Chinese virtue

Chapter 20 Patience

The word "patience" has three completely different meanings: first, it expresses a persistent quality; toughness.Obviously, these above mentioned qualities are very important to a person.

Chinese people have many characteristics. We cannot separate them and only look at a certain characteristic, otherwise we will not be able to figure it out.The patience of the Chinese is inextricably linked to their hard-working character, and to a certain extent to their insensitivity and disregard for time.The patience of the Chinese is perfectly interpreted through the characteristics of hard work and hard work.In the previous chapters, we also talked more or less about the patience characteristic of the Chinese people, but they were all vague and unclear, so we should focus on explaining this characteristic of the Chinese people.

China is a country with a large population, and the people's living standards are generally very low, and everyone is "struggling for survival".If you want to survive, you must have a material foundation.Therefore, every Chinese is working hard to survive better.These hard-working Chinese have turned poverty into a science.Poverty and hard life will not make people hardworking, but if a nation or a person has the nature of hard work, then poverty and hard life will be the best exercise for this nature.At the same time, a life of poverty and hardship will make people frugal, and this kind of life will also hone people's endurance and gradually make people stronger.

The life of hunters and fishermen must be cautious everywhere, and they must have the patience to bide their time in order to survive.Both civilized and savage people are equally cautious.

The living conditions in China have been very bad since ancient times, so they have to work hard like a civilized society, but also need to be tolerant and low-key like Indians.

The Chinese often do a lot for very little pay, because to them, little pay is better than nothing.The long-term accumulated experience has taught the Chinese people that hard work does not bring more opportunities.But Westerners believe that as long as you work hard, you will have a chance.It's just that this kind of opportunity can be encountered but not sought after. Only when the appropriate conditions are met, the opportunity will follow.Of course, the adage that "industry and frugality are the hands that bring wealth" cannot be proven in an environment of 500 people per square mile.However, Chinese people work hard for very little pay, but they don't complain at all, which reflects their excellent quality of perseverance.

The late General Grant said that at the end of his round-the-world travel, someone asked him what was the most memorable thing during his trip, and he replied that the most memorable thing was seeing a Chinese peddler with his shrewdness Beat a Jew in a competition.It was truly unforgettable.Everyone knows how smart the Jews are, and the smart Jews have achieved one achievement after another in the world.But the Jews only account for a small part of the human race, while the Chinese account for nearly half of the world's population.The Jew who lost the competition was no less intelligent than the other Jews, and the winning Chinese peddler was no smarter than the other Chinese.So even if you change a pair of competitors, the result of the competition will not change.

The resilience of the Chinese is definitely the best in the world.The following example can prove this point: There was once a Chinese student who insisted on taking the exam every year and did not pass the exam until he was 90 years old. His persistent efforts were not for getting paid, but for achieving his own goals.This kind of toughness is the nature of every Chinese, just like the deer has the natural ability to run, and the eagle has a broad vision. This is an innate talent.Even a beggar who begs every day has such resilience.Although he was chased away again and again, he would show up again and again until the money was collected.

I once heard a story about an Arab: There was an Arab whose turban was stolen by a thief, but instead of catching the thief, he returned to the tribal cemetery and sat at the entrance.Someone asked him why he sat here instead of catching the thief, and he replied, "He will come back here sooner or later." There is a similar situation in behavior.Emperor Kangxi is the most acclaimed emperor in Asia. He ruled from 1662 to 1723. During his long ruling process, he achieved many brilliant deeds that are admired by future generations.But during his reign, a former patriotic general known as "Guo Xing Ye" continued to organize sabotage in Guangdong, Fujian and other regions, and even the warships of the Qing government were defeated by him.In response to this situation, Emperor Kangxi came up with a way to alleviate it: order all the residents on this coastline to retreat [-] miles to the inland, so that the former general could not continue to harass.After the people carried out the order, it turned out that the "Guo Xing Lord" did not continue to harass, but turned to Taiwan to drive away the Dutch.In the end, this "Guo Xing Lord" was recruited by Emperor Kangxi and named "Hai Cheng Gong".Every time a foreigner reads this period of history, he will think of the author's comment in "General Introduction to China": Since the government has the ability to make so many coastal residents withdraw to the interior at any cost, it should also be able to organize a well-equipped army to defeat those destructive forces. Enemy of homeland.

There is another example that still impresses foreigners so far. In 1873, Zuo Zongtang, the general stationed in Balikun and Hami, was ordered to quell the Muslim riots.The riots were not serious at first, but later the whole of western China and even Central Asia were affected by the riots.The difficulties Zuo Zongtang faced at that time were almost insurmountable.Various foreign newspapers in China published articles mocking Zuo Zongtang's incompetence and the Qing government's incompetence in their respective newspapers.As a result, Zuo Zongtang's performance shocked all foreign newspapers. His army entered the Tianshan Mountains less than a year after arriving in the riot area to quell the Muslim riots.Every time you walk through a place, if there is insufficient food and grass, the army will stop growing food to store supplies.In the end, he quelled the riots and completed his mission with this method of fighting and saving. Foreigners believe that Zuo Zongtang's achievements are "the most noteworthy in the historical records of modern countries."

In the eyes of Westerners, Chinese people's endurance is mainly manifested in two aspects: waiting without complaint and calmly enduring.It has been said that the best way to test a man's character is to study his behavior when he is hungry, cold and drenched.If he behaves satisfactorily, "dry his body, keep him warm, give him something to eat, make him happy like an angel".Contemporary literature keeps turning up the notion that an Englishman deprived of his supper is as dangerous as a she-bear robbed of her cubs.This sentence applies not only to the British, but also to the Anglo-Saxons.For no matter how proud our civilization may be, it is always governed by our stomachs.

