August 4-5, 2008

2008 What Makes a Champion? Forum

Today I attended the Beijing 2008 What Makes a Champion? forum at Peking (Beijing) University. At the forum we discussed what it takes to become a champion. The forum was founded by Allan Snyder, the director of Sydney University’s Center of the Mind, and from now on it will be held before the start of each Olympic Games. The aim of this discussion forum is to give students an opportunity to interact and converse with successful individuals from all walks of life, including Olympic champions, so hopefully they can learn the correct approach to becoming successful and how to become a champion. Peking (Beijing) University was chosen to host this forum because of the 400,000 volunteers taking part at the Olympic Games, 3300 of them are from Peking (Beijing) University. It’s also a central gathering place for students from many different countries.

This forum was one of the important cultural activities to take place before the start of the Olympic Games and because there were many well known figures gathered at this event, including the former British Prime Minister, former American Secretary of State, members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the chairman of the American Olympic Committee, major sports stars, chairmen of large business corporations, and many other elite personnel, the program schedule and security measures for the opening ceremony were very strict and precise.

When I arrived at Peking (Beijing) University, I saw my good friend former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. He officially opened the forum event and together with his wife, he presented me with an award.

Program organizers hoped that I could share some of my experiences at the forum, talk about how my films and charity help spread Chinese culture, and also discuss my understanding of how to become a champion.

Actually, the way I’ve always approached things is that if I think something needs to be done, I do it. I don’t think too much about the logic or reasoning before I do something, and this is why I want to share with you some of the journeys and experiences I’ve come across over these few years.

Let me start with talking about my films. Maybe a lot of you already know, from the very beginning to the present day I’ve always been changing. Back when I first started, I was only an actor. I could only act in whatever movie the director and film investors wanted me to be in. But that just wasn’t me. Later on when I started directing and writing screenplays, I was able to make decisions for myself so then I started writing scrīpts about things that I liked. I knew how to make a movie and I knew how to publicize our Chinese culture!

China actually has a history that goes back thousands of years and there are many teachings of Chinese philosophy: benevolence (rén), righteousness (yì), courtesy (lǐ), wisdom (zhì), and confidence (xìn). Every Chinese person is subtly influenced by these teachings in some way, and you’ll find that even though there are a lot of things I want to express in my movies, I always try to include some aspects of traditional Chinese culture.

To give you an example, while I was filming Dragon Lord, I saw some people in America playing American football and it gave me a spark of inspiration - I wanted to bring some elements of Chinese culture into the movie. How was I going to do that? Well, I added a few things such as the bun tower scramble and shuttlecock kicking. I hoped that using some of these characteristic activities unique to China would allow more people to recognize and understand our traditional Chinese culture.

In addition to that, as everyone already knows about my movies, they have plenty of action but you’ll never see any violent scenes; they have comedy but it’s not obscene. There are two main reasons for this: one, the influence of film is just too big and I don’t want to cause any negative impact on young people; second, in the minds of Chinese people, you don’t use missiles or guns to overcoming your enemy, you use morality and justice.

This is why in the movies that I make, you don’t see many scenes where I’m holding a gun. In fact, you’ll even see me trying to find ways to throw the gun away. You’ll also find that no matter what movie I’m in, such as Rumble in the Bronx or even Rush Hour, I only retaliate when villains push me into a difficult situation that leaves me no choice but to fight back. Maybe some viewers don’t understand and wonder why, as a cop, I don’t just pull out my gun and point it at the bad guys to stop them but instead use kung fu and  try to convince them to give up time and again, which ultimately lets the bad guys get away.

When viewers watch an action scene, they gain a sense of justice, righteousness, and power. It also sends out a message to the world that brute force isn’t the only way to resolve violence, sometimes benevolence and righteousness can be a lot more powerful.

Another important thing is that the movies I make show world harmony; as Chinese people like to say, “Everyone in the world is a brother in arms.” In my movies, there is no difference in nationalities or geographical areas, and because the exchanges between the East and West are constantly increasing at the moment, I think that we should use an open minded attitude to combine all the different cultures and present them all together as one. For example, in the movie Who Am I?, I’m a member of the special forces which are made up of agents from different countries around the world. In the end, I helped them achieve justice. Even though this story is about revenge, it’s still a story filled with brotherly love and friendship.

You’ll also find that in my movies, I don’t portray every single Chinese character as a good person. There are bad people everywhere, even in China. If you’ve watched Rumble in the Bronx, you would have seen that there were Chinese people collecting protection fees. I honestly think that the influence of film is huge and we can’t allow the wrong message to be sent out to the viewers because it will affect a lot of people. When I was a young kid, I watched a lot of movies where the American cowboy was always the good guy and the Japanese were the bad guys. But as I grew older, I discovered that of course not all Japanese people were bad, and even the Americans I thought were always good were bad as well. There are good people and bad people everywhere in the world. Therefore, you won’t find stereotypes in my movies.

