Philosophers From China

"A general good at commanding troops is like one sitting in a leaking boat or lying under a burning roof. For there is no time for the wise to offer counsel nor the brave to be angry. All must come to grips with the enemy. And therefore it is said that of all the dangers in employing troops, timidity is the greatest and that the calamities which overtake an army arise from hesitation."

"“Having the Album of the True Forms of the Five Marchmounts in your home enables you to deflect violent assault and repulse those who wish to do you harm; they themselves will suffer the calamity they seek to visit upon you.”"

"“All mountains, whether large or small, have gods and spirits. If the mountain is large, the god is great; if the mountain is small, the god is minor. If someone enters the mountain possessed of no magical arts, he will certainly suffer harm”..."

"If a noxious demon, a powerful evil entity, a mountain sprite, or a poison in the water suddenly harms them, they are dead. Some do not obtain the methods to enter the mountains and let the mountain deities bring calamities to them. Goblins and demons (yaogui) will put them to test, wild animals will wound them, poisons from pools will hit them, and snakes will bite them. There will be not one, but many prospects of death.”"

"“Others do not understand how to wear the divine talismans at their belt, how to observe interdictions and precepts, how to meditate on the deities within themselves, and how to guard the True One (zheny): they can merely prevent internal ailments from arising and wind and humidity from hurting them.“"

"“Most of those who are ignorant of the proper method for entering mountains will meet with misfortune and mishap”."

"A great patriot, noted statesman, devoted friend of the Communist Party of China, and outstanding leader of Tibetan Buddhism."

"The rebellion in Tibet was started by a few who had no sense of timing and were completely ignorant of politics and military strategy. If you really want to fight a war, you have to have a sense of timing. You should be sufficiently powerful. You should know your own might and that of your enemy. Without these elements you cannot hope to win a war. You cannot fight a war with a few outdated rifles. The rebels of that time were ridiculously naive. However, if something like that happened in the event of a foreign invasion, then it would be a serious matter for our nation. That is why it is essential to think about the welfare of the minority nationalities during peacetime."

"All the successive Panchen reincarnations had turned out to be profoundly learned and great proponents of Buddhism, inspiring deep faith and reverence from all - lay and ecclesiastical, male or female - thus attaining religious pre-eminence as protectors of Buddhism."

"From a political point of view, all the Panchen Erdeni lineage-holders have proved to be lovers of the Motherland and promoting and protecting the unity of the Motherland, promoting friendly relations between the Tibetan and Chinese peoples and promoting unity among the Tibetan people themselves. Such manifestations of their great achievements are recorded in history, of which the accounts might be narrated one by one like counting the beads of a rosary."

"Tibetans are the legitimate masters of Tibet. The wishes and feelings of the people of Tibet must be respected."

"The expense of keeping one Chinese in Tibet is equal to that of keeping four in China. Why should Tibet spend its money to feed them? Instead, we should think carefully on how best the money can be used for the development of Tibet. Tibet has suffered greatly because of the policy of sending a large number of useless migrants. The Chinese population in Tibet started with a few thousand and today it has multiplied manifold. That is the reason why many old Chinese personnel who worked very hard in the initial period are left without any career now. Today, the Chinese personnel come to Tibet accompanied by their families. They are like the American mercenaries. They fight and die for money. This is ridiculous."

"We should make sure that the people of these nationalities are happy as part of the motherland. If this happens, they will be happy to work with the Chinese people in developing the nation. On the other hand, if you cling to the attitude that you will always rule and suppress the minority nationalities, then there will be serious problems in the future."

"The Panchen Lama was widely revered as a religious leader by ordinary Tibetans although derided as a 'Chinese chopstick' by some for cooperating with Beijing."

"I remember my father always said all nationalities should be united, our world should be stable."

"I must pronounce my firm belief that Tibet will soon regain her independence and that His Holiness the Dalai Lama will return to the Golden Throne. Long live His Holiness the Dalai Lama."

"When investigation is made into whether or not people were rebels, and whether or not the supported and collaborated with the rebellion, we should acquaint ourselves with the cases conscientiously and thoroughly; in dealing with the cases in accordance with the factual situation."

