Beneath the seemingly blissful everyday life of Omelas, there lies a gloomy truth – an innocent child, as the ultimate scapegoat, is bearing the crushing weight of the world in utter loneliness, just like that cursed titan Atlas in Greek mythology, the only difference being the vulnerable child has not rebelled against the vengeful gods. People who choose to stay in Omelas pass by this terror of injustice in silent acquiescence, relinquishing their human agency to make any meaningful ethical decision at all, and insisting that the single sinless child should somehow bear the whole weight of all their moral obligations. Can such a city still be called a utopia, where the goodness and beauty of humanity are cherished and celebrated, when every trace of happiness is sicklied over by the taint of injustice and bad faith?
Fragments of Thoughts - A Journey Downward and Upward
The Downfall
(2025.5.4) Every age has its own plight, and the relentless consumption of media is one of ours. In the vast expanse of cyberspace, many of us have succumbed to a peculiar kind of gluttony—a ceaseless craving perpetuated by the bombardment of video games, anime, provocative content, and endless streams of short videos. This insatiable beast, ever hungrier after feeding, has not only eaten away our time, but more importantly, our mind—our ability to concentrate is eroded, replaced by a constant pursuit of the new and the stimulating; the passage of time, once a steady flow, now feels disjointed and surreally fleeting; our experiences, once cohesively expanding throughout the day, have fragmented into foggy moments clouded by digital haze; creativity, the expression of the human spirit, lies dormant under the weight of passive indulgence and mindless binging. Yet the cruel irony remains: when we look back and examine what lingers after consuming such an astounding amount of content, we are often met with a mocking devil gesturing at us—a blank page and the quiet void of oblivion!
On Resentment
Resentment refers to the bitter indignation at having been treated unfairly. By examining this definition, it is easy to identify the two indispensable components of this emotional state – “having been treated unfairly” as the external event that triggers such an emotion, and “bitter indignation” as the internal response towards such an event.
On Poetry Reading
“When there is poetry,
it is Orpheus singing. He lightly comes and goes.”
- Rainer Maria Rilke
Poetry reading is one of the most enriching of all social activities. And it is an activity uniquely human. Despite the myriads of ways a nightingale or a skylark sings to the fading night or the rising morn, they do not indulge in anything that could be called the chanting of poems, those sweetest songs of humanity that often “tell of saddest thought”.
On Forgetfulness
As human beings, we tend to forget things, sometimes rather quickly and against our will. We reach out our hands, often quite desperately, to grasp the precious moment as it slips away. We take photos, write notes, and try so hard to bore our eyes into the ephemeral nature of things.
Be the Master of Technology
Six Poems - Dreamy Nights
On Governmental Patronage in the Development of the Arts
A vagabond wanders alone through the streets, clutching a drawing board in his hand, still chasing after the elusive God of Art with eyes eager to discover beauty. He is, undeniably, a drifter in the age of materialism—a living embodiment of the “poor artist” archetype, one often dismissed as an outcast, yet standing as an unyielding testament to creative perseverance. This image may evoke heartache and dismay, yet it is also the reality that many artists in modern society face, navigating an existence where passion must battle pragmatism. However, with government support, artists can sustain their craft, and their livelihoods may be preserved. In my view, such an act is not merely generous—it is an affirmation of the intrinsic value of artistic expression in human civilization.