“What kind of life do we want in the 21st century?”
THE CHINESE TRANSLATION OF COVID-19 is 新冠肺炎 (xinguan feiyan), literally, “new crown lung inflammation,” or, “new crown pneumonia.” Given its huge impact upon people of all walks of life around the world, the coronavirus pandemic is regarded by many people as the most serious global crisis since World War II. If a crisis, 危機 (weiji), brings both “danger” (wei) and “opportunity” (ji), we might wonder what timely, and potentially time-honored, lessons can be learned; we ought “never let a good crisis go to waste,” as Winston Churchill reminded us long ago.
A close look at natural and human history reveals the pervasiveness and repetitiveness of pandemics. Countless viruses have existed on Earth for billions of years—arising long before the appearance of the human race. And there have been numerous plagues in human history over the millennia: the Plague of Athens in ancient Greece; the Antonine Plague in Rome; the Black Death of the fourteenth century; the London Black-Death Plague of the seventeenth century; the Plague in eighteenth century Marseilles; Cholera in 1820; and the Spanish Flu in 1920. More recently, there have been Ebola, SARS, and MERS. COVID-19 is but the latest in a long list of crises.
Disaster and Blessing (Daoism)
As a humanities scholar in Taiwan, the first lesson I have learned from this global event has been a reminder of the ancient Daoist idea of 禍福相倚 (huofu xianyi), the interdependence of disaster and blessing. Due to Taiwan’s geographical proximity to mainland China and the large population flow across the Strait over the decades, some experts predicted at the onset of the outbreak that Taiwan would become the second hardest-hit global region, only next to its big neighbor. That was, indeed, a grave warning; one to be taken seriously. However, thus far Taiwan has fared remarkably well in defending against COVID-19. Reasons for this success include bitter lessons learned from previous catastrophe. When SARS broke out in 2003, Taiwan was not prepared for the sudden appearance of this new epidemic. As a result, the Taipei Heping (meaning “Peace”) City Hospital was locked down for fifteen days and eighty-three lives were lost across the island. In the wake of that tragedy, Taiwan established its own Centers for Disease Control and a series of measures were implemented to ensure that its people would be better prepared against a future calamity.
Consequently, in late 2019, when there were signs of something unusual happening in Wuhan, China, vigilant medical authorities in Taiwan began to prepare against the possibility of a new epidemic, despite being excluded from meaningful participation in the World Health Organization. Through the leadership of government officials and competent medical specialists, and with the cooperation of the general public, Taiwan has endeavored not only to protect itself, but also to provide international assistance by sharing our medical expertise and lessons learned, and by sending face masks and other personal protective equipment to other countries. We recognize that the virus knows no borders, and therefore helping others is helping ourselves. In the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, we have come to deeply appreciate the importance of both self-reliance and global solidarity.
Photo by May Chen
Humans and the Natural Environment
Another vital lesson is to reconsider the relationship between human beings and the natural environment. With the advent of the Anthropocene, Planet Earth has entered a new phase, one complicated by the impact of the Industrial Revolution. Owing to the dominance of capitalism and developmentalism triggered by economic expansion, the Earth’s natural resources have been treated as things waiting to be fully utilized for the benefit or profit of humans, with scant consideration of the myriad species with whom we share this world. As a result, natural resources accumulated over hundreds of millions of years have been extracted, or worse, exhausted, in less than three centuries. The unprecedented material progress of human civilization has been achieved at the expense of the deterioration of the natural environment. Air and water pollution are but two of the most salient symptoms of our time. The acceleration of global warming and other natural catastrophes appear to be unstoppable. The Doomsday Clock warns us that annihilation is near, but still many do not repent.
The exact cause of COVID-19 still remains unknown, but it is generally believed that the pandemic is, in part, a consequence of human intrusion into the natural habitats of various species, such as deforestation, or a taste for eating unusual wildlife. During the lockdown of villages, towns, and cities, the Earth and its systems have become much purer, cleaner, and healthier. Many animals have returned and reclaimed encroached-upon environs lost to them for many years. The people in India can see with their own eyes the Himalayas, the roof of the world, hidden by air pollution for three decades. Human greed, which finds its fullest expression in the rapid growth of capitalism and the exploitation of nature, has led us to transgress the boundaries of nature, and with grave consequences for all.
