Yi-Fu Tuan - Dear Colleague

February 2 , 2005

Dear Colleague,

As humans gain power, there is an increasing tendency to blame even natural disasters on human misbehavior. The hurricane of 1970 that flooded and killed hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh, for example, was certainly a natural disaster. Even so, some could and did say that global warming, caused by humans, was ultimately responsible. What about the tsunami disaster of December 26, 2004? It was caused by a shift in the tectonic plates. No one, not even the most ardent environmentalist, was willing to point his finger at excessive deforestation, or other human foibles. Still, speaking generally, even today and even in the all-powerful United States, we tend to blame God--we say "it's an act of God"--when a terrible natural disaster occurs.

Not so the Chinese. Allow me to quote extensively from the sinologist Arthur Waley. He writes:

"One is struck at once by the prevalence of the belief that the course of nature is influenced by the behavior of human beings, and in particular that of the Emperor and the ruling classes. Persons in authority accepted without question that droughts, eclipses, earthquakes, plagues and locusts were their responsibility and would cease if they mended their ways. Thus a drought of A.D. 29 was attributed to the large number of prisoners awaiting trial. The accumulated resentment of these prisoners and the distress of their relations had, it was said, influenced 'the humors of Heaven,' and all those accused of minor offenses were released. In the spring of A.D. 31, there was an eclipse of the sun. The Emperor knew he must have done something wrong, but could not think what it was. So he ordered all officials who could throw light on the subject to write a confidential letter, saying frankly (and being careful not to address him as 'Holy Man') what they thought he had done wrong" (Waley, "Life under the Han dynasty," History Today, Vol. 3, 1955, pp. 98-99).

I fondly imagine, after a hurricane disaster in Florida, George W. Bush begging Congress to tell him frankly (and being careful not to address him as "Sir" or "Mr. President") what he has done wrong. And isn't it strange that whereas a Chinese Emperor can openly admit mistakes, an American President cannot? Note that the mistakes to be confessed are of two kinds--social and personal. A social mistake--an act of social injustice--is to put too many people in prison, or to abuse them when they are in prison. A common personal mistake or fault is arrogance. A Chinese Emperor is obliged to admit both should they occur. Only by admitting them and humbling himself can he hope to remain emperor. In a democracy, it is--astonishingly!--the reverse. Only by refusing to admit a mistake, or a misbehavior, can a President hope to remain president.

Best wishes,

Yi-Fu