Weining Wang
One
March 27th ,2021.
I put down the pen and closed the book.
I had just finished my final paper.It was about the Hundred Days Reforms–one of the biggest attempts at social reform in late Qing dynasty China. At the end of the 19th century, in order to save the Chinese nation from peril and find a new way for the country to go forward, a lot of westernization group leaders wanted to get help from western countries. Some minsters began to learn new technologies from Europe; some educators still held fast to Chinese traditional culture, especially Confucian theory. Ultimately, their efforts were unsuccessful. As the failure of these social reforms, many reformers were killed, and the group leaders (such as Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao) were exiled to western countries. The title of the thesis is “All Roads Lead to Rome: A New Explanation of Confucianism and Social Reforms in Early Modern China.”
I really wanted to explore the reasons why these social reforms were unsuccessful. My back and arms had gotten sore from hunching over my computer and books for six months. It was two o’clock in the morning in Chicago. It felt like one of the most relaxed nights this year, and I was too tired to take a shower. Rather than recording these boring historical documents and continuing to do researches about Kang Youwei, one of the most famous reformers in the late 19th century, I could not wait to visit my new neighbor– the duke of Zhou. Chinese people always said, “to have a long talk with the duke of Zhou,” which means have a great sleep.
I had no idea what time it was. I opened my sleepy eyes and was shocked by the yelling of an old man:
“There are so many places we have never been to. There are also many ideas we need to do. If you had a second chance to restart your life, what would you expect to do?”
Hearing what he yelled, I felt a cold shudder ran through my body. Before I could get up, he seized me by the collar. He glanced at the candle’s warm light and the soft, mellow moonlight outside my dorm room and smiled:
“Young man, tell me why you are so interested in me!”
“Where am I? Who are you?” I asked two questions back. After putting on my glasses, I could see him more clearly: he was wearing a strange black uniform, a pair of sunglasses, and leather shoes. At first glance, he was just an ordinary man.
However, he wore his hair in pigtails! His clothes were indeed simple, but his hair betrayed him. That was the typical hairstyle for Chinese scholars in the late Qing dynasty.
“I am the main character in this essay! As you might have guessed, my family name is Kang. Let me tell you… I really do not want to hurt you. I am living in your paper! I just want to play a game for my life.”
“How could I believe what you say?”
“You may see this…” Mr. Kang showed a complete family tree. The book was old, yellow, and faded. The original copy of the incomplete family tree was kept in the Peking museum. The other part of the family tree had not yet been discovered.
“Eh… ok, I believe you, but… just play a game? Mr. Kang, that means, you would take it all back if you could. Is that right? I am afraid what happened before will happen again. To be honest, I do not have any power to restart your life or change the course of history.”
“No, you can! You can use the divination. The Book of Changes is about divination! We will find a wormhole.” His voice was trembling with emotion.
“So… you just want to know what would have happened if the social reforms were successful?”
“That is incorrect!” He shook his head, “You need to rewrite your essay. I will be saved!”
I tried my best to finish the process. I said, “I’m not very skilled with it, so it might be best if you could teach me.”
Mr. Kang answered, “In the article, ‘Explaining the Trigrams ‘Shuo gua’,’ in the Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching,’ the writer wrote, ‘In the distant past, the way the sage made the changes is as follows: he was mysteriously assisted by the gods and so initiated the use of yarrow stalks. He made heaven three and earth two and so provided the numbers with a basis. He observed the changes between yin and yang and so established the trigrams.’”
“We can use these–” Mr. Kang said, as he offered me fifty yarrow stalks and detailed instructions.
“Using yarrow stalks as a tool, we could find a mathematical formula describing the distances of the gods from real life. This formula would provide some instructions to the practice of divination.”
I closed my eyes and mused, “The King Wén of the Zhou was an outstanding and generous immortal person in the ancient world, who created a number of magic arts in his lifetime. He tried his best to teach his students all about his skills and special magic arts without reservations, such as eight Hexagrams and judgment. Please give me an answer, please!”
After a while, I heard a voice, “Open your eyes and see what you are doing.”
I wondered if someone was talking to me.
But I only found a small pool of water.
Mr. Kang said, “This is Fu Xi. According to the historical records, he was the first of the Three Sages in ancient China and established the Eight Trigrams and The Book of Changes!” He continued, “Fu Xi had a person’s head and a snake’s body. That is why you would only find a pool of water.”