Towards a State of Equilibrium and Harmony (Confucianism)
If “social distancing” has been proved an effective means to cope with the current pandemic, “natural distancing” in the sense of keeping a sound distance between human beings and nature might also be needed in an era in which homo sapiens look upon themselves as masters of the world and lords over all creation. Judging from the severe and numerous irrecoverable harms inflicted on Mother Earth, we tend to agree with the King of Brobdingnag after his conversations with Lemuel Gulliver, that “I cannot but conclude the Bulk of your Natives, to be the most pernicious Race of little odious Vermin that Nature ever suffered to crawl upon the Surface of the Earth.”
In view of countless devastations caused by an anthropocentric mindset, it is time to reiterate the idea of multiplicity and coexistence as expounded in the Confucian classic Zhong Yong 《中庸》, or The State of Equilibrium and Harmony. Embracing a holistic view of the universe and paying equal attention to all the components, Zhong Yong aims at an ideal state in which, “All things are nourished together without their injuring one another. The courses of the seasons, and of the sun and moon, are pursued without any collision among them.” (萬物並育而不相害，道並行而不相悖.)1 Instead of being above all others, human beings are among them. With greater intelligence and capability comes greater responsibility for humans to take care of themselves and others harmoniously along the natural course.
This is closely related to the idea of sustainability. Only with an adequate awareness of seasonal changes and respect to natural surroundings can a state of sustainability and affluence be achieved. One of its best expressions can be found in Mencius, in which the Confucian sage remarks: “If the seasons of husbandry be not interfered with, the grain will be more than can be eaten. If close nets are not allowed to enter the pools and ponds, the fishes and turtles will be more than can be consumed. If the axes and bills enter the hills and forests only at the proper time, the wood will be more than can be used.” (不違農時，穀不可勝食也；數罟不入洿池，魚鼈不可勝食也；斧斤以時入山林，材木不可勝用也.)2
Henry David Thoreau and Buddhism
This leads to the further lesson: What kind of life do we want in the 21st century? Here, Henry David Thoreau might serve as an exemplary figure. In Chapter Two of Walden, “Where I Lived, and What I Lived for,” the 19th century American transcendentalist reflects upon his voluntary self-isolation from his contemporaries in the now legendary Walden Pond. He writes emphatically: “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” The imposition of lockdown, self-isolation, and social distancing upon many people around the world might well turn out to be an opportunity to think about how to live our lives in a meaningful way, not only by facing “the essential facts of life” squarely, but also by rethinking the relationship between the individual, the social, and the natural.
As a Buddhist, I would translate Thoreau’s idea of living deliberately into living “mindfully,” that is, to ponder on the possibility of living a life mindful of one’s thoughts, words, and actions in relation both to oneself and to others. Rumors, hate speech, racial slurs, scapegoating, etc., run rampant as people fall victim to the life-threatening COVID-19 and want to ward off the dreadful specter of death hovering above them. All these negative behaviors have caused chain reactions and have created more problems without end.
A Buddhist believes that every thought has its own power, every word has its effect, and every action has its consequence. The practice of mindfulness strives to raise one’s awareness of whatever s/he thinks, speaks, and acts and, hopefully, to obtain a better ability to judge whether the result is beneficial or detrimental to oneself, to his/her social surroundings, and to his/her natural environment. With full knowledge that this is by no means a panacea to solve all the problems accumulated over a long period of time, we can at least begin from where we are now and deal with the inharmony caused by hateful words and the chaos caused by harmful actions. By cultivating mindfulness, people might have a clearer view of the numerous problems surrounding them and come up with a better judgment and right action for the individual, the community, and the natural environment at large.
Photo by May Chen
Disastrous and devastating, COVID-19 might be seen as a wake-up call. It reminds us of the fragility and impermanence of human life, and the interconnectedness of humans, animals, plants, microbes, minerals, and all elements in the universe. We face it with awe and humility. All the aforementioned lessons might appear to be cliché or laosheng changtan (老生常談 “old persons’ common talk”). But nothing is cliché so long as we can find a new interpretation and infuse new meaning into it. To me, the New Crown Pneumonia provides a timely occasion to draw upon old lessons from Eastern and Western traditions.
Notes
[1] “Liji : Zhong Yong – Chinese Text Project,” Chinese Text Project, https://ctext.org/liji/zhong-yong.
[2] “Mengzi : Liang Hui Wang I – Chinese Text Project,” Chinese Text Project, https://ctext.org/mengzi/liang-hui-wang-i.
