The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 40
Friday, January 8, 2010 at 2:30AM The Sanguo Yanyi - Chapter 40:
Lady Cai Renounces Jingzhou;
Zhuge Liang Burns Xinye.
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WARNING! IT IS REALLY, REALLY F'N COLD OUTSIDE!
I suppose that doesn't have much to do with ancient Chinese Literature, but it's true nonetheless. Hope everyone's staying inside where it's (hopefully) warm. At any rate, this is Chapter 40, and guess what that means? I'm now officially 1/3 of the way done with this massive project that I've taken upon myself. Not much of an accomplishment, I know, but I'll take what I can get! :p
At any rate, when we last left off, Zhuge Liang, in his first battle ever, routed the vastly superior army of Xiahou Dun at Bowang Po. What's that you say? So what if Zhuge Liang defeated Xiahou Dun in his first attack? It could be a fluke? Yeah, it probably seems that way to some. Allow Chapter 40 to demonstrate for you that Zhuge Liang is no flash in the pan. This time, it's Cao Ren and Xu Chu leading the forces of Cao Cao to seek out and destroy the remnants of Liu Bei's army. And all that's standing between Liu Bei and total and utter annihilation is a few really brave and strong generals, less than a thousand battle hardened soldiers, and the matchless cunning of Zhuge Liang. Seems like the odds are against Liu Bei on this one, huh?
Wrong. The odds are very much in Liu Bei's favor, because he has Zhuge Liang and capable generals able to execute the instructions of Zhuge Liang to the letter. A large army does not necessarily the victor make. As Cao Cao's army advances south, Zhuge Liang instructs Liu Bei to abandon Xinye, which no longer has much strategic importance or even defensability, and march south. Liu Bei, demonstrating once again a concern for the people, allows them to follow him if they so wish, thus hampering the pace of his own army, and putting his entire army at great risk.
Were it not for Zhuge Liang, Liu Bei WOULD have been destroyed. As it is, though, the delaying actions implemented by Zhuge Liang at Bowang Po and Xinye have forestalled the drop of the hammer for a time, and bought Liu Bei a respite, if only a brief one. For Liu Bei would not abandon the peasantry who had chosen to follow him rather than live under Cao Cao, though to do so would certainly be the course of wisdom.
Meanwhile, in Jingzhou, Liu Biao has met his end, denied the sight of his eldest son by his oh-so-wonderful wife and in-laws. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have to admit, when it comes to the matter of the Cai family during the novel, I am completely and utterly biased. Cai Mao represents, to me, a great lot of what is despicable in the world. The character of Cai Mao (and his sister, for that matter) as portrayed in the novel is a slimy, conniving, greasy little scumbag, and I tend to compare Cai Mao to the madmen of my own day who are in charge of my homeland, and find them to be serpents spawned in the same pit.
Cai Mao was a member of the nobility of the late-Han, a man who had a duty to uphold and protect his country, that being the Han Empire. Furthermore, he had a duty to the people of Jingzhou, and to his Lord, Liu Biao. Compare that with guys like, for instance, the "esteemed" Senator Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut, or just about every neo-Con in this country, for that matter. What do they have in common? They both sold out the very people they were supposed to be working for. In Lieberman's case, it was utterly disregarding the clearly expressed will of two thirds of his state in order to kill anything good that might have been included in that f'n ridiculous FARCE that the scumbag politicians in Washington choose to call a "Health Care Bill". In Cai Mao's case, it was selling out the people of Jingzhou, disregarding the last will and testament of his Lord, Liu Biao, denying Liu Qi, Biao's eldest son, the opportunity to even come and see his father's body, setting up the wrongful heir, Liu Zong, and delivering the Jing Province into Cao Cao's hands.
In both the cases of American Politicians and the Cai Family of Jingzhou, these actions are nothing short of disgusting, repugnant, and utterly inappropriate for any decent human being to commit. In Joseph Lieberman's case, he and his filthy cronies have caused the death of countless multitudes, who now will be unable to receive any decent healthcare coverage and will DIE as a result. In the case of the Cai family, many died as a result of his actions, and in fact, I think it's a pretty safe bet that Cai Mao was to blame for the tragedy at Chang Ban (next chapter), where many upon many more innocent peasants died at the hands of Cao Cao's ravaging army. If Cai Mao hadn't sold out Jingzhou, then Liu Bei might possibly have been able to repulse Cao Cao's invasion.
Now here's the point that I'm trying to make here. In ancient China, men like Cai Mao used their power to uphold a system that only benefited people of their social class. Cai Mao acted only to serve his OWN selfish interests, and those of his own family and peers, the Aristocracy. He had absolutely no care for the peasantry and probably, though this is only speculation, didn't even consider them to be full human beings. This attitude is echoed here in the States. For each and every one of you who lives here, take these words to heart: Your government does not give a damn about you. Unless you've got a ton of money.
And why is it, do you suppose, that the peasantry in ancient China and the peasantry...I'm sorry, I meant, the lower 97 percent of the entire population of the United States of America...suffered and continue to suffer such indignities, such injustices, such ingnominies? Here is the answer to that question: They suffered these things and CONTINUE to suffer these things because they ALLOW it.
The peasantry in the Late-Empire outnumbered the nobility by massive margins, and the same applies here and now. Sheer numbers alone would have overwhelmed the nobility and yeomanry, had the peasants ever realized their own power. (The Yellow Turbans, who probably had half a million followers at the time of their rebellion, if not closer to a million, may have lost to government troops, but imagine if a HUNDRED million peasants were mobilized in rebellion? No force in the Empire would have been able to quell THAT tide.) Here, there are maybe 3-5 million "aristocracy" who run the entire country, and in many ways, much of the rest of the world. Meanwhile, there are another 300 million hardworking peasants...sorry again, I meant "Blue-Collar Workers", and their families. These people, myself included, constantly struggle to make rent and bills every month, while that small percentage at the top continues to ruin the world not only for us, but for everyone in the rest of the world too. Why? Because WE let them do it to us, and because of that fact, I am very sad to say that we, just like the poor benighted peasants in the late-Han, deserve everything that is dealt us. Don't like it? Don't put up with it, I guess. Otherwise, continue to work yourself into the grave like a good little serf. Your masters will be pleased by your fortitude, I'm sure.
There is a lesson to be learned from the Sanguo Period of Chinese History. During its 90-100 years, many, many millions died. Died. Ended. Gone. Themselves. Their families. Their friends. Dead. I think that this was so because the peasantry were too cowardly to rise up against that tiny little aristocracy that was running things. Here in the States, the people seem to have the same problem with standing up for themselves. And here, too, fathers and mothers, sons and daughters, friends and family die too, the result of pointless, POINTLESS wars in completely different hemispheres defending the financial interests of the disgusting politicians in Washington and their corporate puppeteers, financial interests in which you and I simply do not get to share at all. Do you or anyone that you know want to see a hundred million Americans die? No? I don't, either.
All right, time to get off my soapbox and allow you to take a listen to this, the fortieth chapter of the ongoing (and ongoing and ongoing and ongoing) Sanguo Yanyi audiobook. Enjoy, and I hope my words here were not spoken in vain. Hopefully, they've managed to touch the lives of someone out there...
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