YESTERDAY'S SCHOLARSHIP AND KUNGFU ARE TODAY'S
CULTURE AND PONGFU
Today's world is very different from that of
yesterday. So, yesterday's scholarship and kungfu must be
modified to adapt to today's environment. Furthermore, all this
is really
for the future. As computers and machines will inevitably take
over our efforts in the production and distribution of basic
necessities, we need
something purposeful to occupy our minds and bodies, with scholarship
and kungfu, respectively.
In terms of scholarship, China must rely on reviving her culture,
starting with the language. China should reinstate the old social
structure based on level of cultural breeding. My elementary
school Chinese
education has only allowed me to suggest the employment of the 100
culturally-oriented Chinese characters, to be scrupulously arranged
in an exacting order of moral priorities, in the proposed universal
language as a
starter. The new-gained popularity of
Chinese language around the world provides a good opportunity to
standardize such an introduction. Anyway, the versatility of the
Chinese language would allow future doubters to modify and rearrange to
their hearts' content.
Scholarship must be a habit of behavior deeply engraved in our
brains.
R.W. Emerson once said: "We are what we think about all day
long."
Education today is into pseudo-scholarships, such as social sciences
and engineering. To prevent this from distracting us from the
true
scholarship of cultural
development, I have proposed the 1000 computer English words in the
universal language as substitutes for pseudo-scholarships. Very
soon technological development would be
totally based on computer know-hows. Adopting this simple set of
English words would put China at the forefront of technology without
jeopardizing cultural pursuits, and at
the same time, put technology in the backseat. Just as the
computer has beat the world chess champ, this new gained mass
proficiency in computing would allow China to leave the developed
countries behind in her dust.
In terms of kungfu, I do have a very strong personal preference.
It's pingpong. Or, I called it pongfu,
for pingpong kungfu. I want something non-violent and measurable,
but not quite just a pickup from the
streets. So, it's pingpong being played with
intelligent-designed, drill-until-you-drop, ballet-like, kungfu
strokes. The goal is
to put everyone
on a twenty-four-hour-a-day alert on keeping fit.
Someone once laughed at my proposal by suggesting that political and
military leaders should be selected based on their pingpong
skills. Now, suppose this is done. And as most vividly
demonstrated by our symbol of kungfu, Kuankung, wars were decided on an
one-on-one battle to the death between the top generals. So, from
now on, when reason reaches its end, let a pingpong match decide.
Isn't that better than exchanging suicide bombs for smart
bombs.
And remember, the real war modern material people
need to
fight is fat.
Instead of beating swords into plowshade, we now replace bombs by
pongfu paddles.
Finally, it would be irresponsible to close without answer the
question: What in the world is this social status have to do with
us? Yes, we have tried class feudal system and classless
communistic system. And now we are all dumped in a sorting
machine by wealth, power and fame. In an absolute sense, today a
person's social status is, in actuality, inversely proportional to his
status as a
person.
We need a new social status that measures the person rather than about
him. Pongfu would measure
his body. Scholarship, his soul. People
will be
classified accordingly. Social ladder climbing will be a
full time job. The collective
purpose of humanity will be to
enhance the social status of the society. Wouldn't
this be more fun than our present day race to become the top rat in the
neighborhood?