The Differences Between Eastern and Western Warfare Cultures: (Part Two) The Bible Story and Similar Chinese Legends

Yu Sheng (from the 24th issue of “Learning Lamp”)

The Bible says that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge and were expelled from the Garden of Eden by God. Their sons then began to kill one another, to the point that God regretted creating humankind. Scholars, based on the biblical genealogy, have calculated that the time of Adam and Eve was roughly six thousand years ago, the era of the early Mediterranean civilization, the beginning of a civilization of war. China lacks similar creation myths, but has several stories with similar themes. One is the story of Chaos: The emperor of the South Sea was named Shu, the emperor of the North Sea was named Hu, and the emperor of the Central Land was named Hundun. Shu and Hu frequently visited Hundun in the Central Land, and Hundun treated them with great hospitality. Shu and Hu discussed how to repay Hundun’s kindness, saying, “Everyone has seven orifices on their head for seeing, hearing, eating, and breathing, but Hundun has none. Let’s try to carve one orifice for him.” They carved one orifice each day, and on the seventh day, Hundun died. (Zhuangzi, Ying Diwang) This is similar to the biblical story, which suggests that human beings acquiring knowledge is not a good thing. However, this chaotic story is not as tragic as the biblical story, nor does it imply the opening of an unprecedented new era or new world. This reflects the different beginnings of Eastern and Western civilizations: Western civilization, which originated in the Mediterranean, began as a secondary society, while China began as a superpower in the form of a primitive society, which, like the United Nations in the modern world, served to balance local forces and maintain peace. [1, 2] Just as the above story shows: Mediterranean civilization began with the fratricidal killing of Adam and Eve’s sons, while China died after its initial enlightenment, implying that human nature cannot be betrayed.

The story in the Bible isn’t over yet. God “saw how great the wickedness of mankind had become on the earth, and that the inclinations of the thoughts of the earth were only evil all the time. God regretted that he had made mankind on the earth, and his heart was grieved.” God said, “Because the earth is full of their violence, I want them and the earth to be destroyed.” Then comes the story of the Great Flood. God, in His mercy, before the great flood that wiped out all things, had Naia build a huge ark three hundred cubits long, saving mankind and animals from extinction. Thus, the Bible first pioneered the linear history of human civilization—a two-tiered society of continuous progress—where problems were addressed and improved, including the establishment of social rules, what the Bible refers to as the covenant between God and humanity. The Chinese story of chaos has no sequel, but the book of Zhuangzi, which records the story of chaos, contains many similar tales of further development.

Confucius’ disciple Zigong traveled south to the State of Chu. On his return journey, he passed through Hanyin and saw an old man with white hair fetching water to irrigate his vegetable garden. The old man carried a ceramic jar in both hands, slowly making his way from a ditch he had dug to the well, fetched the water, and then laboriously carried it back to his garden. Seeing his strenuous effort and low efficiency, Zigong suggested, “There is a machine here that can irrigate hundreds of vegetable plots a day with little effort and great results. Would you like to try it, sir?” The old man asked what kind of machine it was. Zigong replied, “It’s a mechanism made of wood, heavy at the front and light at the back. It draws water like a pump, and the water flows out with a gurgling sound. It’s called a ‘jigou’ (掔).” The old man’s face darkened with anger, then he smiled and said, “My teacher said that those who possess machines inevitably have cunning, and those who have cunning possess a cunning mind. If one has a cunning mind, one loses one’s pure nature; if one loses one’s pure nature, one’s spirit becomes restless; and a restless spirit…” “It’s impossible for it to carry the Way. I’m not unaware of the machines you’re talking about; it’s useless if you’re ashamed to use them.” Zigong was speechless. Upon returning, he told Confucius about it. Confucius smiled and said, “That old man is someone who uses the art of chaos to cultivate his inner self. He only knows about the art of chaos, only knows how to preserve his natural disposition, and knows nothing else. He’s someone outside the secular world; what’s so surprising?” This story shows that, due to the fact that China was a superpower in its original society, the long-term experience and memory of this original society made them averse to secondary societies, greatly weakening their motivation to seek remedies and improvements when problems arose at the secondary social level. Take the biblical story, for example: the Chinese Adam and Eve secretly recorded the path they took when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. When their descendants were dissatisfied, instead of trying to improve the situation, they ran back to Eden. The following will discuss how, in Chinese history, the newly emerging secondary society was actually confined to tens of thousands of intellectuals and bureaucrats and the court behind them, while hundreds of millions of peasants lived in a relatively intact quasi-original society until the 1950s.

28. The Differences in War Culture Between East and West: (III) The Differences in the Nature of War in the Early Stages of Eastern and Western Civilizations (Example: Duke Xiang of Song’s Defeat at Chu Due to Adherence to Military Rules)