The result of the divination was the Treading hexagram履 (Hexagram X page 321). The hexagram was divided into two parts: The outer trigram is Qian乾 and the inner trigram is Dui兌. That is one of the most powerful characters in the Book of Changes. It is able to bring endless power and solve many questions in the universe. In the Book of Changes, it says:
Stepping
On the Tiger’s Tail.
Not bitten.
Fortune.
The Yielding
Steps on the Firm.
Joy,
Gaudium.
Lake
Resonates with Heaven,
Qian,
Creative Energy.
Stepping on the Tiger’s Tail,
Not bitten.
The Fifth Line is Firm,
Centered and True.
It Steps
Into the Place
Of Supreme Sovereign.
There is
No failure,
Nullum malum.
There is
Bright Light.
On the Image of the Hexagram
Heaven above Lake,
Coelum supra lacum.
The True Gentleman
Distinguishes high from low,
Steadies the Aspirations
Of the Folk.
From the Great Treatise
Stepping.
Foundation of Inner Strength,
Perfection of Harmony,
Of a life
Lived in Harmony.
“What do you mean?”Mr. Kang asked.
“You already know… the facts of history cannot be changed.” I continued, “the social reform was unsuccessful. That’s true! Nobody could change it. Ever since you left, many things changed and happened. However, no matter what happened, history will remember and show that it was a great and important social reform in early modern China. In the Book of Changes, the scholar wrote, ‘Bright Light. On the Image of the Hexagram, Heaven above Lake, Coelum supra lacum, The True Gentleman, Distinguishes high from low,’ For example, Ding Xilin is a famous comedy writer, he is especially well-known for his dramas, such as The Wasp, Oppression, and Miaofeng Mountain. In the drama Oppression, he states that a young man rented a room from an old lady. He had already paid the deposit for his room. But after learning that he was a single man, the lady went back on what she had said and returned back his money. It shows that Chinese people used to do not accept new ideas and they continued to obey the old rules. We need you, we need yours! ”
“No! Shut up! Shut up!” Mr. Kang seemed to be crazy.
“I will not fail! Remember, I will not fail!” He shouted, “And you’re a liar!”
When I woke up again it was the next morning.
No one believed my experience until now.
“Where is Mr. Kang? Can I believe the result of the divination? I was just dreaming, right?”
Or I just made it up!
Two
From that day on, I told myself that I could erase the memory of that midnight and never tried to get in touch with Mr. Kang again.
However, I was sometimes late for class because of the insomnia. In order to continue my studies and finish my undergraduate degree, I occasionally had to take some sleeping pills.
Several weeks later, my professor Daniel told me to come to his office, which was very serious for me. What I had done wrong? I was so afraid that I took my best friend with me. My professor sat in his office; Professor Daniel Youd was known to us Chinese students as a Chinese expert and was a firm protector of traditional culture.
“You just need to fix some mistakes in this paper. The structure and logic is beautiful and you gave a very creative conclusion. We can try to find a journal to publish it.” He said, smiling kindly.
He helped me to fix up my article sentence by sentence, and then we talked about the ideas expressed in this essay, which were discovered from Mr. Kang’s life experiences. Finally, my teacher told me to retype it with the changes and give it to him next week.
My own writing especially developed because of my teacher, and I got very good grades and improved my confidence. In truth, if my teacher had not helped me, I would not have made progress. About three month later, I published this article in a famous undergraduate journal and decided to become a scholar in the future.
I got very excited when I heard the great news. I had a big celebration party with my professors, scholars, and CHIN 280 classmates that night. My professors invited two hundred and twenty new friends to visit an art exhibition in an old museum where we later had a big meal together. When I visited the gallery, an airconditioned breeze blew on my face. The old buildings made me feel like I had traveled back in time one hundred years. As the most famous main hall of the three major buildings at Beloit College, the Wright Art Museum is commonly known as the old stone wall. By the end of the party, most of my friends had already gone. The big yard in front of the gallery grew strangely quiet. Suddenly, two men came in and said,
“Sorry, we are late. I was caught in a traffic jam!” They showed their invitations to an organizer and he let them in.
“Congratulations! You published your work!” One of the men held out his right hand in friendship. He was wearing a big ill-fitting black dust-coat, a pair of sunglasses, and a mask. I could not quite see who he was.
“Sorry, I do not know… Who are you? Can you take off your mask? I did not remember that I send a invitation to you? Do… I…?” I shuttered.
“You pretend not to know me? Are you serious? I think we have met before… You could not have published your essay without me!” He had a creepy smile on his face and joked.
