One<\/p>\n
March 27th ,2021.<\/p>\n
I put down the pen and closed the book.<\/p>\n
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 \u201cAll Roads Lead to Rome: A New Explanation of Confucianism and Social Reforms in Early Modern China.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019clock 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 Rather than recording these boring historical documents and continuing to do researches about Kang Youwei, one of the most famous reformers in the late 19th century, I could not wait to visit my new neighbor– the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, \u201cto have a long talk with the duke of Zhou,\u201d which means have a great sleep.<\/p>\n
I had no idea what time it was. I opened my sleepy eyes and was shocked by the yelling of an old man:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere 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?\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s warm light and the soft, mellow moonlight outside my dorm room and smiled:<\/p>\n
\u201cYoung man, tell me why you are so interested in me!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere am I? Who are you?\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could I believe what you say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou may see this…\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cEh… 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, you can! You can use the divination. The Book of Changes is about divination! We will find a wormhole.\u201d His voice was trembling with emotion.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo… you just want to know what would have happened if the social reforms were successful?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is incorrect!\u201d He shook his head, \u201cYou need to rewrite your essay. I will be saved!\u201d<\/p>\n
I tried my best to finish the process. I said, \u201cI’m not very skilled with it, so it might be best if you could teach me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Kang answered, \u201cIn the article, \u2018Explaining the Trigrams \u2018Shuo gua\u2019,\u2019 in the Classic of Changes: A New Translation of the I Ching,\u2019 the writer wrote, \u2018In 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.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can use these–\u201d Mr. Kang said, as he offered me fifty yarrow stalks and detailed instructions.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsing 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes and mused, \u201cThe King W\u00e9n 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
After a while, I heard a voice, \u201cOpen your eyes and see what you are doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wondered if someone was talking to me.<\/p>\n
But I only found a small pool of water.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kang said, \u201cThis 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!\u201d He continued, \u201cFu Xi had a person\u2019s head and a snake\u2019s body. That is why you would only find a pool of water.\u201d<\/p>\n
The result of the divination was the Treading hexagram\u5c65 (Hexagram X page 321). The hexagram was divided into two parts: The outer trigram is Qian\u4e7e and the inner trigram is Dui\u514c. 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:<\/p>\n
Stepping<\/p>\n
On the Tiger\u2019s Tail.<\/p>\n
Not bitten.<\/p>\n
Fortune.<\/p>\n
The Yielding<\/p>\n
Steps on the Firm.<\/p>\n
Joy,<\/p>\n
Gaudium.<\/p>\n
Lake<\/p>\n
Resonates with Heaven,<\/p>\n
Qian,<\/p>\n
Creative Energy.<\/p>\n
Stepping on the Tiger\u2019s Tail,<\/p>\n
Not bitten.<\/p>\n
The Fifth Line is Firm,<\/p>\n
Centered and True.<\/p>\n
It Steps<\/p>\n
Into the Place<\/p>\n
Of Supreme Sovereign.<\/p>\n
There is<\/p>\n
No failure,<\/p>\n
Nullum malum.<\/p>\n
There is<\/p>\n
Bright Light.<\/p>\n
On the Image of the Hexagram<\/p>\n
Heaven above Lake,<\/p>\n
Coelum supra lacum.<\/p>\n
The True Gentleman<\/p>\n
Distinguishes high from low,<\/p>\n
Steadies the Aspirations<\/p>\n
Of the Folk.<\/p>\n
From the Great Treatise<\/p>\n
Stepping.<\/p>\n
Foundation of Inner Strength,<\/p>\n
Perfection of Harmony,<\/p>\n
Of a life<\/p>\n
Lived in Harmony.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean?\u201dMr. Kang asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou already know… the facts of history cannot be changed.\u201d I continued, \u201cthe social reform was unsuccessful. That\u2019s 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, \u2018Bright Light. On the Image of the Hexagram, Heaven above Lake, Coelum supra lacum, The True Gentleman, Distinguishes high from low,\u2019 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! \u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! Shut up! Shut up!\u201d Mr. Kang seemed to be crazy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will not fail! Remember, I will not fail!\u201d He shouted, \u201cAnd you\u2019re a liar!\u201d<\/p>\n
When I woke up again it was the next morning.<\/p>\n
No one believed my experience until now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is Mr. Kang? Can I believe the result of the divination? I was just dreaming, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Or I just made it up!<\/p>\n
