History : Which Version?

While watching the final instalment of ‘Red Cliff (Part 2)’, I was hoping for the story to impart some major lessons to the general audience… other than the cunning ‘art’ of strategising in war. Thankfully, towards the end, there were two obvious lessons. Here’s the first one… Xiao Qiao warns Cao Cao of his over-confidence by pouring him a cup of tea to its brim, till it overflows. Am not sure if this incident is based in history, but  it does seem similar to the aptly positioned first of the 101 Zen stories in the book ‘Zen Flesh, Zen Bones’ by Paul Reps  –

A Cup of Tea
(See all the stories at http://101zenstories.com)

Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen.Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor’s cup full, and then kept on pouring.
The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. “It is overfull. No more will go in!”
“Like this cup,” Nan-in said, “you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?”

There are differences to the movie’s ‘version’ though. When Cao Cao exclaims in slight shock that the cup had overflowed, Xiao Qiao calmly tips the cup over and remarks that because he was overflowing with ambition, his ambitiousness (and arrogance really) would be emptied in due time. Indeed, it’s a natural law of impermanence that when a worldly and thus dualistic quality reaches its peak, it has to fall. The literal winds of (mis)fortune change shortly after, as they fan an attack by fire on his connected fleet of battleships, leading to a fast and fiery defeat.

Here’s the second lesson… Despite having delivered the tyrannical Cao Cao and his soldiers the above crushing defeat, Zhou Yu poignantly comments to his company, whom we would conventionally consider to be ‘victors’ that ‘Everyone has lost.’ This was while he walked through grounds filled with corpses – of both his men and Cao Cao’s. That single statement alone makes the ‘Red Cliff’ series an essentially anti-war story, even though it’s mostly about an (in)famous battle. This reminds me of a quote by the Buddha in the Dhammapada –

Victory begets enmity.
The defeated dwell in pain.
Happily the peaceful live,
discarding both victory and defeat.

At the end of the show, at least three friends whom I saw it with lamented of the film’s historical inaccuracies. From what I read in a news article, the script was adapted from a supposedly historical classic and a popular novelised version. Come to think of it, how sure can we be that a classic is 100% accurate… especially since we were not eye-witnesses of what transpired. To this extent, there is some dogmatism in placing faith in any history book.

It is an open secret that the winners of wars often rewrite the history books for political reasons. Religious texts are sometimes rewritten for the same reason too. But nowadays, we see a new trend – history being rewritten to be dramatised and romanticised for the silver screen – tailored to be more entertaining for mass consumption – for making millions of dollars. Which creates stronger interest and impressions – the movies or the books? I can easily imagine the possibility of the younger generations learning the cinematic version as history, while forgetting what really happened. 

The dilution, warping and/or ‘enhancement’ of history in time seems inevitable… but I don’t think it’s a big deal – as long as the core morals of historical incidents are conveyed well – lest we repeat bad history. As a parallel, there are varied versions too, of the life story of the historical Buddha. It is really rather difficult to encounter two tellings of his life that are identical in every detail. Even scholars frequently squabble over how he really lived. However, the classic lessons of his life still stand valid and practical, as recorded in the sutras. If not, they wouldn’t still inspire and transform us!

Related Article:
Review of ‘Red Cliff (Part 1’
http://moonpointer.com/index1.php?itemid=2374