“This is a private conversation, it is not your business.” He gestured for waiters to go out, and then another man sat down on the chair near me. I was recognized that he was wearing an animal mask, a big hat, and a pair of boots.
The first old man yelled suddenly, taking off his sunglasses.
My eyes bulged in surprise when I saw his face.
“Don’t move! You know… I am Mr. Kang! I have told you before– I will not fail!” He said to himself, grinding his teeth.
“Don’t be afraid! We really do not want to hurt you. You are a great student, right? …Even though you are just an undergraduate, you could publish your work. Very nice! We just need a chance to re-take our social reforms.” The other man said.
“Who are you, then?” I asked.
I was scared out of my body when the other man took of his animal mask!
He did not have a head on his neck!
I could not keep the tears in my eyes. My voice trembled, “Although I cannot see your face, I still remembered your name! You are Tan Sitong, right? In order to let more people to take part in the social reforms and learn new ideas from western countries, you decided to give up a valuable chance to save your own life. You are a great hero in our hearts!”
He recalled, “In 1895, as a result of political defeat, the Qing government was forced to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceding Taiwan to Japan. The Qing government rulers allowed the Japanese to build factories in the new treaty ports. Within this context, a lot of social reformers– such as my friend Kang Youwei, my teacher Liang Qichao, and I– began to change Chinese society by using “Ti” and “Yong” statements. For me, “Ti” means traditional Chinese Confucian classics. “Yong” not only means new technologies, ideas, and cultures from western countries, but also the western theoretical system. I believed that my work “Ren Xue” would let more people accept new ideas and expose the bondage of the old rules which would emancipate people from feudal ethics because they would learn about modern life.”
“Do you know… the social reform was unsuccessful?” I asked.
“Yes, Mr. Kang wrote to me, telling me that you were interested in the Reform Movement of 1898 and the Book of Changes. The Book of Changes is about divination and magic power. We really need your help!” Mr. Tan said.
“And you know… the Japanese Meiji emperor made a social reform with some Japanese social reformers from the 1860s to the 1890s. This social reform was very successful!” Mr. Kang said, “That is why we need your emergency help to save the
emperor Guangxu!”
“But I told you before, I do not have any power to…”
“That is fine… We believe in the power of heaven!”
I tried my best to finish these processes again and repeat five times. According to the information on the Book of Changes, the different laying style of fifty yarrow stalks is used to represent different elements in the world. Finally, I recognized my mind producing the same result from the completely different calculations.
That is impossible! What a coincidence!
Because their results are the same, I could use two different kinds of explanations to express it. The result of the divination was the Incomplete hexagram (HexagramL XIV page 1137). The hexagram was divided into two parts: The outer trigram is Li離 and the inner trigram is Kan坎. That is one of the worst characters in the Book of Changes. The King Wen of Zhou had mentioned that choosing this hexagram was their worst sage. In the Book of Changes, it says:
JUDGMENT
Fortune.
The little fox,
When almost across,
Gets his tail wet.
There is
No Profit,
Nulla convenientia.
On the Judgment
The Yielding is Centered,
Fortune.
The little fox,
When almost across,
When not quite past Center,
Wets his tail;
He cannot continue to
Completion.
Positions are not Apt,
But Firm and Yielding
Resonate.
On the Image of the Hexagram
Fire above Water,
Ignis supra aquam.
The True Gentleman
Distinguishes things carefully,
Each in its proper abode.
“What do you mean this time?” Mr. Kang asked.
“We do not need to try it again… I am so sorry… There are so many things that we cannot recover. This is your ming (fate).” I said, “You can see, ‘Fire above Water, Ignis supra aquam. The True Gentleman, Distinguishes things carefully, Each in its proper abode.’ The fire is over the water. However, we do not have enough water to put out fires.”
“That means we are now very close to making a great social reform. We just failed in the last moment.” Mr. Tan bemoaned.
“Heaven! You are destroying me!” Mr. Tan cried into the sky.
“No! We still have other chances!” Mr. Kang growled at me.
“Did you remember… my work Ta T’ung Shu?” Mr. Kang continued, “I wrote, ‘The sage-King Confucius, who was of godlike perception, in early (times) took thought (of this problem), and grieved over it. Therefore he set up the law of the Three Governments and the Three Ages: following (the age of) disorder, (the world) will change to (the ages, first) of Increasing Peace-and Equality, (and finally), of complete Peace-and-equality; following the Age of Little Peace-and-Happiness, (the world) will advance to (the Age of) one world.’ There are three different ages during ancient times.
