A Dissection of Human Civilization and Culture

The scope covered by the topic of “what is created by God” is very broad, so we have to first give some examples and then discuss them bit by bit. We just spoke about mosquitoes. It’s safe to say that no one likes mosquitoes or is willing to live with them; on the contrary, everyone detests mosquitoes and even wishes to never see one for their whole life. Although the matter of mosquitoes is not a major one, it involves a certain type of thing, and it also involves people’s understanding of the nature of a certain type of thing within the people, events, and things created by God. Of course, the key here is that it involves people coming to know and understand a truth, and it also involves the principles of practice for how people treat a certain type of thing among the people, events, and things in their lives. Therefore, although the mosquito is not a large creature, the matters it involves are not small; it’s worthwhile for people to try to understand and explore them. The content of “what is created by God” involves topics of the macroscopic and of the microscopic. Just now, we briefly fellowshipped on a small species of the microscopic aspect: the mosquito. It is a relatively small type of creature that people can see with the naked eye; anything smaller than a mosquito is not worth discussing. Mosquitoes are a type of creature that people can often come into contact with, a relatively microscopic creature visible to the naked eye. Since this issue is on a microscopic level, we’ll fellowship on it later. So, what should we first fellowship on? (The macroscopic.) Let’s first fellowship on macroscopic things. There are many macroscopic things. The one that’s closest to people’s lives, or that people can come into contact with, feel, and see, and which is familiar to everyone—apart from the objects in the living environment created by God for man—is mankind itself. So, when it comes to mankind, of the various people, events, and things that people can see, which are worth talking about? Which are worth understanding? The topic most worth understanding when it comes to human society is the so-called civilization of mankind. The main topic covered by this civilization is different cultures. The emergence of different cultures stems from the education within different societies; the education within different societies gives rise to different cultures, and against the backdrop of these different cultures, the so-called civilizations of mankind across different eras have emerged. This is the source and origin of human civilization. Eastern society has its civilization, and of course, it also has its so-called culture. The emergence of this culture comes from the way Eastern society educates its people. Similarly, Western society also has its so-called civilization. Western civilization also comes from its culture, and the emergence of its culture likewise comes from the education of Western society. That is to say, the education of Western society across different eras has produced Western culture, and against such a cultural backdrop, Western civilization has gradually emerged, taken shape, and developed to the present day. Whether Eastern or Western culture, both have been educating their respective peoples in this way, generation after generation. Across different eras, they have been continuously conditioning and influencing one generation after another, and spreading from one generation to the next across different eras, while at the same time continuously developing and being carried forward. In this way, Eastern and Western cultures and civilizations have gradually taken shape and unfolded, and have gradually been recognized and accepted by people, gradually taking shape and becoming established in Eastern and Western societies. This has formed the mainstream cultures and civilizations of the East and West. The East has its mainstream culture and civilization, as does the West. Eastern and Western societies have, in terms of essence, form, and their influence on mankind, formed different cultures and civilizations. Whether Eastern or Western culture, both have had an indelible, irresistible, or irreplaceable influence on people’s lives, survival, thoughts, and viewpoints. Since we are talking about Eastern and Western cultures, they certainly have their differences. Eastern culture has its primary thoughts and viewpoints that it values, while Western culture has its own characteristics and primary thoughts and viewpoints that it values. So, what does Eastern culture place value on? What does Eastern culture primarily teach? Most people don’t quite understand this aspect. Some of you may be completely baffled: “Why are You talking about positive things starting from this point?” Many macroscopic things inherently have many abstract components to them. Although you don’t understand this aspect yet, if you listen carefully, you will.

