Hatred Makes People Benighted and Numb; a Bloodthirsty Soul Is Repugnant
That something as appalling and sorrowful as war has become a running "meme" for so many people to joke about—that is the disaster I have witnessed on my WeChat Moments over the last two days, and it saddens me even more than the war itself. Why are there so many among us who turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, gleefully cracking all kinds of jokes, and building their own happiness on other people's pain?
Even in the country that started the war, tens of thousands have now taken to the streets to oppose it, yet here, anti-war voices are regarded as foolish, and only those who join the carnival are considered normal. It makes one feel that the "onlooker culture" Lu Xun wrote about has never truly disappeared among us.
Most people on my Moments are cancer patients and their families. When their own lives or the lives of their loved ones are threatened by cancer, they are overcome with grief; but when someone else's life is threatened, they gloat and crack all kinds of jokes. This fills my heart with particular desolation. I feel their physical illness may be far less serious than the illness of their spirit. If we treat the real suffering of others as entertainment, by what right do we call on others to save our own lives?
I firmly oppose every war and hold that all wars are unjust. Anything can be resolved by nonviolent means; no one has the right to slaughter another's son, husband, or father. Everyone who loses a life in a war deserves compassion. If those who die in war do not deserve sympathy, then do those who die of disease deserve none? Those who die in traffic accidents? Those who die in plagues? Then what use are humanitarian workers like doctors?
The human soul is lovable because of love and compassion; a bloodthirsty soul is repulsive. I quietly tag the people who carry on the loudest, telling myself that before saving their lives I must first save their souls—otherwise leaving such ugly souls in this world is genuinely harmful to others. If their souls cannot awaken, I would rather refuse to save them even at the cost of being reviled.
No one who openly marches into another country to kill people is in the right. Our own government has also called on the countries concerned to solve problems through peaceful means rather than war. I do not know what mentality those who watch and revel in a catastrophe like war have. What would it feel like if the shells fell on our own heads? If our homes were bombed and our loved ones died on the battlefield, while others mocked us in jesting tones—what would we feel then? Where is that "perspective-taking" you usually talk about? With all respect, many people pretend to be cultured, but at such moments their vulgar true faces are exposed.
The ancient sages of China advocated the way of loyalty and consideration (zhong shu), but today have we seen even a trace of it? Many tell me they love traditional culture, but in my view it amounts to nothing more than Lord Ye's love of dragons. The most important tenet of traditional culture is the unity of knowledge and action—internalizing the thoughts one has studied into one's own spirit. Do we have the spirit of "a heart of compassion is common to all men"?
Saving people is hard—that is my greatest realization since studying medicine—but when war breaks out, killing is easy. One death means one family weeping, and many elderly and children are plunged into poverty and hardship. Has anyone thought of how these innocent people feel?
May your reveling minds grow calm and no longer be as ugly as bloodthirsty demons. I no longer hope to change this vast world, but I still hope to see the people I serve become less numb. For a numb soul is frightening; who knows whether the kindness these people usually show is real or false? Who knows how unhealthy their minds have become? As far as I know, a mentally healthy person has basic sympathy for the suffering of others.