Chapter 11 The Voice of an Old Intellectual

According to the environment in which I was born, I should have been a poor peasant all my life.But the good luck child just wanted to tease me, and made me an intellectual.The young intellectuals made me a middle-aged intellectual; and the middle-aged intellectuals made me an old intellectual.Now I have reached the ninth year of Wangwang. Although my ears are not very deaf and my eyes are not very clear, I am still "rarely confused", and I can still write and read. Pushing himself behind his back, he couldn't stop.Sometimes a long line of shadows flashed in front of my eyes, which were formed by Peking University professors in order of age.I haven't stood at the front yet, there are nearly twenty people in front.The long line moved forward slowly, and the destination was Babaoshan.From time to time, some people "climbed first" and climbed not Mount Tai, but Babao Mountain.I secretly made up my mind: I will never rush to stop, I will file forward.Whenever the file arrives in front of me, I will wave my hands with a smile and say "goodbye" to the world.

Being an intellectual is not easy.In the past seven or eighty years, I have tasted enough ups and downs, and experienced enough joys, sorrows and joys.Walked through Yangguan Avenue, and also walked through the small single-plank bridge.Sometimes, the moon is shining brightly, and sometimes, the sky is covered by haze.Sometimes, there are twists and turns, and sometimes, the willows are dark and the flowers are bright.It has also been named on the gold list, and Chunfeng has also been pleased. It is a lie to say that he is not happy.However, in a blink of an eye, the canopy was handed over, bumped into walls everywhere, and the five insides were on fire.What is the reason?The ancients said: "Literacy begins with worrying about life." This is really a word of insight. "Literacy", of course, is an intellectual.As soon as you put on this hat, "sorrow" starts to come to you.Is it Du Fu's poem: "Confucian crowns often miss their bodies"? "Confucianism", of course, is an intellectual, and it is unlucky to wear the crown of Confucianism.I just cite these two small examples, and I can see that the intellectuals in ancient China have long been bored with their own profession. "Poetry must be poor before you can work", even poetry must be "poor" first. "Poor" does not necessarily mean having no money, but mainly means being unlucky.If you are not unlucky, you can’t write good poems. Without personal experience and macro observation, can you say such a thing?Sima Qian's "Preface to Tai Shigong" said: "Xibo Juli in the past played "Book of Changes"; Confucius and Chen Cai wrote "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan was exiled and wrote "Li Sao"; Feet, discussing the art of war; Buwei moved to Shu, handed down "Lu Lan"; Han Fei imprisoned Qin, "Said Difficulty", "Solitary Anger"; "Poems" three hundred pieces, most of which are written by sages and sages." Sima Qian made a clear account.

Every country in the world should have intellectuals.However, based on my observation and thinking in the past 70 to 80 years, I feel that since both are intellectuals, they must have something in common. They have knowledge and undertake the important task of continuing the culture of their respective countries. At least these two points must be in common.But the differences are numerous and prominent.Leaving other countries aside, let me talk about the intellectuals of the past dynasties in China. China has a cultural history of five or six thousand years or longer, so there are five or six thousand years of intellectuals.My general impression is that Chinese intellectuals are a very strange group, a kind of "rare animal" created by the good fortune children.Although during the ten years of catastrophe, they were criticized as "revisionists" who "only read sage books".This is actually unfair.It cannot be said that there are no such people, but the mainstream is just the opposite.Thousands of years of history can prove that Chinese intellectuals care most about current affairs, politics, and patriotism.This last point is caused by China's historical environment.In Chinese history, there has never been a day when there were no foreign enemies who were waiting for an opportunity to invade.Many famous emperors in history have been bullied by foreign enemies.Not to mention the common people.Existence determines consciousness, which is reflected in the minds of intellectuals, forming a deep-rooted patriotism. "Everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the world", no matter what the original form of this sentence is, anyway, it expresses the aspirations of Chinese intellectuals vividly and vividly.This is not the case in other countries.

