The rise and fall of a God (chop suey)

Last month we heard of the North Korean leader Kim Jong Il’s death and saw the whole nation’s wailing for the loss of their leader, or, to be more exact, their all knowing and all powerful God.  

Seeing the painful people wailing for their leader, the only term came to my mind was 如喪考妣 (ru2 sang4 kao3 bi3), as sad as one has been bereaved of his own father or mother. 如means like; 喪bereaved; 考deceased father; 妣deceased mother.

Such a scene may seem absurd from a democratic society’s, such as Taiwan’s point of view. However, I myself have seen this happening around me in person, along with millions of Taiwanese.

When former President Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石died in 1975, I was 10. He had been five-term president ever since he retreated to Taiwan. (5/20/1948-1/21/1949, 3/1/1950-4/5/1974 his death), “elected” by the National Assembly of the R.O.C., with a formal democracy, though. I was brought up under his regime.

When he died, our TV shows turned to black and white and no entertainment shows were allowed. All you heard was his memorial song. And you saw what you’re seeing today in the North Korea. Hundred of thousands of people were wailing on the sides of the streets on their knees during his funeral. Such a memory I’ve carried since ten is still fresh and vivid, though I did not understand what that meant as a ten year old.

When watching the follow-up news on Kim Jong Il’s death the other day, I told my 15-year-old daughter that I’d seen such a scene before. Then she told me as a joke what she had heard from her teacher, two “anecdotes” of Chiang Kai-shek, which were put in the textbook of our generation to build a just image of his, a move of 造神(zao4 shen2), creation of “God.”

To be honest, I’m so glad that such a scene is no longer seen in my society. There’s no denying that ever since Taiwan’s 38-year-long martial law, the longest in the world, was lifted in 1987, (the year I graduated from college) we’ve seen drastic changes and progress of democracy in Taiwan, though complaints do exist.  

Seeing the starving people mourning for their leader, I’m wondering how long it will take for this god (now played by his son) to fall to the ground? How long will it take for the high walls that have separated the people from outside to collapse? When will things happening these two years in the Middle East happen in this isolated peninsula?

如喪考妣=如丧考妣

蔣介石=蒋介石