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The Battle for Man’s Soul – Preface

— Preface —

There Was Once a Great Land on Earth

There was once this great land on earth, where, according to legends, Goddess Nü Wa melted the five-colored stones to mend the damaged heaven and molded yellow earth to create human figures, which then started human beings, generation after generation;

There was once this great land on earth, where the deities lived among humans in a half-divine-half-human era, and the deities taught humans to identify and plant vegetables and medicine, create fire, make clothing, and write with script;

There was once this great land on earth, where people believed they were at the center of the earth and blessed by the divine, and thus called their land the “Central Kingdom (中国)” and the “Land of the Divine (神州).”

There Was Once a Great Civilization on This Land

There was once a great civilization on this land, which began when, 5,000 years ago, the Yellow Emperor united different tribes and established the first civilization;

There was once a great civilization on this land, where, 2,200 years ago, Qin Shi Huang united the whole country from war-fighting smaller kingdoms, established a central governance system, standardized Chinese script, currency, roads, and units of measure, and built the Great Wall to defend from the invasions of the northern tribes;

There was once a great civilization on this land, where, 2,100 years ago, Emperor Wudi of Han defeated the Huns who frequently crossed the border to rob Chinese and sent Zhang Qian to visit the countries in the west, thus starting the trade route of the Silk Road;

There was once a great civilization on this land, where, 1,400 years ago, Emperor Taizong of Tang ruled by virtue and strived to provide deep care for the people, creating a period in China that flourished economically, militarily, and morally;

There was once a great civilization on this land, where, in the Song dynasty (960 to 1276), it contributed 80 percent of the world’s GDP, due to booming commerce, trade, and technological advancement, exemplifying the Chinese philosophy of “hiding its wealth in the people (藏富于民)”;

There was once a great civilization on this land, where, from 1405 to 1433, Zheng He (also translated as Cheng Ho) led seven expeditionary voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, Western Asia, and East Africa, with a fleet of 240 ships and 27,000 people, travelling a total of 70,000 nautical miles that could circle the earth three times;

There was once a great civilization on this land, where the Kangxi Emperor of Qing (1654 to 1722), took Taiwan back under China’s rule, blocked Tsarist Russia’s invasion at the Amur River, expanded the empire in the northwest, kept reducing taxes, and encouraged wasteland development; and with a great economic prosperity, declared in 1712 that newborns afterwards would never need to pay tax.

There Was Once a Great Culture on This Land

There was once a great culture on this land, which flourished during the period of “hundreds of schools of thought” 2,500 years ago, including Laozi, Confucius, Mencius, Sun Tzu (the author of “The Art of War”), Han Fei Zi (founder of “Chinese Legalism”), and other philosophers. Further enriched by imported Buddhism 2,000 years ago, it thus became the traditional Chinese culture that emphasizes the relationship between heaven and man, virtue, and order, with its root firmly set in Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism;

There was once a great culture on this land, under which people recognized there is a higher power above human beings and adapted their behavior so as to follow heaven’s law, with the emperors calling themselves the “Son of Heaven (天子)” and issuing an edict of self-criticism after the occurrence of a major natural disaster;

There was once a great culture on this land, under which emperors were told that “the people are the most important thing, the state comes second, and the ruler is the least (民为贵,社稷次之,君为轻);” that they should use virtue and prosperity, but not force, to attract other countries to acquiesce to their rule; and that the emperor was a boat and the people were the water and that the water could carry the boat but could also sink the boat;

There was once a great culture on this land, under which people have always been bound together with the identity of Chinese based on their identification with the Chinese culture, rather than territorial boundaries or ethnic groups, regardless whether the country split into smaller states, reunited as one, or was overtaken by other ethnic groups;

There was once a great culture on this land, which the invincible Mongolians, who swept the Middle East and part of Europe, decided to adopt for itself and thus made itself part of the country after conquering the country;

There was once a great culture on this land, under which many people practiced Buddhist and Taoist cultivation and the society passed on the stories of supernormal powers from generation to generation, such as the eight immortals’ crossing the sea with each one’s own unique power, Bodhidharma’s crossing a river on a stalk of reed, and Zhao Sheng’s passing a series of tests including hardship, sexual seduction, the temptation of gold, and wrongful accusation, to be accepted as a Taoist disciple; {1}

There was once a great culture on this land, under which people held a high respect for human moral standards and believed in “giving up one’s life for righteousness (舍生取义),” “a promise weighs heavier than one thousand pieces of gold (一诺千金),” “there are certain things that a gentleman must do and certain things that a gentleman must not do (大丈夫有所为有所不为),” and “do not do to others what you would not want them to do to you (己所不欲勿施于人)”;

