Contemplation in the tranquility of solitude

In 2003, while I was studying at Johns Hopkins Nanjing Center, one of the directors abruptly announced after lunch one day that all students should leave the campus. The university was shutting down due to the SARS epidemic. 

Times and technology have changed, and, this time around, with school postponed as we struggle to control the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, educational authorities are encouraging students to study online.

Given what induced teachers to take up their cellphones and iPads in the first place, I believe that an important part of these studies should be learning about the epidemic itself.

If we handle the coronavirus correctly, it could lead to important changes in our lifestyle, our ethics and in our attitude to others.

In a symbolic sense, students should move on to a more enlightened state, one in which they can seek truth on their own initiative.

In this sense, there is a message for both student and teacher alike.

The students must learn that stress, uncertainty and tragedy are the unavoidable stuff of life. They should settle down and think in peace. They should see themselves poring over good books. Answers can be found in the careful contemplation of poetry and prose.

As humans, we are incurably afflicted with amnesia. Disease comes and goes. A time will come, and soon, when we chuck away our face masks and be done with them. We will become obsessed with new metrics, new gadgets and new afflictions and fashions.

Our science teachers may explain the epidemic in light of our lifestyle, and list vectors of contagion. Our Chinese-language teachers may propose meaningful discussions through literature.

To sum up, in this special time, do not resent the quietness around you. Let the enveloping tranquility help you in your quest for answers.

(Zhou Lei has a PhD in anthropology, and studied at Nanjing University, Johns Hopkins Nanjing Center, LSE and Yunnan University.)