How a Butcher Is Made

How a Butcher Is Made

Xue Mo

Everybody has a sense of responsibility and everyone has a soul. When we ask ourselves why we come into this world and what we can do for it, we need to understand that there should be a standard for the things we can do for the world. The standard is that whether what we do can make this world a little better. That is the first thing we ordinary people should achieve. Of course, great men make greater contributions. For example, an ancient sage strove “to ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth, to secure life and fortune for the people, to continue lost teachings of past sages, to establish peace for all future generations.” We need this kind of broad-mindedness and compassion. “To ordain conscience for Heaven and Earth” is the great benevolence (大善) that I just talked about. The virtue of Heaven is having great compassion for every being and against killing. The sun gives light to every creature that needs it. The sun does not refuse to shine on a grass because it is poisonous, nor does it refuse to shine on a person because his name is Hitler. Heaven treats every being in the world fairly. So, killing is not the “heart” or intent of Heaven.

In Chinese culture, there are a lot of stories about people who are deserted and receive retribution for killing. It doesn’t matter if the stories are fictional; we are concerned only about its cultural significance. The point is that we still have this kind of culture, a culture claiming that those who kill are to receive retribution. This is something really amazing. On the one hand, this age eulogizes heroes who are actually killers and, on the other hand, there is a culture of karma or retribution for sin in Western China, which is considered by modern people to be superstitious. Basically, karma means that those who kill will be killed eventually. This culture is a ray of light. It doesn’t matter whether it is a superstition or not, for human beings benefit from it. A sense of responsibility implies that each of us should have a revered heart toward Heaven and Earth and perform deeds of goodness. It is something really great. At least, it makes people afraid of killing.

Of course, there is bloodshed and slaughter in the west, too. Even now, it still happens there. But the difference is that our western culture doesn’t eulogize it. People in western regions believe that killers in the west also get retribution. As the saying goes, “The net of Heaven has large meshes, but it lets nothing through.” If you kill people, the sin will follow you forever, as maggots cling to a bone, even into your afterlife. Your fortune and your body will disappear, but your sin will not, and you have to suffer the retribution accordingly. This is the culture of Western China. In spite of much bloodshed and evil, there is something great in western culture. However, both China’s official chronicles and traditions oppose that culture and deem it to be superstitious. Besides, so many butchers have been enshrined as national heroes to be worshiped for thousands of years. A culture that encouraged people to kill us Liangzhou people (who were called the Hun in ancient times) is a terrible culture. A man might be tempted to commit a crime in spite of himself, but a man cannot do without a sense of shame and repentance. A man cannot be deemed a human being if he doesn’t repent for his crime, if he has no intent to correct it, if he doesn’t realize that it is a crime, or if he is shameless. It doesn’t matter if one commits sins, because everyone in the world except the Buddha and the dead make mistakes. The greatest thing about mankind is their sense of shame. It is necessary to feel shame about what you have done wrong and understand that you need to correct the mistakes. If you use all your life and knowledge to defend the sins, you will be eulogizing the villainous culture, just as most men of letters in Chinese history had done.

Flattered by his culture, a petty butcher will grow increasingly overweening until one day he becomes a tyrant. Then, he will kill the flatterers and even their family. Take Fang Xiaoru for example. Not only himself, but his whole family, all his friends and disciples, a total of over 800 people, were killed by a tyrant. Fang Xiaoru was a firm defender of Chinese orthodoxy, the emperor’s teacher, and a master of Chinese traditional cultures. But one day, when Zhu Di, then Prince of Yan, began his slaughter in Beijing, Fang became the first victim. Zhu Di grew up in a culture that later made him a tyrant. When he was an innocent boy, Zhu Yuanzhang, his father, invited intellectuals like Fang Xiaoru to teach him and his brothers. What they taught the little princes was how to become a tyrant and how to rule the country in cold blood. As time went by, the innocent kids grew up into tyrants. If Zhu Di had not been the tyrant on the throne, someone else would have been. If he hadn’t killed Fang Xiaoru, someone else would have. It is because this culture produced people like Zhu Di in not a small number. It is as simple as that. Thus, an oppressor created by the supporters of a villainous culture will kill the supporters first. Likewise, the Cultural Revolution is a unique evil of our nation. It was a huge fruit nurtured by the soil of a villainous culture. It is the same with many other cultures in the world. If a country has a culture that breeds evil, its people will eventually become the victims. Hitler was elected by German people through perfectly legal procedures. The Germans chose Hitler as the representative of their wills. With the wills of his people, Hitler started wars around the world and turned the world into a slaughterhouse. My point is that it doesn’t matter much if such evils occur. But we need to understand that there is also a culture that has a strong sense of shame and does not worship crime. This is the least we can and should do.

