Chapter 13 Essay on the Spectator (February 20, 1900)

The most loathsome, hateful, and despicable people in the world are bystanders. A bystander is like standing on the east bank, looking at the fire on the west bank, and taking pleasure in watching its red light; it is like standing on this boat, watching the sinking of the other boat, and taking pleasure in seeing its ducklings bathing.If so, it can't be called sinister, nor can it be called vicious. There is no name for this kind of person, and they are called bloodless.Alas, bloody beings are the reason why human beings are born and the world is established; without bloody beings, there are no human beings and no world.Therefore, the bystanders are the thieves of mankind and the enemies of the world.

People are born between heaven and earth, and each has responsibilities.Those who know responsibility are the beginning of a man; those who practice responsibility are the end of a man; if you give up your responsibility, you are giving up what makes you a man.Those who are old people have the responsibility of the family for a family, the responsibility of a country for a country, and the responsibility of the world for the world.If the members of a family each give up their responsibilities, the family will fall; if the people of a country each give up their responsibilities, the country will perish; if everyone in the world gives up their responsibilities, the world will be destroyed.Those who watch the cloud are called giving up responsibility.There are two sentences of warnings in Chinese poetry, saying: "It is not my business to help people and things, and there are Duke Zhou and Confucius." Ordinary Chinese people have two sentences of idioms, which say: "Everyone sweeps the snow in front of the door, regardless of other people's tiles. Frost." Those who say these words are actually the classics and slogans of the spectator school.And this kind of classic slogan is deeply rooted in the minds of people all over the country, and it can't be wiped away, and it can't be washed clean.In essence, the word "bystander" represents the nature of the people of our country, and the word "bloodless" is something exclusive to the people of our country.Woohoo, I'm afraid of this!

The onlookers stand in the meaning of the objective position.The affairs of the world cannot have guests without a master. For example, in a family, if it is large, it teaches its children and checks its property;Who is the master?That is, the family members are also.The members of a family each perform their duties as masters and the family is successful.If the members of a family are each in the guest position, the father blames the son, the son blames the father; the brother blames the younger brother, the younger brother blames the brother; the husband blames the wife, and the woman blames the husband; Lord's house.A home without an owner can stand and wait for its downfall.But so is the country.Who is the master of a country?That is to say, the people of a country are also.There is no other reason why the Western Kingdom is strong, and the people of a country each perform their duties as masters.This is not the case in China. When you enter the country and ask who is its master, there is no way to inherit it.Will it be said that the people are the masters?The common people said: What should I do with this matter of officials.Will it be said that officials want to be masters?The official said: "My corpse is here. It is the ear of my power and power, and the ear of my source of profit. How else do I know?"Even though a country is big, it has no master.In a country without a master, it is appropriate for slaves to seize it and thieves to seize it. "Poetry" says: "You have the courtyard, you can't sweep it. You have bells and drums, you can use the drums to test. If you die, others are the protection." This natural reason must not be true, so what about people?

It is still possible for a husband to watch other people's homes and countries from the sidelines.Why?I am also a solid customer. (The righteousness of a chivalrous man, although he should not watch other countries and families, let us ignore it now.) It is impossible to say nothing about my family and our country.Why?I am a solid master.I am still on the sidelines, but who is more responsible for me?In general, the prosperity and decline of a family and country are always determined by the number of bystanders in the family and the country.If there are no bystanders in the country, the country will prosper even if it is small; if all the people are bystanders, the country will perish even if it is large.Today I see 400 million people in China, and they are all bystanders.If you don't believe me, please ask for its genre:

One is called the Chaos School.Those of this school can be described as animals without brains.They don't know that there is a so-called world, they don't know that there is a country, they don't know what to worry about, and what to fear.Eat when you are hungry, swim when you are full, sleep when you are sleepy, and get up when you are sleepy. Inside the house is your own small world. Fighting for a penny can kill you. They don’t know what is going on.Since we don't know that there is a country, what is the so-called death and immortality?For example, when you swim in a fish house, a cauldron that is about to boil may be mistaken for a spring river with warm water; when swallows nest in a half-fired hall, they may still be mistaken for the rising sun that shines on their houses.Their lives are like those made of machines, able to move but unable to feel; their deaths are like those killed by electricity, degenerate but not suffering, just squirming through dozens of cold and heat.Although they are bystanders, they did not realize that they were bystanders. I call them the heavenly people in the bystander school.Among the 400 million people who belong to this school, there are hardly more than 350 million people.However, this is not just a person who is illiterate and dying.In the world, there are inherently illiterate and life-threatening people who are not chaotic, and there are also people who claim to be able to read and control life but are actually chaotic.There are probably hundreds of thousands of officials outside Beijing, millions of scholars who take township, meeting, age, and scientific examinations, and businessmen all over the world. Nine out of ten of them belong to this school.

