Chapter 38 A Study of Revolutions in Chinese History (February 14, 1904)
In China in recent years, it can be said that the era of speech is over.In recent years, the discourse in China has been so complicated that it cannot be counted. If it is a revolutionary theory, it can be said that it is one of the most powerful.Those who speak must seek their arguments from history, and those who implement them must not ignore their cause and effect from history. Therefore, I am writing "Research on Revolutions in Chinese History", and I want to discuss it with commentators from all over the country.
The meaning of revolution is broad and narrow: in its broadest sense, it refers to the great changes in all invisible and tangible things in society. It's all about getting it with iron and blood; in its narrow sense, it's about using military force to attack the central government.For thousands of years in China, there has only been revolution in the narrow sense, and those who hold extreme revolutionary theories today are only obsessed with revolution in the narrow sense.Therefore, what I am studying today is also a revolution in this narrow sense.
The nineteenth century was an era of revolutions all over the world, and our country was also intervened in it, and it was once a great revolution.Although the revolution is the same, the result of the revolution is different.The so-called result is not a cloud of success or failure.The revolutionary army in the Central Plains of Europe is more than half of the losers, and the results they reap are not different from those of the winners.Is Hu the only one who is China?Xizhe said: "The history is the reeling of the nature of the nation." I trace the evil cause to the evil cause, and I have to confuse it here.
Compared with the history of Chinese revolution and the history of Western revolution, there are seven characteristics:
One is that there are private revolutions but no collective revolutions.The revolutions in Taixi are all group revolutions.In the battle of the British in 1646, the Congressional Army charged at the front; It was initiated by the majority of the councilors, and the citizens echoed it; after 1,848 years, the revolutions in the Central Plains of Europe were presided over by upper-class groups.To sum up, from Greece and Rome to the revolutions of modern times, there are hundreds of thousands of large-scale revolutions, and there is no competition between civilian groups and aristocratic groups.China alone is not the case. The traces of revolution for thousands of years are endless in history books, and no revolutionary organization that seeks the initiative can be seen.However, in the battle of Dong Zhuo, the counties of Guandong Province gathered together, and Yuan Shao was promoted as the leader of the alliance to revolt.Since Yu Ruo Zhangjiao's Heavenly Book, Xu Hongru's White Lotus Sect, and Hong Xiuquan's Catholicism, although they have made great efforts to gather people together for a while and then carry out their work, they are all based on the power of one or two private individuals, and they are still unsuitable for the righteousness of the group. .In the present world, if elders and triads look at them from the outside, they look like one person, but when you look at the real situation, there is nothing.And it has been assembled for hundreds of years, and the reality of revolution cannot be done in one fell swoop.Afterwards, there may be other heroes who rise up and are attached to them and are used by them, which is not what I dare to say; if this group is bound to be unable to revolutionize by itself, then I dare to say.Therefore, the revolution that has been pursued recklessly for thousands of years, its planning, effort, bloodshed, and victories are not due to one or two private individuals. This is the most contradictory point between the Chinese revolution and the Western revolution.
The second is a revolution with ambition but without self-defense.The justice of the revolution must arise from the unavoidable.Does He Yun have to?I have never heard of it since I was a revolutionist.If there is a revolution between Chu and Han, it is true that the fathers and elders are suffering from the harsh laws of Qin, but Chen She just said: "If you are rich and honored, don't forget each other"; Xiang Yu just said: "You can take it and replace it"; So, who and Zhongduo"?Its ambitions have been there since the beginning.In addition, if the Zhao family is in Nanyue, the Dou family is in Hexi, the Ma family is in Hunan, the Qian family is in Wuyue, and the Li family is in Xixia, their motives are quite self-defense, but they have nothing to do with the overall situation.Therefore, from the objective point of view, the hundreds of revolutions in China seem to be unavoidable; from the subjective point of view, there is no such thing as a last resort.Why?No matter how good the project is, it is just a trick for careerists.
