When 9/11 Meets Mid-Autumn Festival

It has already been 10 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks shocked the world, yet the pain that this catastrophe brought to the world’s people has not completely dissipated.

Due to the time difference, it is around 12 hours earlier in the U.S. than it is in Beijing. That is to say, when the sun is rising on the day of Sept. 11 in the U.S., Sept. 12, the day of the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival, will have already begun in China. According to the U.S. government’s plans, on the day of Sept. 11, all across the U.S., from sunrise to sunset, flags will be at half-mast in mourning.

In global press releases, President Obama urges the American people to show kindness on Sept. 11, to grieve for those who were killed and to honor those who have acted selflessly with dedication and those who are helping re-establish American tolerance and generosity, saying, “With just a small act of service, or a simple act of kindness towards others, you can both honor those we lost and those who serve us still, and help us recapture the spirit of generosity and compassion that followed 9/11.” Obama’s words are moving, just as President Kennedy’s were when he said, “civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof.” The 9/11 incident struck the U.S., but could not strike it down.

There are many coincidences in the world that we cannot ourselves imagine. In June of 2001, I was in New York, where I gathered with family and friends at the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. I left the photos I took from the gathering in the U.S. to be developed. Because I was in a hurry, I forgot to explain to the developer that these were slides, not regular film. A few months later, the photos from the World Trade Center buildings and those taken from other angles which I received had all changed color; like in the movie “The Day After Tomorrow,” the devastation that I described was rather frightening.

Ten years later, when I again pulled out my improperly developed photos, to my surprise, I unexpectedly realized that these photos helped us to reconstruct the image of the 9/11 terrorist attack. Sometimes the most evil part of human nature is that which one does not wish to confront. However, as we look back on the scene of airplanes striking the World Trade Center buildings that year, we must admit, people often do not treat each other like human beings.

The attack on the U.S. was a humiliation of innocent life all around the world. Do those who took joy in calamity and delighted in disaster when the U.S. was attacked still feel the same way? As the 10th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the voices of the world are still arguing; many people still take another approach, concealing their contentment. People cannot help but feel the heartlessness of government and the vulnerability of humanity’s kind hearts.

Most likely, people have no way to renounce their own happiness when someone else experiences suffering, but we should learn to express sympathy. The Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday, so today every major newspaper in China includes a massive mooncake and a tearful white flower. In the U.S., there are many overseas Chinese who will also celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, yet in this unusual time, can we not downsize the newspaper’s close-up on mooncake just a bit? Can people not play down their mood as they celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival? Will America’s difficulties somehow make Mid-Autumn moo cakes taste even sweeter?

It seems that America’s ideals of freedom, human rights and democracy have not been accepted by too many people. However, just as former President Carter said, the U.S. is “an idealistic nation, but let no one confuse our idealism with weakness.” While there probably remains some utilitarian mentalities in America’s safeguarding of world peace, if it weren’t for the U.S. leading the world towards a more peaceful “era of peace,” as Nixon stated in 1973, the world cannot deny that it would be caught in another predicament.

Nixon said that the U.S. influences others “by the strength of their ideas, and not by the force of their arms.” Those terrorists certainly could not agree with Nixon’s words, and so they carried out acts of madness devoid of humanity. As the 10-year anniversary of 9/11 approaches, we probably cannot take up arms alongside the U.S. in the fight against terrorism, but we can give America the most emotional support. When celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival, please give your genuine and sincere regards and sympathy, and show concern for those who lost loved ones on 9/11.

If the people of the world have at once lost their sense of civility, this world will certainly have sunk into a realm beyond all redemption. This is the greatest lesson of 9/11.