{"id":5957,"date":"2020-06-01T08:00:44","date_gmt":"2020-06-01T00:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5957"},"modified":"2022-04-27T05:25:48","modified_gmt":"2022-04-26T21:25:48","slug":"265-opening-the-emperors-food-reserve-depot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jeffangiegoh.com\/?p=5957","title":{"rendered":"249. Opening the Emperor\u2019s Food Reserve-Depot (\u79c1\u958b\u7687\u5009\u653e\u7ce7)"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you offer your food to the hungry<\/strong>
\n<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>and satisfy the needs of the afflicted,<\/strong>
\nthen your light shall rise in the darkness
\n<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>and your gloom be like the noonday<\/strong><\/span>. [Isaiah 50:8<\/span>, NRSV<\/em>]<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[l] Bronze statue of Yu Chenglong. [R] Poster for new television drama\u00a0Yu Chenglong<\/em>\u00a0[Photo\/sxrb.com].<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Blessed indeed would be the people of a nation who had in their midst a true gentleman official whose character was as straight as a bamboo stem and for whom wealth and power meant little. Sworn to righteous service to the king and his people, his heart, hollow like a bamboo trunk, would be devoid of worldly ambitions. Integrity, dedication and discipline would be his watchwords. Service, to the very end, would be his life mission.\u00a0Yu Chenglong was such a man.<\/span><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

A senior government official from the Shanxi province of China during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911),\u00a0Yu Chenglong<\/strong><\/em> (\u4e8e\u6210\u9f8d, 1617-1684<\/strong>) is also the title of an anti-graft television historical-drama series that comes in the wake of the current severe anti-corruption campaign undertaken by President Xi Jingping\u2019s administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cGraft culture\u201d is deep-seated in China. If graft-revelations in contemporary China are shocking, that is in part because the public exposures of graft cases involve such colossal sums that were never before heard. Blinding wealth has been generated in China by recent economic boom. Temptations for corruption are everywhere across the country, from central politburo to mere junior district officials. Fighting tooth and nail against President Xi\u2019s severe anti-corruption campaign, is an interest-based resistance aggressively anchored on strong power bases in politics and finance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Against that background, this TV series on\u00a0Yu Chenglong<\/em> offers the much-needed advocacy on two cardinal principles for the discipline of the Chinese civil servants: one on corruption-free culture<\/em><\/strong>, and the other on devotion to duty<\/em><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The series pivots on Yu, a civil servant renowned for tenacious integrity and dedication to improving the people’s lives. With discipline and sheer grit, the extent of sacrifice he was willing to make to discharge his duty was astounding. Truly a man of peace without weakness, Yu\u2019s interior strength outflows into his exterior work as a fiercely upright and doggedly diligent civil servant. This inside-outside-unity runs through the entire series. The likes of him amongst the \u201cpeople\u2019s officials\u201d (\u5929\u4e0b\u7236\u6bcd\u5b98) was truly rare. Viewers risk being seriously moved and inspired all the way. Episode 33 offers a dramatic sample of his character.<\/span><\/p>\n

How he acted<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n

Travelling through towns and villages while seriously ill from work-exhaustion (which he hid from the public), this Viceroy of Liangjiang<\/a> insisted on studying firsthand the harsh conditions of famine and inspecting government relief work. But the degree of devastation was more severe than he imagined. The masses, plagued by perishing hunger, were dropping like flies. And yet, there was an utter lack of concern and assistance from the corrupt government officials charged by the Emperor to coordinate famine-relief.\u00a0What Yu saw infuriated him. Cut to the heart, he blasted the local official accompanying him on his field trip at Tze-Li:<\/span><\/p>\n