communist rule, many mainlanders regard Taiwan as a renegade province that should be taken back by force if necessary.
“I want to give them a different perspective,” she said.
As the Taiwan-born offspring of mainland refugees herself, she wants mainland readers, particularly political leaders like President Hu Jintao of China, to learn about the pain and sufferings of the people of Taiwan.
“When will there be no war? It’s when you can see your enemy’s wounds, then you won’t be able to pick up your gun,” she said.
She hopes the book will make people in China and Taiwan abandon long-held suspicions and prejudices regarding each other.
“If all that the leaders can think about are political negotiations” and economic interests “and there is no genuine understanding of emotions, then the foundation of peace would not be solid enough,” she said.
While researching her book, Ms. Lung discovered that residents of Changchun in the northeastern province of Jilin had not heard of the People’s Liberation Army’s five-month siege of that city in 1948, which resulted in between 150,000 and 650,000 people dying of starvation.
Instead, what they learn about in mainland Chinese history textbooks is the P.L.A.’s “great victory” when it “liberated” that city.
Mainland China is not the only side to edit its version of history.
The Kuomintang, which lost 470,000 troops in the northeastern battles and later fled to Taiwan, did not mention its defeat in the textbooks of Taiwan, either.
Ms. Lung wanted to tell this history through the tales or ordinary people.
She claims to make no political or moral judgment in her book. There is no “right side” or “wrong side” in the stories, she says. The Kuomintang troops, the People’s Liberation Army and the Taiwanese soldiers fighting for their Japanese colonial masters are given an equal hearing. To her, those individuals were just young people caught up in history.
“In this book I don’t care about who is on the right side, the victorious or the defeated side. I just want to show you that when you dismantle the apparatus of state, what’s inside are these individuals.”
Parts of Ms. Lung’s book also detail the stories of families amid wars and conflicts in the West, including the loving letters written by her German mother-in-law’s first husband before he died in a Soviet prisoner of war camp during World War II.
Ms. Lung said she included these because she wanted her Chinese readers to see their own history in perspective.
“Chinese people on both sides of the straits tend to see history from their own national scope,” she said. “But actually who is righteous or unrighteous? It’s a very complicated matter.”
“If we continue to be the unthinking cogs in a machine,” she said, “then how do you know whether these tragic misfortunes would not be repeated?”

United for whom and from who

United for whom and from who

There is a co-incidence last Friday evening. When a government leader called for a united people to fight uncertainty and a better future, the Egyptian President also in the particular evening announced his resignation. The Egyptians have united to call for the resignation of their President, while our leader is also calling for unity of the people to face the future.

So, what is what? Which is which? Should unity come from the bottom or the top?

If you have basic knowledge of Yi Jing, you will realise that a good or better hexagram usually happened when the lower trigram is supporting the upper trigram, or the inner trigram provides support to the outer trigram. Yi Jing principles are the rulers must listen to the people, and in this case the rulers or government must be in the position of lower or inner trigram. Rulers or government must position themselves at a position lower than the people. At inner or lower trigram position, rulers or government are positioning themselves at a humble place and wiling to care and concern about people. In addition, they are willing to accept criticism so that they can improve the livelihood of the general public.

If you look at Tunisia or Egypt, the rulers and government have placed themselves above the people. They are occupying position above the people (outer or upper trigram) so when they call for unity, people just ignore them. Instead, people united to call for a change. This leads to a revolution which indicates a bad or unfavourable hexagram. Once the people call for unity, the rulers or government will fall. This is because there is no support from the people.

Mengzi (孟子) in one of the discussions with King of Qi talked about music for all. Qi King liked music but the popular ones. Mengzi told him it did not matter whether the music was popular or ancient. However, it was important that he extended the availability of music to everyone. Mengzi asked the King which was better a better situation, a person or a group of people enjoying music. The king replied a group. When comparing to a group to a whole nation, which was better. The king understood the meaning and replied that a whole nation enjoying music was better. Hence, music must be enjoyed by all people, not only the King or a group of people. The famous phrase “与民同乐Yu min tong le” – enjoying music with the people was initiated by Mengzi.

Mengzi furthers the case with an example of a park. The King could create a park but if it was a private park for his own entertainment then it became a danger zone for the people. Whoever caught or killed something in the private park, he or she would be in trouble. So, when the private park owned by the King became bigger and bigger, the people would feel more and more danger and the park became a pitfall for people as the chances of making mistakes also increase. The solution is to make the park public.