"His Holiness the Dalai Lama and I are spiritual friends. There is no difference between His Holiness the Dalai Lama and me. Some people are trying to create discord between us. This will not succeed."

"Whether viewed from the perspective of Tibet or from the perspective of the monasteries as centres for the preservation and promotion of Tibetan people's culture or from the perspective of the Tibetan people's deep religious faith and attachment to spiritual values, the destruction of the monasteries and the holy artefacts therein, these have all been systematically perpetrated under Leftist policies towards religion. This is a total mistake committed both at the level of the collective and at the level of the individuals concerned. There is no doubt whatsoever that evil consequences will follow as a result of such mistakes"

"In person, the 10th Panchen Lama is an extraordinarily fearless Tibetan who showed unwavering courage to work for the general cause of Tibet and its people. Panchen Lama was someone who held firm conviction to fight for the truth. If the 10th Panchen Lama still been alive, he would have certainly made far more contribution to the cause of Tibet."

"The main aim and purpose of renovating the monastery and opening the religious door is to satisfy adequately the spiritual needs of the masses of believers and to preserve and promote the teachings of Lord Buddha as enshrined in the Sutras and the Tantras. It is neither a renovation work merely to hold religious functions nor is it an attempt to follow the traditional old society's custom of renovating and opening monasteries."

"When opposing the rebellion, it was correct and necessary to declare the criminality of the rebellion, to give the masses of the working people a through class education, including as to who are our enemies and who are our friends, to stimulate a mood of anti-imperialism, patriotism and hatred towards rebels among the people, so destroying the foundations of the rebellion. As for the investigation of the rebels and others who may or may not have colluded with them, due to the fact that the causes, circumstances and characteristics giving rise to the rebellion in each place, and the causes, circumstances and characteristics causing each person to take part in the rebellion certainly had all sorts of differences, these needed through investigation and review. Therefore, it was very important to completely mobilize the masses, for the cadres to carry out a conscientious and careful analysis, and to deal with every aspect of the situation."

"When Buddhism in Tibet has firm foundations in terms of the transmission of teachings and of enlightenment, the deliberate destruction of this religion must not happen, is very serious and bad. For example, people become old and then they die. This is a universal law. But what if you took a very loveable, much in demand, vigorous and innocent youth and deliberately put him to death? In just the same way, this is the reason why we, all the people of Tibet, feel that it is unendurable that Buddhism has suffered such a huge decline that it is near extinction."

"It was very important on the foundation of enhancing the class consciousness of the masses, to thoroughly and conscientiously carry out overall investigation and review, to provide relief for those households which have run out of grain, not to allow the masses to go hungry, and for those households which have grain not to have to hand it over as collective grain without reason."

"In the past, when we were suppressed under the leftist policy, none of us dared utter a word of protest. It is not good to open uphold wounds now that happier times are coming. If we are all united, Tibet will progress and our nationality will join the circle of developed nationalities. Our region will then be as developed as any other region in the Great Motherland. We will also be successful in our efforts to promote the Buddhist religion. I request all of you to keep this in your mind."

"If we look back at the history of Tibet, we see that Tibet suffered as a result of breakdown of unity since the reign of King Lang Tharma. If we are united, the Tibetan nationality will progress and Buddhism will flourish. On the other hand, if we are divided, Buddhism and the Tibetan nationality will suffer set back. Our people will also suffer misery. Therefore, I would like to request all of you to shun divisive attitude. The monasteries also should not talk in terms of you and us."

"Democratic life is not fully established; as regards the various nationality rights which should be protected by law, these have not been implemented strictly in accordance with the law. There are, among the cadres, people who are ―big nationalists. The think that they are terrific, they are proud, complacent and opinionated, they favour their own nationality and ignore the characteristics of the Tibetan nationality, they violate the rights of the Tibetans and even forcefully label those who mention the rights and interests of the Tibetans as ―local nationalists."

"Although there may be peace and stability today, many minor disturbances will occur. But it is good to think about the entire problem. There is at the moment racial harmony, peace and stability. But we should not be satisfied with this. What are we going to do if there are disturbances in the future?"