In the same way that there are good and bad people all over the world, there are people everywhere that need help. So this is how I’ve approached my charity work: there are no racial boundaries. For many years now I’ve been doing charity work in places all over the world and I’m not just helping Chinese people, I’m also helping foreigners. For example, I’ve helped the homeless orphans in America, the children in Cambodia injured by landmines, and many others.

The core essence and central teaching of Confucius philosophy is benevolence (rén) – that is to love people, care for others, and try your best to help people who need help. I think that doing charity is a type of lifestyle. In fact, everyone can do charity. There are times when charity isn’t just about helping someone by giving them money. Sometimes a small moment of eye contact or a word of encouragement is considered an act of charity because you helped someone at a time when they needed help the most.

Anyway, it doesn’t matter if I’m making a film or doing charity work, I always do these things from my heart. I use less of my mind, more of my heart, and use the greatest sincerity to do a job well. I believe everyone in the world is the same when it comes to human nature, and it doesn’t matter if people approach it with an Eastern attitude or a Western attitude, everyone is still able to exchange their innermost feelings with one another. What we need to do is communicate more and try to understand each other better. If we can do this then there would be fewer misunderstandings and the world would become even more harmonious.

The Beijing Olympic Games will start in a couple of days. Our motto for the Games is “One World, One Dream.” People from all over the world have come here to Beijing and the Olympic Games will bring to everyone an unprecedented gathering. There will be a lot of competing and contesting with each other at this big gathering to find the champions and runners up for each event. But like the spirit of the Olympic Games where the emphasis is on participation, I also think that taking part in the Games is much more important than being a champion!

Of course everyone in a sporting event wants to be the champion but I think what’s most important isn’t whether or not you come out as the champion, what’s important is the journey in achieving that goal. The hard work and the sacrifices that are made before a champion becomes a champion are usually not seen by other people. Only those with outstanding character and unremitting spirit will achieve their goal of becoming a champion. A successful champion is someone who performs at their best, exhibits their dominance in the field, uses their own skills and abilities to bear some of the responsibilities, and doesn’t worry too much about their placing in a competition.

It’s just like what happened during the devastating earthquake, there were a lot of people who didn’t care about their own safety and risked their lives to save others. Even though they go unrecognized, I actually think that they’re the real champions! In fact, I think everyone can be a champion, especially in today’s society where people start off by competing with each other and then end up living together in harmony. Everyone should work hard towards achieving a harmonious society.

The fight to become a champion isn’t the most important thing anymore because maybe this time you’ll be crowned champion, next time it might be someone else. But the spirit of being a champion is something we must continuously learn and advocate. I hope that everyone will have the spirit of being a champion and support the Olympic Games! Let’s make an effort towards world peace and harmony!

After the discussion forum, I took a group photo with the 2004 Athens Olympic Women’s 100m breaststroke gold medalist, Luo Xuejuan, the founder of the What Makes a Champion? forum, Allan Snyder, former American Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger, and a few others. Take a look at this big group photo – you can see the former member of the Chinese National short track speed skating team, Yang Yang, a member of the women’s relay team that won the 1995 world championships, and also Yang Lan, Luo Xuejuan and Ian Thorpe. How many other people can you recognize in there?

Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger is an extraordinary man and I really hoped I could take a photo with him today and look…I finally did!

Text and photos ©2008 The JC Group

August 4 - 5 (星期一、二)

