Our Oriental culture

We'd like to welcome Dr. Lucio Tan who is planing in today at 10 a.m. accompanied by my friend Carlos Javellana, honorary president of Amity here, and a close friend of Dr. Tan himself.

I wrote yesterday that 50 are with the party of Dr. Tan. Charlie told me yesterday afternoon that there are 89 of them coming.

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It's good we have come up to realize the roots of our culture. We are Oriental and our culture is Oriental and the source of this culture is Chinese. It is a very rich culture.

Mayor Bing Leonardia has urged us in Bacolod to participate in the celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Fire Dog.

From now on, let us do it. We are now all Filipinos. Just an appeal, good manners dictate they should not talk in Chinese if non-Chinese are in the group. It is irritating.

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We have just not realized the beauty of Oriental culture as taught by the early Chinese sages like Confucius, comparable, if not superior to the Occidental teaching of Aristotle and Socrates.

Years ago, Msgr. John B. Liu gave me a copy of the "Anaclets" which is a compilation of Confucian philosophy, but lost it when my house got burned in 2001. Some 3,000 years B.C. the land known as the Middle Kingdom was ruled by the legendary Emperor Yao, first ruler of the Hsia Dynasty, who reigned as the Royal Son of Heaven.

He was also credited with having built the new waterways and a drainage system that controlled the flood-ridden Yellow River.

Yao was succeeded by other great leaders like Shun and Yu the Great described as the other "Son of Heaven" born of a "virgin who ate seeds that contained the sperm of the sky-god." Yu was an earth god.

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The leaders of Ancient China founded a moral philosophy while many inhabitants of Europe and America were still jumping from tree branch to tree branch.

Ancient Chinese philosophy, even before Confucius, already advocated what the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines was asking for on the leaders' accountability of their acts to the people.

This was the advocacy of one philosopher Mencius and Wang Chung, another philosopher quoting Mencius that if those who are considered "good" but not profitable to the nation, they should not be rewarded and if the "unworthy" are not harmful to the nation, they should not be penalized.

Sounds like action to be taken on the Oakwood mutineeers, especially of the two alleged lovers Nick Faeldon and Candy Rivas.

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But no thought leader in Ancient China provided the greatest influence as Kung Fu Tze, 551-479 B.C. known to the outside world as Confucius.

Confucius was a Teacher like Jesus Christ and Confuciunism, like Christianity, has become a way of life.

Dr. Lucio C. Tan, today's honoree in Bacolod, has long practised the Confucian work ethic of hard work and the value of perseverance, patience, and the virtues of humility, frugality, and benevolence.

Confucius placed great emphasis on moral order and observance of the patriarchal family and social relationship of authority and respect for tradition.

Confucius was born in Lu in what is now the province of Shangdong. He believed in preserving old rituals because the practice of old rituals has its own value.

When I arrive at home in the evening my grandchildren kiss my hand. In my time, when I did that with my grandfather, he would say "Dios te haga, santo hijo." This means, God bless you my dear child.

I like the Hua people or Chinese overseas to carry on the tradition of Old China. And I hope our Filipinos venturing into other lands carry on their old tradition from the homeland. And influence the people in those new lands.

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We must realize the value of immigrants in the life of a country. They enrich the culture and also the commerce of that new country.

What made the U.S. great is its immigrants. They made the U.S. a melting pot.

There are many Filipinos now in Great Britain. It will not take long, we will succeed where the Romans, the Spaniards, Napoleon, and Hitler failed.

We will conquer Britain by having more Filipinos there. Yesterday, my guests at home were a cousin, Jun Garzon and wife Brenda from Canada. Brenda is British but has very well adapted to the Filipino way of life.

I recall the late Fr. Niall O'Brien one time writing about a beauty contest in Dublin, Ireland and the winning beauty was one named Luzviminda.

Obviously, she is a Filipina.

Let us make the celebration of the Year of the Fire Dog a memorable one. And every year thereafter.

And let us enrich our culture with the right combination of the Occidental and Oriental influence.

At the dinner of the Thursday club last night, a survey showed it was unanimous for election in 2007.*

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