#53 ๐๐ฎ๐ถ๐ธ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ผ ๐ธ๐ฏ ๐ฝ๐ฑ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ผ๐ฝ ๐ช๐ฝ ๐ก๐ฎ๐ญ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฏ๐ฏ
Understanding Chinese history helps one to understand China better since it has an unbroken civilisation of a few thousand years, and the Chinese always glean wisdom from its historical events.
In June this year, US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Kritenbrink visited China and I came across the below photo of the meeting between and his Chinese counterpart on the Chinese media, and was intrigued by the background of the meeting.
Hung on the wall is a well-known ci (่ฏ) poem of well-acclaimed Song poet Su Shi ่่ฝผ - ใๅฟตๅฅดๅจยท่ตคๅฃๆๅคใi.e. "Memories of the Past at Red Cliff" sung to the tune of " Charm of a Maiden Singer". I am attaching the English translation by noted translator Xu Yuanchong below and you could find that the unbridled spirit of the poem as Su took a leaf from the Battle of Red Cliffs ่ตคๅฃไนๆ and reflected on the world itself.
Ci poem (่ฏ) is different from traditional Chinese poem as it is accompanied by a tune so that it could be sung. So there are two parts of the title : the tune "ๅฟตๅฅดๅจ" (Charms of a Maiden Singer) and the actual title of ci poem "่ตคๅฃๆๅค" (Memories of the Past at Red Cliff) .
So what are underlying messages of the Su's poem given the context of current Sino-US relations? My thoughts:
๐ด๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐๐
Battle of Red Cliffsย (208โ209 AD) was a real event as the invincible army of Cao Cao had distinct and overriding advantages over southern warlordsย Sun Quanย andย Liu Bei,ย but he was defeated soundly at the battle of Red Cliffs because Sun Quan and Liu Bei aligned with each other. Sun and Liu were not the best of friends but they knew that to defeat Cao's army, they had to co-operate with each other.
This is quite similar to the current collaboration between Russia and China and it will not be easy for the US to wage a war against China even though its mammoth military budget beats China decisively. Russia has gone all in by attacking Ukraine and there is no turning back as it needs Chinese market for growth now.
Also, given that the US is behind China and Russia in the development of hypersonic weapon, the US would be wary to take on China now as its aircraft carriers are possible targets of Chinese hypersonic weapons and it has no solution to intercept such weapons at this juncture.
๐ช๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐
In Su's ci poem, he wrote :
"I fancy General Zhou Yu at the height
Of his success, with a plume fan in hand,
In a silk hood, so brave and bright,
Laughing and jesting with his bride so fair,
While enemy ships were destroyed as planned."
Such lines actually resonate with the thinking of Chinese leadership as China bids its time to reunify with Taiwan. This is because history like battle of Red Cliffs demonstrates that Zhou Yu (a general who served under Sun Quan) was confident that he would win against Cao Cao with a well-conceived plan and so it taught the Chinese patience is the key to win a battle. Thus China would not be rushed into reunification given that time is on its side, and I think its plan is to build up a defence capability that the US has no chance in winning against it. Do take note that China is not like Iraq as it has the biggest army in the world, and given that Russia is the wild card here, the US must respect the military prowess of these two powers.
Finally, if you are interested in the film adaption of the battle, below John Woo's movie "Red Cliff" provides an introduction but do watch it for its entertainment as it does not follow historical account closely.