2008奥运冠军论坛：
    今天我到北京大学出席一个名为‘2008奥运冠军论坛’。论坛是讨论如何才能成为冠军？由悉尼大学才智中心主任斯奈德教授创办的冠军论坛，今后将在每届奥运会开幕前举办。论坛旨在通过各界成功人士、奥运会冠军与学生的交流互动，在青年人心中树立正确的冠军和成功概念。这一次选在北京大学举行这个论坛，是因为有四十万位志愿者参与北京奥运，而北京大学已经有三千三百位志愿者，而这里又是很多国家栋梁的集中地。
    作为北京奥运会开幕前的一项重要活动，由于汇集了英国前首相、美国前国务卿、国际奥委会委员、美国奥委会主席、体育明星、上市集团总裁等众多精英人物，冠军论坛的安保规模和开幕流程都十分严谨。
    到达北大，我见到好朋友，英国前首相托尼．布莱尔，论坛由他主持开幕礼，而他与太太颁奖给我。
    主办方希望我能够在论坛中谈论下我的电影及慈善对于中国文化的传播和我对于冠军的理解。
    其实我一直以来，做事情都只是觉得要做就做了，做之前没有想那么多的哲学理论，所以我就跟大家分享一下我这些年的经验和过程。
    说到我的电影，可能很多人也都知道，从一开始到现在，一直都在变。在刚开始的时候，我只是一个演员，导演和投资方要我演什么我就只能演什么，但是那不是我自己。当我后来可以自己拿主意，做导演、编剧，我就编我自己喜欢的东西。我知道怎样去拍一部电影，怎样把我们中国的文化发扬光大！
    其实我们中国有几千年的历史，中国的哲学很多：“仁、义、礼、智、信”，我们每个中国人都潜移默化的受到了这些文化的影响。所以在我的电影中有很多我想表达的东西，都渗透了一些中国传统的文化。
    举例来说，在拍《龙少爷》时候，在美国看到人家打美式的橄榄球受到启发，我就想要把中国文化带进去，怎样带进去呢？我就改抢包山、踢毽子。我希望借由这些中国特色的项目让更多的人知道和了解我们的传统文化。
    另外，我的电影大家都知道，有动作但是不会有残暴的镜头；有喜剧但是不下流。一是因为电影的影响力太大了，我不想给那些青少年带来负面的影响；二是因为在我们中国人的思维里，制服人靠的不是导弹和枪支，而是道义。
    所以我的电影里我拿枪的场面很少，我还想尽办法的丢掉枪。而且无论是《红番区》还是《尖峰时刻》我都是被坏人逼到困境时候才出手。可能观众不明白，为什么我是警员，其实早就可以用枪指指点点，但是我还是用了功夫和苦口婆心的劝他们，最终也让坏人远离了我们。
    观众在动作场面中感到正义和力量，也让全世界了解到并不是暴力只能依靠暴力来解决，有时候“仁义”带来的是更大的力量。
    还有很重要的是，我的电影是世界大同的，中国人说“四海之内皆兄弟”。我的电影里面不分民族和地区，现在东西方的交流也越来越多了，所以我们都应该是一种开放的心态把各种不同的文化摆在一起展示。比如在《我是谁》中，我是特警队员，特警队也是多个国家队员组成的，而我最后为他们讨回公道，虽然是复仇故事，但是也充满了手足情谊。
    我的电影中也不会把所有中国人都写成好人，坏人哪里都有，我们中国也有，所以大家看到《红番区》里面中国人也来收保护费。我想电影的影响力太大了，不能让错误的信息影响很多观众。就像我小时候，我看电影里面美国的cowboy都是好人，日本人都是坏人。但其实后来长大以后才知道，日本人也有好人，美国人也有坏人，世界上哪里都有好人和坏人，所以我的电影中不会再有这样的问题。
    其实我做慈善也是这样，这么多年来我在全世界都做慈善，不仅仅帮助中国人，也帮助外国人，比如美国的homeless孤儿，柬埔寨的地雷受伤儿童等等。
    中国的儒家文化中最最核心的精神是“仁”，就是爱人，关爱别人，尽力帮助那些需要帮助的人。我觉得慈善是一种态度，每个人其实都可以做慈善，有时候不是你给他金钱的帮助就是慈善，也许一个眼神和一个鼓励也是一种慈善，因为你在他最需要帮助的时候帮助了他。
    总之，电影也好，慈善也好，我一直是用心在做的，少用脑子多用心，用最大的诚意去做好。我相信世界上人性是共通的，无论是东方态度还是西方态度，人们的内心都可以交流。我们所要做的就是多多沟通，让大家互相了解，这样就能减少因为不了解而产生的误会，世界才能更加和谐。
    北京奥运会再过几天就开幕了，我们的口号是“同一个世界，同一个梦想”。全世界的人们来到北京，奥运带给大家的是一个史无前例的大聚会。虽然在这个大聚会上我们还会有比赛，有竞争，还要有冠亚季军。但是我认为，就像奥运精神所说的那样“重在参与”，参与比冠军更加重要！
    当然，在体育竞技中，每个人都想当冠军，但我觉得最重要的不是最终是否获得冠军，而是冲向冠军的历程。冠军们在得到冠军之前，他们的付出和努力通常是人们看不到的，只有优秀的人品和坚持不懈的精神才能造就冠军。冠军应该发挥他的优势，用自己的本领去承担一些责任，而不是计较自己的名次。
    就像这次的地震中，有很多的人在不顾自己的生命却帮助其它人，他们虽然是无名英雄，但他们是真正的冠军！所以其实每个人都可以冠军，尤其是现在的社会，人们从竞争到和平共处，每个人都为和谐的社会在努力。
    冠军的争夺本身已经不是最重要的了，因为也许这次是你，下次就是别人，但冠军的精神是我们永远要学习和提倡的。所以我在这里希望我们每个人都以冠军的精神为奥运加油！为世界的和谐努力！
    论坛后，我与2004年雅典奥运的女子100米蛙泳金牌得主罗雪娟、论坛的发起人斯奈德教授、美国前国务卿基辛格等人合照。大家看看这一张大合照，里面有前中国短道速滑运动员杨阳，曾经于1995年的世界锦标赛嬴得女子接力赛冠军，还有杨澜、罗雪娟和科比，其它的你们能认出多少人呢？
    我很喜欢基辛格先生，我认为他是一位伟人，所以我很希望可以跟他来张合照，哈哈哈，我终于可以跟他合照了！