Last week, two of our Hotpot writers shared different views on how to become a real man. Chad Swanson climbed the Great Wall four times, which physically matches the idiom: "One can't be a haohan (real man) until he climbs the Great Wall." Yet his Australian compatriot Ben Davey found the story boastful and suggested other criteria for masculinity.
I've scaled the steep steps of the Wall time and again. As my heart pounded and I gasped for air, I imagined the ancient soldiers to be fairly strong: They had to run swiftly and shoot arrows accurately with a steady breath.
Of course, the real-man phrase carries many more layers of meaning. The word haohan immediately reminds me of Outlaws of the Marsh, a literary classic in which heroes "devour huge chunks of meat and down big bowls of liquor".
Wu Song, for example, drank 15 bowls of baijiu before marching up Jingyanggang to slay a hungry tiger.
A fight against an animal doesn't merit a real man for me. I believe humans have been too arrogant and ignorant towards Mother Earth. A real man has to have the ability to conquer himself.
Guan Yu, a general in Romance of the Three Kingdoms, once sat calmly reading a book as Hua Tuo addressed his wounded arm. He has been lauded as a pillar of physical strength, wisdom and loyalty. Yet when Guan finally lost a battle and was beheaded, his spirit cried out: "Give me my head!"
"Why doesn't he consider the enemies he had slain? He's so self-centered," concludes my husband. So who is his hero?
Xiao Feng, the former leader of the powerful Gaibang (Beggars' Gang) in a novel by Louis Cha (Jin Yong). Xiao lost everything when he found he was the son of the invaders. "He is caught in a tragic fate but remains loyal to his own principles. He is also humorous," remarks my other half.
Really? Xiao is too perfect to impress me. But Cha's novels seem to be a universal source of inspiration. Yang Guo and Guo Jing, two dramatically different characters, also attract many readers.
Handsome Yang winces not when he loses an arm for his true love. For my romantic girlfriend, Yang stands for the love that remains even when "the sea dries and rocks rot".
Guo Jin, however, gives priority to the country and dies fighting invaders. "He is the greatest of all chivalrous men," declares my friend's husband. It is interesting how men and women see things differently.
As a bookworm, I like to search for idols among the pages and Faramir from Lord of the Rings is my hero. Tolkien only briefly mentions the brother of Boromir but the melancholy warrior impresses me with a gentle mind that understands the suffering of others.
As he leads Frodo to a waterfall to reveal Gollum's hiding place, he invites the young Hobbit to admire a curtain of trickling water shining in the moonlight. What other warrior would do that?
Tolkien once said that if he were to live in the Middle Earth he had created, he'd be Faramir.
All said, to make a real man of our 2-year-old, we plan to bring him to the Great Wall.
(China Daily 07/03/2007 page20)
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