Rickshaw, Lao She

Rickshaw, by Lao She

Lao She was a social novelist who chronicled life in Peking (now Beijing); Rickshaw was Lao She's eighth novel. Considered a classic in modern Chinese literature, this book describes the lives of people living in poverty in Peking and their struggle to survive. Lao She began the novel in spring, 1936, and it was published in installments in the magazine Yuzhoufeng beginning in January, 1937. Lao She was a great author, and his writing style and story -- the two essential elements of any great novel -- are outstanding.

The protagonist of the story is Hsiang Tzu, a young man who went to live in Peking from the countryside with dreams of achieving a good life through hard work and living a morally upstanding life. In the beginning, Hsiang Tzu is Michelangelo's David -- a perfect physical specimen and equally perfect morally. He has dreams of owning his own rickshaw and then perhaps other rickshaws to rent out, slowly building a good life for himself. He is determined not to be like other rickshaw pullers -- morally and physically corrupt.

Slowly, slowly, the book describes the decline in Hsiang Tzu's life and dreams, much like the chipping away at the David, until in the end the great statue crumbles and falls down. Similarly, at the end, Hsiang Tzu's life completely crumbles until he has no hope and survives only meal to meal, when he can get food at all. Along the way, the book also describes the wretched lives of others living in extreme poverty. The lives of girls was particularly dire; they had little means of support, and many resorted to selling their bodies in order to feed their families. Many girls were sold into prostitution by their parents, simply as a way to survive.

Lao She uses this story to argue that individualism does not succeed and leads to ruin, whereas people working together can succeed greatly. An old rickshaw man in the story sums up Lao She's point: "Any poor guy who thinks he can succeed by himself will find it harder than going to heaven. How far can one man hop? [A grasshopper] can go a long way in one hop by itself. Let a small boy grab it and tie a thread around it and it can't go anywhere. But if it joins up with a whole lot of other grasshoppers in a horde and they all move together, whew!"

Using all books to think about my own philosophy of life, I come to a different conclusion from that of Lao She. My own thought is that if if we rely on ourselves, our own instincts, our own decisions, we will fail. However, if we rely not on the masses, but on Spirit, we will succeed. Where Lao She thought salvation lay in working together with the masses, I believe that we must learn to follow Spirit. If Hsiang Tzu had only known to permit himself to be led by Spirit, he would have been fine. Perhaps he would not have been rich, but he would have had plenty, and he would have been happy. Spirit gives us plenty, and leads us to happiness. Following his own instincts, however, led him to ruin. As always, I look forward to the day that books are written about those who follow the guidance of Spirit, rather than their own instincts.