I have never really thought about the origins of the Great Wall of China. I’ve taken its existence for granted, somehow assuming it’s been there since the beginning of the world. I never consciously realized that it had to have been built by man and that someone was behind its creation. This article gives us a glimpse into the baffling mind of that someone, Shih Huang Ti. He is baffling because his actions conflict. This man who brought forth one of the most influential architectural masterpieces of all time also facilitated the destruction of three thousand years of printed history. Jorge Luis Borges explores the possible reasons and resulting consequences of this odd duality.
One idea Borges speculates on is perhaps Shih Huang Ti was trying to hide his own weakness. He knew he was not the emperors of old and could never be. According to the author, Ti’s enemies used the books and records against him by comparing him to his predecessors. As an emperor, Ti wanted complete devotion. Going along with Borges idea, it seems like Ti burned the books to blind his people and leave them no choice but to accept him as emperor, and perhaps, even as a god. He knew that he could never get honest, intelligent devotion because he honestly couldn’t live up to those who came before him, so he forced blind devotion.
Additionally, Borges presents the speculation that Ti simply went a little overboard in trying to destroy one event, and to prevent future repeats of that event. The event was his mother’s rebellion. According to the article, his mother was a “libertine”. We don’t get any more detail than that but we can assume she opposed his restricting of freedoms. The author suggest that he hated his mother (or her actions) so much that he destroyed everything potentially related to such rebellions. Borges compares this action to the king of Judah’s extermination of all male babies to kill just one.
Another possible reason behind the destruction and construction on this massive scale is Ti’s belief in the supernatural. The emperor took steps, by the hand of sorcerers and through decrees to his people, to ensure his immortality. Borges suggests that “the wall in space and fire in time” were designed as magic barriers to cheat death.
I was intrigued reading about this man. How could someone so seemingly progressive disregard the past so completely? It’s like he was climbing a gigantic ladder and then lopped off the bottom rungs. There’s a reason we study history: it provides a foundation for the future. Learning from our predecessors is a commandment. I’m not saying that the writings of early Chinese history are scripture, but centuries of invaluable knowledge could have been passed on from them. Shih Huang Ti robbed himself (and all of China for that matter) of his foundation and foolishly thought he could succeed.
Perhaps the most important idea Borges presents in his essay is the significance of not understanding or missing something. There are many times in life when we feel like we’ve missed something significant. We feel like some event or occurrence is trying to tell us something but we just can’t grasp it. Borges suggests that “this imminence of a revelation which does not occur is, perhaps, the aesthetic phenomenon”. There are some things we simply will not understand in this life. In this we are humbled and driven to search further and deeper for our answers.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree with many points you made. This essay was truly eye opening, and I greatly loved it. Borges exposes to human thought the possibilities for the destruction of books, and the creation of the wall, and in so doing gives humans the opportunity to formulate their own opinions. I think it is amazing how Ti sought to make himself the “God”, or creator of language and writing by destroying all past examples of it. Also, I think it is true that Ti desired to cover his own insecurity by erasing all history of successful leaders. In doing so, the people would forget about who were great leaders. In this, Ti would be the first example of a leader, without comparison. One flaw in Ti’s thinking, however, is that the future generations would record the actions of their kings, and because of this, Ti could again look weak compared to the greatness of future leaders. In the end, I greatly enjoyed this excerpt, and am grateful to Borges for this thought-provoking essay.
ReplyDeleteWhile I read this, one thought stuck out in my mind, keeping a journal. By keeping a journal as the prophet has commanded us, we are able to provide a history for our posterity. By not keeping a journal we are essentially robbing others of the past as Ti did. However, he did this on a much grander scale. I think it’s important to provide your own spiritual history for your future generations to build off of. It can be a base for their testimony. They can see how you did things, and how much faith you had during times of trial. The Chinese people were robbed of a history of how their leaders handled certain things and what great things these leaders accomplished. I feel that if I do not keep a journal that I am do essentially the same thing as Ti.
ReplyDeleteI too was constantly reminded of keeping a journal when I read this. It has never seemed that important to me, but recently I have discovered its significance. Not only will it provide a way for my posterity to be able to know what my life was like when I was young, but it also helps instill truths within myself, truths I may already know to be true, but not consciously. I once heard that speaking or writing about something we enjoy or believe in will increase our passion for that object or idea. Keeping a journal will facilitate this process.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that all these Chinese leaders who wanted to rule the world and live forever were doing things that would bring their life and rule to an end early such as Opium and building walls that killed many of the people woring on it and decreased his populaiton to rule over. I wonder what theory scientists would have come up with in regards to the wall if a journal had not been kept by him...?
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI found the essay extremely poetic. I like how Borges sees Ti as wreaking justice unknowingly on princes of the past while setting up himself and his books for an uncomfortably warm afterlife. It is so ironic that so few people know about Mr. Ti, setting aside the fact that there are very few diligent students of history to begin with.
ReplyDeleteOne upon a Friday seminary devotional, I declared that wicked men end up accomplishing the Lord's purposes. In subsequent moments, I have berated myself privately for teaching such a false doctrine, but Borges work shines new poetical, aesthetic light. In the language of the essay, revelation is pending. I wonder how far my statement can be marginalized.
Throughout time, the idea arises again and again that forgetting something is essentially killing it. The Egyptians, when they were ashamed of someone, would erase all records of that person's existence, so that future generations would know nothing of them, and they would be forgotten. This, to them, was true death -- being forgotten. And so, what Ti does is not something so new to history. He is killing the past so that all will be forgotten, and he will be the beginning, he will be the father. Because he is now the first, he is greatest, because he will set the stage for all to come -- or at least, it would appear to be so.
ReplyDeleteTi reinforces a very important lesson -- do not forget. To forget is to destroy, and that is what makes his actions so deplorable -- in his time, people would still remember the histories, but generations afterwards would forget. We hear from the prophets that the most important word in the english language is "remember;" so much so, that it features prominently in the sacramental prayers. As God's children, our most important action is to "always remember" Him, for if we do not, we are eradicating Him, destroying Him, from our hearts -- can there be anything more terrible and atrocious than that?