Martyrs Day The sun is out but the temperature is going to dip belowzero C for the first time this season in DongBei, so I have the plants getting the full benefit of sunroom warmth withthe windows closed and the TV on. I've been to Tiananmen Square a few times since '89, so thesight of it on TV is not unexpected it being the central tourist attraction ofBeijing, and before the nation go on a travel frenzy for a week at the end ofSeptember, the public TV is expected to run patriotic programs on the occasionof the 65th year of the nation since Mao Zedong declared the Peoples Republicin-charge over the ROC that retreated with Chiang Kai-shek (bka Jiang Jieshi,or Jiang Zhongzheng in Chinese) to Taipei. September 30 marked the first Martyrs' Day in China, and thepublic ceremony that had everybody who is anybody in Beijing gathered aroundthe Peoples Heroes Monument at the Tiananmen Square coincided with decision in 65years ago to construct the monument, the day before the PRC independence. Uniformed members of the Young Pioneers (charming withoutraised Mao red books) sang in winsome attires and smiles, held red and yellowflowers, as the laying of wreaths of flowers was ritually made by members ofthe Peoples Liberation Army followed by the 7 members of the Politburo standingcommittee led by President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang, who were then followedby all the other dignitaries to view 8-relief panels carved around themonument. The panels tell a visual story of the heroes the monument ishonoring. It actually begins with thosewho fought the British during the Opium War when England waged war against theQing Dynasty when China banned the increasing sale and addiction of thepopulation on the drug. Thus, theheroes' monument goes back to the resistance against the British, whichresulted in the first of what is now referred to us uneven treaties, theNanjing Treaty, allowing opium trade to continue. Hong Kong also was ceded to England,emboldening the Portuguese and Spanish forces in the western Pacific. The US signed in 1843 the Treaty of Wangxia (site now theOur Lady of Fatima Parish in Macau) that accorded US business traders the samefavored status as other foreigners, and to spite the Brits, the Treaty withmoralist America declared the opium trade as illegal. Not surprisingly, the second Opium War brokeout in 1856 lasting until 1860, this time including the French who also demandedfree access to anywhere in China, legalize opium, cancel levies and tariffs,allow coolie trade, and other concessions from cultures convinced of Aryansupremacy, and a passivity that naturally thought of itself as the middlekingdom. The greed caravan was joined bythe US and Russia, and later, Germany and Japan. Heroes of the 1911 revolt get a relief column, resulting inthe Qing's abdication and the declaration of the 1912 Republic. Come next are the soldiers who fought in the emboldenedimperial Japan that humbled the Russian Tsar's Navy, and moved population and technologyto Manchuria it considered as north of the Great Wall and thereby not Chinaproper. Manchuria had the tug-of-warbetween Russia and Japan, led Nippon in the Mukden (now, Shenyang) incident tothe War of 1931, which lasted until the end of WWII in 1945. The eight bas-reliefs include the destruction of Opium(1939), the Taiping Revolution (1951), the 1911 revolution, the May 4thmovement (1919), May 30 movement (1925), Nanchang uprising (1927), war ofresistance against Japan (1931-45), and the crossing of the Yangtze during theChinese Civil War (1949). China has the Qing Ming(literally, clear and bright) festival in honor of ancestors (kin rather than vocation)where the tombs are swept but the Martyrs Memorial Day accent works ofself-sacrifice and liberation, both military and civic. As one of the day's commentator said, "Anation without martyrs is just a collection of mediocre individuals." China's legislature instituted this holidayfor its own soul. The US' commemorates Memorial Day in May of its deadsoldiers, a consequence of its Civil War experience. Russia has Victory Day when it turned Germanforces from occupying Russia. TheCommonwealth of Nations (UK et al) observes November after WWI as its memorialof its honored dead. Japan has made itclear (and rightly so) that who Japan honors in shrines is their business, andhow it tells its story regarding Korea and China is a matter for its ownsoul. Christendom observes All Saints Day and All Souls Day. (Christians were frowned upon when makingprofit off his neighbor, Protestants say with historical accuracy, so theVatican reserved purgatory where their souls stayed, enjoyed profit and still couldpay off their way to heaven!) Birthdays and funerals are given certitudes. They are remembered commonly and privately. China offers a new definition to being amartyr. We can now decide how to offerour own deaths as an integral part in intentionally living our lives. j'aime la vie yesterday, appreciate; tomorrow, anticipate; today. participate. In all, celebrate!