James Poy Wong 黃培正

"The world is just the same: isolation is a path to death, and being conservative will lead to destruction. Regardless how you view it, the earth is our home."

"Where Is Home" - 1946

何处是家

这几天来，我的脑海中， 浮动着一些影子。 仿佛看见在热闹的墟中，在泥泞的公路上，一些妇女戴着大圆帽，挑着一担似乎过重的鹅毛山草。 大肚赤足的童子，从担子的后面偷拔鹅毛，使立方体的草綑，好像拖得更低了。 这个景像，不能不使我联想到家。

家，是人一生说得最多的名词，是晚年最恋念的地方, 是鸟倦知还的归所。 家之可爱，是因为其中有融和的空气，有坦白的了解，有诚恳的合作。 它没有憎恨，没有隔膜，没有猜忌。 每一员都为着大众利益而牺牲个人，使它成为快乐幸福的家庭，使它充满着爱。

我们都知道 “四海一家” 的道理，都明白只有将天下结为一家，人类才有和平。 但家是建筑在爱之上，必须排除憎恨和猜忌，消灭战争。 许多主义和学说， 都以这个目标为出发点。 但结果不是失败，就是自败。 这不是主义和学说之过， 却是我们缺乏家的要素，我们不曾把地球看做家。

有人这样说过： “所恋念的地方就是家”。 家已不是父母儿女的一个小组之意义了。 五年来，因为科学突飞猛进，地球上任何一个地方，好似家中每一个成员，有唇齿的关系。 如果长兄独占了厨房，二兄死守着寝室，三弟关着厕所门， 那么只有一家全毙。 地球也是一样，孤立是死路，保守就会灭亡。 无论你怎样看法，地球就是我们的家。

就算我们的家是地狱，牛头也不应迫马面上刀山， 马面也不应赶牛头下油锅。 目前地球中的人，还不至挤到像三藩市的住屋那么挤拥。 我们不必再由原子弹或宇宙光杀毙了四分之三的人，才谈和平。 这等于烧了屋子和杀毙两位哥哥才谈和谐一样。家是不能建基于憎恨，只存在于甜蜜的回忆之中。

Where Is Home

In the last few days some shadows have been flashing in my mind. I seem to have seen some women in big round hats carrying shoulder poles that are overly heavy loads of goose-tail grass in a busy market place and on a muddy highway. A barefoot child with a protruding belly is stealing by plucking out the goose grass and making the cubic grass bundle to be tilted lower. This scene inevitably makes me think of home.

Home is a noun being most frequently spoken in one’s lifetime. It is the most loved and cherished place in one’s golden years; it is a nest for the weary bird to return. Home is lovable because it has a harmonious atmosphere, honest understanding, and sincere cooperation. There is no hatred, no alienation, and no distrust. For the benefit of the whole family, every member sacrifices oneself to create a joyful and happy home full of love.

We all know the meaning of “the Four Seas is one family.” We understand that only by bringing the world to be one family would humanity have peace. But family is built on love; we must eliminate hatred, distrust, and war. Many doctrines started with this goal, but they either ended in failure or self-defeat. This is not the fault of the political or academic doctrines; it is because we lack the vital elements of family, as we have not taken the world as family.

Someone had said: “Where we affectionately think of is home.” The meaning of home is no longer a small group consisting of parents, sons and daughters. Due to the breakthrough and rapid advancement of science and technology in the past five years, any place in the world is like a member of the family having a protective relation between lips and teeth. If the elder brother monopolizes the kitchen, the second brother fiercely stands guard over the bedroom, and the third brother locks up the toilet, then the whole family would be doomed. The world is just the same: isolation is a path to death, and being conservative will lead to destruction. Regardless how you view it, the earth is our home.

Even if our home is hell, the Ox-Head¹ should not force the Horse-Face to climb the mountain of knives, and the Horse-Face should not chase the Ox-Head into the boiling pot of oil. People on earth have not yet reached the congested housing conditions like San Francisco. We need not use atomic bombs again or cosmic rays to kill off three quarters of the population before we discuss peace. This is like burning down the house and killing off two brothers before one discusses harmony. Home is not built on hatred, nor does it exist only in sweet memory.