;)
The Lion Awakes
渐渐苏醒的睡狮
jiàn jiàn sū xǐng de shuì shī
Gradually wakes the sleeping lion
Two quotes are attributed to Napoleon in 1803 (before he became emperor), he is said to have pointed to China on a map and said,
"Ici repose un géant endormi, laissez le dormir, car quand il s'éveillera, il étonnera le monde" (here lies a sleeping giant (lion in other versions), let him sleep, for when he wakes up, he will shock the world).
The second, more famous one, which is supposed to have been said in St Helena, "quand la chine s'éveillera, le monde tremblera" (when China wakes up, the world will shake).
I, Graeme, had always used the phrase, 'The Dragon Awakes'. Xiaosui mentioned that in China the phrase more often used is 'The Lion Awakes'.
The Chinese people have long felt the yoke of oppression: Colonialism, Opium, Disunity after the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911, The Japanese Invasion, then when Communism gave the Chinese back their nation, Mao came along with the 'Great Leap Forward' and the 'Cultural Revolution'.
The Chinese people have yearned to see their nation take its place in the world again. It was, after all, the pre-eminant economic power for 18 of the last 20 centures.
Over a Billion people with one focus is a powerful force.
In 1979 Deng Xiaoping unleashed that force and gave it a direction.
The 'west', America in particular, seem unsure of this lion. Whether to try to keep it contained or let it roam freely.
The Chinese people, for the reasons given above, only want peace. They know that only peace can assure the economic rise and rise of China and give them the peace and prosperity they are working for.
A Quote from Goethe
I think many European intellectuals (not just French) were fascinated by the "Great Encounter", the realisation that, in a very distant place, a very advanced civilisation had existed and developed for so long. Here is a very famous quote by Goethe (1827) which mirrors Napoleon's comment,
'During these days, since I have not seen you', Goethe said,' I have read a great deal, and of various kind, especially a Chinese novel, that still is in my mind, and which seems to me a very curious work.'
Chinese novel? I said, that will probably be something very strange.
'Not as much as one should believe, Goethe said. 'The thoughts, actions, and sentiments of people over there are almost the same as ours, and very soon one feels to be similar to them, only with the difference, that with them everything seems to be clearer, more cleanly, and more moral.
Everything they do is reasonable, civil, without great passions or poetic impetus and has therefore much in common with my ''Hermann und Dorothea", as well as with the English novels written by Richardson.
The difference is to be found in the circumstance. That, with them, nature always lives together. The goldfish can be heard making splashes in the ponds, the birds are continuously singing on their branches, the day is always serene and sunny, the night always clear; the moon is mentioned frequently, but she does not change the landscape, because her light is thought to be as clear as daylight. And the interior of the houses are as pleasant and graceful as their drawings.
For example : "I heard the lovely girls laugh, and when I saw them, they sat on fine cane-chairs". There you have a delightful situation, because cane-chairs cannot be imagined without thinking of them as being light and graceful.
And then there is a great number of legends that always accompany the story and are used in an almost proverbial way. For example, the talk goes of a girl, whose feet were as light and graceful, that she could keep her balance on a flower without breaking her. Or of a young man, who was so well-behaved and brave that on his thirtieth birthday he had the honour to talk with the emperor. And of couples being after a long time engaged still in such chaste love, that when once it was necessary that they stayed together in a room over night—they did not touch each other, but talked, and watched in this way until the night was over.
And thus a lot of legends, that all consider of what is moral and proper to do. Just by this means, of such a strict restraint in everything, did the Chinese Empire have the great force to maintain its existence for thousands of years, and in this way will continue to exist also in the future.' "
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