LADY WU
By Lin Yutang
New York, C.P. Putnam's Sons,
1965, 255 pp., US$4.95
Reviewed by Charles C. Clayton
Dr. Lin Yutang is without question the best known Chinese writer of this century. He is as well known and respected in the United States as he is among his countrymen. Internationally recognized for his contributions in the field of philosophy, he is equally distinguished as a novelist. One of his novels, Moment in Peking, achieved the best seller lists and was a Book-of-the-Month selection. His works have brought understanding of Chinese traditions and culture to readers all around the world.
His 36th book is described as a novel, but as the author explains in his foreword, all of the incredible and bizarre adventures of Lady Wu, even most of the dialogue, "are strictly based on Tang history". The facts have been taken from the two official Tang histories: the old Tangshu of the 10th century and the new Tangshu of the 11th century. For the convenience of American readers the spelling of the Chinese names has been simplified.
There have been few women in all history to compare with power-mad Lady Wu, who conspired to overthrow the Tang dynasty and establish her own dynasty, to be called Jou, the "Golden Period of Confucius". There are similarities in her ruthless reign and that of Catherine of Russia a thousand years later. There is also a striking similarity between Lady Wu's "mad monk", Shuay Huaiyi, and Rasputin in the last days of the czars.
The author makes no attempt to gloss over either the wholesale murders that put Lady Wu on throne as "Female Emperor", or the licentiousness of the court. Lady Wu's relations with the "mad monk" are related in detail as well as her "Stork Institute", which was, in fact, her harem of paramours that ultimately led to her downfall. One must take with a grain of caution some of the exploits of her later years, for she is depicted as a woman of amazing vitality who remained engrossed with sex virtually to the time of her death at 83.
She emerges from the pages of this novel as a fascinating and contradictory woman able to charm her subjects with her beauty, to outwit her rivals by her intelligence and outdo them with her cruelty and ruthlessness.
There are many characters in the story, but for the most part they remain historical figures rather than flesh and blood reality. Among them Di Renjiay, the master detective-judge, stands out. It was Di who master-minded the downfall of Lady Wu and who finally restored the Tang dynasty.
The story is told by Lady Wu's grandson, Shouli, Prince of Bin, who is in effect the author's spokesman. Through him Dr. Lin underscores the moral of the story—a moral which has significance for today. Shouli sums it up this way:
"There seems to be an inexorable law in the affairs of men that chaos must return to order, the abnormal return to the normal, and the equilibrium of things be restored, like the sequence of storms and calm at sea. A hidden mechanism, we might almost say, exists which turns the wheel of fortune so that the wicked shall be punished and justice shall prevail... As Laotse says, a storm does not last forever. Epidemics die out by themselves without any apparent external agency. Rich fortunes become bankrupt, tyrants die and dictatorships burn themselves out."
China's long history is replete with examples of this truism—a fact which Mao Tse-tung might well ponder.
BUDDHISM OR COMMUNISM:
Which Holds the Future of Asia?
By Ernst Benz
New York, Doubleday & Co.,
1965, 234 pp., US$4.50
Reviewed by Clifford Chou
There is ample evidence that Communism has sought to use Buddhism as a propaganda arm of the state in Red China and in Vietnam. In this study Ernst Benz examines the link between religion and politics in Asia. Whether its influence on the future of Asia can be as clearly defined as the title seems to suggest is open to question, although there can be little doubt that the Buddhist bonzes in Saigon helped destroy the Diem government, or that they are still a factor in Vietnamese politics.
The author is professor of church and dogmatic history at the University of Marburg, Germany. His book, which was first published in Germany, is based on the material he gathered in a tour of Asia in 1957-58 that took him to Burma, Thailand, Hongkong, Ceylon, the Philippines, and Japan.
Some of his material is obviously dated, but his study does provide a background for a better understanding of modern Buddhism and its influence in Asia. The author writes that Buddhism remains a strong spiritual force and influences many Asians in resisting both Communism and Western democracy. He explains that the traditional forms of Buddhism are changing and a new Buddhism is evolving which seeks to bridge the gap between the Hinayana Buddhism of Southeast Asia and the Mahayana Buddhism of China and Japan.
Modern Buddhism, he believes, is evidencing a "distinct sense of political mission" and insists that its role is to achieve the "Buddhist conception of peace". Buddha, the author says, is regarded by modern disciples as a great social reformer as well as a great religious teacher. His teachings have inspired a new social ethics that has been used to overthrow the caste system in India, to carry out land reform in Burma, and to support world peace movements. It is, in the author's opinion, a religion of love, peace, and "the middle way".
He concedes that the "middle way" is tricky in countries that are swayed by conflict and change—and it is in these nations that Buddhism is most strongly rooted. He also admits there is a lack of solidarity among the Buddhists, despite all the efforts made to achieve it.
Benz doubts that the Buddhist monastic communities can long resist the violence of Communism's revolutionary tactics, or the impact of social and technological changes. He points out that the Buddhist program of social utopia is accepted as the ultimate state of Nirvana.
On the other hand he feels that Buddhism can be a "spiritual fluid" in shaping the intellectual life of Asia and can play a part in its future. The book was translated from the German by Richard and Clara Winston.