Unfurled at Full Gallop

It’s been raining down south.  It was raining up north.  It was drizzling all night in Hangzhou.  Last night I went to bed and there were flashing lights of some karaoke palace flashing across the street down by the great river.  In the morning they were all reduced to deadened storefronts.  The rainy day belonged to the giant rider on horseback, wispy, windblown, his bow drawn. 

Who could that be?  I wondered.  I thought of the martial apogee Lord Guan, but he is usually depicted standing with his sword, not galloping along with the wind.  As I looked it occurred to me that he resembled a Mongol warrior.  The Mongols to my recollection were the final word on launching arrows from a long bow, mid gallop.  They were the ones who finally mopped up the Song around here.  Unlikely to be a statue depicting the Mongols. 

Later when I was at a meeting I asked about this rider.  After a bit of description, everyone said:  Oh, sure, that.  That’s Goujian.  You know, “Wo Xing Chang Dan?”  (Sleep on bracken, lick gall bladder.)  Plot your revenge over time if you’re the vanquished king of Yue.  Savor it.  Much, much older than Song or even Lord Guan.  Long before there was any such thing as “Huadong” or “Zhejiang.” A statue then to Thimestocles or Miltiades, who represent a heroic trait as much as they do the historical person.

Patient vengeance then.  Human, certainly but complicated as national policy.  Sometimes things don’t work out like they do in the fables.  Noble it seems, held close to the heart, unbridled, arrogant, risky unfurled at full gallop.  Hangzhou wants the world to know about Goujian. 

Thursday, 10/12/17