However, Chinese intellectuals are also extremely difficult to deal with.Their feelings are particularly delicate, sensitive, fragile, and obscure.They are rich in knowledge and know everything.Some may sometimes be conceited and think that "I am the best in the world"; some may sometimes suffer from the kind of "inferiority complex" (inferiority complex) mentioned by Freud (?).On the one hand, they boast that they want to "study the relationship between heaven and man, and understand the changes of the past and the present", so that they can permeate the Changhong with courage and fill the universe with grandeur.Sometimes, he sighs and sighs over trivial matters as big as sesame and mung beans, and even commits suicide, "exterminating himself from the people".The key question, in my opinion, is the unique "national quintessence" of China - the issue of face. The word "face" cannot be translated in foreign languages, so it can be seen that it is unique to China.Many words in common sayings are related to this, such as "losing face", "really shameless", "rewarding face", and so on. "Face" refers to face.Chinese intellectuals are the main guardians of the "face" of the Chinese quintessence.

Although it is extremely difficult to deal with, none of the rulers of the past dynasties in China had to deal with it.An ancient emperor said: "You can win the world immediately, but you can't rule it immediately!" It hits the nail on the head.The emperor who started a business would never be an intellectual. Only the most courageous hooligans like Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang, who are illiterate, disregarding their wealth and life, can become the "lords" of the founding of the country.Otherwise, they are all kowtowing brothers, why only push him to be the leader?However, once the business is successful and they sit in the golden palace, then intellectuals are needed to help them govern the country.Needless to say, for major national affairs, Liu Bang had to turn to the intellectual Shu Suntong for even small matters such as the decision of Chaoyi.Chaoyi must, the court is orderly, and the group of iron buddies who revolted together, all of them obeyed and bowed down to Ruyi, so that Liu Bang's "dragon's heart is happy" and he really tasted the taste of being an emperor.

Another problem related to face, which is seemingly irrelevant in fact, is the problem of Chinese intellectuals' conduct in the world, that is, the problem of living in seclusion or becoming an official.Many Chinese intellectuals claim that they have no intention of being an official, but in fact it is the opposite.One of the most typical and well-known examples is Zhuge Liang, who "has a great name in the universe".He seems to be living in seclusion, but in fact he is most concerned about the world's affairs, and his "information sources" seem to be very many.Otherwise, how could he know the general trend of the world so well and write the famous "Longzhong Dui" when there was no telephone or telegram at that time, and even writing letters was very difficult?His desire to manage the world is obvious to everyone, but he let Liu Xianzhu visit the thatched cottage three times before leaving the mountain to "devote himself to his heart's content".If this is not face, what is it?

I would also like to say a bit more about a very odd, incomprehensible, and seemingly easy-to-understand feature of Chinese intellectuals.Many intellectuals in ancient China were poor and destitute.There is a poem to prove it: "The article hates fate." If the article is well written, the fate will not be prosperous;Those who rely on the number one scholar in the article and become the prime minister are, after all, very few.Moreover, in the history of Chinese literature, no great writer has ever won the number one scholar.It is a novel about intellectuals.Wu Jingzi really brought the impoverished intellectuals to life.Without the images of Zhou Jin and Fan Jin before winning the exam, they are really penetrating, and they are still vivid to this day.A group of impoverished intellectuals in Chinese history had nowhere to stand, and there would never be a group of rich and doughty.There are many words in Chinese poetry and common people's mouths to describe the poor and thin, such as "skinny", "skinny", and "skinny", etc., all have something to do with bones.This group of people has nothing, and the most valuable remaining "property" is their thin bones.This is the last "bet" in their lives, and it cannot be easily bet on. Once the bet is lost, they will also "nirvana".However, they prefer to work hard, and they like to work hard with their skinny old bones.They call this "spine."Like "face", the word "backbone" cannot be translated into foreign languages, it is the quintessence of China.If you want to give practical examples, you can give many.Mi Heng in the movie is such a person, but his head was chopped off by Cao Cao's fake hand Huang Zu.In modern times, there was a Zhang Taiyan, wearing a large medal on his chest, who stood barefoot outside the Xinhua Gate and cursed at Yuan Shikai. Yuan Shikai didn't dare to touch him, so he had to give him the good name "Crazy Zhang" to save his own face.