The second is to send for me.Those who belong to this school, as the saying goes, those who still hold on to their pockets when they are struck by lightning.He does not know what to do; he does not know that the country is about to perish.Although, if it is not beneficial to me to do this, I am just watching; if the country is destroyed without harming me, then I am just watching.If Feng Dao was in the midst of the five seasons, he would still boast of being the elders of the five dynasties, and Zhang Zhidong would still be a minister of the small court after the division, and so on.In the world, they seem to always be on the subject rather than the object.Although, it is only based on the public's business, and its own interests are considered; if the public's interests are concerned, then he is always on the sidelines.In the past, I saw a paragraph in a Japanese newspaper that best described the situation of this generation. It said:

I visited the Liaodong Peninsula, saw the people along the way, observed their mood, they were in crisis for the survival of the country, as if they did not know it; they did not treat the Japanese army as an enemy, but as the main customer of the store; in their minds , I don’t know whether there is a question of whether the Liaodong Peninsula will be transferred to Japan or not, but I know that there is a question of the exchange of Japanese silver and grain silver for water replenishment. This fact describes the feelings of the two, Kui Kui and Wang, just like Yu Ding casting traitors.Push it for my cover, cut off thousands of miles of land, pay hundreds of trillions of money, and change the land within a short distance of his yamen, but he didn't care about it, why?I am now in my sixties or seventies, but I hope that nothing will happen for a few years now, and after I die, even if the world is turned upside down, it is not the question.Knowing that the long-standing habits of the officialdom should be changed but will not be changed, this is where my job is.Knowing that the school's imperial examination should be changed but not willing to change, this is the reason for the origin of my children and grandchildren.Those in this school regard Lao Dan as their sage and Yang Zhu as their teacher. Whether they are officials, gentry, scholars, or merchants in a country, they are all of this generation who occupy important positions and hold great power. Therefore, there are left and right in this school. The power of the world.The intelligent and talented people of a country all gather under its flag, and the young children who are just hatching from the budding eggs follow suit, just like lepers and tuberculosis pass their seeds to their descendants, so the legacy spreads all over the world. This is a bystander. The most magical one in the pie.

The third is called Wuhu faction.What is a Woohoo Pie?Those of the generation who regard counseling, sighing, and weeping bitterly as their unique career.His face often has the expression of worrying about the country, and he speaks a lot of mournful words, telling him that things should be done, and he says that sincerity should do it, but there is no way to do it; when he tells the country that it is in danger, he says that sincerity is in great danger Yes, there is no hope for help; if you ask me again, it is just the fate of the country and the heart of heaven. "Helpless" is his formula, and the phrase "wait for death" is his true story.If you see a fire, you don't want to put it out, but rest in the blaze of the fire; if you see a person drowning, you don't think about saving it, but hate the surging waves.Those of this school certainly claim that they are not bystanders, but other people's bystanders also use their eyes, and the other generation's bystanders also use their mouths.It's not that they don't care about state affairs, but they use state affairs as the material for their poems;When we read the story of Poland's demise and the history of Egypt's tragedy, why not be amazed by it, but it is not beneficial to Poland and Egypt, so I will just watch it.When we see the bloody battle between the Philippines and the United States, why don't we respect it, but those who do not help the Philippines, I will stand on the sidelines.The so-called Wuhu faction, why is it so different!This school seems to be neither helpful nor harmful to the world, although it is not a sin to discourage the people's aspirations and hinder future progress.Those who belong to this school belong to those who are known as celebrities in a country.

The fourth is to laugh and scold the faction.Those of this school are called onlookers, rather they are called hindsight.Because he often stands behind others, he also criticizes others with cold words.That generation is not only a bystander for itself, but also wants to force others to be a bystander; it scolds the old-fashioned, but also scolds the reformer; scolds the villain, but also scolds the gentleman; If the event is successful, it will be said that Li Zi became famous; if the event fails, it will be said that I expected it early.Those generations always stand on their own without reproach, why?There is nothing to blame for not doing accidents, and nothing to blame for being a bystander.To stand behind those who do things instead of doing things by oneself, to lead the rope to criticize the roots and attack them with ridicule, this is the most ingenious technique, which makes the brave short-tempered and the cowardly discouraged.It just makes people discouraged and short-lived, but what is about to be done, they will be discouraged with laughter; what has been done, they can be defeated with laughter.Therefore, those of that generation are also the yin people of the world.It’s okay for a husband to exclude others, and he wants to extend his own doctrine while rejecting others’ doctrine. This is something that Western countries’ political parties do not shy away from.However, he laughed and scolded Paiguo for what doctrine?For example, if a solitary boat meets the wind in the ocean, those who cursed the wind, the waves, the ocean, the solitary boat, and even the people in the same boat all over the place, if you ask how the boat can reach the other shore, they will be dumbfounded. and also.Why?Those people used to watch from the sidelines to laugh and scold, but if they lost the status of watching, there would be no laughing and scolding.

