#7 Z: Remember, the Chinese practically invented the concept of professional mourners who are paid to gnash their teeth, tear at their faces, pull out their hair and keen disconsolately over the coffin of a complete stranger ... all for money.
That's the tradition - the greater the number of professional mourners hired, the greater the amount of "face" (reflecting wealth and prestige) accruing to the the family of the deceased. But the analogy doesn't even have to stray that far from the subject of statecraft.
A quick look back at Chinese history should disabuse anyone of the notion of the Chinese always saying what they mean and meaning what they say. During China's periodic changes of emperor via palace revolt or popular rebellion, the new ruler would typically reign for a period of time in the emperor's name, even as he posed as the emperor's protector. After a suitable period of time, "unknown" assassins would conveniently kill the emperor, paving the way for the new ruler to crown himself emperor. In theory, the ruler should have lost face for failing to adequately protect the emperor, but in reality, all he had needed was time to consolidate his power - by figuring out the loyalties of court officials, ditching the emperor's stalwarts and keeping those who were prepared to switch their allegiance to him. Once he accomplished this, his predecessor's fate was sealed. |
Kim Jong-il has reserved the right to escalate the nuclear crisis, China said today, refuting earlier reports that the North Korean leader apologised for this monthÂ’s atomic weapons test. The denial dashes hopes for an early resumption of negotiations, which were raised last week when a senior Chinese envoy, Tang Jiaxuan, returned from Pyongyang with an upbeat message for the visiting US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice. Although no details were revealed of Mr TangÂ’s talks with the North Korean leader, media reports in South Korea and Japan quoted Mr Kim as expressing regret for the difficulties the test had caused China.