江山 Jiangshan, or River and Mountain, translates in Chinese to ‘one’s country’. It is a term used possessively by a ruler. When Zhou En Lai responded to Nixon’s puzzlement on why he received such a small amount of Dahongpao as the official State gift in 1972, Zhou said to him ‘we gave away the equivalent of half the Jiangshan’.
So what constitutes the country of China to a ruler, includes the Jiang (Yangtze River), and Shan- all the spectacular mountains in between. And preferably all the areas that have both river and mountain together, the ultimate spectacular scene like Wuyi.
The Jiangshan of China has both become more orderly and prosperous, and more restrictive and repressive. I noticed that on this trip, the Great Firewall of China has tighten its grip even more. I could not access many smaller sites, nor could I access even the Teance site. Forget YouTube or Facebook. Many selective content on sites like CNN were also eliminated but one is under the illusion that such news sites were permitted.
But who needs freedom of speech when you have Dahongpao to drink and a relaxing raft down the River, right?
Philosophically, is it ok to live in repression in exchange for peace and prosperity? Or is the seemingly available freedom of expression really freedom of thought? Is there really freedom of thought, aside from the practice of the sages? Isn’t our US media brainwash just as insidious as Communist government mind control? We, the people of Hong Kong, tend to think these were very taxing discussions, and go get ourselves some egg tarts and afternoon tea instead. Yet when such freedoms were taken away from the people of Hong Kong, they rose to defend it- at last, something was more important than food and the many luxuries and comforts in life.
