rss feedTo Live: Winning, losing and appreciating
Long before Chinese director Zhang Yimou gained international fame for his eye-catching, impressive opening ceremony to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, he had a reputation for making epic movies full of soul, grit, dramatic storytelling.
I raise this now because To Live, which was made in 1994, has moments to keep in mind.
As in: What you have might not always be yours. Winners can become losers. Losers can become winners.
Overall, though, appreciation – in my mind – is tops.
The above clip highlights that clearly – with the adult son of a wealthy mansion owner losing everything while gambling. That launched an epic look at China’s history through his eyes and experience.
The main goal, of course, was living.
I’m pairing this movie – and its message – with the fascinating rise of China in the world today.
China’s economic, political and to a certain extent, military rise have turned heads among leaders and ordinary people worldwide. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, observers and participants looked East and not West in some cases, according to The New York Times.
From the article:
For the first time, economists point to Chinese spending — not the U.S. consumer — as the key to a global recovery. China’s gross domestic product could overtake that of the United States within a decade, one report predicted this month, while others speculated about when the renminbi might start to challenge the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. And as developing countries everywhere look for a recipe for faster growth and greater stability than that offered by the now-tattered ‘Washington consensus’ of open markets, floating currencies and free elections, there is growing talk about a ‘Beijing consensus.’
Intriguing.
I mean, in one sense at least in the West among lay people who don’t follow U.S.-Asia relations that much, it could be asked: Wasn’t China, just a decade or so ago, a place where people pedaled their bikes around city streets?
Yes. But now, it’s become the world’s largest automobile market.
My sense is that senior Chinese officials like winning – or accomplishing their goals – these days. So, do leaders from other countries, including the United States.
I also sense that senior Chinese officials like pursuing their goals by their own standards whether or not they are on Chinese soil. Obviously, so do leaders from other countries.
But if leaders and people from other countries play by their own standards – or the ultimate goal of winning in which there will be a loser – friction will rise hard and fast.
On the flipside of this is getting wiped out, or failing.
If there’s one thing I’m certain of regarding Chinese history, senior leaders in that country are very aware of being perceived as weak and getting wiped out.
Invasions, occupations, border disputes, internal rules: China has seen much in its long history. I doubt leaders and people there want to see a replay of them.
Better lives, better homes, nice cars, excellent jobs and educational opportunities, certainly, are part of the modern mix in China.
As my wife and I talked about this idea, she recalled a saying from the Tang Dynasty.
In Mandarin, it’s pronounced (sorry, no tone marks): “Chuang ye nan, shou ye geng nan.”
It translates roughly into: “Getting something is hard. But it’s harder to keep what you have.”
In other words, it’s easy to lose what you have.
That makes the dance of diplomacy so delicate, so indelible, so important.
It also makes awareness and history so much more important.
There also is a question, as my wife reminded me, of how many generations that can actually hold on to financial and economic gains.
There is that saying from the Tang Dynasty. I remember reading political theorists as an undergraduate.
They talked about forms of democracy – representative versus direct – and the republic system which the Founding Fathers backed.
But these philosophers also said something similar: Once you’ve arrived at a democratic model – say representative – you have to take efforts to maintain it, strengthen it and ensure it continues.
That can be difficult, trying but possible.
If you have time, rent Zhang’s movie, To Live. He got it right in this movie.
It has to be one of my favorite movies of all time (that I’ve seen, of course).
I know others will point to ideas attributed to Machiavelli: That the ends justify the means.
Losing – and losing big – is a real possibility in the world. I certainly don’t wish it on anyone.
But playing hard and fast, by your own rules wherever you are, can lead to stumbling – or at least, more friction.
Like I said: My family and I try and appreciate what we have.
Because by winning something – and this extends to leaders in all countries - you might actually be losing much more than you thought.
