When I was trying to swallow down some suspicious solid that was labelled as lunch, WY, who was sitting next to me, asked suddenly, "Szeto, who was described in the history as good at military affairs on the paper (紙上談兵)?"
Yes, we were watching A Step into the Past (尋秦記) on the television.
"Why, that's Zhao Kuo (趙括)." I said, "What makes you ask this question?"
"Oh, nothing. Just that my daughter is studying this period in her Chinese history class," the endocrinologist said.
"That's curious. Is it not the case all our local secondary schools have scrapped the teaching of Chinese history?" I asked.
"True, but my daughter is studying at international school," WY explained, "In fact, she is doing the IB program, and, under that system, if you choose Chinese as a language to study, you have also to study Chinese history." (Szeto's notes: IB stands for International Baccalaureate.)
"In other words, although we are part of China, our children would not have to study the history of our own country - unless their schools are run by foreigners." I pursed my lips.
In traditional Chinese description, we call it asking the barbarians for a tradition that you have lost (禮失求諸野).
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