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| Lin Yu Tang 林语堂 |
After spending years in France, I find myself in a similar position as him. Like Hulk and Smeagol, I am split inside me, not in the sense of personality but mentality. Religion is complicated and widely variable in China. It is the same for Chinese descendants in Malaysia. But if you really want to reduce it down into a single word, Lin Yu Tang would argue that it has to be the doctrine of the Mean (中庸). I myself am no exception. It defines my soul and my heart. The funny thing is, my field of speciality involves a lot statistics and statistics always revolve around finding the mean.
The way of the Mean is deeply Eastern. I think it is originated from the Buddha's concept of the Middle Way. The Middle Way is something I find rarely in the West or at least in France, since I can only speak with my personal experience. When I started to learn French, I learnt the phrase comme ci comme ça which means it's not good and not bad either, it's ok, it's so so in English. It's ok is a phrase I like to use a lot but I have never heard any French using it.
They always have strong opinions, to even the minutiae of daily life. Take the example of weather. The weather is never ok for them, it is either too hot or too cold for them. They are the same about the food, it is never just comme ci comme ça. Perhaps I am afraid to give my opinion. While I agree to the importance to have your own point of view and stand for it, but what I also think it is sometimes better off if we just go with the flow and be content for what we already have.
Zhuangzi once said : 進不敢為前，退不敢為後, which means when one is in a group, never stay at the front of the pack while never stay too far behind. He further argued that only the middle of the pack was the perfect position to be in. At first glance, the doctrine of the Mean seems to be against progress. But for me, I would interpret it as the following : find the group where you are the mean, and that way, you can learn from the front pack for improvement and also learn the way to help those who are lagging behind. Once you find yourself too far away from the mean, it is time to find another group. Just like Michael Dell said : never be the smartest person in the room.
Because of this, I don't feel comfortable to be a leader but I am happy to be the assistant leader. Because of this, I don't like to be the head but the one who helps the man in charge. Because of this, even I have some ideas, I won't fully speak out my opinions without rethinking them a few times over. I refuse to speak out whatever pops into my head. That's why brainstorming is a disaster for me. Often I would build a series of arguments and conter-arguments for my idea before I judge whether it is worth presenting to others or not. But as an engineer, whether I like to be a leader or not, there is a good chance that I will hold such a position somewhere down the road.
Tagore once criticized the Western culture as inherently destructive and needed to be tempered by the spiritual wisdom of the East. In my case, it is the other way. I think I have quite enough the Mean of Eastern culture. Through my years in France and using Lin Yu Tang as a role model, now I have to find the mean between the East and the West.
They always have strong opinions, to even the minutiae of daily life. Take the example of weather. The weather is never ok for them, it is either too hot or too cold for them. They are the same about the food, it is never just comme ci comme ça. Perhaps I am afraid to give my opinion. While I agree to the importance to have your own point of view and stand for it, but what I also think it is sometimes better off if we just go with the flow and be content for what we already have.
Zhuangzi once said : 進不敢為前，退不敢為後, which means when one is in a group, never stay at the front of the pack while never stay too far behind. He further argued that only the middle of the pack was the perfect position to be in. At first glance, the doctrine of the Mean seems to be against progress. But for me, I would interpret it as the following : find the group where you are the mean, and that way, you can learn from the front pack for improvement and also learn the way to help those who are lagging behind. Once you find yourself too far away from the mean, it is time to find another group. Just like Michael Dell said : never be the smartest person in the room.
Because of this, I don't feel comfortable to be a leader but I am happy to be the assistant leader. Because of this, I don't like to be the head but the one who helps the man in charge. Because of this, even I have some ideas, I won't fully speak out my opinions without rethinking them a few times over. I refuse to speak out whatever pops into my head. That's why brainstorming is a disaster for me. Often I would build a series of arguments and conter-arguments for my idea before I judge whether it is worth presenting to others or not. But as an engineer, whether I like to be a leader or not, there is a good chance that I will hold such a position somewhere down the road.
Tagore once criticized the Western culture as inherently destructive and needed to be tempered by the spiritual wisdom of the East. In my case, it is the other way. I think I have quite enough the Mean of Eastern culture. Through my years in France and using Lin Yu Tang as a role model, now I have to find the mean between the East and the West.
Bibliography
- 林语堂, 人生的盛宴
- 莊子, 莊子‧外篇‧山木第二十
- 于丹, 企望华文文学出现林语堂式旗帜 (http://culture.ifeng.com, 23 November 2011)
- Pankaj Mishra, Sentimental Education in Shanghai (http://www.nybooks.com, 12 June 2008)
- Michael Dell's speech at the University of Texas, 2003
