The Two Kings Temple, a 1,500-year-old Taoist sanctuary perched above Dujiangyan, was devastated by the recent earthquake in Sichuan. A monument to the temple’s patron deity was split at the waist.
The creation and study of art are primarily object-based activities. As an art lover, bibliophile, and eclectic collector, I’ve discovered that objects hold great appeal. I derive aesthetic pleasure from their materials and craftsmanship, and intellectual pleasure from the stories behind the objects. I value the stories behind the items, their contextual history, and the lessons they impart on human culture. Closely associated with their aesthetic appeal is the visceral pleasure obtained from the object itself: the sensual gratification of glass, versatility of ceramics, flow of pigment on canvas, and power of sculpture. But there is a risk associated with such object-based gratification. The stuff can assume a value far beyond its worth, taking on a primacy and unwarranted significance in my life. And you’re quite correct if you’ve noted the flaw in my logic: the virtue does not reside in the object, but in the value assigned by the viewer. Recently my wife displayed a sign in our home displaying the aphorism: “The only things in life that matter are not things.” This message was reinforced by the recent series of natural disasters across the world, the most current being the China earthquake.
As reported in The New York Times (excerpted by MadSilence):
“I think the heavens were teaching us a lesson,” said Wang Zhongcheng, a resident of Two Kings Temple, a 1,500-year-old Taoist monastery. “This is what happens when the world is out of balance.”
The earthquake that struck Sichuan Province on May 12 killed at least 55,000 people and injured 247,000. More than five million are homeless.
But the catastrophe that destroyed so many lives has also taken a toll on a region rich in antiquities. Here along the quilt of jagged peaks that stretch north toward the Tibetan plateau, 184 historic sites were damaged or destroyed in the span of five minutes, according to a preliminary government tally. The home of Li Bai, one of China’s most revered poets, was shaken apart. An 800-year-old wooden pagoda in Jiangyou was badly damaged. In a far corner of the province, a centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist shrine in Nyitso was jolted off its foundation.
As they sat around the ruins drinking tea and reading religious texts, members of the order talked about the earthquake as retribution for humanity’s misplaced priorities. Zhong Zongji, 38, a nun in a navy blue robe, said the symptoms were plainly visible in Dujiangyan, a city of 600,000 whose residents, she said, were too obsessed with chasing money to notice the beauty and sanctity of the natural world. “They have good material lives but they are empty inside,” she said, sitting near the row of tents that is now home to the temple’s 20 resident Taoists.
Many of the men and women who live at Two Kings view the earthquake as a comeuppance for man’s endless wars, the neglect of the elderly, the abuse of the environment. “You can’t keep cutting down the trees and destroying the land without a response from the heavens,” said Ms. Ai, as the daylight faded and the monks and nuns retreated to their tents.
Still, she said she thought some good might come from the calamity. Down in the city, she had been moved by the sight of strangers helping one another. Perhaps people will learn what she and the other Taoist devotees view as the elements of a harmonious life: self-discipline, kindness and the pursuit of simplicity. “Maybe people will learn that you cannot keep living a corrupted life without consequences,” she said. “Maybe this earthquake can redeem us.”
Related links:
Stillness Returns, Sadness Lingers from The New York Times
Quake devastates a slew of China’s historic sites from the International Herald tribune
Compassion for quake victims is compatible with the quest for truth from the International Herald tribune
UNESCO World Heritage List: Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System
American Red Cross China Earthquake Relief
Catholic Relief Services Earthquake Relief Efforts in China
~MadSilence
2 Comments
May 27, 2008 at 2:48 am
This narrative has been used after virtually every natural disaster. But it has been proven wrong everytime. I have never ceased to be amazed at how total strangers would come together and help one another. Sometimes perception does not reflect reality. People are much better than they are perceived to be.
June 10, 2008 at 3:01 am
The quote your wife posted should be on refrigerateors across America.