The third is that there are upper and lower social revolutions, but no middle social revolutions.The initiative of Western revolutions is mostly found in middle-level societies, and those in the upper-class societies are the ones they revolutionize, while the lower-class societies have neither the ideas nor the ability to revolutionize.Today, the facts in the history of Chinese revolution are listed as follows:
The fourth is the area of revolution.I would like to call the revolution of Taixi a simple revolution, and the Chinese revolution (historical) a complex revolution.Britain at the time of the Long Congress had no revolutionary army other than the faction of Collinwell; the United States at the time of independence had no revolutionary army except the faction of Washington.Since the past events in other countries, most of them are of the same type (the successful ones are of the same type, and on the contrary, those who have sprung up in various places are not successful.) China is not the case.The revolution at the end of Qin Dynasty followed Xiang Yu and Han Gao, Chen She, Wu Guangye, Wu Chenye, Ge Yingye, Zhou Shiye, Tian Danye, Jing Juye, Han Guangye, Wu Ruiye, and so on. Dozens of generations.The revolution at the end of the Western Han Dynasty followed Guangwu, Fan Chongye, Xu Xuan, Xie Lu, Yang Yinye, Diao Zidu, Wang Langye, Qin Fengye, Pingyuan woman Chi Zhaoping, Wang Chang, and Cheng Danye , Wang Kuang, Wang Fengye, Zhu Tuo, and Zhang Yinye.Chen Mu, Liao Zhanye, Li Xianye, Gongsun Shuye, Kui Xiaoye, Dou Rongye, Lu Fangye, Peng Chongye, Zhang Buye, Liu Yong, Dong Xianye, and dozens of generations.The revolution at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty followed Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan, including more than ten Yellow Turbans, Dong Zhuo, Beigong Boyu, Zhang Yan, Li Jue, Guo Si, Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, and Lu Bu. Yes, Gongsun Zan, Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang, Han Sui, Ma Teng, Tao Qian, Zhang Xiu, Liu Biao, Gongsun Yuan, and so on for dozens of generations.The revolution at the end of the Sui Dynasty followed Li and Tang, Wang Bo, Meng Rang, Dou Jiande, Zhang Jincheng, Gao Shida, Hao Xiaode, Yang Xuangan, Liu Yuanjin, Du Fuwei, Fugong Yingye, Yu Wen Wenji, Li Hongzhi, Zhai Rang, Li Mi, Xu Yuanlang, Liang Shidu, Wang Shichong, Liu Wuzhou, Xue Ju, Li Gui, Guo Zihe, Zhu Can, Lin Shihong, Gao Kaidao also, Liu Heitai also, so there are dozens of generations.Most of the tripod revolutions from other dynasties are similar. (The names of these people are listed in groups, which are dry and tasteless, so future generations will miss them.) Just like the recent battle of Hongyang, those who came before that, the bandits in Guangxi, had accumulated for many years; Compulsion is like the previous generation.From this point of view, if there is no revolution in China, it is enough. If there is no revolution, hundreds of revolutionary armies will rise at the same time.Those who don't agree with it are like Zhai Yi of the Han Dynasty, Guanqiu Jian of the Wei Dynasty, and Xu Jingye of the Tang Dynasty, and their purpose of destruction cannot be achieved, let alone established.Therefore, in the Western revolution, only one side suffered from the disaster of the revolution, and the whole country benefited from it; in the Chinese revolution, the whole country suffered from the disaster of the revolution, and those who benefited from it did not benefit from one side.This is the reason why the Chinese are apprehensive when they hear about the revolution.
The fifth is the time of revolution.In the revolution in Western Europe, the enemy was the old government. When the old government fell, the tide of the revolution ebbed. All things considered, the establishment of a new government was nothing more than a strategy to deal with the aftermath. If France turned into an era of terror, it would be nothing more than to be seen. Therefore, the time for its revolution is not long.China is otherwise, unless all the heroes rise together, and the world is full of turmoil, the old government will not be able to fall. If it does, it will last for years;Therefore, every great revolution in China takes decades for the elders, and more than ten years for the short ones.Try the list:
(Note) During the Jin Dynasty, the Sixteen Kingdoms, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there was great chaos, but its nature was complex and not purely revolution, and the Great Revolution included countless small revolutions, so it is not listed here.In addition, the old government at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty fell behind and still held a false name, and its evolution was also slightly different from other eras. Strictly counting, the number of years can be slightly reduced. It can be said that the eighteen or nineteen years of Xiandi Jian'an can be a period, then It is also twenty years old.
