Lack of Spiritual Values is a Major Weakness of the Chinese
In China’s long cultural history, many ideals of a religious nature have made their appearance. There were the homegrown ones, such as the ideals of of Lao-Tse’s Taoism, and the foreign imports, such as Buddhism and Christianity. But, regardless of whether it was homegrown or foreign, these ideals invariably have undergone a process that turned these ideals on their heads – what was originally intended to be uplifting, to be a means of steering man’s mind away from the material to the spiritual realm, make a u-turn back to the mundane and the materialistic. Worse, this was done with a vengeance, for now even the Gods have been enlisted in man’s pursuit of material gain.
When transported into China, the Buddha became the feminine deity of Guan-Yin (Goddess of Mercy). There seems to be no harm done in this. After all, a Goddess of Mercy appears to be as good a deity as the Buddha. But surreptitiously, a fundamental substitution has occurred that has immense implications. The Buddha teaches the other-worldly values of renunciation. Moreover, as a male figure, his admonitions are more forceful, and have a more uncompromising tone. Guan-Yin, however, as a female deity, tends to be more merciful, forgiving, indulgent, and understanding of human weaknesses. Although slight in the beginning, this change gradually widened until the Goddess of Mercy becomes something of a wishing well. It is no coincidence that when you arrive at the gambling town of Macau, you will find a statue of Guan-Yin in the harbor, right in front of a group of casinos!
Today, in the popular culture of Hong Kong, for example, there is a day every year called “Guan-Yin Opens her Treasury” (“觀陰開庫”). On this day, people come early to line up in front of Guan-Yin’s temple, for their turn to ask Guan-Yin for a “loan”, in return for paying the temple a small fee of course. The amount of “loan” people ask for can reach into the astronomical figures of billions, since it is all just notional! This is how an original lofty ideal gets to be turned into crass materialism and superstition!
As for China’s homegrown wisdom of Tao and Fungshui, everything has been abandoned, and all that remains is the small part of technical know-how that can be turned into money-making ventures. It seems as if nothing of a lofty nature has been able to take root in the Chinese environment.
The Chinese preoccupation with the material side of life, especially money, is amply demonstrated in the Chinese New Year greetings they proffer to one another on this occasion: “Kung Hei Fat Choi”(恭喜發財)which literally means “Best wishes for great wealth”, 橫財就手 meaning “May great fortune be at your doorstep”, 一本萬利 meaning “May your profits be manifold”. 財運亨通 meaning “May the god of wealth favor you”, etc.
Besides being turned into money-making ventures, these ancient wisdoms of China have been put into the service of the powers that be, to serve as public display of a harmonious society. Thus we have seen government-sponsored displays, such as having tens of thousands of people reciting the Tao-Te-Ching in unison, or the tens of thousands offering public displays of Tai-Chi - gaudy but effective tools of manipulation.
It may be that this inability within Chinese civilization to generate a spiritual counterbalance to its materialistic side, can go some way to explain the other inadequacy of Chinese civilization, namely, the absence of any form of democratic institution.
It is no coincidence that the only officially sanctioned philosophy is that of Confucius. Although Confucianism is not without a certain eloquence about the higher virtues of mankind, this eloquence is of the kind that comes out of an empty vessel. The entire wisdom of Confucianism can be summed up very briefly in one sentence: “Obey thy Elders, but above all, obey thy Emperor!”
That democracy could take root in Western civilization is largely due to the fact that the secular institution of the State has been counterbalanced by the spiritual institution of the Church. Although the Church has not been without reproach, the mere fact that Power has not been allowed to coalesce in one single place left sufficient room for all the other freedoms to co-exist.
“Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God's.” That alone enabled individual freedom to survive, and the human genius to develop.
In China, unfortunately, because there has never been any spiritual counterbalance to temporal authority, everything belongs to the Emperor, and everything is meant to serve his greater glory. Is it any wonder that Chinese civilization is so materialistic, so devoid of a soul?
One would have thought that Chinese civilization, being so extremely materialistic, should have been the spawning ground for Capitalism. Instead, it was in a puritanical environment that this form of Materialism a l’outrance was born. It is clear that even Materialism needs to be nurtured and sustained by trust. And without spiritual life, there is no ground to anchor trust among people, nor is there room for conscience to develop.
It is claimed that Capitalism has found fertile ground in today’s China. That’s not true. It is only a bastardized form of Capitalism “with Chinese characteristics” that has developed. Like Socialism “with Chinese characteristics”, the only similarity with the original is in the name.
It is no coincidence that Chinese businessmen are notorious for unscrupulous practices. Although Jews also share in such unenviable reputation, at least in the case of Jews this only applies to their dealings with non-Jews. Among Jews, Bernie Madoff notwithstanding, there is trust. The Chinese, however, have no reservations about “screwing” even their own kind. Is it any wonder that China today is the land of fakes – from fake eggs, to fake milk powder, to fake official statistics?
By pointing out this aberration in Chinese civilization, and by re-introducing a correct appreciation of the neglected aspects of ancient Chinese wisdom, of the Tao, we hope to convince our compatriots that man does not live by bread alone, and that there is a greater Law and Moral code in this universe than the laws and purposes of those who are in power. Our task may turn out to be not unlike the effort of Sisyphus, but at least we would have tried.
