Not Only Love, But Also Anger Is Needed to Save China

 Not Only Love, But Also Anger Is Needed to Save China

Mencius said: “What distinguishes a gentleman from others lies in his heart. A gentleman harbors benevolence in his heart and propriety in his heart. The benevolent love others, and those with propriety respect others. Those who love others are constantly loved in return; those who respect others are constantly respected in return.”

The Bible states: “We know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

From these two passages, it’s clear that both God and the ancient sages praised and advocated for benevolence and love—loving others, loving oneself, facing oneself and the thorny path of life with love and compassion, and approaching the world and the deceitful hearts of its people with love and mercy. From any perspective, I believe no one can deny the greatness of God and the sages. A person without a shred of love can hardly be called human; a society without a trace of love is bound to collapse. To put it without exaggeration, I believe that without love, the human world would be pitch black and lose all meaning for existence. No matter how grand the language used to praise love, it would not be excessive. However, I’d argue further that when facing communism and the Communist Party that promotes it, all descriptions of love and mercy become pale and powerless. Love and mercy lose their original meaning because, whether judged from theoretical foundations or historical reality, it’s not hard to see that the core of communism is hatred, and the root of the Communist Party’s establishment is also hatred.

Let’s first consider the theoretical foundation of communism. Anyone who has even briefly skimmed communist theory will notice that the most frequently used terms are undoubtedly “class,” “struggle,” “dictatorship,” and “revolution.” This is inevitable, as these four words form the absolute core of communist theory. Without overanalyzing, let’s just take these words at face value. I’d say that if anyone can detect even a hint of love or mercy in these four concepts, their forehead must have been kicked by a donkey—and not a tame one, but a wild one, because no domestic donkey could kick that hard. Joking aside, what is “class”? How is it defined? On the surface, communists divide society—originally a unified whole—into the “haves” and “have-nots” based on wealth. But this is, frankly, nonsense. The distinction between “haves” and “have-nots” only holds meaning in comparison, and from the perspective of exploitation, isn’t social power far more corrosive than wealth itself? The former’s destructive force surpasses the latter by several magnitudes. So, no matter how communists justify it, their division of classes is ultimately based on their own arbitrary judgments of good and evil. The obedient and easily manipulated are “good,” while the disobedient or hard-to-control are “bad.” Once good and evil are established, they gain a moral high ground and plant the seeds of hatred. With those seeds, the rest is easy. For communists, these seeds of hatred are magnified and nurtured through the naked hostility and violence of “struggle,” “dictatorship,” and “revolution” until they bloom into evil flowers and bear sinful fruit—the establishment of a glorious communist regime. This isn’t the end of hatred but a new beginning. To sustain their rule, “class,” “struggle,” “dictatorship,” and “revolution” sometimes need a degree of beautification, and hatred is occasionally disguised—say, as “love for the Party,” an absolute love surpassing even love for the heavens. With this kind of “love,” they gain the capital to hate everything outside the Party: the enemies it designates, those who disobey it, those who don’t love it, and those whose love for it isn’t fanatical enough. As long as communist theory persists, this hatred will endure. Even if the theory collapses, I believe this hatred will linger in some people for a long, long time, because this poison is truly, deeply toxic.

Now, let’s turn to historical reality and the Communist Party that promotes communism—specifically, for rigor’s sake, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Anyone with a basic understanding of the CCP, whether its history or present, knows its enemies have never disappeared. Not only do they come in an ever-evolving variety, but their numbers are simply countless. Let’s list a few: the “three great mountains,” the Nationalist reactionaries, the man-eating landlord class, the exploitative bourgeoisie, the lackeys of the bourgeoisie, brutal warlords, petty bourgeois intellectuals, historical counterrevolutionaries, Confucius, the “stinking ninth category,” the “black five categories,” counterrevolutionaries, bad elements, rightists, traitors, spies, capitalist roaders, intellectuals, ethnic separatists, speculators, the June Fourth counterrevolutionaries, corrupt officials, national traitors, sellouts, historical nihilists, troublemakers, those who insult martyrs, malicious wage demanders, malicious petitioners, overseas reactionary forces, Soviet revisionists, American imperialists, Western reactionary forces, and so on. The CCP’s enemies are truly too many to count. Put it this way: as long as someone breathes—including every single Communist Party member—they could all be considered sinners of the Party, or at least historical sinners. Mixing history and the present, every person, including all Party members, qualifies as a potential enemy. Even if a god descended from heaven, there’d be a category of enemy tailored for him or her. Even a true deity would be labeled “feudal superstition” and targeted for destruction by the Party. Why does the CCP have so many enemies—or rather, why does it go to such extremes to create them? On the surface, it’s to scapegoat all its sins or justify its legitimacy. But fundamentally, the Party needs enmity—it needs hatred to rule. Without hatred as its pillar, not only would communist theory collapse, but the Party would quickly lose power. I’m not afraid of being called extreme or arrogant; I’ll just say the truth is that straightforward.

