East of Byzantium

Last Wednesday at work, I noticed that one of my contacts had edited their display name so that a loveheart followed by the word “China” was displayed. This was unsurprising, as most Chinese people are getting increasingly fed up with what they see as anti-Chinese rhetoric and bias in the foreign media. However, things started to get a little strange as more and more people followed suit, until:

One of the contacts, “ladybird”, gives the instructions on how to add the effect beside her name in order to “show the world Chinese unity.” Other people have also been forwarding the same message.

Another contact - not shown here, the lovehearts go on for a very long way - exhorts people to boycott Carrefour, McDonalds, KFC, and UPS among other foreign companies in order to support the Beijing Olympics; which is odd of course because at least two of the companies mentioned are official sponsors of the Olympic Games. But then when things like this start to grow, slogans and rhetoric get blandly trotted out without thinking.

How else could another work colleague of mine be happily discussing work with me on MSN while carrying, under their name, the phrase:

师夷长技以制夷

Which is a play on words that translates as: “Learn from foreigners to defeat foreigners”

At the top of the screen, one user - Sophie - also Han Chinese and resident in Beijing doesn’t go along with the rest. Instead, she has a message reading:

“Be careful! Patriotism —> Nationalism”

With Nationalism carrying negative connotations in Chinese, being mixed up with racial purity rather than racial harmony. This girl happens to be a Christian.

As summer descends on Beijing, we approach the June feast of the Chinese Martyrs - 222 Orthodox Christians who were murdered by the Nationalist Boxers simply for following a “foreign” religion. Lord save us from ideology, in whatever form it may come in.

Holy Chinese martyrs, pray for us

主耶稣基督，上帝之子，因着你至尊的圣母；你的无形众天使；你的先知，前驱，施洗者；受天启者诸圣宗徒，光辉凯旋的众殉道者；可敬而心怀上帝的诸圣教父；以及所有圣者的祈祷，求你解救我脱离魔鬼频繁的攻击。诚然，主，我的创造者，你不愿意罪人灭亡，却希望他悔改而得以生存，求赐我──卑微不堪之人，得以忏悔改过。求你从致命毒蛇的口中抢救我，因它时刻试图吞噬我，并拉我堕入永燃的地狱。诚然，我主，我的慰藉，你曾为了我的卑微而披戴凡躯；而今求你救我脱离苦恼，并赐安慰于我可怜的灵魂。请善导我的心灵，使我能满全你的诫命，弃绝我的恶行并领受你的福泽。主啊，求你拯救我，因我寄望于你。

阿们。

The above shows the Chinese for repentance, as used in most Bibles (for example “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” - Matt 4:17). 悔改

The first character, 悔 (pron. “hui” or “hw-ay”), means to feel sorry; the second, 改 (”gai” as in the English word guy), means to change or correct. Although this is the same as English, in Chinese the meaning of the word is explicit: change and correction through remorse. Perfect.

And there is more. The character hui, 悔, has on the left the character used for the heart (心) emphasising that the remorse felt is something of the heart, just as Biblical writers understood that this is the seat of emotion and intellect. To the right, is the character meaning “every”, or “each”, (e.g. 每天, means “every[每] day[天]”). The remorse we have must be for everything we have done.

Following on from the remorse and regret, crucially, is change (改). Here again are two parts, left and right. To the left we have 已, ji, which means “oneself” or “one’s own”. The right part literally means to “whip” or “tap”, but ultimately has the meaning of change. Our own change, the correction of ourselves.

“Hw-ay Gai” - Remorse leading to correction.

Against all sense of reason, I have started a new blog here. It will be completely in Chinese, which is why I need correction and translation help from those who know, and prayers from everyone else. The title, 省亲回家 (xing qin hui jia), roughly translates as The Homecoming.

The journey will take place through the Church calendar, travelling and experiencing the Incarnation, the shadowing of Christ’s coming, and the lives of the Saints (concentrating specifically on the lives of the Chinese saints).

The blog starts at Pentecost and it will finish there too, one long year from now.

So, please, I am very serious about the prayers. Thank you.

我们称呼“耶稣”并且得以在富裕完整之地得以休养生息，这一切都将不再被人剥夺。基督之名由此便成为一切主的代名词。它将我们带到主的面前。 在主面前，一切真实都被发现，基督之名被赋予多种意义：拯救和宽恕，优异和理想的化身，教堂和圣餐，圣父和圣灵。然后向我们显示："都在基督里面同归于一"

只要我们紧随基督之名，我们将收到一份特殊的祝福，正如圣经上所言："怜悯我，好象你素常待那些爱你名的人" 

愿上帝像说保罗一样来评述我们: " 他是我所拣选的器皿, 宣扬我的名 "