From this point of view, the length of the Chinese revolution is really shocking.And there is still one thing worth paying attention to. After the fall of the old government, the period of chaos and demise will be longer than before the fall. (During the turn of the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, there were many exceptions to the phenomenon, because the revolutionary army was too weak to defeat the old government for a long time. Its nature must be different from the previous generation.) The purpose is to bring down the old government.And the movement of its machine, with the momentum of a cliff turning a rock, waves continue, peaks and peaks continue, and it has been tamed for decades or centuries without any exception.The new Western term is "mighty power, strong power".Just like fighting crickets, if a hundred crickets are kept in a cage, half of them will be killed after a few days, six or seven of them will be killed after a few days, eight or nine of them will be killed after a few days, and even more so, all the crickets will be killed, and only the rest will be killed. One, and then the fighting is over.Thousands of years of revolution in China are almost like this.Therefore, the people, who have been born in the golden leather, are still tired of the sound of drums when they are old.In China, thirty years is generally called one life, and it is also called the constant period of human life and death.In the peaceful era, the predecessors passed away and the later generations filled up the gaps, and the social capabilities continued and continued; if there was a gap between the green and the yellow, the function of evolution might stop.Dr. Foyer, a British doctor, tried to use statistical theory to discuss the death rate of the population. He said: "Among the one million British workers, between the ages of fifteen and forty-five, 72,300 died of tuberculosis. One hundred and ninety-seven people. For example, if each person earns an average of 200 pounds if they work hard for 30 years, then it is tuberculosis, which will cause the total loss of the whole of England to be 14,479,400 pounds. "The random pointing of these words is enough to shock people.However, this is still a direct damage to livelihood. If it is indirect, the strong will die and be scattered, and the loss of reproductive power will never come back, and human nature may almost cease.Looking at the population at the end of Han, Sui, and Tang in Chinese history, compared with the heyday of the previous dynasties, only one out of ten survived. (See the chapter "Population Statistics in Chinese History".) Is this all due to killing?It is also the reason for the sharp decrease in fertility.Because of this, it affects those who live, if it is academic, if it is moral, if it is custom, after several years of group performances, it has only reached a certain level, and even suddenly everything is dead. This is the reason for the stagnation of civilization and the stagnation of civilization.In the Western and Western revolutions, the victims of the Mongolian revolution were only one or two years old, while those who benefited from it were hundreds of years old. Therefore, there was a revolution once, and the level of civilization was further improved.In the Chinese revolution, those who suffer from the revolution will live for hundreds of years, while those who benefit from it will not live for a year or two. Therefore, once there is a revolution, the accumulated civilization will perish with it.There are so many gains and losses in this real thing!
The sixth is the negotiation between revolutionaries and revolutionaries.The Western revolutionaries considered the public enemy to be the existing evil government, and none of them were enemies; if after the French Revolution, there were parties fighting against each other, the only exceptions would be the exceptions.This is not the case in China, where hundreds or dozens of revolutionary armies rise up together, fighting each other, and outside the old government, there are hundreds or dozens of enemies each.This is true for those who say different parties.However, if they are in the same party, they may slaughter each other at the beginning of something, such as the military minister to Chen She, Chen Youliang to Xu Shouhui, etc.; Let it be the same; or those who have done something and slaughtered each other, such as Han Gaozu and Ming Taizu, were all heroes to their veterans; one person.Why do you have to go on an expedition to the previous generation, just like the recent battle of Hongyang, the revolution was not yet halfway through, and Wei Changhui and Shi Dakai killed Yang Xiuqing together, Changhui murdered Dakai again, and all the generals killed Changhui together.When the army arrived at Jinling, Lu Fuding was panting, but the five kings of the East, West, South, North, and Wing who first gathered their blood for righteousness died or died, and none of them survived.Later, Chen Yucheng was sold to Miao Peilin, and the upstream began to rest; Tan Shaoguang was killed by Gao Yunguan and others, and Suzhou began to fall, and Jinling died with it.It is not necessarily that the officers and soldiers are strong, nor are the revolutionaries too weak.I have repeatedly said before going forward that revolution cannot be carried out without a noble, serious, and pure moral heart, and that is all.At that time, Hong Yang and others were powerless to overthrow the Beijing government, so with the help of orders, how about the negotiations with Zhang Zongyu and Lai Wenguang?How is the negotiation with Miao Peilin's generation?That is, how is the negotiation with his subordinates Shi Dakai, Chen Yucheng, Li Xiucheng, and Li Shixian?So what if all the party leaders negotiate with each other?It must replay the bloody reversion of the previous generation, and there is no need to wait for it.This is really an indelible shame in the history of Chinese revolution.
