天地不仁? (Natural disaster & old wisdom)

As I was watching on TV the drifting cars, containers, ships, houses, and the burning flames in the northeastern Japan, I couldn’t help but think, isn’t it the end of the world 世界末日(shi4 jie4 mo4 ri4) for the residents of the quake-stricken area? You got the shaking earth, the flood, the blazes, and even the leaking radiations. What else do you need?

I read that the word tsunami originates from Japanese, meaning the waves by the port. We call a tsunami 海嘯(hai3 xiao4), the ocean’s howl in Chinese. It was frequently mentioned two, three years ago as the financial, or economic tsunami 金融海嘯(jin rong2 hai3 xiao4) was raging the world. I think the term is a vivid description of how people’s property is washed away at a very short moment.

In the wake of the 8.8-magnitude quake, the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan 中央氣象局(zhong yang qi4 xiang ju2) issued its first tsunami alert海嘯警報(hai3 xiao4 jing3 bao4)and some coastal cities announced an early closing of school and office. Luckily the海嘯turned out to be only half a meter high.

When staring at those drifting along the waves, I thought of the old Chinese saying 水能載舟(shui4 neng2 zai4 zhou)，亦能覆舟(yi4 neng2 fu4 zhuo) Water can carry a boat (載舟), but it can also overturn it (覆舟). Its connotation is that people can make a ruler, but they are also able to overthrow him. (Look at the prevailing revolutions these days!) It broadly refers to those things that can both benefit and harm you, like water does.

And viewing such stunning and heartbreaking scenes as this quake makes it evitable for many people to remember what 老子(lao3 zi3), one of the greatest philosophers in Chinese history, said in his classic 道德經(dao4 de2 jing): 天地不仁(tian di4 bu4 ren2)，以萬物為芻狗(yi3 wan4 wu4 wei2 shu2 gou3)。芻狗 was the sacrifice used in a worship to the divines made of paper or straw in a dog’s shape. The sentence is often interpreted as it literally appears. That is, the sky and the earth 天地, or the nature, is cruel and unsympathetic不仁. He treats all the creatures in the world 萬物like he does the dog sacrifices芻狗.

But I did some research on this sentence and found out some other interpretation of this sentence. According to the ancient scholar 王弼(wang2 bi4), the point of this sentence is that the universe is running by the law of nature, without much of manipulation. It doesn’t show any favor and treats everything equally. It allows all the creatures to run on their natural courses. In politics, a good government is the one that doesn’t give too many restrictions or interfere with people’s lives too much.

Still, I’d like to conclude this writing with its title,天地不仁, in what it appears to mean literally. Perhaps what we need is a bit of the spirit of the heroes in the Greek tragedies. Sometimes we’ll get teased and fall, but we’ll always manage to stand up again. Like my friend Spenser sometimes claims “I think I’m gonna quit my job and revel since it’s near the end of the world.” But, he’s always working his ass off!

海嘯=海啸

中央氣象局=中央气象局

警報=警报

載舟=载舟

道德經=道德经

天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗=天地不仁，以万物为刍狗