Dr. Hong received in Italy the Turin Global Peace Award, a statue of the Greek goddess who symbolizes both victory and peace.
by Massimo Introvigne*
*Introduction to the webinar “13 July 2007: Who Stole Tai Ji Men’s Victory?”, organized by CESNUR and Human Rights Without Frontiers on July 13, 2024, on the 17th anniversary of Tai Ji Men’s Supreme Court victory.
An article already published in Bitter Winter on July 16th, 2024.
On May 11, 2024, Dr. Hong Tao-Tze, the Shifu (Grand Master) of Tai Ji Men received the Turin Global Peace Award 2024 at the Turin Book Fair, the second largest book fair in Europe, which this year set a record with more than 222,000 visitors.
The statue Dr. Hong received was produced by a specialized art shop in Tuscany, but I indicated how it should be made. I wanted it to be a modern rendering of the Greek goddess of victory, called Nike, inspired by the Nike of Samothrace of the Louvre Museum but taking into account how the goddess had been depicted after World War I. (Our younger participants may be familiar with the word “Nike” only because of the American footwear company: in fact, it took its name precisely from the Greek goddess of victory).
When we look at the Nike of Samothrace, reportedly the third most photographed work of art in the Louvre after the Mona Lisa and the Venus of Milo, we do not necessarily realize that only pieces of the statue were found in 1863 in the Greek island of Samothrace by French diplomat and amateur archeologist Charles Champoiseau, who sent them to Paris’ main museum (illegally, according to the Greek politicians, who to this very day have kept asking France to return the statue to Greece). The head and part of a wing were missing, and the assemblage of the pieces found was in part conjectural. In ancient Greek coins depicting Nike, the wings are represented oriented both upward and downward as in the statue presented to Dr. Hong rather than upward only as in the Louvre reconstruction. It is also probable that other symbolic objects were part of the statue, but the corresponding pieces were not found.
The details of the Greek representation of Nike became important after World War I concluded in 1918. By then, the statue had been exhibited in the Louvre, where it was first displayed in 1866, for more than fifty years. It inspired countless monuments consecrated to the victory in the countries that won the war. The wings of the Greek Nike represent the sacred dimension of victory, and the winner’s ability to fly higher than its adversaries. It is important to remember that Nike was the goddess of victory in athletic, musical, and literary contexts and not only in war. Representing the goddess with wings moving downward, or both upward and downward, however, alluded to military victory but included a message that after victory should come peace. The parts missing in the Louvre statue might have included a laurel wreath or a palm branch, both symbols of peace. These did appear in many post-World-War-I statues.ù
The statue Dr. Hong received celebrated Tai Ji Men’s victories in spreading throughout the world a message of peace, love, and conscience. It also emphasized the connection between victory and peace. Victory deserves to be celebrated only if it prepares peace through justice. As we know, this did not happen after World War I. Even the countries that had won the war maintained situations of injustice both domestically and internationally, generating resentments and grievances that played a role in preparing World War II. The flight of Nike, in which the authors of the goddess’ statues that proliferated after 1918 had placed their hopes, did not lead to peace.
Although different from the victories Tai Ji Men obtained in the fields of peace education and culture, the legal victory of 2007 was also significant. Dr. Hong deserves to be honored for having obtained this victory too. However, the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu famously said that winning the war is not enough and one needs to conquer the victory as well. Tai Ji Men won the legal war but was prevented from conquering the victory. The 2007 Supreme Court victory never produced its whole effects, since tax harassment continued. The flight of Nike was interrupted for Tai Ji Men too.
On the other hand, Nike’s flight cannot really be stopped, although it can be disturbed or delayed. Statues of Nike were not intended for museums but for temples where the goddess was worshiped. They were religious artifacts, reminding the devotees that Victory is a goddess and a religious state of conscience and, as such, cannot be defeated.
Rogue bureaucrats and systemic problems in Taiwan prevented Tai Ji Men from conquering their 2007 victory but did not defeat them. Conscience cannot be defeated. It is with this certitude, forged by years of resilience, that Tai Ji Men Dizi can celebrate today together victory, conscience, and the power of hope.