Peach Blossoms

I have been stuck in Port O Spain, Trinidad for work the last four weeks. Yes I know the weather is better than in my western NY home. There is very little to do here so I brought along some movies to watch on my computer.

The first movie, “Ashes of Time,” is a Chinese flick with English subtitles. It is a compelling story of love, betrayal, courage, inevitability, sorrow, all of the passions of life. Since I teach Japanese swordsmanship this movie appealed to me, not just because of the fight scenes but because of the introspective analysis of being a swordsman. The fighting men in this film are divided into two universal archetypes, hundreds of bandits, and two heroic swordsmen. Another character is an entrepreneur who employs and rents out heroes to kill the bandits. He has left his village, friends and love behind in his search for fortune and success. The swordsmen are looking for something more out of life but they too are caught in their own karmic cycle. One of the quotes that lingered in my mind was that “Even a swordsman needs to eat.” That doesn’t sound too earth shaking but it defines the conundrum facing a man who would be noble and righteous but who realizes he is losing his sense of worth and must sacrifice himself and his ideals to the necessities of food and shelter. To compensate for this disappointment and disillusionment one of them accepts a gift of wine from a woman who says that all of Man’s unhappiness results from memory. She promises this wine will erase his memory and each day will be a new start. As he allows himself to settle into a stupor of forgetfulness he says, “The only thing I remember is a vague fondness for peach blossoms,” the peach blossoms of his home village. Another of the heroes, losing his sight, goes into battle against countless bandits wondering if his wife will shed tears in his memory.

The movie affected me in many different ways. Maybe it is just because I am getting old and maudlin. (The dictionary.com defines maudlin as: tearfully or weakly emotional; foolishly sentimental.) All I know is that as I get older I awaken more often with worries on my mind and a sound, restful sleep comes harder. I worry about silly things and serious things. I worry about our sagging economy, our disappearing freedoms, increasing taxes, and oppressive government intrusion into our daily lives. I try to remember how life was as a young child growing up in a truly free America, but “The only thing I remember is a vague fondness for peach blossoms.”