Wishing All Readers and Friends a Happy New Year and Every Success

Under the pandemic we have welcomed another Spring Festival. At this moment, some are still working hard for everyone well-being, while some unfortunate people are suffering. I sincerely thank those who still work for our health at this time; it is their sacrifice that buys the peace of society. I also hope our suffering fellow citizens soon escape their hardship and find relief.

As an ordinary person, I now share the festive joy with most people. Though the pandemic keeps me from returning home to gather with relatives and friends, modern technology lets me share the joy of family bonds with everyone. I hope all readers enjoy the Spring Festival, and I wish every reader and family happiness, health, and every success in the new year.

We have left the Year of the Ox and entered the Year of the Tiger. I do not know why our ancestors listed the tiger among the twelve zodiac animals. The tiger is king of beasts; while it brings us strength and courage, it also gives us many warnings. This animal, once at the top of the food chain, is now endangered. Today we humans sit at the top of the food chain, and the disasters we have wrought on the environment are now endangering us. These years, mired in disaster, we should have understood that many things deserve our reflection and vigilance.

Scientists observe that species on Earth are disappearing at an unprecedented rate; on the current trend, over the next decade more than a million species will vanish permanently. This rate of loss is terrifying, because Earth previous five mass extinctions unfolded the same way. We have damaged the environment, seized other creatures homes, and broken the ecological balance. Now not only plagues afflict us, but the climate crisis presses ever closer; extreme weather events occur repeatedly, and our planetary home is no longer as livable as before.

All this warns us not to follow the tiger onto the path of evolutionary suicide. The tiger is not a friendly species; too powerful and aggressive, it posed a huge threat to other life, which ultimately made it endangered. Humans fear the tiger from birth and use it to describe dreadful things—the ancients often said harsh government is fiercer than a tiger.

Today, risen humans are even less friendly to the environment than the tiger.

So we should live the Year of the Tiger as a year of reflection, and at such a time keep a sense of danger in times of peace. Living on this planet, we have a duty to treat our environment and other species well, for it concerns our own vital interests. Though it is uncertain how long humanity will endure in this uncertain universe, one thing is certain: if we do not rein in our behavior, our time on Earth will be shortened.

If we want happier lives for ourselves and our descendants, and longer-lasting happiness, we should cherish our home and the other species who share it. When biodiversity is destroyed, a domino effect follows, and in the end we cannot remain unscathed. So let us take the tiger as a warning and not be so arrogant.

I do not think the roaring-tiger image is a good phrase; on the contrary, our ancestors already understood that the overbearing dragon regrets its excess. Excessive strength often harbors crisis of decline and fall. The cat, also a feline, breeds in far greater numbers than the tiger. From an evolutionary standpoint, the cat—not the tiger—is the success, because it passed on its genes.

On this day of renewal, I pray that the good fortune of every person and every country is sustainable, that our world is more peaceful, and that we may walk together through hard times. But I also know good fortune is never won by prayer; following natural laws keeps misfortune away, while defying them invites fierce backlash.

So let us safeguard our happiness with reason and restraint. If the strong can sheath their edge and bide their time, they better fit the survival rules nature set. When we fall into trouble, the first thing we should examine is not the pockmarks on our neighbor face, but our own restless heart.