Kindle Chongzhen's Lamp and Illuminate China for Five Hundred Years

A ray of light in the dead of night,

shining on those who, in the folds of history,

try to kindle a spark within themselves.

Civilization has never been defined

by splendid scenes of banners blotting out the sky and nations paying tribute.

It is defined by the darkest night,

by how many people, moved by a voice or a figure,

begin to ask, "Why?"

begin to believe in "something better."

The lamp of Chongzhen that you raised

flickers, yet stubbornly refuses to go out.

It does not illuminate the victors' road,

but the eyes of those who still look up at the stars from the dust.

The long road of five hundred years winds on.

Wherever the light spreads,

what I hear

is the most primal heartbeat of the human spirit:

to keep asking questions in the face of despair,

to keep lighting lamps in the darkness.

This is what civilization looks like

when it never goes out.