Two<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou 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.\u201d He said, smiling kindly.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s life experiences. Finally, my teacher told me to retype it with the changes and give it to him next week.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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,<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, we are late. I was caught in a traffic jam!\u201d They showed their invitations to an organizer and he let them in.<\/p>\n
\u201cCongratulations! You published your work!\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cSorry, 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…?\u201d I shuttered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou pretend not to know me? Are you serious? I think we have met before… You could not have published your essay without me!\u201d He had a creepy smile on his face and joked.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a private conversation, it is not your business.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n
The first old man yelled suddenly, taking off his sunglasses.<\/p>\n
My eyes bulged in surprise when I saw his face.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t move! You know… I am Mr. Kang! I have told you before– I will not fail!\u201d He said to himself, grinding his teeth.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t 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.\u201d The other man said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are you, then?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
I was scared out of my body when the other man took of his animal mask!<\/p>\n
He did not have a head on his neck!<\/p>\n
I could not keep the tears in my eyes. My voice trembled, \u201cAlthough 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!\u201d<\/p>\n
He recalled, \u201cIn 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 \u201cTi\u201d and \u201cYong\u201d statements. For me, \u201cTi\u201d means traditional Chinese Confucian classics. \u201cYong\u201d not only means new technologies, ideas, and cultures from western countries, but also the western theoretical system. I believed that my work \u201cRen Xue\u201d 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know… the social reform was unsuccessful?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, 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!\u201d Mr. Tan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd 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!\u201d Mr. Kang said, \u201cThat is why we need your emergency help to save the<\/p>\n
emperor Guangxu!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I told you before, I do not have any power to…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is fine… We believe in the power of heaven!\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
That is impossible! What a coincidence!<\/p>\n
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\u96e2 and the inner trigram is Kan\u574e. 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:<\/p>\n
JUDGMENT<\/p>\n
Fortune.<\/p>\n
The little fox,<\/p>\n
When almost across,<\/p>\n
Gets his tail wet.<\/p>\n
There is<\/p>\n
No Profit,<\/p>\n
Nulla convenientia.<\/p>\n
On the Judgment<\/p>\n
The Yielding is Centered,<\/p>\n
Fortune.<\/p>\n
The little fox,<\/p>\n
When almost across,<\/p>\n
When not quite past Center,<\/p>\n
Wets his tail;<\/p>\n
He cannot continue to<\/p>\n
Completion.<\/p>\n
Positions are not Apt,<\/p>\n
But Firm and Yielding<\/p>\n
Resonate.<\/p>\n
On the Image of the Hexagram<\/p>\n
Fire above Water,<\/p>\n
Ignis supra aquam.<\/p>\n
The True Gentleman<\/p>\n
Distinguishes things carefully,<\/p>\n
Each in its proper abode.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean this time?\u201d Mr. Kang asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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).\u201d I said, \u201cYou can see, \u2018Fire above Water, Ignis supra aquam. The True Gentleman, Distinguishes things carefully, Each in its proper abode.\u2019 The fire is over the water. However, we do not have enough water to put out fires.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat means we are now very close to making a great social reform. We just failed in the last moment.\u201d Mr. Tan bemoaned.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeaven! You are destroying me!\u201d Mr. Tan cried into the sky.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! We still have other chances!\u201d Mr. Kang growled at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you remember… my work Ta T\u2019ung Shu?\u201d Mr. Kang continued, \u201cI wrote, \u2018The 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.\u2019 There are three different ages during ancient times.<\/p>\n
