Article 63: Throughout history, emperors have often been scoundrels.

Li Yousheng (Community Newspaper, Issue 36, April 2016)

British intellectual historian William Acton (1832-1902) said: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” From the day civilized society developed political power that could not be controlled by humans, humanity recognized that power was not a good thing. If Western history, with its decentralized power leading to escalating wars culminating in the two World Wars, represents the corruption of decentralization, then Chinese history, with its highly centralized power, saw corruption concentrated in the emperor and those around him. This is the origin of the Chinese proverb: “Since ancient times, emperors have often been scoundrels.” Corruption begins by eroding the soul, that is, becoming thick-skinned and black-hearted.

Marxism posits that political power derives from control of the means of production. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, Chinese emperors did not directly control the land, leading to the bloodshed in Chinese history. This bloodshed often began near those in power, such as the tragic death of Lin Biao, thus creating a domino effect that escalated. Einstein said, “Coercive despotism quickly corrupts and degenerates, because violence always attracts people of low character.” (1930: My Worldview) A white man who read Chinese history told me: In Chinese history, there were two kinds of people: bureaucrats and peasants. The former lived in fear, waiting to be killed by the emperor, while the latter lived in primitive poverty.

I’m currently writing a novel, *The Secret Chronicles of Ah Q, the First Emperor, and Emperor Wu*, which explores this very idea. With the help of the Ox-Head and Horse-Face demons of the underworld, Ah Q is able to reverse time and be reborn without drinking the potion of forgetfulness, becoming both the First Emperor and Emperor Wu of Han. Ah Q discovers that while he is indeed a rogue, he is far less so than the First Emperor and Emperor Wu; while he relies on his own self-deception through the “Ah Q Spiritual Victory Method,” he is far from being as capable as court officials who rely on it to survive. This leads Ah Q to break his promise and leave halfway, resulting in the First Emperor’s sudden death at Shaqiu. The King of Hell is furious. When Ah Q is reborn as Emperor Wu of Han for the second time, he sternly declares, “If you repeat your offense, you will descend to the lowest level of the eighteenth level of hell (specifically known as the nineteenth level)!” As the soul of Emperor Wu of Han, Ah Q learns that the population of his people has been halved. Facing the cries of countless wronged souls, Ah Q resolutely declares, “If I don’t go to the nineteenth level of hell, who will?”

In the nineteenth level of hell, Ah Q is fortunate enough to encounter his former lover, Wu Ma. Wu Ma, having been trampled underfoot during the Cultural Revolution and condemned to eternal damnation, thus ended up in the nineteenth level of hell. Later, Ox-Head and Horse-Face join them. The following is the ending of the novel:

Ox-Head and Horse-Face then turned to Ah Q and Aunt Wu and said, “You can’t go back to your old village either; it’s become a world of computer people.”

They added, “Those computer people started out from the city, criticizing the Cultural Revolution all day long, never mentioning the Great Leap Forward. My brother and I, who welcome souls from the human world to the underworld, know best: in the years following the Great Leap Forward, our King Yama’s place was very lively, and the Cultural Revolution only came sporadically, mostly during the so-called class cleansing after Wu Ma’s death.”

Aunt Wu agreed, “I live in the county town and I know about things in the countryside. The years after the Great Leap Forward were really tough in the countryside!” Ox-Head and Horse-Face said, “That’s probably why people in the city are still shouting ‘Long live the Cultural Revolution,’ but it seems like nobody is shouting ‘Long live the Great Leap Forward.’”

Ah Q said, “Brothers Ox-Head and Horse-Face, I know this best. The Great Leap Forward harmed us peasant brothers, while the Cultural Revolution harmed those intelligent people in the city. I’ve said it before: those intelligent people are not to be trifled with, and our peasant lives are worthless. We people can’t distinguish between the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap Forward; we’ve long forgotten about it. Only those city people are still arguing endlessly about a little Cultural Revolution.”

Ox-Head and Horse-Face patted Ah Q on the shoulder and said, “Brother Ah Q is still the smartest. Those years in Mo Village weren’t wasted.”

For a moment, Ah Q felt a little embarrassed, because this clear-headedness was something he only possessed after being reborn as Qin Shi Huang, and he had abandoned Qin Shi Huang, causing him to die many years too early. But then he thought again, if Qin Shi Huang hadn’t died early, how could the four of them, siblings, be reunited today? With that thought, Ah Q finally hugged the Ox-Head and Horse-Face brothers into his arms. Ox-Head and Horse-Face then casually pulled Wu Ma into their arms as well.

The four of them embraced tightly, and this time they seemed to finally understand why they had been reunited in the nineteenth level of hell. It was the suffering of fate that had brought them here, but it was their shared character that had bound them together. Perhaps realizing this at the same time, the four of them hugged even tighter, and tears streamed down their faces.

At this moment, Aunt Wu said softly, “The four of us are together, and this is the final village, the final village of human heads! We don’t want that ignorant computer bag final village.”

The four of them huddled together, their eyes soaked with tears, and softly murmured, “This is Mozhuang, this is Mozhuang!”

Overwhelmed by warm tears and love, Wu Ma softly said, “True love will prevail! The four of us are brothers and sisters who will live and die together!” (Text by Li Yousheng, author’s website: kttp://taoism21cen.com)