There will be another way to explain this hexagram.”
Mr. Kang said, “for our first meeting, you practiced consulting the Yijing, which you call the ‘Book of Wisdom.’ For our second meeting, you will consult the Yijing again. This time, however, you will compare the ‘Book of Wisdom’ with the ‘Bronze Age Oracle.’”
“Can you help me to check it again? This is our last chance. We need to make it!” Mr. Tan implored.
“Where can I find the second explanation in so short a time?”
Finally, the last page of the Book of Changes was burned. However, I found some words from Mr. Kang’s family tree. It said:
sacrifice Received.
The little fox
Almost across
Gets his tail wet.
No Profit.
“Yes! You can see, we can kill an animal as a sacrifice. And then we will have a chance to remake a new social reform.” Mr. Kang’s voice was urgent and eager.
“No! That is incorrect! You see, ‘no profit.’ That means we did not have a chance.” Mr. Tan said.
“In order to let the Guangxu emperor have some power, we used to get some help from the minister Yuan Shikai. He sold us out. Could I use the divination to kill him?” Mr. Kang asked.
“No, we could not do that.” I responded.
Then Mr. Kang asked me, “from 1870 to 1895, the southern fleet was destroyed by French forces. In January 1985, Japanese forces destroyed the Northern fleet at
Weihaiwei. 100 days reform was destroyed by the empress Dowager Cixi and many conservative Mandarin Officials. Could I save the Guangxu emperor by using the divination?”
“No, we could not do that.”
“At least, may I have another chance to let Mr. Tan find his head?”
“No, I am so sorry.”
There was a long silence, and Mr. Kang’s face looked tired and depressed.
He murmured, “I have a request, but I cannot speak out of shame.”
I smiled, “Please don’t hesitate to ask me if you have some questions!”
“Can I use the divination by myself? I just want to have another chance to do the social reform.”
“Of course…”
“But I cannot hold the yarrow stalks! I have been dead, you know.” His eyes widened and took on a fierce look.
Suddenly, the chilly wind reminded me of my body!
“Can I… can I borrow your body?”
“No! Don’t even dream about it! Holy shit!”
But what if I lose control over myself?
My hand, oh my lord… Come on… What are you doing? What are my hands doing?
I felt my blood uncontrollably harden against his invasion of my body and soul.
I began to do the divination… No! He began to do the divination.
The result of the divination was the “gu蠱” hexagram . The hexagram was divided into two parts: The outer trigram is gen艮 and the inner trigram is Xun巽. The “gu” hexagram literally means a lot of insects in the tree, and we could interpret this to know there are many traitor ministers in the late Qing dynasty. These insects would eat the trees, just like traitor ministers would waste the country’s resources. These insects were worn as symbolic of bad things. In the Book of Changes, page 443, it says:
Supreme Fortune.
It Profits
To cross a Great Stream,
Magnum flumen.
Three days before,
Three days after,
The first day,
Jia.
The Firm
Is above,
The Yielding
Is below.
Wind is halted.
Supreme Fortune.
All-under-Heaven
Is well governed.
A Great Stream is crossed,
An enterprise of moment
Undertaken.
Each ending is
A commencement.
This is
The Movement of Heaven.
Mr. Kang wanted to say something, but he could not muster it.
The sun was aging. The ocean was drying up. After a while, we heard a voice,
“Give up or ashes?”
“OK. I give up. Everything is destined.” Mr. Kang replied with a strange smile. If there was ever a moment when I could promise that I heard death songs exploding in
my mind, it was this second.
At this moment, Mr. Kang suddenly caught a yarrow stalk and chewed it up. He ate it!
Mr. Kang and Mr. Tan suddenly disappeared, with his mouth full of blood.
I got faint!
When I woke up again it was the next morning.
My mum said, “you got drunk last night! Just a nightmare!”
But I only found fourty-nine yarrow stalks on my table!
All of my classmates lost one yarrow stalk last night!
What happened? What will happen next?
Bibliography
Kang Youwei康有為. Ta T’ung Shu:The One-World Philosophy of K’ang Yu-wei. Translated by Laurence G Thompson.London:Allen and Unwin,1958.
Minford, John, trans I Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Oracle and Book of Wisdom. New York:Penguin,2015.
“Explaining the Trigrams ‘Shuo gua’,” in the Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching as Interpreted by Wang Bi, Richard John Lynn, trans. New York: Columbia Univerisity Press, 1994.