The seventh is the rise and fall of foreign forces in the revolutionary era.Alas!I see that after the French Revolution, after the era of terror, the whole city of Paris was filled with blood, and the coalition forces of various countries intervened, but they were still able to resist alone.Because of this, when I look back at China, I don't know that I am sweating and weeping.Whenever China is in an era of domestic revolution, it is also an era of invasion by foreign forces.Looking at the relationship between revolutions and foreigners in history, it can be divided into five types:
One is that the revolutionary army borrowed the power of foreigners to overthrow the old government, such as Marquis Shen who killed Zhou with dogs, Li Shimin who killed Sui with Turks, Shi Jingtang who used Yanyun Sixteen Prefectures to bribe Khitan, and so on.
The second is that the old government used the power of foreigners to overthrow the revolutionary army, such as Guo Ziyi's use of Tubo and Huihe to seek Anshi, Li Hongzhang's use of Gordon to destroy Hong Xiuquan, and so on.
The third is that the old government used the power of foreigners to overthrow the revolutionary army and kill each other, such as Wu Sangui's death of Li Chuang in Manchuria, and the death of Ming Dynasty.
The fourth is that the revolutionary army used the power of foreigners to overthrow the government and kill each other. For example, Wang Ying of Chengdu took Liu Yuan as the great Chanyu and fought against the royal family together.
After the defeat of the Wuyue Revolutionary Army, foreigners were cited as patients of the government, such as the generations of Chen Xi and Lu Wan in the early Han Dynasty, the generation of Lu Fang in the early Eastern Han Dynasty who led the Xiongnu, and the generation of Liu Heita and Liang Shidu who led the Turks in the early Tang Dynasty.
All of these are directly related.If you talk about the indirect one, it is like Liu Xiangyan and Mao Dun sitting on the throne, the Eight Kings were in chaos and the Sixteen Kingdoms came to power, the Anshi disturbed and the falcons were self-reliant, the Five Dynasties and the Khitan flourished, the poisonous atmosphere spread all over the Central Plains, and Manchuria was wiped out. Receiving the tribes outside the customs, this is not before using their strength, but first there are those who can support their power.Alas!With Henkel's fierce prey, he endured the dirt in the battle of Baideng; with Tang Tai's supernatural power, he sent regrets to the Koryo teacher; when will the stains in our country's history be wiped out?That is to say, the eastward expansion of western power in recent decades is due to the natural expansion of imperialism, and the relationship between the ever-victorious army is rather superficial?Those who know this will shudder.
