When President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been slain by US forces and that justice had been done just a few months ahead of the tenth anniversary of the 911 attack, I remembered the Chinese saying 君子報仇，十年不晚 (jun zi3 bao4 c hou2, shi2 nian2 bu4 wan3)
君子is a virtuous man. 報仇, to revenge, 十年ten years, 不晚not too late. It’s never too late for a virtuous man to take revenge even if it takes ten years. Sometimes people will say another version of it, three years, 三年(san nian2), but the idea is the same.
There are several ways to see this proverb. With a 國仇家恨(guo2 chou2 jia hen4), a feud that has to do with the existence of the whole nation or family, a virtuous man will keep it in mind as his mission and wait for the right time to get even. He won’t act reckless. In the 911 attack case, thousands of innocent civilians, including children and women, were murdered, plus the destroy of the Twin Tower, it’s certainly a國仇家恨. Killing the mastermind behind the attack at this point perfectly corresponds to the proverb.
On the other hand, it’s inevitable that we get irritated when done wrong by others in our daily life. At that moment we just want to beat up those wrong-doers to let off some steam. The problem is, is it worth it? Do we have to get into troubles and punish ourselves for some scum? On second thought, we remember the proverb and say to ourselves, I’ll wait and see. Ten years later if I’m still mad, I’ll take action. Usually ten days, even ten hours is enough for you to get over it. Or sometimes you are too weak or too chicken to fight the bully, you say this just as a bluff.
報仇 or復仇(fu4 c hou2) is one of the most important themes in Chinese Wu-Xia novel武俠小說(wu3 xia2 xiao3 shuo). The protagonist, whose father has been murdered by some evil rascal, strives all his life in search of a kungfu classic or a master as his mentor and strenuously hones his kungfu skills, so that he could revenge on his father’s death by killing the evil rascal. Whatever metaphor you think it is, in the Wu-xia world, where right and wrong are so distinguished and justice is always done, it is a relief and comfort for us to see the justice done. 正義伸張(zheng4 yi4 shen zhang), which is not always the case in the real world. Perhaps that’s why sometimes we have to say to ourselves君子報仇，十年不晚. We’ll have to wait patiently.
It is reported that Osama Bin Laden had been trained and learned his military skills in the US
Thrilled and exhilarated as Americans are, they have to keep alert for the possible action the terrorists might take in the aftermath of Osama Bin Laden’s death, which I really don’t want to see. As what we say 冤冤相報何時了(yuan yuan xiang bao4 he2 shi2 liao3). 冤冤相報, the circle of revenge, 何時, when, 了, end. When will the vicious circle end if you keep revenging on each other? Prayers alone perhaps is never enough. To cope with the terrorism, you got to learn some “kungfu” so as to protect yourself.
君子報仇，十年不晚=君子报仇，十年不晚
國仇家恨=国仇家恨復仇=复仇武俠小說=武侠小说正義伸張=正义伸张飼老鼠咬布袋=饲老鼠咬布袋 冤冤相報何時了=冤冤相报何时了
沒有留言:
張貼留言