The Monument to the Fallen
“Most of those who have spoken here before me have commended the lawgiver who added this oration to our other funeral customs. It seemed to them a worthy thing that such an honor should be given at their burial to the dead who have fallen on the field of battle. But I should have preferred that, when men's deeds have been brave, they should be honored in deed only, and with such an honor as this public funeral, which you are now witnessing. Then the reputation of many would not have been imperiled on the eloquence or want of eloquence of one, and their virtues believed or not as he spoke well or ill. For it is difficult to say neither too little nor too much; and even moderation is apt not to give the impression of truthfulness… However, since our ancestors have set the seal of their approval upon the practice, I must obey, and to the utmost of my power shall endeavor to satisfy the wishes and beliefs of all who hear me.”
——Thucydides, Pericles’ Funeral Oration
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“Every name must be engraved on this monument!” This is the unanimous belief of us workers who make the monument to the fallen.
The monument to the fallen was indeed quite majestic at the beginning of the project. The quarry, given the technology of the time, was able to extract such a whole stone in its entirety, which was a feat that nearly matched the achievements of the war itself. As soon as the stone was carried to the construction site, we began to engrave the names of our deceased brothers and sisters. However, the first generation of workers was inexperienced, and when the whole monument was engraved, there were still a lot of bodies being carried over from the battlefield where the swords were long gone, waiting to be claimed and named by their relatives. So the second generation of workers could only continue to engrave in between the gaps of the names engraved by the first generation of workers. Although the space was reduced considerably, the work of the second generation of workers continued in an orderly manner as long as the engraving knife was replaced with a slightly smaller size and more patience and care were equipped. Later, the gaps left by the first generation were almost filled up, but the carriage of the corpses had not yet stopped, so the engraving of the names could not be considered finished. After a period of cautious research and discussion, the workers decided that they could not overturn the efforts of their predecessors or even simply abandon them for the sake of convenience, as some peoples do, treating tradition and heritage as if they were nothing. The engraving must continue on this monument, and if there is no space, a new space should be found out, and if the tools are not suitable, a technological revolution should be carried out!
With the efforts of two generations, the think tank gave the orientation of the new space: the interior of the already engraved name – the middle of the two edge lines; the third generation of workers also invented an incredibly sharp engraving knife through their own skillful hands. The work then continued, and during the process, the rebel group, which had consisted of young workers who had refused to continue engraving on this old monument, planning to replace it with regular single or family tombstones, gradually realized the intention of their ancestors: the carriage of corpses had never stopped for a single day, and it seemed to the mortal that this carriage would never stop, so that the whole territory of the country would be turned into a cemetery at some point in the future! If that happens, how can the economy, culture and people's livelihood be developed? “Every name must be engraved on this monument!” —This belief is far from being our ancestors’ narrow-mindedness, but a true wisdom of balancing the loyalty to our warriors and the saving of our resources.
For us workers, the fallen are quiet, as quiet as the distant battlefields of today – such a description is indeed overly rhetorical (we would never do this in our daily work), because there is no doubt that we hear the faint but solemn sound of the knife hitting the monument as we engrave the names of the fallen. So at one ecclesia, all citizens unanimously agreed to pass a new anthem law: the engraving knife should have a built-in microphone, and the sound of the engraving would be played as the national anthem on the anthem-exclusive radio station without interruption. From then on, at any time, every citizen could hear the justice given to every fallen warrior. The history of miracles and tragicomedies that belong to the distant battlefields will echo honestly when and only when the names of the fallen are struck.
The monument to the fallen looks rather scant to today's eyes, with layer after layer of names, packed tightly together and illegible, but it is also like our country, a small piece of land carrying endless heroes.