The following is from the true identity of China (Kō Bun'yū), published on January 31, 2020.
Mr. Kō Bun'yū is one of the world's leading scholars of China.
It is a must-read not only for Japanese citizens but also for people around the world.
P131~138
◎A society of misanthropy born from lies
In a society where "only cheaters are real," people naturally distrust people.
Naturally, since relationships of trust are not possible, only lone wolves can survive, and with the addition of self-centeredness, Sinocentrism must have been born.
Moreover, lying became indispensable for survival because of this social structure.
Such a mentality became the national style and even the national spirit. The only thing that emerges in words and deeds from this social ethos is a behavior riddled with lies.
Of course, it is not only modern China, but it has already become a misanthropic society since ancient times, so it has become a traditional culture. It is even called "deception culture."
Mencius, active in the early days of the Warring States period, preached the "theory of sexual goodness" with compassion. Still, his junior Xun Kuang advocated the "theory of sexual evil" as the antithesis of this theory, questioning, "If humans are sexual goodness, why do we need education?
Han Feizi, the immortal work of Han Fei, who is said to be a disciple of Xun Kuang, is even called the "anthropology of disbelief" and explains human nature logically.
Astonishingly, it could have realized such a calm and profound insight into human nature some 2,000 years before Machiavelli's "The Theory of the Sovereign.
Therefore, he was nothing short of "precocious." After reading this book, King Zheng of Qin(later to become Qin Shi Huang) was utterly fascinated by Han Fei. There is even an episode in which he lamented that he would have no regrets even if he died after meeting this author.
Most of the national history (Chinese history) I learned in elementary, junior high, and high school was the history of wars and revolutionary upheavals, such as who killed whom.
Therefore, I believed that history was "the history of killing each other," and I memorized many for exams.
In a society that distrusts human beings, it is not a case of "When you go out of the gate, you will find seven enemies. " Society is full of "tigers at the front gate" and "wolves at the back gate.
What was even more frightening was the "inside the gate. Girls were not as scared as boys.
Even if they did not go out of the gate, they would still be engaged in a bloody feud within the entrance. That is the scariest part.
In Chinese society, in particular, the "family-oriented view" is based on common sense that the bonds of the family are vital because the family has been under the rule of the clan, religion, and even "family under heaven" since ancient times.
However, even though this is common sense, it is by no means "good sense. It is not uncommon for people to become so obsessed with the family that they develop into power struggles due to the interests of their relatives.
Many people know that "even wives are enemies" in China. However, a husband and wife are still strangers. In China, disputes between parents and children, fathers and sons, and brothers and sisters, so-called "flesh and bone disputes," are commonplace.
When there is a conflict of interest, it inevitably happens. Mothers and children, even fathers and daughters, are no exception.
The relatively well-known case of Wu Zetian, who killed his daughter to compete with the empress for the title of queen and even killed the crown prince who had gutted him, is well known.
Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty was conspired to murder by his wife, Empress Wei, and his daughter, Princess Anle, mother and daughter.
Even father and son, mother and daughter, cannot let their guard down and can become a formidable presence at any moment. It is not only that "even wives are enemies.
As far as Chinese history is concerned, the struggle of flesh and bone is not a rare or limited history but is a traditional national trait.
The higher the ladder, the more intense the bone fights become, and tens of thousands of people can become collateral damage.
In many cases, even the nine clans are executed. That is the law of history, and that is the stipulation.
In China, where fake documents, fake bills, fake education, and fake anything goes, fake banks and even fake official letters of Zhou Enlai have appeared.
Society is inundated with fake documents, but the country is also said to be "corruption-free" (no official is corrupt or dishonest).
There is no end to the number of government officials who turn the nation's wealth into private property. According to the estimates of government officials, the total amount of money spent by the government is more than 10% of the GDP (gross domestic product). Still, in reality, the amount is actually more than a quarter of the GDP. The amount is said to be as much as one to one-half of the total.
It is no wonder that people distrust the government and distrust people.
Far from believing no one, it is called "absent-minded illness" to be confused about how much you can believe and what you should do.
Many Chinese suffer from this, so it can say that China is a country with "absent-minded syndrome."
Of course, this is a Chinese disease unique to the Chinese and is different from Marxists' "human alienation" and the "loss of self" favored by existentialists. Still, it is also a condition born from the "resignation" of Buddhism and the "helplessness" of the Chinese.
Because of their distrust of the state, society, and human beings, they have no passion at all for anything they do. In this way, they fall into the "three principles" of indifference, irresponsibility, and apathy.
There is no way to deal with the enormous power of the gods, no matter how much they talk about "reform and opening up," no matter how much they talk about "breaking the four old ways" (overthrowing old ideas, old cultures, old customs, and old manners and practices), no matter how much they talk about the "divine power of the gods," even though the long historical legend has a heavenly son with a divine mission and the great and wise red sun.
When it comes to having to live in a country with such a loss of self, people become mentally deranged. It is no longer an "absent-minded syndrome."
In China, some 35 million youths under the age of 17 are said to have some mental disorder.
The number of mentally ill people in China has already exceeded 100 million, and in 10 to 20 years, one out of every four people will be mentally ill.
In North America, a tragedy occurred when a Chinese student accused his guarantor of staying with him and shot and killed all the research students and professors at the university research institute he attended.
In a society where one after another, friends and comrades are purged, there is a strong sense of anxiety that the next one might be me.
Even a man as intelligent, clever, and cunning as Zhou Enlai has a three-fold personality, meaning that what he thinks, what he does, and what he does are completely different.
Moreover, he could only survive as Premier of the State Council under Mao Zedong; Zhou Enlai was a mere slave to Mao.
In his long relationship with Mao, Zhou Enlai has successfully dodged the party's ten major struggles, which he reported at the 10th National Congress of the CPC held in 1973 after Lin Biao's ouster. And he has calmly watched the actions of "close comrades-in-arms" such as Liu Shaoqi, Chang Dehua, and Lin Biao until Mao Zedong purged them.
Researchers have pointed to the Chinese character for euphemisms, disobedience, skepticism, cunning, cowardice, dishonesty, irresponsibility, lack of curiosity, and taking advantage of one's natural destiny.
These characteristics may be the result of a long, long historical climate.
Why do the Chinese emphasize "friendship" not only with Japan but also with any other country?
Perhaps it is a paradox born of a society that distrusts human beings.
And for China, which has persistently dealt with friendly people and friendly trading companies, the right to interpret this "friendship" lies solely with the Chinese side.
If they believe that they are unfriendly, then yesterday's friends will become today's enemies.
Mao's friends were only good-natured Japanese or eccentric Westerners like Edgar Snow.
He never knew when the people around him would turn on him in his sleep.
Therefore, he must have read "The History of the Three Kingdoms" many times in his secret room in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, and honed his intrigue skills to see how he would win the next battle.
This article continues.
