Proud but not condescending about our Han heritage

[David Pee <skirun@juno.com>]

Sept 26, 2000

Dear Frank Wong:

I read your article about how a non-biased person with Korean heritage
felt about Chinese Civilization with great interest.  I agree with SL Lee
that we have no control over what our ancestors did and that history is
always recorded with some editorial slant or preferences.  But I also
admire your fair mindness on examining problems from different vantage
points.

My personal feelings are that I am proud that the Chinese nation and
people have created a culture and civilization which has been the model
and imitated throughout the Far East.  No matter what the Japanese,
Koreans and Vietnamese feelings might be toward their giant and all
encompassing neighbor, historically they have not rejected the intrinsic
greatness of the Han culture.  Until recently,  the mark of an educated
person in the Far East was his/her knowledge of the Chinese classics
(Four Books). The Renaissance man/woman in East Asia was well versed in
Chinese Calligraphy and Painting.  He/she  quoted the verses from Tang
and Sung.  As an extreme example, the characters Bushido  "The Way of the
Warrior",  was lifted directly from the Chinese and is even pronounced 
similarly to Chinese by the Japanese.  Often walking into a Korean or
Japanese establishment, you will find paintings and verses which cannot
be distinguished in style or form from their Chinese counterparts.  I may
be wrong on the following, but even nowadays official Japanese Imperial
Edicts are issued in Chinese characters (Kan Tse). Somebody out there
please correct me if I'm wrong.  That the Chinese nation has contributed
directly to the advancement of civilization of our close neighbors cannot
be denied.  But culture is a two way street, and Chinese culture also
benefited from exchanges with other nations too.  As proud inheritors of
the Han culture, we must always keep in mind that our ancestors created
and left us with something truly great.  We must do our part and expand
our inheritance into new and innovative frontiers.  At the same time
however, we must not  be complacent or arrogant.  We should always review
critically, subjectively and rationally our history and civilization. 
China today stretches from the frozen tundra of Siberia to the tropical
islands of Nan Sa in the South China Sea.  Brushing the vast Pacific
Ocean in the east and pushing up to the Pamirs, the rooftop of the world,
 on the west.  This gigantic area was not obtained by a bunch of smiling,
bowing polite Han Ling scholars.  The saying that you have to break a few
eggs to make an omelette truly applies.  Only by versing ourselves in our
version of history and cross referring with other peoples account on the
same material will we be able to judge for ourselves how the Chinese
nation conducted itself through the ages.  I suppose, like any other
civilization, we might discover that we have much to be ashamed of.  But
we must always hold our head high with pride and dignity and strive to
avoid repeating our mistakes while at the same time building on our many
virtues.


Respecfully,

David Pee