Let’s first talk about Eastern culture. What does Eastern culture value? What is its essence? What is its influence on people? What are the main characteristics of Eastern culture that you have personally felt, or that you’ve seen, understood, or come to realize and learn about through the subtle influence of long-term exposure to it? When we speak of culture, it relates to education. Whether it’s education that comes from families, schooling, or from society, it all relates to culture; it relates to the education of a nation or a certain group of people. Education creates a cultural background—that is certain. Do you know what kind of education Eastern culture values? (Eastern culture places great value on tradition.) So what is the essence of tradition? “Tradition” is a concept. What is the specific content covered by this concept? It is the requirements for how you should think, what you should do, and in which direction and toward which goal you should conduct yourself. This is the specific essence of its education. The education that Eastern society values is social moral education, and this social moral education also has specific content. For example, one ideological trend often propagated in Eastern society is using reason to persuade others. Is this one of them? (Yes.) There is also courtesy before force, yielding to others out of courtesy, and “A prime minister’s heart is big enough to sail a boat in.” There’s also “Harmony is a treasure; forbearance is brilliance,” and “Compromise will make a conflict much easier to resolve.” What else? “It is never too late for a gentleman to take his revenge,” “Where there is life there is hope,” “A great man knows when to yield and when to assert himself,” and “A real man’s ambition is far-reaching.” What else? (Does “Filial piety is a virtue to be held above all else” count?) That counts, too. There is also “What a joy it is, when a friend comes from afar,” which concerns hospitality. What else? (“I’d take a bullet for a friend,” and “Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire.”) The effect that all these concepts in Eastern education are intended to achieve is to make people value social morals; these concepts teach people what rules of etiquette they should abide by in society, and get people to treat this so-called etiquette as a symbol of a person’s character. Eastern education uses these things to regulate people’s behavior. If a person wants to be established in society, they must first ensure that in all things they earn the admiration, high regard, and respect of others. Only by attaining a moral character that has such qualities of humanity can one be considered a truly good person. After receiving such an education, people use these ideas about so-called moral character to constrain themselves, striving to meet these requirements. This Eastern education teaches people to outwardly abide by etiquette, so that they appear to be courteous, well-mannered people, people of noble moral character. As for what people are thinking on the inside, whatever needs of humanity, wishes, or even ambitions and desires they have, it should all be suppressed and buried deep in their hearts, not to be exposed. We have fellowshipped quite a bit on this aspect of Eastern education before. What is the nature of all these ideological education concepts? Do they conform to the needs of humanity? Do they conform to the essence of humanity? (No.) Precisely because the behavior lived out and revealed by those under this Eastern social moral education is totally contrary to people’s essence and the needs of their humanity, this perfectly proves a point: The various ideas advocated by this Eastern social moral education go against people’s actual situations and what actually exists within their humanity. In order to cover up people’s real problems and to allow them to live more respectably in society, to appear nobler and worthier of other people’s approval, this social moral education came into being in Eastern society. Thus, it must be said that education in this sort of context is an education in pretense. The essence, or the intended effect, of this education in pretense is to admonish every person to not expose their true face to others—regardless of their character, and regardless of their background, they should learn to disguise and mask themselves, so that they can have more dignity and pride before others, live with self-respect, and live in a way that earns them admiration and approval.

In the context of this Eastern education in pretense, what have Eastern people learned? They have learned to suppress and endure. Eastern ideological education has produced a certain quality within the humanity of Eastern people, and the consequence of this quality—whether viewed at the level of thought or in terms of behavior—is that it makes people learn how to suppress and endure. Specifically, in any social era, under any ruling class, and in any living environment, when encountering all kinds of people, events, and things, people must learn how to suppress and endure, and not reveal their true emotions and thoughts. To call it “suppressing and enduring” is putting it nicely; in fact, it is pretense. And what do people use for this pretense? They use the various thoughts, viewpoints, tactics for self-conduct, and philosophies for worldly dealings drawn from Eastern social moral education or from Eastern culture to disguise themselves, so that outwardly they appear as courteous, well-mannered people, as people of noble moral character with integrity and dignity, capable of earning the