The above seven extremes are all phenomena that must be manifested in the era of Chinese revolution.Common rules of things, cause and effect depend on each other, and cause and effect contain each other.If you want to know the cause of the past, please observe the result of today; if you want to know the result of the future, please observe the cause of today.In the future, China must be saved through revolution, or can it be saved without revolution?This is a different question; if the revolution can save China, or if the revolution will lead to China's fall, can it not be saved?This is what the original theory wants to study.If there is a revolutionary army in the future who can avoid these seven evil characteristics and enter the forest of Western civilization revolution, then the revolutionaries are really the only way to do it today.Otherwise, hundreds of teams of privately ambitious revolutionary armies rose up at the same time, ravaged the whole country, and spread for decades, still slaughtering each other, and both of them gave the handle of Tai Ah to foreigners, which is more than ever. , there must be Taixi who hates the one who does not have the latter.Even the superstitious revolutionary ideals in today's country must be incompatible with these seven evil characteristics, so there is no need to say anything.In the future, if I can once again open a new era in the history of the revolution and shed all kinds of stains, I would rather be more happy.Although, the ideal and the reality often do not correspond, this must be carefully investigated.There must be one reason for why the characteristics of the Sitaixi revolution are the same as that, and why the characteristics of the Chinese revolution are the same.Whether or not the causes suffered by all the people of our country today and the causes created by a handful of revolutionaries can be different from those of the previous generation is determined by the same and different results in the future.I see that most of the lower societies that my husband wants to use to start a revolution all have the hereditary traits of yellow scarves, rushing, and offering in their veins; It is a poison, and there is a tendency of Yang Wei to fight against each other within it day by day; See you or not.Those who follow the revolution must rely on the majority, so I look at the nature of the majority and I fear; those who preside over the revolution must rely on the minority, so I look at the nature of the minority and I fear.I am afraid that ideally, I would never want to have the above seven characteristics, but in fact, I cannot live without the seven characteristics.The reason for this is that I have a lot to say about the revolutionaryism that swept the whole of Europe and shocked China.Husband!Now Xiaoxiao, who will be rehabilitated?If you hold the theory that you can save China without revolution, please do it as a preparation for saving China without revolution; if you hold the theory that you can save China without revolution, please do it as a preparation for saving China with revolution. .What is the preparation for the revolution to save China?Don't say that I study armaments, I have the party in the sports meeting, I import equipment secretly, and my work is done; I must discuss it with an open mind, and ask those who are free from the seven evil characteristics, what way they will follow, and how to make the scenery follow me. How to avoid it, how can I avoid it first!If anyone asks me this way, I will not think it is right, despite the distant and old-fashioned arguments.Said: If you want to talk about revolution and practice revolution, then you should learn from Klinwell, you should learn from Washington, and you should use the kindest citizens.If the so-called revolutionary giants are praised today, if you cut off your six relatives, you are a man of lofty ideals; if you destroy the five constants, you are a great man; For example, a certain family said that the knife was placed on my neck and the gun was pointed at my chest. I dared to say: "I think it's impossible, I think it's impossible!" Time.Although, I worry about my country, I am afraid of my country, would I rather say it?The one who is responsible is under one's feet, not under one's feet?Only one step knows it.If you only want to talk about revolution but do not want to practice revolution, then what can I say? Whatever I say, it should be miscellaneous and destroyed; if you want to make revolution with one step, you really want to make revolution to save China. Then criticize the words that are harsh to the ear, is there any value in it?Wu Tu clamored loudly: "Someone also opposes my revolutionary theory, because he wants to be an official and wants to curry favor with the Manchu Qing government."Confucius didn't say: "Don't use people's nonsense." If you want to be an official and want to curry favor with the Manchu government, there is no other way of thinking. If there is one or two truths in his words, you should listen to them. Of.Let me try to think for myself once in the clear night, and look back at the internal photos. The person I am responsible for is not my step. Then I should think about those who share the same political views as my step. There are many people who are to blame. How should I transfer them?If I don't transfer it, I am afraid that the aspirations of my step will be defeated by the hands of other generations.If one or two of the things I blame are similar to my step, I will mourn and weep and admonish my step, and ask my step to change it;If it is said that what I am responsible for is not to be blamed, but that it is the duty of revolutionaries to destroy the old morality, then the knife will be on my neck and the gun will be pointed at my chest. , the real public enemy of the descendants of the Yellow Emperor!I would rather not know that among the revolutionary theorists, those who are noble, upright and pure are inherently human. I am worried and afraid of those who cannot help themselves. Noble, upright and pure, and the continuation of Madame Roland's party in France.Or it can be said: All those who are responsible for you are the ears of revolutionaries, and those who are not revolutionaries, why should you worry so much?If you believe this, then I am a talker, and I am a talker.Although, if I believe this, I am worried about Chinese customs and people, and I am worried about China's future, which is very beneficial.