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屠夫是这样炼成的

雪漠

每一个人都有责任心，每一个人都有灵魂，当每一个人都要问一下自己到这个世界上来做什么事的时候，要明白这个“事”要有一个标准，就是你做的这个事是不是能够让这个世界稍微地好一点。这稍微好一点就是我们每一个普通的人要首先做到的。当然，一些伟大的人会贡献一些大东西，比如古代人说“为天地立心，为生民立命，为往圣继绝学，为万世开太平”，要有这种大胸襟。“为天地立心”就是我刚才谈到的那种大善。因为上天有好生之德，上天是厌倦杀戮的。太阳不会因为一棵草是毒草而不去给它阳光，他会把阳光施舍给每一个需要他的生物。它不会因为他是希特勒就不照耀他，上天是平等地对待每一个众生的。所以“杀戮”不是天之“心”。

中国文化当中有许许多多因为杀戮而遭到唾弃和恶报的故事，我们不管它的真假，我们只说它的文化性。真的假的不要紧，问题就是中国还有这样一种文化，还有这样一种所谓的杀人者必遭恶报的文化，这是多么了不起的东西。一方面这个时代在讴歌杀人的英雄，一方面中国西部有这样一种被现代人称为迷信的文化——“因果报应”，就是杀人的人最终必将偿还命债。这种文化是一种光明，不管它是不是迷信，因为它对人类肯定有好处。责任感就是每个人都要对天地有大“心”，起到善的作用。这一点非常了不起，能够让人对杀戮有一种起码的畏惧。

当然，西部照样有血腥，照样有屠杀。直到今天的西部，依然有血腥。但是问题在于西部的文化并不讴歌这种血腥。西部人同样认为，西部的杀人者必遭恶报。天网恢恢，疏而不漏。你杀人后哪怕到了下一辈子都躲不过去，这种罪恶会像附骨之蛆一样追随着你。你的财富会消失，你的肉体会消失，但是你的罪恶不会消失。你必须承担这种罪恶带来的惩罚，这就是西部文化。所以，西部虽然有那么多的血性和罪恶，但是西部文化当中却有这样一种伟大的东西。中国的正史有时却反对这种东西，中国的传统有时也反对这种东西，认为它是迷信，并且把那么多的屠夫供到“民族英雄”的供桌上去，让他们接受了人们千年的顶礼膜拜。鼓励人们去杀我们凉州人――凉州过去叫“匈奴”。这种文化很糟糕，很不好。一个人可以忍受不了诱惑，去犯下一些他不小心犯下的罪。但是人不可以没有羞耻心，人不能没有忏悔心。当一个人不知道忏悔的时候、不知道改过的时候、不明白那是罪恶的时候、当他恬不知耻的时候，他已经不能称之为“人类”。犯了罪恶不要紧，因为除了佛陀和死人不会犯错误之外，世界上没有不犯错误的人。人类最伟大的东西是知耻，犯了错误要知道羞耻，不小心犯错后要明白自己应该改过。如果自己所有的生命、所有的学问、所有的知识都用来为这种罪恶辩护，那么，我们就会像中国历史上大部分的文人那样，去讴歌那种罪恶的文化。

一个小屠夫会在这种文化吹捧当中，一天天地膨胀起来，变成一个暴君，然后把吹捧者也杀了，甚至把吹捧者的一家人都杀了。比如说方孝孺。方孝孺叫一个暴君把他的家族和学生800多口人都杀了。方孝孺是中国正统观念的一个捍卫者、帝王师、中国传统文化的集大成者。但是有一天燕王朱棣拎着屠刀杀向北京的时候，首先把他杀了。燕王朱棣就是在那样的文化熏陶下，成为一个暴君的。当他很小的时候、什么都不懂的时候，朱元璋就请了方孝孺这样的人去教育他们，教育他们如何当一个暴君，如何去血腥地统治。这些孩子一天一天由一个天真无邪的孩子成长为一个暴君。这个暴君不是朱棣就会是别人。因为，这种文化当中只能出现这样的人，朱棣不杀他别人也会杀他，就这么简单。所以，最终由罪恶文化的啦啦队塑造出的暴徒，首先会杀了拉拉队自己。文化大革命也是我们这个民族独有的一种罪恶。它是罪恶文化诞生的巨大恶果。整个地球上的许多“文化”都是这样。一个国家的文化当中要是滋养出一种恶的东西，最终受害者就是这个国家的人民。希特勒是德国人选举的，是德国人通过非常合法的程序选举出来的——他们选举了能体现他们意志的希特勒。所以，他会带着德国人的意志杀向世界，把整个的人类世界变成屠宰场。我的意思是出现这种罪恶东西不要紧，但是，人们同样要明白还有另外一种知耻的、不讴歌罪恶的文化。我们能做到这点就够了。

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