These intellectuals in China are often extremely tempered.Relying on the magic weapon of "backbone", they dare to speak out.As soon as they see something unpleasant, they post it as an article, shouting at heaven and earth, crying bitterly, shouting something like "people's hearts are not old, and the world is getting worse", or something like "the yellow bell is destroyed and abandoned, and the kettle is thundering".Such examples abound.They don't save the supreme rulers in power any face at all, and sometimes even make them unable to step down.It should be known that face is the lifeblood of the supreme rulers and emperors in ancient times, and the highest guarantee of their rule and dignity.Therefore, I have come up with a bold "theory": At least part of an ancient Chinese political history is that the supreme ruler, the emperor, and intellectuals, big and small, use each other and fight each other, deal with each other, and have sticks and carrots , or even have a history of skinning Lingchi.

Among foreign intellectuals, only those from India are comparable to those from China.There are four major castes in India, headed by the Brahmins.In ancient India, cultural knowledge was in their hands, and the highest caste was actually self-proclaimed by them.They are out-and-out intellectuals and are generally respected in society.However, there is a big strange thing, which is really unexpected.In society, especially in Indian classical dramas, a small number of Brahmins were extremely ridiculed and slandered, and they were arranged as buffoons in the drama.In Indian classical dramas, language is hierarchical.Sanskrit is only allowed to be spoken by kings, emperors (of course all Brahmins) and other high-ranking men, and low-level figures such as women can only speak colloquialisms.However, the indispensable buffoons in every play are also Brahmins. They make jokes and make fools of themselves. They are only allowed to speak common language, not Sanskrit.There is a lot of mocking of Brahmins in other ways as well.This is a bit like the practice of ridiculing "rotten Confucians" in ancient China.There is no shortage of places to ridicule "rotten Confucianism"—that is, down-and-out intellectuals.Kong Yiji in Lu Xun's works is also such a character.Why does this phenomenon occur in both China and India?This is really an interesting research topic.

I wrote on it my views on intellectuals in Chinese history.The main purpose of this article is to write history, and I don't even have the idea of ​​learning from the past to know the present.If someone wants to ask: "What is it now?" Because the present has not yet become history and is beyond the scope of my writing, I will not answer it. If someone wants to infer, that is their business and has nothing to do with me. Finally, I would like to solemnly emphasize again: Chinese intellectuals have a long tradition of patriotism, which is unmatched by any country in the world.Although there seems to be a tendency to deviate from this tradition at the moment, the example is that they try their best to go abroad, and some even become naturalized as "foreigners" and never return.My own view on this question is: this can only be a temporary phenomenon, and it will change over time.Even those who have stayed in foreign countries, or even naturalized people, they are still "in Cao Ying and in Han", they still want to find their roots, and they still love their motherland.What's more, the number of people who went out and came back gradually increased?We must not "see them differently" to this kind of person, and of course there is no need to "look at them differently".As long as our country's affairs are done well, the situation will change greatly.As for the intellectuals who have not gone abroad and do not want to go abroad, they are in the absolute majority.It would not be true to say that they are happy with everything in front of them.But patriotism has taken root deep in their hearts, and no force can pull it out.Even if Mount Tai collapses in front of them and thunder shakes at the top, they will still love our great motherland.I can assure you of this.It will suffice to cite one well-known example.If he didn't love his motherland, why did Balao write "Caprice" with his old age and painstaking efforts?For the broad masses of old, middle-aged, and young intellectuals in China, I would like to borrow a once-popular saying that I half-understand and half-understand: patriotism is not negotiable.

I don’t have many merits in my life, but I claim to be patriotic and dare not descend to future generations. Even if I am burned to ashes, every ashes are still patriotic.But I'm really a little pale about being an intellectual.I never believed in reincarnation.Now, if you let me believe it once, I will respectfully and sincerely pray to the good luck child that in the next life, no matter what, don't tease me again, and don't make me an intellectual again. July 18, 1995