Bo Yang

I first read Bo Yang's (柏扬) Ugly Chinaman (丑陋的中国人) in 1987 and found the book refreshing. That was the first time I encountered stark criticisms of the Chinese psyche, as well as blunt portrayals of the Chinese civilization. But the novelty soon wore off. Over the years, Bo Yang struck me as an extreme critic who refused to see anything good in the Chinese. He also struck me as someone who had an axe to grind, since he was imprisoned for close to a decade for "political subversion" by former Taiwan leader Chiang Kai-shek (蒋介石).

But my impressions changed after I read his more recent works this week. In the book 我们要活得有尊严 (or We Must Live With Dignity, Chunfeng Wenyi Publishing Press, 2003), I discovered a more moderated, mellowed, if not progressive Bo Yang.

For instance, Bo Yang turned the traditional concept of filial piety on its head when he suggested that parents should have moderated expectations of their children.

As he wrote:

"上帝不允许孩子永远记住父母入骨的爱, 那将使他们无法成长; 也不允许父母永远记住自己对儿女所作的牺牲, 那将使老人陷入期待回报的自怜. 而且, 事实上, 孩子早已经用儿语, 用拥抱, 用一声 "妈妈, 我好爱你啊!", 一声 "爸爸, 我要嫁一个像爸爸这样的好丈夫! 完全回报了! 是的, 完全回报了."

("Heaven Almighty does not allow children to forever remember their parents' deepest love, as this will not allow them to grow. Parents are also not allowed to forever remember the sacrifices they made for their children, as this will plunge them into self-pity and expecting gratitude. And besides, in reality, children had already fully paid back their parents' love by their childish talk, their hugs, and their claims of "Mommy, I really love you" and "Daddy, when I grow up, I want to marry a good husband like Daddy.")

But Bo Yang's former critical nature could still be found in smaller doses throughout the book, even though he was already 83 when he wrote the collection of short articles found in the book.

For instance, in accusing the Chinese of not having any respect for the individual, Bo Yang pointed to various incidents at various periods of Chinese history.

Such as an ancient local leader who enjoyed sucking on dried blood. Hence, the "task" of hundreds of lowly officials was to be whipped till they bled. The dried blood were then wiped off and poured into the leader's wine.

Then there was the case of an attendant to the son of a senior aristocrat. Every time the teenage boy needed to clear his throat, the attendant would open his mouth wide, so that the boy could spit directly into the attendant's mouth.

Then there were the more brutal cases. Such as the case of a warlord who used his subordinates to test out how good his swords were. Every time he acquired a new sword, he would try it out on the heads of his subordinates. If the heads fell off with a clean swoop, the sword is deemed a good sword. If not, the sword would be discarded, and new ones acquired (and new heads rolled).