Know Yourself，Know the World

叶文学

You guys spoke eloquently，with conviction，passion，and shall I say，not a little imagination.As paradoxical as it sounds，you all seem to believe in changing the unchangeable.All I can say is you are impossible dreamers，impossible optimists.

As for myself，changing the unchangeable would take little short of a miracle.A tall order，tough proposition indeed it is.Can I change the unchangeable？ Yes，but only on April Fools Day，when I fool myself into thinking so.They say Jesus Christ could walk on water.I cannot.And there is nothing I can do about it.I am cynical.You are not.You have youth—and youth spells power and potential—on your side.You can cry for the moon and reach for the stars.

The topic for this contest last year happened to be “When Socrates Meets Confucius.” If I remember correctly，pretty much everybody envisioned how terrific，wonderful it would be for the East to meet the West，as symbolized by these two sages on opposite ends of the globe.You raved，rather piously，about globalization，culture，cross-cultural understanding and communication，blah，blah，blah，blah….Whatever，you sounded much more Confucian than Socratic—much more like Confucius than Socrates，that is—and I wondered at the time if such a would-be dialogue would simply turn out to be endless monologues on either side.

As luck would have it，something of a rude awakening just came along： Confucius Institute has only recently been kicked out of two American universities.Which sets me thinking if Confucius and Socrates can talk to each other.Or will they just talk past each other？ The Socrates in the Platonic dialogues has little in common，so far as I can see，with the Confucius of the Confucian Analects.Socrates is as far a cry from Confucius as China is from Greece，to say the least.What would you expect when Socratic irony meets up with Confucian dogmatism？ For one thing，one questions，and the other preaches.For another，one searches for truth； and the other，for order.Even if they spoke the same tongue，they might not speak the same language.Or do you think otherwise？

Do we know the world well，the world at large and the world at home？ Alibaba is not，as one of you just said，a Chinese corporation.Nor was that monumental mediocrity of a novelist the first PRC Chinese ever to be awarded the Nobel Prize，for that matter.What is it that has kept us in the dark？ How come we，a nation of close on a billion and a half，boast no Nobel laureates in the sciences？ We Chinese believe we Chinese are smart，smarter than anybody else in the world.Maybe yes，maybe no.But can we Chinese really think？ Maybe we are just living in a fools paradise，and its April Fools Day every day without us even knowing it.One of the topics for your impromptu speech prompted me to ask，“Why are the rich so rich，and the poor so poor in China？” These are big questions，as well as big ironies that stare us in the eye.Is the fact that this is a money-crazed society something changeable？ Are you going to go with the flow or buck against the tide？ Does man live by bread alone？ Whats your vision of China the beautiful？

“Nothing is unchangeable，” I heard several of you say.If you believe so，so be it.Or do you say so because you are expected to say so？ Or worse，you believe so because you are supposed to believe so？ I take your words at face value and trust that deep down，in your heart of hearts，you believe what you say.If you think this is the best of times，make it even better； if you think this is the worst of times，make it less bad.Better yourselves.Better the world.However，to make a difference you have to be different.If you have it in you to make it，show me and vindicate yourselves.Right now I remain a doubting Thomas.I am from Missouri，if you will.Show me your difference.China cannot afford to have just more of the same.That should be reason enough.You could work wonders.You might pull off miracles.You believe nothing is beyond your reach，nothing lies outside the realm of the possible.You have been pepped up so well that you stay upbeat even when you are beat up.More power to you！ What is unchangeable at present may well prove to be changeable in the future.Talk your talk and walk your talk.Translate your words into action，your dreams into reality.

I do not know how exactly you are going to change the unchangeable.Heres a little suggestion of mine，however，for what its worth.English is among other things a window onto the world.I hope you will learn it well，expand your world，and change yourselves，and by changing yourselves contribute what little you can to change the world.Its a game.Its a test.Its a challenge.You have to be as cold-headed as you are hot-blooded.I cannot say I believe you—not yet.Prove me wrong.I am not just playing the devils advocate.I believe in you，though.You can make a difference—you owe it to yourselves to make a difference.Know yourself，know the world： one depends on the other.Hopefully the world will change for the better，and China will be a better place than you find it now because of what you believe in today—and what you do tomorrow.

Thank you，and bless you all！