After some analysis, I’d like to shift to something more emotional as a breather. I’ve always considered myself a kind and soft-hearted person since childhood—or more accurately, a very timid one. When I was seven or eight, a lamb we raised at home died, and I held it, crying my heart out; I still remember that gut-wrenching sorrow. At eighteen or nineteen, I saw a dead hedgehog on a barren slope by a river and buried it—I think I even paid my respects. In my youth, I donated blood many times. Even last year, early one morning, I happened to see an old man slaughtering a cow at his doorstep, and for over a year afterward, I barely ate beef or lamb (though I’ve started again now). Reading certain scenes in Jin Yong’s martial arts novels makes me cry, and watching sentimental videos can bring tears to my face. But lately, I’ve changed. The Urumqi fire, the Yangzhou chained woman, the Yunnan plane crash—countless horrific incidents have occurred. To say I’m not saddened would be too callous, but honestly, my emotional response isn’t as strong as it once was. Distance plays a role, of course, but I think my growing “coldness” stems more from a small realization I’ve come to fully grasp: an organization that has directly killed at least tens of millions in history and still shamelessly chants “remember history” every day cannot possibly refrain from evil. Evil is its instinct. If you face its crimes with mere sadness, even the coldest heart would break. I may not be as saddened now, but with each new atrocity revealed, my anger toward the Communist Party as a whole deepens bit by bit. My fury toward the “patriotic thieves” like Hu Xijin, Jin Canrong, Sima Nan, and Zhang Weiwei grows just as steadily. I’m not sure if this is normal, nor do I care much. I’m aware that mounting anger won’t make me happier—quite the opposite, it brings more pain. But I can’t help it; my experiences and insights have led me here. Since I started writing short essays a while ago, from the very first piece, I knew that if the Party ever noticed my words, they could slap me with labels like “national traitor,” “hater of the state,” “threat to national security,” “anti-Party, anti-government,” or even “terrorist.” They wouldn’t give me a shred of a fair chance to defend myself. They’d hate me, incite everyone who believes their rhetoric to hate me, and even if some random jerk on the other side of the world choked on water and died, they’d find a way to blame me. It’s only natural that I’ve despised them for a while now—despised the Party’s past crimes, its current brutality, its hopelessness for China’s future. Stripping away lofty rhetoric, what I despise most is how the Party has made me unhappy. To be clear, this hatred is directed at the Party as a whole and those “patriotic thief” representatives.

Having vented, let’s return to analysis. As I’ve outlined, whether from theory or history, it’s clear that communism’s core is hatred, and the Communist Party’s foundation is hatred. What’s more terrifying is that as long as communism is promoted, as long as the Party remains in power, this hatred cannot be resolved. What can be done? What should be done? From my limited understanding, there are three strategies—best, middling, and worst. The best is to stay far away—far from communism, farther from the Party. Take your family, your loved ones, your vulnerabilities, and flee as far as possible. The middling strategy is contempt—scorn communism, disdain the Party. Don’t be fooled by communism’s bluster or the Party’s arrogance. I firmly believe in the saying: “The way of heaven turns; their day of reckoning will come.” The worst strategy, I think, is anger. Anger brings pain, easily turns you into a villain, but it’s what can save China.

Communism has ravaged this land for over a century; the Party has ruled for over seventy years. How many冤魂 await justice? How many sins await cleansing? How much unfairness awaits shattering? Love and mercy are this land’s ancient traditions, but also its deep vulnerability. In a way, it’s this land’s love and mercy that let communism slip in and allowed the Party to run rampant. It’s time to use love and mercy as a solid foundation while making room for rational anger. Emotions within reason are a force, and in the fight against communism, without the fuel of anger, there’s bound to be a lack of strength. Fighting poison with poison isn’t the best method, but when the poison is too potent, there’s no other choice. Lancing an abscess is ugly, but without it, healing—and true hope—remains impossible, unless your “hope” is “long live the Party.” Long live the Party? Screw that. After cursing, I’ll add this: no matter how great the anger or how many feel it, it’s still an emotional issue. And emotions should ultimately be redeemed with love and mercy, guided by reason. Otherwise, at best, you’ll devour yourself; at worst, you’ll sink to the level of the Party and its “patriotic thief” lackeys. How could you still call yourself human?

At the end, I’d like to mention two masters of Chinese studies: Fu Sinian and Chen Yinke. Once, Fu Sinian fled, vowing to “bury his bones on Tianheng Island,” and died not long after. Chen Yinke stayed, taught for a few years, grew old, went blind, and, clinging to his “spirit of independence and freedom of thought,” was persecuted to death. Imagine Fu Sinian’s regrets at his end; imagine Chen Yinke’s tragic nobility. So, every intellectual who still trumpets communism, every one who sings the Party’s praises—they’re all fake intellectuals, unworthy of the word “culture.” They should taste communism’s brutality, feel the Party’s iron fist firsthand. Culture isn’t inherently noble, but when shackled with hypocrisy and deceit, it’s tantamount to sin. And sin must be repaid.

June 16, 2023, Friday