Patient X by David Peace

Author:David Peace [David Peace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780571333653
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 2018-05-05T04:00:00+00:00

5

Mr Sawamura had arranged for Ryūnosuke to meet and interview a number of important Chinese intellectuals. Mr Nishimoto, the editor of the weekly magazine Shanhai, had kindly agreed to accompany and interpret for Ryūnosuke. In a study in the French Concession, their first appointment was with Zhang Binglin. A philosopher and a scholar, a leading political figure during the various revolutions and recent upheavals, Zhang Binglin had been imprisoned, then had spent time in Japan. Now the man welcomed Ryūnosuke into his study; a tiled room, a cold room, with no stove, with no rugs, only books. In a thin serge suit, on a cushion-less wooden chair, Ryūnosuke stared at a large stuffed crocodile mounted flat against a wall. The skin of the crocodile offered no comfort, the cold of the room piercing his own skin. Ryūnosuke was certain he would catch his death of cold.

In a long grey official gown and a black half-length riding jacket with a thick fur lining, on a fur-draped wicker chair, with his legs outstretched, Zhang Binglin seemed oblivious to the cold. His skin almost yellow, his moustache very thin, his red eyes smiled coolly behind elegant frameless glasses as he spoke. ‘I am sad to say that contemporary China is politically depraved. You might say that since the last years of the Qing dynasty, the spread of injustice has reached immense proportions. In scholarship and the arts there has been an unusual stagnation. The Chinese people, however, do not by nature run to extremes. Insofar as they possess this quality, communism in China is impossible. Of course, one segment of the students welcomes Soviet principles, but the students are not the populace. Even if the people were to become communist, at some point would come a time when they would dispense with this belief. The reason is that our national character – love for the Golden Mean – is stronger than any momentary passing enthusiasm for fireworks …’

On his hard chair, Ryūnosuke desperately wanted to smoke, but just nodded along, Zhang waving long fingernails as on he went –

‘So, what would be the best way to revive China? The resolution of this problem, no matter how concrete, cannot emerge from some theory concocted at the desk. The ancients declared that those who understood the requirements of the times were great men. They did not deductively reason from some opinion of their own, but inductively reasoned on the basis of countless facts. This is what it means to know the needs of the times. After one has ascertained what those needs are, then and only then can plans be made. This is ultimately the meaning of the dictum of governing well according to the times of the years …’

Ryūnosuke nodding along, his eyes wandering to the crocodile again. The rays of the spring sun, the warmth of the summer water, the fragrance of the lotus blossoms: once you knew them all, but now how lucky you are to be stuffed. Have pity on me!

‘The

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