heroes

我辈练功学武， 所为何事？ 行侠仗义, 济人困厄固然乃是本分, 但这只是侠之小者。江湖上所以尊称我一声‘郭大侠’， 实因敬我为国为民， 奋不顾身地助守襄阳。 然我才力有限， 不能为民解困， 实在愧当‘大侠’两字。 你聪明智慧过我十倍， 将来成就定然远胜于我， 这是不消说的。 只盼你心中牢牢记住‘为国为民， 侠之大者’这八个字， 日后名扬天下， 成为受万民敬仰的真正大侠。是啊， 鞠躬尽瘁， 死而后已。

The Chinese language is a beautiful one. Too bad I’m never able to master in it. To write with it is simply a travesty to the language. After months of reading novels by 金庸, I decided to write something about it. I knew that it would not do justice to his great works simply commenting about it in English, and thus quoted this short except from ‘神雕侠侣.’

It is after reading each series I found myself having a deeper and more profound understanding of what heroes are all about. It’s not simply about the skills, the characters’ abilities to defeat everyone they come up against. I think when one would look closer, the ‘侠’ depicted in each series are very different people – 萧峰’s dilemma between loyalty to his friends and his country, 段誉’s undivided attention towards 王语嫣 and his loyalty to his brothers, 郭靖’s unwavering patriotism, 杨过’s steadfast love for 小龙女, 令狐聪’s carefree, ‘潇洒’ outlook to life. Yet at the same time, their lives seem to be revolving around 4 Chinese words – 孝 (filial)、 义(trustworthiness)、 仁(kindness)、 忠(loyalty)。 Maybe that’s what heroes are all about – a certain selflessness, and that willingness to sacrifice anything and everything for people they love and who love them, even people who they do not know, as well as faithfulness to their words, and that as long as their conscience is clear, they know they will owe no one explanations.

These days, everywhere seems to be filled with backstabs and gossip, out of that desperate desire for the top. Trust seems a foreign word, especially when one sees how marriage can be torn asunder, how families can be devastated, how friendships can be worth no more than a cent. 如果君子一言，驷马难追， then I wonder how many ‘君子’ are there in our world today!

Maybe it’s in such fantasy lands we can have a greater confidence in people, in life, that they could very well be people like these heroes who even we have grown to respect.

Guo Jing’s love for his country can be really amazing, especially in this age. It may be just taken from a story, but in the history of China, one can easily name one or two who will have such thoughts. Yue Fei is simply one of them. Countries fall and countries rise, but I don’t think these patriots are just defending their countries alone. Instead, I think they would want to do their part to protect their own people, people who they grew up with, and they knew they would be enslaved if the country is to fall under foreign rule. I thought it’s so sad whenever I realize that there will be countless who will try to flee first should my country come under attack. It’s ironic to see how the world is shrinking, and yet at the same time, the distance between each individual could grow larger and larger. And in the end, it sounds as if every man’s for himself. I remember watching the movie ‘We were soldiers’, remember being touched at the last part when the narrator speaks that at the end of the Vietnam world, they brought home with them not the flag but the friendships of fellow soldiers they were fighting alongside with. Perhaps it’s true tribulations the good of Man will shine. Will I risk my life for another? Will I do my best, to die without regrets? These are some questions I’ll be asking myself for perhaps the rest of my life, unless there comes one day when I’ve to make such a decision.

In his after word to his novel 神雕侠侣, 金庸 wrote the following:

郭靖说：“为国为民， 侠之大者。”这句话在今日仍有重大的积极意义。 但我深信将来国家的界限会消失， 那时候‘爱国’， ‘叛国’等等观念就没有多大意义了。 然而父母子女兄弟间的亲情，纯真的友谊、 爱情、正义感、仁善、勇于助人、为社会献身等等感情与品德， 相今后还是长期地为人们所赞美， 这似乎不是任何政治理论、经济制度、社会改革、宗教信仰等所能替代的。

Perhaps in this cosmopolitan world, patriotism is gradually losing its meaning. Yet our morals, our knowledge of what is good and what is bad (which I believe to be God’s gift and general revelation to Man) will not change. We will appreciate trust, appreciate our family ties, appreciate the kindness and generosity and altruism. Somewhat these will never cease to exist perhaps for eternity to come. And this at the very least can be what we have confidence in, what we can hope for, and what our natural conscience will tell us. For what God has given to us, let Man not destroy.