In 1939, Lin Yutang made a speech entitled “Hitler and Wei Zhongxian” at a PEN meeting held in New York City. He began by saying that today some Germans compared Hitler to Jesus Christ, and that reminded him of a Chinese scholar of the Ming Dynasty, who advocated that Wei Zhongxian, the then dictatorial chief palace eunuch, be ranked as equal of Confucius. In those days one could only secure his position by bootlicking Wei Zhongxian like that; the subordinates who stood against the dictator were all put to death. Wei Zhongxian, at the height of his career, had as much power as Hitler today. But what happened to him in the end? He ended up in suicide. Lin Yutang said, “Suicide is the only alternative for dictators.” Wasn’t it a brave prediction when Hitler was at the peak of his power? That statement was both serious and witty; you couldn’t help laughing.

 

    Written by Liu Hecheng