In many Western countries, a familiar scene awaits you when you walk into a courtroom.
Before witnesses take the stand, they often place their hands on the Bible and say a solemn words: “I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” — I swear before God that everything I say is true.
If someone lies after taking an oath, it could constitute perjury, resulting in loss of credibility and even imprisonment.
Not only in the courtroom, but also in signing important documents, inauguration ceremonies, military service, and even weddings, people express their commitments through oaths.
In Western society, oaths are considered serious because they signify that an individual entrusts their promises to higher moral and faith to witness.
However, looking back at today’s Chinese society, we find a strange phenomenon. Many people have become very casual about oaths.
Some say in anger: “I swear I didn’t lie!”
Others owe money and brazenly say: “If I’m lying, may I be struck by lightning.”
Moreover, during some of life’s most important swearing moments, many people haven’t even considered the meaning of their pledges.
From the Young Pioneers, Communist Youth League, to the Communist Party, many Chinese have been required from a young age to raise their fists and swear: “Fight for the cause of communism for life.”
However, when oaths become a formalized form, a politically compulsory ritual, they gradually lose their original seriousness.
Yet, in traditional Chinese culture, oaths are never to be taken lightly. Ancients believed that once an oath is uttered, consequences will follow.
There are many cautionary tales in history.
In the second year of the Jingkang era, the Jin army captured Bianjing.
The palace was in chaos. Empress Xianren and over ten thousand members of the Song imperial family became captives of the Jin, taken north.
Over a decade later, Empress Xianren was finally ransomed back to the Southern Song and about to return to Lin’an.
Before departing, Song Qinzong knelt before his mother, tears streaming down his face, and said: “Mother, if I ever have a chance to return to the south, even if it’s just to be a minor official, I would be content.”
Upon hearing this, Empress Xianren was heartbroken. In front of the crowd, she swore: “If, after returning to the south, I don’t strive to bring you back—let me go blind!”
However, history took a cruel turn. Emperor Song Gaozong was unwilling to welcome back his captured brother. If Qinzong returned, the throne would become awkward. And Gaozong, was Empress Xianren’s biological son.
From political reality to regal interests, this oath became increasingly difficult to fulfill.
And so, the matter dragged on. A few years later, a strange incident occurred. Empress Xianren’s eyes suddenly began to blur. Before long, she was completely blind.
Despite efforts by palace doctors, her eyes couldn’t be cured. Empress Xianren then recalled the oath she made in front of Song Qinzong, feeling unease.
Later, a Taoist came to the palace. Using a golden needle, he restored sight to her left eye. However, her right eye remained incurable.
The empress implored the Taoist to heal her other eye. The Taoist calmly said: “Use one eye to see things from now on, and the other, to fulfill your oath.”
Stories of oaths coming to fruition are not uncommon in history. Even in modern society, such occurrences happen occasionally.
In 2008, the Southeast Express reported an incident. A man surnamed Xu from Fujian failed to repay a debt. Creditor Huang went to collect the debt, but Xu denied it adamantly. As the altercation escalated, neighbors gathered around. Huang said: “If you dare swear to the heavens that you don’t owe money, I’ll forgive the debt.”
Xu, holding an iron rod, loudly said: “If I owe you money and refuse, may lightning strike me!”
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a thunderous roar from the sky. A lightning bolt struck Xu directly, causing him to collapse on the spot.
This incident caused a stir in the area. Regardless of explanations, it made people rethink: Is an oath really just a casual statement?
In traditional Chinese culture, an oath is seen as a commitment to heaven and deities. Whether made silently or publicly, it signifies that a person is making a promise to higher beings. Hence, ancients treated oaths with great reverence.
Confucius in the “Doctrine of the Mean” said: “Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The attainment of sincerity is the way of man.” Meaning, promises must be kept, actions must have consequences.
In the “Analects,” there’s a famous line: “A man without faith can do nothing.” If one lacks credibility, they won’t be trusted to do anything. It’s like a cart without axles or a carriage without a yoke, making it impossible to move forward.
In Chinese history, there are numerous examples of upholding promises and being faithful. Such as the Peach Garden Oath in “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei solemnly vowed: “We do not seek to be born on the same day in the same month and the same year, we’re content to die on the same day in the same month and the same year.”
This oath has been passed down for a thousand years because they treated their oath as they would their lives.
Similarly, in “Records of the Grand Historian,” there’s a story of Jibu. What Jibu promised, he did, earning the trust of all. It was said at the time: “Obtaining a hundred pounds of gold is not as good as obtaining a promise from Jibu.”
Later on, “A promise worth a thousand pieces of gold” became a symbol of keeping one’s word.
There was also Han Gaozu Liu Bang’s blood oath with various vassals. By offering blood as a sacrifice to Heaven during the alliance, it signified that if the promise was broken, divine retribution would be accepted.
Thus, in traditional society, oaths were not just commitments but also moral constraints.
However, today, many Chinese people are increasingly indifferent to oaths. Why has this change occurred?
One significant reason is the influence of Party culture.
Those born and raised in mainland China in the 70s, 80s, and 90s have almost all experienced a particular oath system.
Starting from joining the Young Pioneers in elementary school, children raise their fists and vow: “Always be prepared to strive for the cause of communism.”
Later, joining the Communist Youth League in secondary school, they swear again.
If they join the Party as adults, another oath is taken: “Fight for communism for life, always ready to sacrifice everything for the Party and the people.”
However, these oaths aren’t often choices made after thoughtful consideration but rather political rites arranged by the system. When vows become a mandatory formality, people seldom ponder the true meaning behind them. Over time, the solemnity of oaths gets eroded.
In form, the Communist Party and religion have many similarities. Religion has church pulpits; the Communist Party has various party committees and political lectures. Religion has rituals; the Communist Party has oath ceremonies. Religion has commandments; the Communist Party has party discipline.
However, fundamentally, the Communist Party isn’t a true belief system.
“The Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” points out: the Communist Party is a political organization with cult-like characteristics. The book summarizes six characteristics:
1. Fabrication of doctrine, extermination of dissidents
2. Worship of the leader, cult of personality
3. Mental control, strict organization
4. Advocacy of violence, glorification of bloodshed
5. Denial of the divine, suppression of human nature
6. Armed seizure of power, monopolization of the economy
Under this system, oaths often become tools of ideological control.
People say in their youth: “Fight for communism for life,” without truly understanding what that pledge signifies.
Why should this pledge be rescinded? If a person has made the vow to fight for communism for life but has no intention to fulfill it, nor is it practically possible, then from a traditional moral perspective, this vow itself is a commitment to be undone.
Because an oath is a kind of contract. If it was uttered without knowing the truth at the outset, then understanding it afterward means one should take responsibility for it.
Undoing this vow is a form of respecting one’s conscience.
In my youth, without understanding the truth, I had joined the Young Pioneers, the Communist Youth League, and had sworn to fight for communism for life.
Today, having understood the history and nature of the Communist Party, and the shackles these oaths place on life, I solemnly declare: I quit the Chinese Communist Party, the Communist Youth League, and the Young Pioneers.
I annul all past pledges to communism. Choosing to be an independent, free, and trustworthy individual.
Until now, over 460 million Chinese globally have declared on the Global Service Center for Quitting the Party website, their departure from the Chinese Communist Party and its affiliated organizations, the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers.
More and more people are reconsidering: What does an oath truly signify? There are increasingly individuals making new decisions based on their conscience.
If you too, in your youth, uttered these pledges in ignorance, perhaps now is the time to reconsider:
To whom are you truly accountable?
To a political organization?
Or to your conscience and future!
(Transcribed from Global Service Center for Quitting the Party)