The Bagua

The bagua. Where I'm from, almost every house has this hanging on their door. This is just one of the many evidences of the long-standing relationship between China and the Philippines. I myself am of Chinese descent, on my mother's side - the Tinio family. The oldest record found in the Philippines (that I know of) with this last name dates all the way back to 1745. He was registered as Chino Cristiano (baptized Chinese). I'm not actively a part of Filipino-Chinese culture, as traditionally defined. I didn't go to Chinese school, and I can only count to 10 in Hokkien/Minnan. But the Chinese part in me informs so much of my values. And, so, I am disturbed by the tensions in Philippines-China relations. I am strongly against Chinese military presence on West Philippine Sea. I'm also strongly against laws that benefit one at the expense of another. How does one make peace with identities that don't seem to get along as easily as they used to? I'll be the first to admit that I've said words I regret saying because it is easy to make a villain out of one over the other. But, these issues are not as black and white as that. And with the rise of Anti-Asian hate, further dividing ourselves into just Filipinos or just Chinese only amplifies that hate. Our humanity doesn't live in a vacuum. If you look really closely, you are a sum of peoples from far and wide. And if you look even closer, there are parts of you that you recognise in everyone. So, I'll conclude this post with a Mengzi extension to the Golden Rule: Care about me not the way you would like yourself to be treated. Care about me because I'm not so different from the people you love.

More on the Mengzi extension to the Golden Rule, click here.