Pointing toward the ups and downs of the past

When Albert Einstein was a boy, he saw a ray of light and it made him wonder if it was possible that a person could dance on such a lovely bright thing.

This beam of sunshine made the greatest scientist of the 20th century think, and he kept on thinking until he developed his Special Theory of Relativity, which states that all motion is relative and that the speed of light in a space vacuum has a constant value.

Ten years later, at age 36, Einstein published his General Theory of Relativity, which extended the theory to accelerated motion and gravitation, which was treated as a curvature of the space-time continuum.

I get lost in the scientific detail of it all, but after chatting to a Chinese language expert, I have discovered that the space-time concept is indeed relative.

He explains the difference between the Chinese and Western concepts of time and space, and although it is a profound topic, the Sinologist asks me a simple question to make his point.

"Where is the past? Where is last week? Don't think about it, quickly point to the past," he commands.

I can't help think it is a trick question, but when he urges me to recall yesterday and the day before, my index figure starts wagging behind me.

The Sinologist nods saying that people from the West point behind their backs because they consider that time runs on a horizontal line and the past is behind them and the future is ahead.

But then he explains that in Mandarin, last week is "up week" (shang ge xingqi), which reveals that the ancient Chinese concept of time runs vertically and the past points up.

The reason, according to Maciej Gaca, who works in the culture department of the Polish embassy, is that when the Chinese language was being developed thousands of years ago, there was the belief that the creator of all things, Pangu, was up in heaven where time began.

The past was up in heaven and future flowed down to Earth, first to the emperor and then to the people.

Last week is "shang ge xingqi" or "up week", and next week is always down week - "xia ge xingqi".

This different school of thought reveals how tough and baffling it can be for a foreigner to learn Putonghua, when the past is up and the future is down.

Gaca has been studying languages for more than 20 years and embarked on a PhD in the Naxi language, called Dongba, one of the few languages that still uses pictograms.

He tells me the Naxi people, who live in northwestern Yunnan province, have another concept of time and space. A Dongba priest once asked him where the past was, and just like I did, he pointed backwards as people from the West do.

But the priest asked him: "Why are you looking back? The past is in front of you."

The wise old man explained that if one looks ahead, they can see everything the eyes have already seen before. Trees, rivers, mountains and people are known to the observer, so everything they know is in front of them and it is the past.

So, what about the future?

As Chinese new year approaches and the Year of the Rabbit beckons, some will say the future can be revealed in the Chinese zodiac.

Others will look to the stars in the night sky and probe Western astrology to gain a better understanding of tomorrow.

But perhaps William Shakespeare's character Cassius from Julius Caesar had a better idea about the future.

Cassius was among a group of conspirators who were planning to kill the Roman emperor. One of the men, Marcus Junius Brutus, suggested they visit a fortuneteller to choose an auspicious day to do the deadly deed.

Wise old Cassius turns to his younger friend and says: "The future, dear Brutus, lies not in the stars but in ourselves."

China Daily

(China Daily 01/26/2011 page20)