high regard, approval, and admiration of others. This is the influence of Eastern social moral education on people; its main effect is that people end up learning to suppress and endure. The term “suppress and endure” encompasses making people endure all things, use reason to persuade others, and be courteous before resorting to force when dealing with people, trying to treat others with the utmost kindness. It’s as if they’re especially magnanimous, possessing a heart of benevolence and tolerance; they disguise themselves as particularly great and noble, even looking down on everything from the high ground of human morality. Therefore, within this Eastern cultural context, the cultural life of Eastern people is basically permeated with these ideas and concepts. At the same time, this culture is used to constantly condition and influence the next generation. For example, in film and television dramas, certain ideas are often promoted, one of which is, “Great chivalrous heroes do their part for their country and people.” What is the image of a great chivalrous hero in people’s minds? In martial arts films, you see that most great chivalrous heroes are dashing and refined, wearing a bamboo hat, with a sword or saber at their side. They are expressionless and selfless, holding the world, common people, and all living beings in their hearts, and they go around upholding justice, doing good things, and accumulating merit. When they see injustice, they draw their swords to help, taking action when it’s called for. This is the image of a great chivalrous hero in people’s minds, and it is also the value such figures hold in people’s minds. The reason film and television dramas create characters like this is that all Eastern people have such a yearning in their hearts toward society and humankind. They yearn for such people to exist in society or in life, so that they themselves no longer need to suppress and endure, and are no longer bound and shackled by this social culture. It is precisely because people have this need that such characters are continually created in certain literary and artistic works. This serves the needs of cultural propaganda, and it also serves the needs of the audience. The common people have suppressed and endured in society for too long and too painfully; they need an outlet, but have none. They can only find satisfaction in the heroic figures and great chivalrous heroes created in these literary and artistic works. Therefore, such film and television works and such characters are accepted and praised by the public. When the public sees that the righteous deeds of these great chivalrous heroes in films and television dramas—or their acts of drawing their swords to help when they see an injustice—perfectly fit their psychological needs, they all clap and cheer, shouting, “Serves you right! That’s what you get for doing evil! That’s what you get for harming the people!” Their cheers reflect the pain of having to suppress and endure that Eastern people experience in their daily lives, as well as the heavy, manifold pressures and great harm they endure from society and the ruling class. Therefore, such entertainment works are welcomed by the common people at heart, and approved of and longed for by them.

Precisely because the suppression and endurance brought about by this Eastern social moral education have bound and restricted Eastern people in terms of their thinking and their humanity to the greatest extent possible, their humanity and thinking have become greatly distorted. How is this distortion manifested? It is manifested in the fact that everyone harbors hatred toward officials and the wealthy; when they see something unjust, they feel hatred inside and immediately associate it with the ruling class or the rich, feeling that all their pain is caused by them. This is one aspect. In addition, because Eastern social moral education produces in people a character that suppresses and endures, Eastern people’s thoughts are bound and fettered to a large degree. Compared to Westerners, it is difficult for Eastern people to achieve independent thinking or liberation of thought on the level of thinking; that is, they are unable to think and reason freely, autonomously, and independently. Therefore, in the social environment of the East, everyone from children to adults possesses a slavish quality; it’s difficult for them to think about a problem independently or to independently complete a task according to principles and plans. Another aspect is that the suppression and endurance of Eastern people make them hostile toward society, humankind, and every social stratum. This has also led them to develop a rather slippery quality in their humanity, which can be summed up as a kind of scumminess. Because this world is so unfair, people have to withstand various pressures and bonds from society, their work environment, and their families, and this results in the normal needs of their humanity—their normal emotional and physical needs—not being properly or fairly dealt with. Thus, everyone harbors a flippant, cynical, or world-weary attitude toward their life. This attitude makes Eastern people feel that the hope of living is very slim; they hardly feel any drive to live, and have no heart for anything they do. In this way, they develop a slick and slippery attitude toward dealing with the world, and this slickness and slipperiness can be summed up as “scumminess.” What does this “scumminess” refer to? It refers to a flippant attitude in everything one does. For example, some people’s attitude toward doing their duty