How Chinese and Western Cultures Cope with Catastrophe

About 4,000 years ago, all parts of the world were ravaged by floods. The most famous legends that have been passed down to this day are Noah's Ark and Yu Yu's control of the flood. Noah was a naive individual hero. He built a large wooden boat, collected and captured many species, and restarted after the flood receded. Material resources, to complete the impossible super project, let the Chinese civilization multiply and spread to this day, and make the Chinese culture far ahead of the world for thousands of years.

Although today's technology is more capable, the crisis in the world is also greater. In the face of an extremely deteriorating ecological crisis, collecting genes to build a seed bank and building a small ecology deep underground is the survival mode of Noah. It is clear that when the end comes, only a very small number of people will survive if the Noah model is adopted.

When faced with an existential crisis, what choices will Eastern and Western thought make?

 "Sun Tzu" Wu people and Yue people hate each other. When they are in the same boat, they help each other. When they meet the wind, they help each other like left and right hands.

In the Spring and Autumn Period of China, there is a story of Wu and Yue on the same boat. At that time, Wu and Yue were hostile, and the two peoples had national hatred and family hatred. One day, Wu people and Yue people boarded a boat together and suddenly encountered a storm. Both sides fought to survive. Mutual aid and cooperation, they all survived the difficulties together.

The Two Men Who Were Enemies

 Two Men, deadly enemies to each other, were sailing in the same vessel. Determined to keep as far apart as possible, the one seated himself in the stem, and the other in the prow of the ship. 
A violent storm arose, and with the vessel in great danger of sinking, the one in the stern inquired of the pilot which of the two ends of the ship would go down first. 
On his replying that he supposed it would be the prow, the Man said, "Death would not be grievous to me, if I could only see my Enemy die before me."

two enemies

 The two enemies are in the same boat and never get close. One person sits on the road, and one person enters the bow. When a storm hits, the ship will be out of luck. The stern heard that the bow would sink first. The man at the stern said, "If you can see the hatred first, even if you die, there is no hatred!"

Maybe Aesop is using irony to describe the stupidity of putting hatred more important than life, but in contrast to today's world, isn't that the case in every country? China's biggest enemy today is not the United States, let alone Japan, but the ecological catastrophe that is about to drown human civilization. It is far better to be content with the happiness of dying later than the enemy, and it is far better to turn the enemy into a friend and help each other in the same boat.

The main reason for today's "ecological catastrophe" is that human beings only seek small profits and ignore ecological sustainability. In this regard, China and the West also have completely different views. The Chinese have regarded exhausting the pond and fishing as foolishness since ancient times, while the West has a completely different view. view, they tend to be more concerned with immediate practical interests.

 "Lv's Spring and Autumn" says: "If you exhaust the pond and fish, you won't get it, but there will be no fish next year." This fishing must be called a degree. If fishing is done well, ten thousand species will be bred, and food and goods will be inexhaustible. If the pond is exhausted and fish is used, if the reproduction is not good, the soil will be damaged.

Dry the water to catch fish, no matter how big or small the fish are, but there will be no more fish to catch in the future. If fishing is limited, it will not damage the ecology of fish and water, and there will be an endless supply of fish.

The Fisherman and the Little Fish

 A Fisherman who lived on the produce of his nets, one day caught a single small Fish as the result of his day's labor. 
The Fish, panting convulsively, thus entreated for his life: "O Sir, what good can I be to you, and how little am I worth? I am not yet come to my full size. Pray spare my life, and put me back into the sea. I shall soon become a large fish fit for the tables of the rich, and then you can catch me again, and make a handsome profit of me." 
The Fisherman replied, "I should indeed be a very simple fellow if, for the chance of a greater uncertain profit, I were to forego my present certain gain."

fisherman and small fish

 The sea-seekers were busy all day, and they caught a small fish. The little fish gasped and begged for mercy: "I'm still young and worthless, please let me go back to the sea. If I get caught when I'm older, I can sell it at a high price." The fisherman replied, "Do you think I'm stupid? For the sake of knowing the big benefits, give up the small profits in front of you. !"

Catching only one fish a day can already reflect that people are overfishing, but giving up this small fish, the fisherman will be in vain, so the fisherman who thinks he is smart will not let go of the immediate practical interests, even if there may be a fish tomorrow. Can't catch.

Today, all countries in the world are vying for resources, lest they be too late. They are actively exploiting and refining at will, not caring about ecological variation, but only caring about economic interests. Just like the above-mentioned fisherman, he is selfish and short-sighted, and only cares about the small profit in front of him. Even if he has no fish to catch, he can't take advantage of others.

According to the logic of Western thinking, the most likely way to face an ecological crisis is to "self-protect", so the World Summit will not work at all, and can only wait to be cooked like a greenhouse frog; if it is on the verge of an existential crisis, the most vulnerable The possible outcome is "nuclear peace", riding the Ark of Doom, waiting for ecological restoration, and then rebuilding the world.

Therefore, only five thousand years of Chinese culture can save the world today. As a member of the Chinese nation, what you should think about is how to carry forward the Dayu spirit and unite all countries in the world to control pollution and rebuild the ecology. Only the earth's ecology can be restored to health and civilization. There is hope for development.

• Taoist classics
• Aesop's Fables