"On 9 January 1989 the Panchen Lama visited Shigatse, Tibet’s second largest town and the traditional parish of the Panchen Lamas, to consecrate the newly-renovated mausoleums from the Fifth to the Ninth Panchen Lamas at his main monastery of Tashi Lhunpo. On 24 January in his address to the monks of his monastery and the people of Shigatse, the Panchen Lama said that the Chinese rule in Tibet had brought more destruction than benefit to the Tibetan people."

"Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four" wantonly undermined the revolutionary united front and seriously interfered with the realization of the four grand goals of modernization."

"The great proletarian- cultural revolution is aimed precisely at eliminating bourgeois ideology, establishing proletarian ideology, remoulding people’s souls, revolutionizing their ideology, digging out the roots of revisionism, and consolidating and developing the socialist system."

"This revolution is a great revolution, an entirely new and creative revolution, carried out after the seizure of political power by the proletariat. It is to overthrow through struggle the small handful of persons within the Party who have been in authority and have taken the capitalist road； to sweep away all ghosts and monsters in our society, and to break the old ideas, culture, customs and habits of the exploiting classes and foster the new ideas, culture, customs and habits of the proletariat, with a view to further consolidating the dictatorship of the proletariat and developing the socialist system."

"Imperialism headed by the United States and modern revisionism with the leadership of the C.P.S.U. as its centre are colluding and actively plotting peace talk swindles for the purpose of stamping out the raging flames of the Vietnamese people's national revolutionary war against U.S. aggression, of the national revolutionary struggles in Asian, African and Latin American countries and of the world revolution."

"It must be emphasized that Comrade Mao Tse-tung’s theory of the establishment of rural revolutionary base areas and the encirclement of the cities from the countryside is of outstanding and universal., practical importance for the present revolutionary struggles of all the oppressed nations and peoples, and particularly for the revolutionary struggles of the oppressed nations and peoples in Asia, Africa, and Latin America against imperialism and its lackeys."

"We should regard ourselves as a part of the strength of the revolution and at the same time constantly make ourselves a target of revolution. We should revolutionize ourselves in the revolution. Without doing this is impossible to make the revolution a success."

"The most fundamental task in our Party’s political and ideological work is at all times to hold high the great red banner of Mao Tse-tung’s thought, to arm the minds of the people throughout the country with it and to persist in using it to command every field of activity. '"

"The Red Guards and other revolutionary organizations of the young people in the colleges and middle schools are the shook force fighting in the van in the great cultural revolution, and a powerful reserve force of the People’s Liberation Army."

"Our attitude towards imperialist wars of, aggression has always been clear-cut. First, we are against them, and secondly, we are not afraid of them. We will destroy whoever attacks us. As for revolutionary wars waged by the oppressed nations and peoples, so far from opposing them, we invariably give them firm support and active aid. It has been so in the past, it remains so in present and, when we grow in strength as time goes on, we will give them still more support and aid in the future. It is sheer daydreaming for anyone to think that, since our revolution has been victorious, our national construction is forging ahead, our national wealth is increasing and our living conditions are improving, wo too will lose our revolutionary fighting will, abandon the cause of world revolution and discard Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism."

"Comrade Mao Tse-tung’s great merit lies in the fact that he has succeeded in integrating the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism with the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution and has enriched and developed Marxism-Leninism by his masterly generalization and summation the experience gained during the Chinese people’s protracted revolutionary struggle."

"In the last analysis, whether one dares to wage a tit-for-tat struggle against armed aggression and suppression by the imperialists and their lackeys, whether one dares to fight a people’s war against them, means whether ono dares to embark on revolution. This is the most effective touchstone for distinguishing genuine from fake revolutionaries and Marxist-Leninists."

"With political power, the proletariat and the working people will have everything and without political power, they will lose everything. No matter how innumerable are the issues, we must never, forget political power. Forgetting political power means forgetting the fundamental viewpoint of Marxism. If we do so, we will become muddle headed fools and we will not be able to know how we are killed even when we forfeit our lives."

"If the proletariat does not occupy the positions in literature and art, the bourgeoisie certainly will. This is inevitable. And it represents an extremely broad and deep socialist revolution in the realm of ideology. If things are not done properly, revisionism will prevail."