The fifth is the Abandonment Faction.The Wuhu faction regards the world as nothing to do; the abandonment faction regards me as a person who cannot do anything.Those who scold others often blame others instead of themselves; those who abandon them often look at others instead of themselves.The meaning of those generations is that there are four hundred trillion people in a country, and among the three hundred and ninety-nine trillion nine hundred and ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine people, there is no amount of intelligence, no number of heroes, and I am not so important.The extreme disadvantage of this school is that there will be 400 trillion people, everyone will get rid of themselves, and the rest will be 399,999,999,999 people who look at the state affairs.Counting and canceling each other, it is four hundred trillion people, and there is no one who died.As for affairs of state, each citizen has his or her own responsibilities, and the more virtuous and wise, the greater the responsibilities. Even if you are stupid, your responsibilities are only slightly smaller, and it cannot be called nothing.Although others have great wisdom and great ability, they can only fulfill their own responsibilities, how can they replace me in the slightest?For example, if you don’t want to eat, you can ask someone who is good at food to eat for you; if you want to not sleep, you can ask someone who is good at sleeping to sleep for you. Is it possible?Husband, although I am a fool, but since I am a human being, I am a member of human beings, and since I was born in this country, I am a member of the citizens. I abandon my own body, which can be said to slander the qualifications of human beings. It is unspeakable to destroy the dignity of the people.Therefore, those who forsake are truly humane sinners.

The sixth is to wait for the time to send.Those of this school are those who have the reality of being a bystander and do not claim their name.Those who treat the husband with the cloud can get the words that are not inevitable.I wait until I can do something and then do it. If there is no time at all, then I will never do it.Ordinary onlookers are on the sidelines to observe human affairs, while those who are on the sidelines are on the sidelines to observe the weather.And how will it be fixed when it can be done?For those who do things, there is no time but when they can be done; for those who do not do things, there is no time but when they cannot be done.Therefore, people with lofty ideals only create the current situation, and those who have not heard of waiting for the current situation.Those who wait for the time to say, want to see the direction of the trend, and pick up the rest of the benefits from the side. If you point to the east, you will follow it, and if you point to the west, you will follow it to the west. The above six factions are the nature of our Chinese people.It is a different school, but it is the same as a bystander.If so, there are 400 million people in my country, and there is no one who is a bystander; although there are 400 million people in my country, there is no master.I don't know how it is possible for a country without a single master to stand on the stage where the competition for survival is the fiercest and fiercest in the world, surrounded by ghosts and tigers.Among the six factions, the first faction is for those who do not know what to do, and the following five factions are for those who cannot take responsibility.And those who don't know still have wings, hoping to know it in other days and do it immediately.If you know but do not do it, you will cut yourself off from heaven and earth.Therefore, my responsibility for the people of the first faction is still shallow, and the responsibility for the people of the following five factions is the deepest. Although, based on Yangming's theory that knowledge and action are one and the same, those who know but do not do are ultimately unknown.If you know very clearly, you will act with great courage.The fierce tiger is behind, even if it is lame, it may be able to jump several feet of ravine; if the fire is near, even if it is weak, it may be able to transport a thousand pounds of strength.Why?He knew for sure that the fierce tiger and the great fire would come, and my life would be in jeopardy.The cruelty of the extermination of the Husband's country is not limited to fierce tigers and fires.I think the bystanders in the whole country don't know the ears, or know one or two of them but don't know the ultimate ears.If I really know it, if I know it absolutely, even if I pinch his hands and shut his mouth, I still can't make him stay silent and sit still.There is a long sun and moon, singing and dancing are peaceful, such a country, sitting on the sidelines of other people, sitting on the wall with nothing to watch, face tied to wait for the time of death, is it like today?Sigh!Today, those who hold high positions, have high ranks, and are known to their husbands as pioneers and celebrities, are all people from the past in the same country.Like a monk who has been discharged from the hospital, like a woman who has closed her house, she does not know how many years she will live in this world for herself, so she also has a passer-by view in the country. There is nothing strange about it.If there is no generation of young people, they will be the future masters of a country, and the days of being destined to this country will be long.The future is boundless and unknown.When the country prospers, our generation truly enjoys its glory; when the country falls, we truly experience its misery.There is no escape if you want to escape, there is no escape if you want to escape, the glory is not what others can get, and the misery is not what others can get.With this in mind, would you rather watch from the sidelines?Husband would rather just watch?How can I scold the world for profound and harsh words?I also had to speak out because I couldn't bear to watch mere trifles, thinking that 40 million of my compatriots would sue. The opposition of the onlookers is called Ren.Confucius said: "There is a way in the world, and Qiu does not agree with it." Mencius said: "If you want to rule the world, in today's world, no one but me." Let it be said.