There was once a great culture on this land, under which people stressed unselfishness: To his king, Qi Xi (599 B.C. – 532 B.C.) recommended his political foe as his successor and his son as the military commander, because he felt that was the best fit for the country;

There was once a great culture on this land, under which people adhered to principles: After the most powerful official Cui Zhu killed his king, the official historian wrote in the record, “Cui Zhu killed his king”; Cui then killed him; his first younger brother wrote down the same thing again and was killed; his second younger brother wrote down the same thing again and was killed; and then his third younger brother, the last one of the family, still wrote down the same thing, but this time Cui yielded and left him and the book alone;

There was once a great culture on this land, under which people maintained integrity: Emperor Taizong of Tang, out of his mercy, let 390 prisoners waiting for death execution go home to celebrate the Chinese New Year with their family members for the last time; after the New Year, all prisoners, without a single one missing, returned to the prison on time for their own execution, even though no one had monitored them at home; and Taizong then pardoned all of them.

However, in the Past Two Centuries, This Once Great Land Has Changed

Sadly, from 1840 to 1900, this once great land had several wars against the Western countries and Japan and lost all of them. Some people started doubting their traditional culture and brought in Western science and philosophy, including the communist revolution, as a cure;

Sadly, in 1921, this once great land saw the establishment of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and its overtaking of the mainland of China in 1949 after winning the civil war;

Sadly, under the CCP’s reign, this once great land lost its religions as the CCP believes no gods exist and there is no power higher than communism: temples were destroyed, books of scripture were burned, and monks were forced to get married;

Sadly, under the CCP’s reign, the people of this once great land, after going through a series of political movements, including the Great Leap Forward, the Hundred Flowers Campaign, the anti-Rightist Campaign, the Cultural Revolution, the Tiananmen Square Massacre, and the ban of the Falun Gong practice, have not only lost their ability to think freely, but also their desire to have any free thought.

Sadly, under the CCP’s reign, this once great land has lost its traditional culture: people are cheating and lying about everything, including medicine, milk, food, financial reports, academia, and marriage; fighting with each other; abusing official powers; and becoming indifferent to the people who need help or who are wronged, even further ruining their lives;

Sadly, under the CCP’s reign, this once great land adopted unfair economic practices by setting up market barriers and tariffs to foreign businesses while enjoying free access to other markets, by forcing foreign companies to hand over their intellectual property and technical know-how, and by openly stealing over cyberspace;

Sadly, under the CCP’s reign, this once great land has become a security threat to the international community as it builds islands and military facilities in the South China Sea, creates tension along its borders with its southern neighbors, and supplies nuclear technologies to other countries;

Sadly, under the CCP’s reign, this once great land attempts to extend its control over the world by buying underdeveloped countries and infiltrating developed countries, in a covert political and ideological campaign against the world;

Sadly, under the CCP’s reign, this once great land has become a place to destroy people’s conscience and man’s soul and it keeps exporting that destruction to other countries.

As Communism Has Taken over, the Battle for Man’s Soul Has Taken Place Not Only on This Once Great Land; It Has Expanded to the Rest of the World

In considering the choice that mankind now faces, we are reminded of Goethe’s Faust, where the Lord tells Mephistopheles that his servant Faust serves the Lord and, if not clear now, it will become clear. He allows Mephistopheles to make a pact with his servant Faust: if Mephistopheles can provide him with one moment in which Faust can say he would like to stay in that moment forever, then Mephistopheles can take his soul.

Faust agrees to the pact:

If ever to the moment I should say,
Oh, stay, thou art so fair
Clasp me into fetters then and there
Then to destruction I would gladly go
Then may the death bells toll
Then from your service you are freed at last
The clock may stop
The hands may fall
My time will be forever past.

However, Mephistopheles does not win. Faust remains loyal to the Lord, without a single moment of hesitation, despite the temptations that Mephistopheles offers him.

Now, communism is making the same offer to man. It offers man wealth, opportunity, and a future of greatness. In return, what it asks is that man give up the divine, give up his conscience, give up his principles, and bear the banner of “In Communism We Trust.” If man takes communism’s offer, hasn’t he handed his soul to Mephistopheles?

In the pages that follow, we will explore in depth how antithetical communist China is to what this once great land used to be. We will delve in depth into the way communism distorts human nature and turns man into something that no longer has human values. We will look at the choices that communism offers to its own people and how it seeps into and infiltrates the free world.

We will also explore how those who have understood the true nature of communism have dealt with its influence.

The battle for man’s soul is taking place today. What will mankind do? The answer lies in our hands. Each and every one of us must decide. Our very souls depend on it.

Endnote:
{1} Chinascope, “The Moral Crisis in China, Part II – Traditional Chinese Culture,” March 12, 2012.
http://chinascope.org/archives/6490.