A Possible Future - Reading and Reflection on The Wandering Earth

With the increasing number of people on Earth and the development of human civilization, the resources on Earth are being consumed. In the future, there will be a day when the earth's resources will be depleted. If we don't try to explore the outside world, perhaps in the future, we will be trapped on Earth like the islanders on Easter Island who once died because the trees were harvested. If we don't make an effort to explore the outside universe, then maybe in the future, we will be like the people of Easter Island who were once trapped on the earth due to the resources that were depleted till extinction.

But if we think differently, what would it be like if we had to start wandering in the universe for external reasons? Cixin Liu, a science fiction writer from China, offers such a unique perspective.

I have chosen the short story The Wandering Earth by Chinese author Cixin Liu. The novel tells the story of humankind's decision to form a coalition government due to the fear of the disaster caused by the solar helium flash explosion, and the Earth is equipped with many engines. Through the thrust of the planetary engines, the Earth is pushed out of the solar system, wandering in the universe, and goes to Proxima Centauri as the new home of humankind. The novel was published in July 2000, and in 2019, a movie of the same name based on the story was released.

This novel is an operatic space epic. The story's main character is an ordinary man born in the "Braking Age" when the Earth stopped rotating, and he lived in the "Escaping Age" when the Earth began to leave the solar system. He had never seen the night, the stars, nor the changing of the seasons; the high temperature brought by the earth's engine made the seasons 70 degrees Celsius, and the sunrise became a symbol of fear. During the escaping era, he moved into the underground city, where people lived in fear of the rumors of the coming solar helium flash. The Dungeon was followed by a civil war between the "Earth Faction" and the "Spaceship Faction" and an uprising of civilians who questioned the coalition government. Finally, the solar helium flash erupts, forcing people to keep the earth wandering to their new homes.

Science fiction writers have the privilege of assuming a setting and then allowing themselves to watch, like God, the development of a population at a loss in that setting, like a creator. The author Cixin Liu has deeply analyzed human nature during the disaster, showing the readers the weaknesses after being magnified. Those who read it are speechless because he makes readers realize that humans may do such things in a disaster.

I like this novel because it relates to our real life. The story is narrated in the first person, showing the most realistic face of the struggle of human beings to survive in that environment. The story's main character is an ordinary person, not a political leader or a genius scientist. Such a position can better show how ordinary people, who make up the majority of the population, behave under the apocalypse, making us, as readers, feel more immersive. Population expansion, resource shortage, and environmental degradation have become increasingly severe problems in human society. Exploring and colonizing the universe for survival has become an important way for humans to solve these problems.

This novel does not win with plot twists but reflects Liu’s insight into human nature. In a plain writing style, he shows the most likely behavior of ordinary people during the apocalyptic crisis. The tone of the whole story is undoubtedly dark and desperate, but this pitch-black darkness still reveals a glimpse of human light. Just as the protagonist goes to enjoy the last sunset with his lover before the Earth is completely plunged into darkness, although it symbolizes the twilight of humankind in the solar system, it also means the beginning of a journey to hope and a new light in the darkness of humanity.