Waking up this morning, I saw that the death toll from the Ludian earthquake in Sichuan had climbed to over forty, and my heart was heavy. At breakfast, I discussed with my son and his mother that we should donate some money; both agreed. I found online that Ya'an (one of the hardest-hit cities, with seventeen deaths in its Shimian county) had published a donation account, so I donated 1,000 yuan.I also plan to donate another 1,000 yuan once Ludian, the other badly hit area, publishes its donation details. Although this small sum does little for the victims and their families, doing something feels better than doing nothing. Fellow Sichuanese, I hope you are safe. I have also attached, as a screenshot in this article, the disaster-relief donation account published by Ya'an; those who wish to give may donate directly.There have been so many disasters these past few years, but I refuse to grow numb amid their frequency. After COVID broke out in Wuhan, I donated over ten thousand yuan to my home province of Hubei; during the Zhengzhou floods, I donated two thousand. Every time I donate, I discuss it with my son and let him take part, cultivating his compassion.His mother and I—one a doctor, one a teacher—live in the capital, Beijing. He was born into a family like ours; though not wealthy, he has never gone without food or clothing, and so feels little of the hardship of the grassroots. I hope he will not grow numb to others' suffering, which is why I always bring him along when I donate and tell him how hard our own family's life once was.Su Dongpo's grandfather always stored grain in good years and, in bad years, opened his granary to relieve the hungry. He was only a farmer, yet he had such a broad heart. Shaped by the family ethos he created, Su Dongpo became a great humanist. Su's father and younger brother were also outstanding; the three of them are known to posterity as the "Three Su." Without the grandfather's example and moral education, the three Su men would probably not have become so remarkable.I do not dare hope my descendants will wield Su Shi's influence, but I do hope they will not forget their roots and will not remain indifferent to the suffering of others. Mencius said: "The heart of commiseration is common to all men." We live in this world unable to be perfect, unable to satisfy everyone, and sometimes even carrying moral stains. But a little compassion is better than none.With that spark of compassion, we still carry some radiance of our humanity; if our descendants carry it too, they too will carry that light. With a bit of human brightness, they will not turn out like the wastrel children exposed online again and again, who harm family and society. An old Chinese saying goes: "Loyalty and kindness pass the family on; poetry and books carry the generations forward." I have seen people in many places hang this couplet on their doorframes, which shows that valuing kindness is a fine tradition of our Chinese nation.I can honestly say I pay no attention at all to my son's academic grades, but I attach the utmost importance to shaping his character. I never stop teaching him to be a decent person: as one of the ordinary masses, we need not be lofty; we may have our own flaws and shortcomings, but we must have sympathy and empathy; we do not need to posture on a moral high ground, yet we must not fall below the moral bottom line.Every day I see too many suffering families, facing the most painful things this world has to offer: poverty, illness and death. Often I must break away from this oppressive life to relax, or my own spirit would collapse. But sometimes I fear that after seeing too much suffering I will grow numb, caring only for my own comfort while looking away from others' pain.Fortunately, up to now, that spark of conscience in me has not died. I believe that in this world, a heart of compassion can ward off many fatal disasters. Countless people have come to violent ends or landed in prison precisely because they snuffed out this conscience.
But my help to poor patients is limited. A doctor whose circle includes thousands of cancer families—if I truly acted on my heart, donating a million yuan a day would not be enough. I do not have that means, so most of the time I can only sigh, sighing at how hard livelihood is, at how hard it is just to be alive.