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When I read Amazon Prime could ship any package to you door the next day. I remembered a couplet from Du Mu:
一騎紅塵妃子笑
A horserider and red dust, the consort laughs
無人知是荔枝來
No one knows the lychee are coming.
Legend has it that consort to the Tang emperor Yang Guifei loved to eat lychee, but Chang 'an (modern day Xi'an) was too far north from where lychees, so Xuanzong sets up a modern day pony express system to relay lychees quickly to the consort.
Other texts of the period also record crops and farmers being trampled on, just so the consort can eat tropical fruit. If she were alive today, she could book any fruit on first class and have it on her doorstep within 24 hours. In fact millions of us can order something from across the world at speeds Tang royalty can only dream of.
I'm reading the book "All Natural" by Nathanael Johnson. In his chapter on sugar, he talks about how the word "sweet" is synonymous to momentary pleasure, not contentment. In chemistry terms, it's the difference between feeling endorphines (content) and dopamine (pleasure). Because consumers can't tell the difference, we equate one with the other.
Du Mu warns us of the impact of one individual's overzealous passion for pleasure. Call me old fashioned, but being able to move items within a day of our desire for pleasure makes be cautious of greed with technology. Not just with solid packages, but the attention we place on material pleasure.
I am reminded of another quote from Du Fu, (don't get this confused with Du Mu):
朱門酒肉臭
At the red gates, the odor of wine and meat
路有凍死骨
On the road frozen dead bones
When we attend to our pleasure, what do we neglect?
Comments? Thoughts?