is to do as they please—if they feel like doing something, they do a bit of it; if they don’t feel like it, then they don’t. When their work carries even a little pressure, they whine about how hard it is, and want to rest. If you fellowship on the truth with them and tell them that they’ll delay the work like this, they say, “Whatever. I feel like resting right now. I want to have some fun for a while!” They do not have a serious and responsible attitude in anything they do. Whether it’s toward work, their daily life, or even their whole lives and their faith, they are muddled, do not have a serious attitude, and adopt a flippant one. Wherever they go, they want to barge straight through. When they hit a wall, it doesn’t bother them at all; they can’t stand being regulated, and long to enjoy freedom. If they’re freed, they recklessly commit misdeeds; if they lose their freedom, they complain about everyone and everything. This is the kind of attitude they have. Is this not scumminess? (Yes.) This is the unique character that Eastern people have developed within the social environment of the East. Some people also engage in suppressing and enduring; they can endure anything, and can do so for a very long time. They have extraordinary endurance and resilience, can bear any hardship, can survive in any environment, can manage to smile in any environment, and can still get to sleep when it’s time to sleep at night, not shedding a single tear. For example, when there’s a flood and some people’s homes, fields, and livestock are all submerged, they don’t seem to be in much pain. They focus single-mindedly on picking up valuable things in the flood, planning to strike it rich. Others warn them, “It’s not safe to risk your life picking things up like this!” They reply, “A flood is a perfect opportunity to get rich. This chance is hard to come by!” Others say, “Our fields are flooded, our grain has been washed away, the government isn’t providing any relief, and no one is coming to help. How are we going to live? Life in this world is just too hard. We might as well just die!” But they say, “When disaster strikes, you have to rely on yourself. Heaven will always leave a way out for man. A flood is a great opportunity to get rich. It’s a business with no capital and enormous profit. Even if we’ve lost some things, we’ll pick some other things back up—that’ll nicely make up for the losses, and we might even make a little profit!” You see, normal people feel pain when disaster strikes and they suffer losses, but among Eastern people, there are “heroic figures” like this—no matter what disaster befalls them, they can go with the flow and even find opportunities to get rich. They don’t fret or feel distressed, and even if the government doesn’t provide relief or solve their problems, they don’t care. It’s as if, having experienced disasters so much, they’ve just gotten used to it. Isn’t this what Chinese society is like? So, given this kind of education in Chinese society, the literary and artistic works people consume in their spare time or the ways they relax are mostly forms of self-deprecation and self-mockery. This is how Chinese people amuse themselves, finding a bit of release for the repression in their hearts. But afterward, in daily life, they continue to put on a pretense and suppress and endure just as before. No matter how the government treats them, the common people have already gotten used to this kind of treatment. As long as they don’t starve, they feel content; without the threat of imminent death, they don’t think of rebelling. The common people have resigned themselves to such things: “A bad life is better than a good death; Heaven will always leave a way out for man. Let’s just live like this! Human rights? Democracy? Those are extravagant desires. We Chinese people are born to this wretched fate. As long as we can stay alive, that’s good enough!” Isn’t this being dull-witted and numb to the extreme? Do they have any dignity as people left? (No.) This is a pathetic state of affairs.

Most of the literary and artistic works created in the East are very different from those in the West in what they reflect and advocate. Although Eastern literary and artistic works do reflect some social injustices, this is not the thinking that the directors or screenwriters truly want to advocate, and it’s not done to satisfy some of the needs of the audience. What do they truly advocate in these works? It is still Eastern social moral education. Its main manifestations are patriotic sentiments, advocating that people should love their country, be concerned for the country and the people, be “real men with far-reaching ambitions,” draw their swords to help when they see injustice, and take a bullet for a friend. What else do they advocate? “Compromise will make a conflict much easier to resolve,” and “It is never too late for a gentleman to take his revenge.” The humanity they advocate is actually hollow; it’s just people’s imaginings and inferences. They advocate it solely for the sake of the stability of the ruling class’s regime, so that people will forever slave away like beasts of burden for the ruling class, without the slightest resistance permitted. These hollow ideas are used to numb and mislead people, satisfying their need for entertainment and the temporary needs of their hearts. For example, what is advocated in martial arts novels or film and television dramas? The spirit of chivalry, becoming a great chivalrous hero who robs the rich to help the poor and draws their sword to help others. The so-called great chivalrous hero