Chapter 9 8. Books and reading

My early writings were like the demonstrations of those students, full of courage, impassioned, and public protest.At that time, there was no skill and care.I completely blame the lessons taught to us by the Beiyang warlords.We have had too much freedom of the press, and too much freedom of speech, and speaking and writing cannot be art when a man can speak the truth to his heart's content.What is the benefit of this freedom of speech?The strict ban forced me to find another way to express my thoughts.I was compelled to develop the skill and weight of writing that my readers call "satire."My art in writing this piece is to develop theories about the situation just enough to hint at my thoughts and the opinions of others, but at the same time with enough subtlety that I don't end up in jail.Writing an article like this is like dancing on a rope in a circus. It requires sharp eyesight, quick hands, and a balanced body and mind.In this wonderful atmosphere, I have become a so-called writer of humor or satire.Perhaps as someone once said, life is too miserable to tell funny stories, or you will die of suffocation.This is just a very common phenomenon in human psychology—that is, in times of great danger, we establish a mechanism for self-defense, that is, eloquence.The eloquence along the way contains tears and smiles.

The story of my rediscovery of the motherland may be written into an old style, but I am afraid that I am more interested in it than others.I am constantly wandering between two worlds, forcing myself to choose one, the old one or the new one, from the shoes on my feet to the hat on my head.Now I don't wear suits, but I still keep my shoes.Until recently, I began to decide that the old-fashioned Chinese cap is more logical and comfortable than the foreign cap, which always feels weird to me.I've always had to choose my philosophy as much as I decide which hat to wear.I once made a couplet:

Two-legged Eastern and Western culture Comment on universe articles with one heart A friend who is good at being a Yuedan commented on me and said that my greatest strength is speaking Chinese culture to foreigners and foreign culture to Chinese.It was not intended as a sneak attack insult, I thought that comment was true.What I like most is galloping across the continent of thought.Occasionally, I thought of a happy thing, which is to bring Lao Tzu two thousand years ago and Ford (Henry Ford) of the United States into the same room, let them talk freely, and discuss the value of money and the value of life together.Or ask Gu Hongming to guide Confucius into the house of Macdonald (former British Prime Minister), and watch them smile at each other, silently, and get a complete understanding between glasses of wine.This way of digging out the idea of ​​the origin of one Chinese and one Western and making a fundamental comparison is no less interesting than the play of Fangcheng, each trying to guess what cards other people have in their hands.Another example is that after playing cards for four rounds and four rounds, not only can it be played day and night, day after night, but it can also never stop. No one knows the final winner or loser.

Here I can briefly talk about my reading habits.I don't like second-rate writers, what I want is the highest and lowest in literature that expresses life.At the most noble level, it can be said to be the source of human thought, such as Confucius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Plato and so on.The most obscene works I love are Baroness Crczsy, Edgar Wallace and generally very cheap little books, especially folk songs and Suzhou Funato songs.Most books are plagiarized by the basest or the noblest kind of plagiarism, but their plagiarism is never entirely successful.The life expressed in this way loses its vitality, its words lose its vitality and strength, and its thoughts lose its authenticity due to the process of plagiarism.Therefore, if you want direct inspiration, you have to seek it from the source of thought and life.For this special purpose, Laozi's and Suzhou Funato's songs are equal to me.

When I read someone's work, I don't feel conscientious, I just read what I am convinced.Their power to attract me lies in their style, or similar ideas.I read very little, but I believe I benefit more from reading one book than anyone else from ten, if the particular author is of like mind.Because I absorbed his works with my heart, it soon seemed to take root in my heart.I believe it is useless to compel people to read either book.Everyone must find his own close soul, and then his works can become living.This accidental method is also a unique means of developing one's ideas and inner life.However, I do not force others to agree with me on the same author.I believe that there is such a thing as Sainte-Beuve's so-called "family of hearts", that is, "nearness of the soul", or "spiritual kinship".Although they are in different ages and borders, they still seem to be able to understand each other, which is more than people in the same city at the same time.A person's article hobby is predestined, but not his own.