I once saw more than 100 Chinese people go to a banquet, and many of them traveled a few miles to attend the banquet, but they encountered ridiculous things.Originally, the banquet started at ten o'clock, so many people came to the banquet without having breakfast, but the banquet was delayed for a while before it started.So the people who arrived first stood aside like attendants, watching the people who came later eat and drink slowly. This kind of calm attitude is also one of the characteristics of Chinese people, which is much more elegant and gentlemanly than Westerners.After waiting for a long time for those who hadn't eaten, another group of people came when they were about to sit down for dinner, so they began to wait silently again.How would they react if they were snubbed in the end?If it was the British or other Christian countries, they would have angry expressions on their faces, and then they would keep complaining and cursing until they sat down.They might even write an indignant letter to The Times of London.And these 150 Chinese people did not show angry expressions from the beginning to the end, and they kept telling the host politely: "It's okay to wait, you can eat later." And which Westerner can bear such pressure?

When we say that the nerves of the Chinese are quite different from those of the Occidental, we do not mean that the "nervous Turan" is of the same type as the North American Indian who suffers without complaint.

The Chinese rely on perseverance and patience to endure the suffering in life. Compared with perseverance, it is much harder to be patient with one thing, especially something that makes you uncomfortable.

A Chinese blind man asked a foreign doctor if he could regain his sight, and immediately went on to say that it doesn't matter if he can't, so he doesn't have to worry about his eyes anymore.The doctor told him helplessly that his eyes had lost the possibility of recovery. The blind man said, "I can feel at ease." This is not a sign of giving up, nor is it despair and indifference. ability.Westerners see anxiety as a scourge that has invaded modern life like rust on a knife's edge.For a nation as worrying as China, this unhurried nature of the Chinese is really a good thing.China has always suffered from various disasters since ancient times, and the final result of this disaster is several years of famine and the displacement of the people. However, when this kind of troublesome thing like a lawsuit happens to the Chinese, I don’t care. It was surprising to find no signs of depression or complaints from these Chinese.

We have asked these Chinese people who have lost their land and houses many times how they will live in the future. These Chinese people always answer: "Who knows?" "There may be no end to such days." There may be no better way to survive under such adversity than patience.

Foreigners are impressed by the Chinese people's endurance in the face of successive disasters.As far as foreigners know, there are very few cities in China that are free from disasters such as floods, droughts and famines. From 1877 to 1878, China fell into a frightening famine. This famine caused millions of people to leave their homes and lose their lives. It was very miserable.Those who witnessed the devastation can recall it vividly even now.The flooding of the Yellow River has caused immeasurable disasters to the major areas along the coast.Planting areas in many provinces were severely damaged, and thousands of miles of fertile soil were covered by yellow sand.Thousands of villages were destroyed, and the victims were left homeless and could only wander around in despair.This situation is very difficult for any government to manage.

Self-protection is the first law of nature. Even if those who wandered due to famine unite and force those who have food to give them some food, it is very natural.

Although some large cities have also carried out some relief appropriately, there are too many poor people there, and the amount of relief is not large and the time is short. This kind of relief does not have much effect on alleviating the disaster.The government has never considered the future life of these refugees.Land reclamation, rebuilding houses in a new environment, and starting a new life can only be done by the victims themselves, and the government cannot provide any assistance.If the government can exempt taxation, these disaster-stricken people can live better, which is what the people expect.But the government does not often exempt taxes, so it happens that local officials cannot collect taxes.For a Westerner who often shouts the revolutionary slogan "No Bread, Blood!", it is really incomprehensible why so many homeless Chinese refugees are wandering in other disaster-stricken areas in despair, instead of uniting and turning to them magistrate.Even if they ask for help, these local officials do not have the ability to appease the victims, but as long as they continue to exert pressure, these officials will do something.If he does not have the ability to appease the people, he will be dismissed and replaced by other officials.We once asked these disaster victims why they didn't unite to put pressure on the officials, and their answer was "dare not".Even if you keep saying, "Hungry is death, rebellion is death, but the latter at least has hope of living," they will still answer "dare not."

The disaster victims in China will not riot, there should be two reasons.First of all, the Chinese are the most practical people. They feel that even if they unite to riot, they will not get relief, so they will not unite.Because of the patience of the Chinese people, such tragedies often happen: Many people can grab the food for subsistence, but they will not do so, and finally starve to death themselves.And the hearts of other Chinese people have hardened, like battle-tested veterans, who have turned a blind eye to the dead.The second reason is that the victims in China only know how to suffer in silence in the face of disasters. This negative attitude dooms them to be shrouded in misery all their lives and struggling on the verge of death.As long as these victims can still drag their families to beg, they will not give up this way of life.If the family unfortunately separates, they will separate and beg until the disaster is over.If there are no begging places nearby, they will go to other areas to beg in winter.And I secretly prayed that I could find a place with a good grain harvest and a large living space.

When the flood is over, these begging victims will return to their hometowns, dig small ditches on the muddy land, sprinkle wheat seeds, and continue their begging life until the harvest season.If God would favor them, they would not have to beg again, but they knew that disasters and famines could make them displaced again at any moment, and these disasters would never pass.

Some people who advocate the theory of the soul believe that the human soul cannot be destroyed.They believe that a person's talent may not be able to display it in a lifetime.If this statement is correct, then the perseverance of the Chinese people should not just be used to endure disasters and hardships, but a greater goal awaits them.If we say that all kinds of disasters in history remind us of the law of "survival of the fittest", then the future of Chinese people with perseverance and strong vitality must be bright.

(End of this chapter)