The Amazing Thing
Nanning, China, July 1, 2010
By Salaroche

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. That’s a very well known western maxim or proverb. Most western people have heard it or read it, or have even seen the three monkeys symbolizing it. But the origins of that proverb don’t seem to be western. According to some sources, the origins of that maxim can be traced to Japan, or even to China.

China? Well, that’s where I’ve been living for the past four months or so.

The most literal meaning for that proverb is that one should strive to avoid seeing, hearing and speaking things that are bad for our physical, mental or spiritual wellbeing. A more nuanced meaning refers to the act of turning a blind eye, a deaf ear and a mute tongue to things that aren’t convenient for us to see, hear or say.

In the west, the latter meaning is the popular one.

But, how would that maxim apply in China? What would be the most applicable meaning for it in the daily affairs of the Chinese people? Or, how would Chinese University students interpret it or apply it to themselves?

Alas! In China the most applicable meaning for that maxim would be the same as in the West: look the other way, pretend you don’t hear anything and shut your mouth. Except that in China you would need to add that if you don’t do those three things, you may find yourself in deep trouble.

Of course, that maxim begs the question of what is the meaning of evil?

Well, evil is a relative term, so there are probably as many interpretations for it as there are for the term “good,” meaning, there are almost as many interpretations for those two terms as you may want.

So let me narrow down the scope of my drift and let me define the term “evil” as it would apply to three Chinese University-student monkeys. When it comes to some very important political, economic and sociological information, for most Chinese University students, the term “evil” is a synonym for “fact.”

In other words, in practical terms, if the three monkeys in the maxim were Chinese University students, what they would advise you to do would be to “see no facts, hear no facts and speak no facts” that go contrary to, or disagree with, the official government version of those facts.

But there is a shorter, perhaps more accurate way to describe the attitude that most Chinese University students often adopt in the classrooms: No man is blinder than the one who refuses to see.

Can anything be more intellectually blinding than a perverted nationalistic indoctrination? Probably not.

But progress is being made in China; in every sense. And you cannot blame Chinese students for acting like the three monkeys in the maxim, for if they didn’t, they would ruin their future, or perhaps even end up in jail.

For my part, I just keep my eyes and my ears open, and I try to be as courteous as possible when expressing these kinds of perceptions to my Chinese brethren.

Salaroche