There will be another way to explain this hexagram.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Kang said, \u201cfor our first meeting, you practiced consulting the Yijing, which you call the \u2018Book of Wisdom.\u2019 For our second meeting, you will consult the Yijing again. This time, however, you will compare the \u2018Book of Wisdom\u2019 with the \u2018Bronze Age Oracle.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you help me to check it again? This is our last chance. We need to make it!\u201d Mr. Tan implored.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere can I find the second explanation in so short a time?\u201d<\/p>\n
Finally, the last page of the Book of Changes was burned. However, I found some words from Mr. Kang\u2019s family tree. It said:<\/p>\n
sacrifice Received.<\/p>\n
The little fox<\/p>\n
Almost across<\/p>\n
Gets his tail wet.<\/p>\n
No Profit.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes! You can see, we can kill an animal as a sacrifice. And then we will have a chance to remake a new social reform.\u201d Mr. Kang\u2019s voice was urgent and eager.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! That is incorrect! You see, \u2018no profit.\u2019 That means we did not have a chance.\u201d Mr. Tan said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 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?\u201d Mr. Kang asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, we could not do that.\u201d I responded.<\/p>\n
Then Mr. Kang asked me, \u201cfrom 1870 to 1895, the southern fleet was destroyed by French forces. In January 1985, Japanese forces destroyed the Northern fleet at<\/p>\n
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?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, we could not do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least, may I have another chance to let Mr. Tan find his head?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I am so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a long silence, and Mr. Kang\u2019s face looked tired and depressed.<\/p>\n
He murmured, \u201cI have a request, but I cannot speak out of shame.\u201d<\/p>\n
I smiled, \u201cPlease don’t hesitate to ask me if you have some questions!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I use the divination by myself? I just want to have another chance to do the social reform.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course…\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I cannot hold the yarrow stalks! I have been dead, you know.\u201d His eyes widened and took on a fierce look.<\/p>\n
Suddenly, the chilly wind reminded me of my body!<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I… can I borrow your body?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo! Don\u2019t even dream about it! Holy shit!\u201d<\/p>\n
But what if I lose control over myself?<\/p>\n
My hand, oh my lord… Come on… What are you doing? What are my hands doing?<\/p>\n
I felt my blood uncontrollably harden against his invasion of my body and soul.<\/p>\n
I began to do the divination… No! He began to do the divination.<\/p>\n
The result of the divination was the \u201cgu\u8831\u201d hexagram . The hexagram was divided into two parts: The outer trigram is gen\u826e and the inner trigram is Xun\u5dfd. The \u201cgu\u201d 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\u2019s resources. These insects were worn as symbolic of bad things. In the Book of Changes, page 443, it says:<\/p>\n
Supreme Fortune.<\/p>\n
It Profits<\/p>\n
To cross a Great Stream,<\/p>\n
Magnum flumen.<\/p>\n
Three days before,<\/p>\n
Three days after,<\/p>\n
The first day,<\/p>\n
Jia.<\/p>\n
The Firm<\/p>\n
Is above,<\/p>\n
The Yielding<\/p>\n
Is below.<\/p>\n
Wind is halted.<\/p>\n
Supreme Fortune.<\/p>\n
All-under-Heaven<\/p>\n
Is well governed.<\/p>\n
A Great Stream is crossed,<\/p>\n
An enterprise of moment<\/p>\n
Undertaken.<\/p>\n
Each ending is<\/p>\n
A commencement.<\/p>\n
This is<\/p>\n
The Movement of Heaven.<\/p>\n
Mr. Kang wanted to say something, but he could not muster it.<\/p>\n
The sun was aging. The ocean was drying up. After a while, we heard a voice,<\/p>\n
\u201cGive up or ashes?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK. I give up. Everything is destined.\u201d Mr. Kang replied with a strange smile. If there was ever a moment when I could promise that I heard death songs exploding in<\/p>\n
my mind, it was this second.<\/p>\n
At this moment, Mr. Kang suddenly caught a yarrow stalk and chewed it up. He ate it!<\/p>\n
Mr. Kang and Mr. Tan suddenly disappeared, with his mouth full of blood.<\/p>\n
I got faint!<\/p>\n
When I woke up again it was the next morning.<\/p>\n
My mum said, \u201cyou got drunk last night! Just a nightmare!\u201d<\/p>\n
But I only found fourty-nine yarrow stalks on my table!<\/p>\n
All of my classmates lost one yarrow stalk last night!<\/p>\n
What happened? What will happen next?<\/p>\n
Bibliography<\/p>\n
Kang Youwei\u5eb7\u6709\u70ba. Ta T\u2019ung Shu:The One-World Philosophy of K\u2019ang Yu-wei. Translated by Laurence G Thompson.London:Allen and Unwin,1958.<\/p>\n
Minford, John, trans I Ching: The Essential Translation of the Ancient Chinese Oracle and Book of Wisdom. New York:Penguin,2015.<\/p>\n
“Explaining the Trigrams \u2018Shuo gua\u2019,” 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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… <\/p>\n