Three War Gods from One Regiment

2007/10/11 20:05:25

Tomorrow after market close I have to head to the airport. From tonight through tomorrow afternoon, there will be endless things to attend to, so I won't be able to post. Tomorrow's market commentary may have to wait until Saturday evening or Sunday to be made up. My apologies.

In modern Chinese history, there was one regiment that produced three war gods, all of whom were invincible in two successive wars of unification. The most extraordinary thing is that all three war gods were political dwarfs, and two of them died in plane crashes. This regiment and these three men — needless to say, everyone can name them: Ye Ting, Lin Biao, and Su Yu (strictly speaking, Su Yu did not belong to the Ye Ting Independent Regiment itself, but to the 24th Division that was later expanded from it).

If one cannot see through the fates of these three men, one's knowledge of modern Chinese history amounts to zero. Xiang-Ye, Mao-Lin, Peng-Su — like karmic entanglements from past lives, the multifaceted complexity of these men surpasses all plays and novels, and yet this constitutes only one side of their destinies. History has always been the best novel, the best drama.

Ranked by the fascination of fate and character — Lin, Ye, Su — Lin Biao is obviously the most fascinating of the three. Recently, Vice Chairman Lin has been permitted new statues, which is indeed historical progress. But ranked by the importance of studying their fates for understanding modern Chinese history, the order probably becomes Su, Ye, Lin. The historical threads radiating from Su, though simple, are too endlessly thought-provoking. Lin, in a certain sense, represents a structural endpoint.

Ye's fate is classical in nature, probably easier to aestheticize; Su's fate is modern, quiet yet tumultuous; Lin's fate is so postmodern — truly a life not lived in vain.

The three share one thing in common: none of them possessed the hidden-weapon skills of General Peng. General Peng's hidden-weapon skills were first-rate — that fellow surnamed Zhang from Jiangxi certainly knew this.

Ye Ting, Lin Biao, Su Yu — true war gods, true men of greatness. How could petty scoundrels compare?!