"With the brilliant leadership of Chairman Mao and having mastered Mao Tse-tung’s thought which is the keenest weapon, we will be invincible and all-conquering and will achieve complete victory in the great proletarian cultural revolution!"

"The question now is not whether we do or do not study but whether we can truly grasp and apply what we study. To grasp and apply truly, we must combine study with reality. Only by linking it with reality can we understand it, fix it in our minds and apply it. Without linking it with reality, we cannot understand it, fix it in our minds and apply it."

"Lin Biao and the "Gang of Four" completely deviated from the fundamental principles of Marxism-Leninism and Mao Zedong Thought. Lin Biao also separated Mao Zedong Thought from Marxism-Leninism. This is a serious distortion of Mao Zedong Thought, which is extremely detrimental to our Party and socialist cause, and is extremely detrimental to the international communist movement."

"During the autumn, preparations for [Richard Nixon's] visit to Beijing moved rapidly, assisted by a dramatic tilt in China’s internal politics. On September 13 a plane carrying Lin Biao, his family and entourage crashed in Mongolia. The story remains murky but officially it was claimed that the army leader was fleeing after a failed coup. His son certainly seems to have concocted an inept assassination plot. The death of Mao’s handpicked heir amid accusations of betrayal was a damaging blow to his image of infallibility. This sparked a crisis of faith among millions of Chinese about the “continuous revolution” to which they had been subjected so brutally for two decades. A foreign policy triumph was now even more important for Mao. Lin was supposedly an opponent of détente with the United States. Certainly his death and disgrace strengthened Zhou Enlai, even though strong opposition remained to Nixon’s visit from Mao’s estranged wife, Jiang Qing, and from radicals in Shanghai. Zhou pushed ahead with arrangements and in October Kissinger paid a second visit to China—this time in public—to agree the agenda and draft the all-important communiqué."

"In 1795 an edict went forth against the further teaching of the Oyomei philosophy; and so docile was the mind of Japan that from that time on Oyomei concealed itself within the phrases of Confucianism, or entered as a modest component into that military Zen which, by a typical paradox of history, transformed the pacific faith of Buddha into the inspiration of patriotic warriors."

"“I had for many years been a devout believer in Shushi says Nakaye Toju (1608-48), “when, by the mercy of Heaven, the collected works of Oyomei were brought for the first time to Japan. Had it not been for the aid of their teaching, my life would have been empty and barren.”"

"There were contradictions in this philosophy, but these did not disturb its leading opponent, the gentle and peculiar Wang Yang-ming. For Wang was a saint as well as a philosopher; the meditative spirit and habits of Mahayana Buddhism had sunk deeply into his soul. It seemed to him that the great error in Chu Hsi was not one of morals, but one of method; the investigation of things, he felt, should begin not with the examination of the external universe, but, as the Hindus had said, with the far profounder and more revealing world of the inner self."

"A woman (ought to) have four qualifications: (1) womanly virtue; (2) womanly words; (3) womanly bearing; and (4) womanly work. Now what is called womanly virtue need not be brilliant ability, exceptionally different from others. Womanly words need be neither clever in debate nor keen in conversation. Womanly appearance requires neither a pretty nor a perfect faceand form. Womanly work need not be work done more skillfully than that of others. To guard carefully her chastity; to control circumspectly her behavior; in every motion to exhibit modesty; and to model each act on the best usage, this is womanly virtue. To choose her words with care; to avoid vulgar language; to speak at appropriate times; and not to weary others(with much conversation), may be called the characteristics of womanly words. To wash and scrub filth away; to keep clothes and ornaments fresh and clean; to wash the head and bathe the body regularly, and to keep the person free from disgraceful filth, may be called the characteristics of womanly bearing. With whole-hearted devotion to sew and to weave; to love not gossip and silly laughter; in cleanliness and order (to prepare) the wine and food for serving guests, may be called the characteristics of womanly work. These four qualifications characterize the greatest virtue of a woman. No woman can affordto be without them. In fact they are very easy to possess if a woman only treasure them in her heart. The ancients had a saying: "Is Love afar off? If I desire love, then love is at hand!" So can it be said of these qualifications."