So, when our leaders call for unity, are they moving towards the direction of music for all and free public park or enjoying music lonely and making own private park? Are they opening up the Istana on some selected dates in a year or like Ma of Taiwan make it a public and tourist attraction for his Presidential palace?

In Yi Jing, the unity force or call must come from the people, not the leader. The leader can call for unity but without the support of the people, the unity will be a failure. Nevertheless, there are ways to change to a better hexagram. For example, giving goodies before the election, providing allowances and incentives in the annual budget, support the poor in economic downturn, etc. These polices can help to change the government hexagram to a better one or move the position of a “yao” (broken or unbroken lines) to a favourable or better one. But as in Egypt and Tunisia, there is a limit to all the policies, once you reach the limit, even you are at the “good lucky” hexagram, once you reach the sixth yao, you will have to start again. No one can guarantee you, you will be as lucky as before.

So, there is people power.

Fear no more

There is a limit for everything, just like the description in Yi Jing. When you reach to the top, you will fall down and start a new beginning. Hence, the purpose of Yi Jing is to prevent rulers and government for making big mistakes. What are considered big mistakes? For example, a country reaches a stage that people are no more fearing death and willing to scarify their lives.

In Chapter 75 of Laozi (Dao De Jing), Laozi describes why people are willing to die and no more fearing death.

Chapter 75 (第七十五章):
People's poverty,
Is caused by parasitic exploitation by superiors,
Hence there is poverty.
People's complicatedness,
Is caused by ambitions of superiors,
Hence there are complications.
People's willingness to sacrifice,
Is because of the weight given to life,
Hence there are sacrifices.
Only those who are not ambitious for achievements in life,
Are truly capable of appreciating life. 民之饑，
以其上食稅之多，
是以饑。
民之難治，
以其上之有為，
是以難治。
民之輕死，
以其求生之厚，
是以輕死。
夫惟無以生為者，
是賢於貴生。
Source: wikisource

Look at what happened in Tunisia and Egypt, people in these countries have reached the limit of tolerance and want to have a change of government. The Jasmine Revolution is the catalyst of change, some predict the situation will be worst than before after the revolution. Some see life is a better tomorrow. No matter what, the current government will have to go as they are discarded by the people. And the rulers have pushed the country to the limit or reaching the sixth yao of a hexagram (gue). They have only themselves to blame for reaching the sixth yao. A clever ruler or government will want to prevent reaching the limit.

Yi Jing has 8 trigrams (each trigram has 3 yao – broken or unbroken lines).

Source: wikipedia

There are 64 hexagrams (each hexagram is made up of 2 trigrams) and there are 384 (64x6) yao (broken and unbroken lines). Each hexagram will provide a general situation and each yao will provide the position and the time. From the first yao to the sixth yao, it is a cycle. First yao is the beginning (e. g. new born baby) and sixth yao is the ending (old age and dying). When the cycle reaches its maximum, i.e. sixth yao, it will jump to another hexagram and may or may not start from the beginning with another hexagram. To prevent from reaching the sixth yao, the best way is to jump to another hexagram but even that there is no guarantee that you will be at the right position and time (yao).

Below is a formation of Qian hexagram and it is a combination of 2 Qian trigrams.

_______ Sixth yao
_______ Fifth yao
_______ fourth yao
_______ Third yao
_______ Second yao
_______ First yao

First, second and third yao form the inner trigram.
Fourth, fifth and sixth yao form the outer trigram.
First to sixth yao form a hexagram.

When a country reaches to the sixth yao, it will have no choice and force to move into another hexagram. It is likely, in such a situation, there is a change in leadership, government and political system. New situation will emerge and different people will be in charge.

This is why governments in the world need to listen to the people. And importantly, they always want to prevent themselves by reaching the sixth yao. So, in election time, the governments will introduce policies to please the voters. However, in Tunisia and Egypt, the governments don’t even want to please to people.

If the government continues to ignore the demand of the people and worst still want to prevent people from airing their demands, the end result will be like the ones in Eastern Europe in 1990s and currently in North Africa and Middle East.

If you look at the Eastern Europe, some nearly 20 years later, you will see some countries are performing better than the others and some are joining the greater European Union. These countries have moved to a “good” hexagram or at a “better” yao (position and time). Some are not so lucky, and are still struggling to change for a better life.

The Jasmine Revolution should bear the similar result for the former dictator-ruled Islamic countries in North Africa and Middle East. Some will be better off and some will take longer time to turn around. But they will not face the same hexagram any more as they have reached the sixth yao and they have to start from the beginning or some lucky ones with better infrastructure and establishment can jump to better hexagram or begin at a better position and time (yao).

Good luck to all the people who want a change!