Religion

While talking about the difference between the Han and Roman Empire, there are some interesting points to note and elaborate.

First, religion plays a critical part in holding people together. Since 380 AD, Christianity was the major cohesive force in the western world. The second and third Roman Empires (that is, the Byzantine and Russia) were largely hold together by the same religion – the Orthodox.

Second, both USA and (formerly) USSR are the Roman type of country. American people are bound by the same motto – freedom – while USSR was hold together by the same religion – Marxism.

But, the most interesting question we should ask is: What kind of country is …?

If you think a country that it is the Roman type because the territory is wide and there are no fewer than a dozen of different races (although one of them obviously dominates the government), you are bound to face the second question: What common value do these people have?

I am dumbfounded.

Nation

On a casual look, the two empires are rather similar, although they are entirely different in reality.

(The only similarity is both of them adopted remarkably modern political systems. That’s another story.)

You see? The Han Empire represented the idea of nationalism. People of the same race, Han (漢族) in this case, live together and form a country. Citizens are bound together because they share the same genes as well as culture and tradition. Settlers at the border are barbarians and should be conquered – they could, and would, never be incorporated into the country and become “one of us”. On the other hand, if the people is living under the ruling of a different race, they would fight for independence.

In contrast, the Roman Empire represented a country of idea. The territory was huge, and there were people from all races. Nonetheless, they are unified by having the same thinking – value, idea, dream, motto, religion, whatever you call it. As long as one accepts the core value or thinking, they could become a citizen of the Roman Empire, irrespective to their skin colour and genetic background.

Empire

My recent leisure reading is The Age of Empire by Eric Hobsbawn.

This is the last book of the Age trilogy (the birthday present that I bought for myself last year) and, to me, the more difficult one to follow. As Hobsbawn himself mentioned, this is not a book to describe what happened, but to discuss and explain the historical events between 1875 and 1914 from a socialistic point of view. Although it could stand alone as an excellent treatise, the theory and argument that Hobsbawn put up are logical consequences of the previous volumes, notably, the industrial revolution and the French revolution.

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An important idea that emerged during the period of discussion and Hobsbawn spent some effort to elaborate is nationalism. Given the recent incident in Ukraine and Crimea, and using the jargon of Humphrey Appleby, the topic is not entirely without contemporary interest.

The underlying question is simple but profound: What is a country?

In short, there are two forms of country. The classical examples are the Han (漢) and Roman Empires, which appeared roughly at the same time in history.

Changed

Talking about the canteen of our medical school, there is a remarkable story I hear from my classmates.

It goes like this: A few years ago, shortly after the tragedy of Mr. Ching, the previous principal prosector of our Faculty (see http://ccszeto.blogspot.hk/2010/02/prosector.html and the related post), one of my classmates paid a short visit to the canteen. To his surprise, the owner of the canteen – who used to chat with we medical students while we were lining up for lunch – was there.

“Why!” My classmate exclaimed, “It’s amazing to meet you again. It’s over twenty years since I was last here, and you don’t appear to be a day older!”

“Em…” the middle age man looked embarrassed, “I suppose you are talking about my father, who has recently retired. I inherit the canteen from him…”

PS. I am quite sure the story is fake; an almost identical scene appeared in Stephen Chow’s classical comedy From Beijing With Love (國產凌凌漆).

Breakfast

I arrived at the campus over half an hour before my session started, and I decided to had my breakfast first.

In the canteen of the medical school, of course.

Once again, this was the first time I had breakfast here since I left the campus and began my clinical years. As a person with obsessive personality, I was a daily customer of this little bistro throughout my second-year when I resided in the hostel. My standard order in those days was bacon and eggs (with sunny side up), bun with butter, and coffee or lemon tea.

And, this time, 25 or 26 years later, I found myself making the same order. Nonetheless, things changed, for good or otherwise. The bacon was a different brand. There was no sunny side of the eggs - the yolk was hidden in the white like what we have from the McDonald's.

Well, I changed, too. It used to be cream and sugar in my coffee. Now, milk alone seems too sweet for my teeth.

As the old Latin proverb: Tempora mutantur, et nos mutamur in illis.

In Chinese, it got to be: 韶華變易，吾且與時並進。

校巴

Shortly after the dental visit with my daughter, I had a teaching session in the university campus early in the morning. As many of you may know, I do not drive (although I do have a driving licence), and, naturally, I took the train to the university station and got to the main campus by school bus.

Believe it or not, this was the first time I took a school bus since 1988 – over a quarter of a century. In my student days, the university was a simple aggregate of three colleges, and the hill was by and large a rural area, full of snakes and cockroaches. There was only one route for the school bus that stopped at each and every college, as well as the main campus, and it was free.

But, shortly after I graduated, we had a different Vice Chancellor. The school bus began to charge its passengers. Not a huge amount, of course. But, nonetheless, a charge. Over the subsequent years, there were no fewer than a dozen of occasions that I could choose to take the school bus (alas, I took up an academic post for 15 years already), but I deliberately neglect the option because I felt uneasy to pay for something that used to be my welfare.

Fortunate for me, the school bus was free of charge again a few years ago (I am unaware of the change until very recently), and I decided to claim my benefit again.

How?

I turned off my Nexus and enjoyed the short trip.

Friendship

I was wrong. Before Euterpe could finish with the second line of her homework, her name was called - and so was Macy. The two of them marched into a gigantic treatment hall, each heading for a different cubicle.

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It must be 10 or 15 minutes later when the nurse called me to see the dentist – a charming young girl, who explained that there were two carries in Euterpe’s teeth; some fix up and cleansing were necessary.

I continued to wait. (To be honest, I was rather impressed by the efficiency of their clinic – and it was free!) Macy did not come out either. She must be needing some kind of treatment also. Her mother was sitting quietly at a corner.

Another half an hour passed. At last, the two girls came out almost at the same time. I found Euterpe’s eyes were slightly red and watery – and so was Macy’s.

“Oh, does it hurt?” I asked my princess.

“Not quite. Just a bit sore,” she shrugged her shoulders, and then turned to her classmate, “Let’s go home together.”

We took a minibus to Causeway Bay for the underground. All through the journey the two girls was a single existence, engaged in an endless little talk – and the red watery eyes turned into bright and beaming ones. When they waved goodbye at North Point, my princess had certainly forgotten any discomfort she had on the dentist’s chair. To her, it was an enjoyable afternoon.

This is what true friendship is all about.