The
Brady Archive
Bring
Back the Yin-Yang Boys
By
Robert Brady, (KJ 27)
1200 years ago, when Kyoto was freshly built, the wood still green,
the graceful streets as quiet as they were to be for over a thousand
years, it was a pretty radical place, laid out and carefully monitored
according to precise geomantic rules by the boys from the Yin-Yang Bureau,
at the Ministry of Central Affairs. Over the centuries, the usual fires,
floods and earthquakes took their toll now and then, sort of cosmic
taxes, plus a few wars and so on, after which Kyoto, though sometimes
a ghost town for a while, was always rebuilt in the traditional way
alomg traditional lines, because that was the way it had always been
done, and the way it had always been done was the only way to do it;
everyone knew that; that was the soul of Kyoto, which was the soul of
the nation; and all the people in those days knew better than to fool
with a proven thing; they know how the spirit was maintained, how the
spirit was protected, and how that benefitted everyone, in the long
run.People used to know all about the long run. Seems it's only the
short run nowadays.
Not
long ago I took an ox-cart to visit the boys back in the Yin-Yang Bureau,
in search of some details. During a divination break, I asked the Chief
about the purpose of the Bureau.
"Our
purpose is to guard against the demons; our task is never-ending! We
must keep the demons in check, or chaos will ensue!" he intoned.
"What
demons?! I asked. I didn't see any demons.
He
looked around warily. "Do you think I would name them out loud,
rght here in the heavenly capital? Such a rash act would invite disaster;
it is better not even to think of such a thing. Needless to say, these
demons have many faces." He went on to elaborate, without naming
names.
Somewhere
since then, government did away with the Yin-Yang boys, and we're now
living in the result. And we can name the names. A few of the more obvious
demons, as near as I could make out from the Chief's fantastic descriptions,
are nuclear power, neon, pachinko parlors, high-rises, loudspeakers,
vending machines, motor vehicles, telephone poles, and political power
in the hands of businessmen.
Kyoto
needs the Yin-Yang boys more than ever, now.
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