What is YOUR Tea?

Bill Brown ... Xiamen University
"He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth." Isaiah 11:3,4

"Middling people are shocked at the wickedness of the wicked; Gibbie, who knew both so well, was shocked only at the wickedness of the righteous." George MacDonald [326]

Ironically, it was good intentions that led to the 19th century opium trade and the two Opium Wars that impoverished China and enriched the West.

Opium was forced on China at gunpoint so we could earn enough silver to pay for tea. And tea was popular in part because Christians had promoted it as a substitute for alcohol!

Tea Addiction Tea was not addictive but its profits were. And tea taxes were highly addictive to governments (they sparked the Boston Tea Party; the tea tossed into the sea was shipped from Xiamen; so no Xiamen, no USA!). And the tea taxes helped finance the armies that forced the opium trade on China to get the silver to pay the Chinese for tea, etc., etc.

Britain imported about 2 pounds of tea in the 1660s; this rose to 15 million pounds in the 1780s and 30 million pounds in 1830. Lots of tea, lots of taxes, lots of opium to pay for the tea to pay the taxes. Happily, America was the first Western country to make the opium trade illegal, and when the decision was made, the Chinese Viceroy said it was the first instance he'd seen of a "Christian country" acting in a Christian manner. (Sadly, the other nations kept up the trade for decades longer).

It was a vicious cycle, but in fairness to Britain, their entire Parliament opposed the 2nd Opium War! The Prime Minister simply dissolved parliament, told the common people they were fighting for the honor of the Queen, and the people supported him. Had they known it was over opium and not honor, I've no doubt the British common folk, like those in Parliament, would have opposed the wars, and the trade as well--and found something to drink besides tea--and alcohol. (In the 20th century, Britain's poor working class nobly sympathized with Gandhi, even though his fight for India's freedom cost many of them their jobs). It was a very small minority of Westerners who were behind the opium trade, but they made such immense profits that they wielded the political and military power to force the trade on Asia for a century.

The High Price of Low Cost I love tea but I would certainly not impoverish an entire nation to insure its supply. But are there other "teas" in my life? Consider the high price behind the low cost we enjoy in America. I marvel that I can buy something "Made in China" cheaper in the U.S. than I can here in China, where we make far less money to pay for those things.

And many of my friends back home complain that everything is made in China--yet our American companies make everything in China precisely so we can buy things more cheaply. We also complain that Chinese work for so little, but here's a news flash: Chinese would like to earn more! I've not met one Chinese who does not want to be paid a fairer wage, but they are paid next to nothing so we can continue to buy at the superstore that boasts "We sell for less" daily.

"When the harm is done and belongs to the past decades, when the sufferings and wrongs of the people are mere memories, pointing out mistakes is a luxury of the reminiscent historian whose voice is calm and tinged with an exquisite regret." Lin Yutang

As Lin Yutang wrote (back in 1943!), we can safely heave a sigh of regret over wrongs committed a century ago, but a thinking person should be able to see what is happening today as well--if the media did not distort world events. This is perhaps why the Prince of Peace will judge not by eyes and ears but heart and conscience.

In Isaiah 11, the "Prince of Peace," is described as judging not by what he sees or deciding by what he hears, but "with righteousness judging the needy." He judges by his heart, not his senses, because he knows what he sees or hears is but the tip of a very large iceberg--and given the nature of our media, probably only one side of the tip.

What is our tea today? And is it worth what we pay for it--or what we make others pay for it? It is no wonder that George MacDonald was surprised not by the wicked of the evil but by the wicked of the righteous--especially when the righteous commit evil in the name of good.

There are no easy answers but there is a correct answer. We must pray for wisdom and discernment, that we may not be driven by the rantings of either extreme Right or Left, but gently led from Within by that still, small voice that tells us that the price of tea or anything else is very important, because if we aren't paying, someone else most certainly is.

A Challenge: Read "Lords of Opium" (Opium Wars in China)

Very relevant quote from Lin Yutang, my favorite 20th century Chinese writer [Between Tears and Laughter, 1945, p.100]

"I am not convinced that all the idiots lived in the past and the great extraordinary minds live only in the present. History has repeatedly proved governments to have been stupid and wrong and the moral instinct of the people to have been right. If the governments could be wrong in the past decade, they can be wrong now. Be a gadfly, therefore,, and sting the governments.

But it is almost a law of human nature that we have all the rights and privileges to sting a dead statesman, like Neville Chamberlain, but not the living great of this earth. When the harm is done and belongs to the past decades, when the sufferings and wrongs of the people are mere memories, pointing out mistakes is a luxury of the reminiscent historian whose voice is calm and tinged with an exquisite regret. When the mistakes are being committed before our eyes, to point out the mistakes and errors of the living great is to arouse all the ire of the red-hot patriots.

In a democracy, however, there is always hope.

Lin Yutang on the "Futility of Force"

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