is embodied by the saying, “Great chivalrous heroes do their part for their country and people.” Advocating the spirit of chivalry makes the common people not only praise such characters but also yearn for and pursue becoming this type of person. What else do Eastern literary and artistic works advocate? They advocate heroism: toiling and exhausting one’s heart and mind for the country, for the nation, and for the well-being of an area and its people, and sacrificing one’s youth and life for the great cause of the nation. In short, these biographies and legends of martial arts figures produced in the Eastern—and especially the Chinese—social environment, whether they’re traditional or modern, or fictional or based on real historical figures and events, all teach people to strive for selflessness and self-abnegation. They all take this as their theme and educational core, aiming to make people have noble social morals. Selflessness and self-abnegation mean having no self; they advocate that the greater self comes before the lesser self, that one’s country comes before one’s family, and only in this way can one have a good life. This is the kind of thinking they instill in people. That is, they teach you to not be selfish, to not only consider yourself, to not make any sacrifices or efforts for the sake of your own life, your own survival, or anything related to yourself, and not even to struggle for these things in any way. Instead, you are to sacrifice and contribute yourself for your home country, for society, for humankind, and for the great cause of the nation. These teachings are collectively referred to as an education in pretense. This so-called education in pretense is unrealistic and does not conform to the needs of humanity; on the basis of stripping away the needs of people’s humanity, their innate instincts, and their basic right to survive, it impels people to make pointless sacrifices for the country and the nation, for a hollow, vacuous cause. This virtue of self-sacrifice is entirely something that Eastern society has forcibly instilled into people’s humanity. “Forcibly instilled” means that it is not something that arises spontaneously from humanity, is not something inherent to the innate instincts of humanity, is not something that innate instincts can attain, and is not something that one’s innate free will or subjective will desires to achieve. Rather, it is something that the ruling class or sociologists forcibly instill into people’s minds, misleading or compelling them to accept such social obligations and responsibilities, and then educating them under the grand banner of so-called “noble moral character,” leaving them without the strength to break free, and too afraid to try. This is because if you do break free from this education or break through it, if you don’t accept this education, then you are an enemy of the entire society and the whole nation—you’re heinously rebellious, you are non-human, you are an oddball, and you’ll have to face a living condition in which you’re isolated. Therefore, even if people feel some dissatisfaction in their hearts, even if they hate this society and this kind of education, they have neither the strength nor the courage to break free from it, much less the courage to say “no” to it. They can only grin and bear it—they are powerless to resist, and can only silently endure. If you do not endure, then on a large scale society will denounce you and spurn you; and on a small scale, your family and loved ones will spurn you, distance themselves from you, and isolate you, and even condemn you as being heinously rebellious. Let’s look at an example. When you were a child, for instance, let’s say your parents taught you: “When you go out and see elders, you must greet them. Call those younger than us ‘uncle’ or ‘auntie,’ and call the elderly ‘grandpa’ or ‘grandma.’ When someone gives you something, you have to say ‘thank you.’ If another child hits you, you have to endure it; only fight back if you really can’t take it anymore. You have to show the utmost restraint.” And one day, you went out and saw someone, but because you were shy, you didn’t dare to greet them. Your parents felt they had lost face, so they disciplined you when you got home, and from then on you would quickly say hello whenever you saw someone. To avoid getting beaten, no matter how embarrassed you felt or how unwilling you were inside, you still had to go against your will and greet people. Growing up in such an environment, one has no choice but to put up with everything. Even in such a small matter, you have to act this way; whether at home or out in society, it’s all you can do. If you feel uncomfortable and want to be willful for once, never mind society denouncing you—even your family and parents will lecture and rebuke you. After you grow up, you realize that greeting people is for the sake of preserving face and to make it easier to establish oneself in society. When you were a child, however, you couldn’t wrap your head around this, though you still had to act this way. If you didn’t, you would be disciplined, and might even sometimes be scolded or beaten by your parents in front of others, something you would never forget your whole life. Therefore, in the broader societal context, you can only accept this education in so-called “noble moral character.” Regardless of the consequences of accepting it, regardless of how it ultimately influences your humanity, and regardless of the character or the qualities of humanity it causes you to develop—in the end, you alone must bear these consequences.