The Wall of Storms (The Dandelion Dynasty, #2)

by Ken Liu

Weigh the fish, the universe is knowable. A cruben breaches; the remora detaches. Mewling child, cooing parent, Grand-souled companions, brothers, Wakeful weakness, Empathy that encompasses the world. To imagine new machines, to see unknown lands, To believe the grace of kings belongs to all. Grateful.

One of my favorite parts of TWOS involves the relationship between Luan Zya and Zomi Kidosu. They are, respectively, the best teacher and the best student. Significant turns in my life were catalyzed by teachers and mentors. Elementary school, middle school, high school, college, law school, clerkship, first job, second job, third job—at every stage a teacher stepped forth and said something kind to me that I still remember decades later, made me believe in myself when I had no reason to, showed me a novel way of looking at the universe, modeled for me how to be what I wanted to be … I would not be who I am without them, and to them I am eternally grateful. In classical Chinese culture, respect for one’s teacher is as important as respect to one’s parents. The weight of responsibility on both sides is heavy. To be someone’s teacher is to be responsible for guiding their entry into a new domain of life, and to be someone’s student means you also become a part of their legacy. But unlike parent-child relationships, the bond between teacher and student has the potential to transform into something else. The most celebrated teacher-student relationships evolve into abiding friendships between equals. Great teachers learn from their students. Which teachers were important to you? What did they say to you that you still remember? And how have you, in turn, been the best teacher you could be to those who look up to you? Finally, “empathy that encompasses the world” is my rendering of the classical Chinese concept of 仁, an important word that has no English equivalent but is sometimes mistranslated as “benevolence.” The people of Dara are humanists in the deepest sense of that word, and Luan Zya, even unto death, was true to 仁.