A Man's Blood, A Man's Tears

??I know that whenever the name Wu Dalang comes up, someone will sneer contemptuously. So let me ask: what exactly is so funny or pathetic about Wu Dalang? The answer comes down to two things. First, he is less than five feet tall, with an ugly face and no hint of human dignity, let alone anything resembling a man. Second, he wears those infamous green robes, a stain that can never be cleared from his name, and his weakness makes him seem even less like a man. In short, whether people mock him, look down on him, or dismiss him, they are all saying that Wu Dalang is not a real man. It is true that he does not seem like one, but Wu Dalang really is a man, and a good one at that.

Plenty of you must have seen the movie Young and Dangerous. When you are swept up in its world, kind and decent people are nothing but props to be sneered at and mocked, even in supporting roles. The heroes in our eyes are instead the bad boys we would normally avoid. Heroes are made through praise. Once someone is a hero, he is no longer human. The saying that a flaw cannot obscure a virtue is enough to excuse a hero's every failing, and even his crimes are somehow made to seem perfectly reasonable. In a book devoted to glorifying heroes, the Water Margin, it is easy to imagine the place of Wu Dalang, a little man whose role is to serve as a foil to the heroes and embellish their exploits.

Let us step outside the shadow cast by this classic and bring Wu Dalang into our own world, so we can take a fresh look at this new kind of good man!