Literary Master 1983

Chapter 166 Boxers and White Blood Cells

"You mean, countries like Indonesia and Malaysia have not been able to do the same as Thailand?"

Sirindhorn affirmed Yu Qie's idea.

To Southeast Asians, this is obvious. She said: "Indonesia once had violence specifically targeting the Chinese, and Malaysia still maintains discrimination against the Chinese. Therefore, the Chinese have their own schools and their own assessment standards. Any student who graduates from a Chinese school can have their academic qualifications recognized anywhere in the world, except in their own country."

"Because their country doesn't encourage them to speak Chinese or learn Chinese culture. Think about their situation, isn't it similar to what you saw in Kowloon Walled City? They are forgotten but self-reliant barbarians."

At this time, Yu Qie thought of the "Boxer Rebellion" mentioned by Cha Liangyong.

Whether something is good or bad often depends on the situation it is in. The textbooks say that the Boxers smashed foreign guns and destroyed railways, which is the bad side, while the good side is that it was a spontaneous and unconscious defense action.

It is just like when the human body is invaded, a large number of white blood cells are produced to fiercely attack the "virus", sometimes even damaging one's own organs.

However, this damage is not primarily the fault of the white blood cells, but rather the virus that first harms the human body.

Yu Qie thought of the residents of Kowloon Walled City again, and he could not help but have a deeper understanding. The reason why it is sad is that modern housing is indeed more advanced than Kowloon Walled City, and it is compared with all modern civilization.

Kowloon Walled City has become a cancer of civilization.

However, the Chinese in Malaysia who insisted on self-sufficiency and internal circulation were in contrast to the local indigenous people. At this time, the same "Boxer Rebellion"-style behavior attracted the sympathy of Sirindhorn, because at this time the Chinese in Malaysia were more advanced than the indigenous people.

Yu Qie watched the entire performance of Ramayana.

The play tells the story of how Rama and the Monkey King formed an alliance and established the sacred Monkey Kingdom. Every time it is performed, someone from the Thai royal family will play the role of the Monkey King. After the show, the Thai people in the audience burst into thunderous applause, and many people shed tears of excitement.

Zhao Puchu from the Buddhist Association said with a smile: "Thai people have a very high level of Buddhist knowledge. The Monkey King and Rama are metaphors for the union of the Chinese (royal family) and the indigenous people. They built a country together, and the Thai people like it very much! In my opinion, this is a good case."

"A culture cannot fly into the sky," Zhao Puchu said. "It must land somewhere and serve reality."

Yu Qie asked him in return: "Then the birth of something like Kowloon Walled City does not prove that it was needed in reality? It was originally a government office left over from the Qing Dynasty and a military fortress, but it eventually became a fortress that was culturally incompatible with mainstream society."

Zhao Puchu smiled and said, "Yu Qie, although you don't understand the theory of Confucian classics at all, you have a hunch in this area."

After that, Yu Qie began to think about what kind of novel to write for publication.

It turns out that the Kowloon Walled City is not just cyberpunk, but also the product of countless Chinese people spontaneously forming associations to fight against indigenous peoples and Westernization.

He stayed at the Sheraton Hotel, looked up some information, and wrote several travelogues, which were published in Thai newspapers by Sirindhorn and he earned some royalties.

Every time Sirindhorn received the manuscript, she would ask him: "The travel notes you wrote are all about Chinese places. Look, Chinatown, wholesale markets... these are all the same Chinese settlements."

"I am Chinese, so of course I am concerned about the living conditions of the Chinese first."

"No, you must be collecting materials. You are going to write something else!"

"Shh! Don't expose yourself."

Sirindhorn was therefore very curious about Yu Che's new novel. In her opinion, it was really unlucky for Yu Che to be criticized by Cha Liangyong. However, Yu Che never thought of backing down, but instead seized the time to write the novel. I don't know if this is courageous or just ignorance of his own limitations.

In mid-August, Yu Qie visited Chulalongkorn University as planned, representing Yanjing University students and interacting with students from Thailand's top universities. Yu Qie conducted a "Who is Chinese" survey on the spur of the moment, asking the teachers and students who came to exchange ideas at that time to raise their hands if their ancestors were Chinese. As a result, more than half of the people raised their hands.

However, the students told him: "Chulalongkorn is a comprehensive national university. If it were other private universities, the proportion of Chinese would be even greater."

"We Chinese in Thailand have always consciously helped each other, but today we no longer talk about this identity, because today's ethnic conflicts are no longer as intense as they were in the past."

Yu Qie asked again: "What about Malaysia next door?"

The students were very sympathetic: "In Malaysia, anyone who graduates from a Chinese school can only work in a Chinese company or go abroad. This is because public universities in Malaysia refuse to recognize the results of Chinese education."

“Then why do Malaysian Chinese still do this?”

“Maybe it’s because of cultural identity.”

Here, Yu Qie learned some surprising facts. In Thailand and Malaysia, there used to be many elderly Chinese who were dumb. They were not born deaf and dumb, but were made deaf by the times.

Because in the more distant past, ethnic relations were not as relaxed as they are today. If you revealed that you were Chinese, you might be killed, so many people never spoke a word again in their lives, and even exchanged their children to cut off their tongues.

There are also many Chinese who go out to bask in the sun every day to make their skin darker, and become dizzy and dizzy from the sun.

Afterwards, she participated in a local Thai program to explain the background of her novel "Letter from the Fiancée". Sirindhorn is a very popular member of the royal family in Thailand. She appears on various media pages like a star.

Because Sirindhorn translated novels for Yu Che, Yu Che was also cast under a filter and was called China's most famous "military writer."

Considering that Li Cunbao, the author of "The Garland under the Mountain", has not published any blockbuster works since then, Yu Qie can temporarily deserve this title.

The other members of the group also had their own division of labor. Ji Xianlin was responsible for participating in academic discussions, while Zhao Puchu presided over the Buddhist conference held in Bangkok. It can be said that he debated with people all over the world. Every night when he came back, he would see this old man sweating profusely and kept saying, "Yu Qie, I'm about to be exposed. They have more people and I really can't argue with them."

Yu Qie said, "Then don't argue with others, just go through the motions."

"No, there are six or seven Thai Buddhist delegations coming to the mainland this year. They donated a large number of jade Buddha statues to us and directly donated foreign exchange for the construction of temples. I am like an official who is lobbying for investment. I am not just here for tourism."

Yu Qie was surprised: "You church members are so kind that you donated your money to church members in another country?"

“Yu Qie, I’m also confused by what you said!”

Zhao Puchu took out his glasses and put them on, carefully checking the accounts under the sun. After an afternoon of checking, he found that many of the church members who donated money and materials were also overseas Chinese. For example, the Xie family, a wealthy Chinese family in Thailand at the time, also donated one million US dollars for the construction of temples in China.

The Xie family's Charoen Pokphand Group is a household name in Thailand. The "7-11 convenience stores" throughout Thailand are Charoen Pokphand's industries. In mainland China, the Charoen Pokphand Group has a more localized name, "Charoen Pokphand Group".

In 1981, Charoen Pokphand entered China and obtained the foreign investment business license No. 0001.

Yu Qie slapped his thigh and said, "After all, cultural commonality is more effective!"

When overseas Chinese donated money, were they considering the face of Sakyamuni or the face of the name of China? This time, Yu Qie chose the latter.

Therefore, the novels he wrote afterwards also fully reflected the cohesion of the Chinese people.

(End of this chapter)