Chapter 21 With the inspiration record 38

The Chinese have always been a bit arrogant. ——It's a pity that there is no "individual arrogance", but "social and patriotic arrogance".This is the reason why Zhenba can no longer see improvement after the failure of cultural competition. "Personal arrogance" is singularity, a declaration of war on the mediocrity.In addition to psychiatric megalomaniacs, this kind of arrogant people is probably a bit of genius—according to Nordau[2] and others, it can also be said to be a bit of madness. They must feel that their thinking and knowledge are superior to the average On top of that, they are not understood by the mediocre people, so they are cynical and gradually become misanthropic, or "enemies of the nation" [3].But all new ideas come from them, and political, religious, and moral reforms also start from them.So there are so many people with this "personal arrogance", what a blessing!How lucky!

"Great arrogance" and "patriotic arrogance" are partisan arrogance against dissidents, and a declaration of war against a few geniuses;—as for declaring war against other civilizations, it is a secondary matter.They themselves have no special talents that they can show off to others, so they use this country as a shadow; There is also glory!If they encounter an attack, they don't have to fight it themselves, because there are a lot of people squatting in the shadows with their eyes open and their tongues waving, and they only need to use the long skills of mob[4] and make a lot of noise to defeat them.If I win, I am a member of a group, so naturally I win; if I lose, there are many people in a group, so it may not necessarily be me who suffers: when people gather to make trouble, they often have this kind of mentality, which is their mentality.Their actions may seem violent, but they are actually very cowardly.As for the results, you have learned a lot about returning to the old, honoring the king, helping the Qing Dynasty and destroying the foreign countries, etc.So there are so many citizens who are "socially patriotic and arrogant", what a pity, what a misfortune!

Unfortunately, there is only this kind of arrogance in China: nothing the ancients did or said was bad, and it would be too late to obey, so how dare they talk about reform?Although the opinions of such patriotic egotists differ slightly from one school to another, they are always at the same root. They can be divided into the following five types: Jia Yun: "China has a vast land and abundant resources, and is the earliest civilization; morality is the first in the world." This is completely conceited. Yiyun: "Although foreign material civilization is high, China's spiritual civilization is even better."

Bingyun: "China has experienced everything from foreign countries; a certain kind of science is what a certain scholar said." A person who uses "Chinese learning as a body and Western learning as a use". Ding Yun: "There are also beggars in foreign countries, - (or Yun) also have cottages, - prostitutes, - bedbugs." This is a passive resistance. Wu Yun: "China is good for being barbaric." You said: "You say that China's thinking is confused, that is the crystallization of the cause created by our nation. From the confusion of the ancestors, it will continue to the descendants of the descendants; from the confusion of the past, You will be confused until the future... (We are 400 million people,) Can you wipe us out?" [6] This is a step further than "Ding". Instead of dragging people into trouble, they use their own ugly pride people; as for the tough tone, it has a very middle-class attitude [7].

Among the five, the words of A, B, C, and D are absurd, but compared with E, they are still justifiable, because they still have a little competitive spirit.For example, the children of a declining family, seeing the prosperity of other families, talk big and put on everyone's airs; or seek a little flaw in others, and chat to make fun of themselves.Although this is extremely ridiculous, it is still a step higher than the kind of people who lost their noses and claimed that it was an old disease inherited from their ancestors and boasted to the public. The patriotic theory of the Wu faction was the latest to come out, and I was the most chilled when I heard it; this is not only because of its terrible intentions, but also because what he said is more realistic.It is the law of heredity that confused ancestors will breed confused descendants.Once the national roots are formed, no matter whether it is good or bad, it is not easy to change.France G． In "The Psychology of National Evolution" by LeBon (8), he talked about this matter (the original text has been forgotten, but the general idea is now given)-"Every move we make seems to be independent, but in fact it is mostly restrained by dead ghosts. Let our generation Compared with the ghosts of the previous hundreds of generations, they are absolutely invincible in number." Among our ancestors of hundreds of generations, there must be many confused people: there are Confucian scholars who preach Taoism[9], and there are also Yin and Yang. Among the Taoist priests of the Five Elements [10], there are immortals who meditate and make alchemy, and there are also actors who beat their faces and tricks [11].So even though we want to be "human beings" now, there is no guarantee that the confused elements in our blood vessels will not come to make trouble, and we can't help but become people who study the facial makeup of the dantian: this is really a chilling thing.But I always hope that the scourge inherited from confused thinking will not be as violent as syphilis, and it will be inevitable.Even if it is the same as syphilis, 606 has been invented now, which can cure physical diseases; I hope there is also a medicine of 707, which can cure ideological diseases.This medicine has also been invented, it is "science" blindly.I just hope that those friends who have lost their noses will not use the banner of "ancestral old diseases" to oppose taking medicine again. The confusion disease in China will be fully cured one day.Although the influence of the ancestors is great, but since modern times, the intention has changed: sweeping away the confused thoughts and things that helped to make them (the documents of Confucianism and Taoism), and then using the right medicine, even if it doesn't work immediately, it can still be used. The virus is slightly weaker.In this way, after several generations, when we become ancestors, we will be able to share some of the power of our confused ancestors. At that time, we will have a turning point, and what LeBon said will not be scary anymore.

The above are my remedies for "immature peoples"; as for the "extinction" item, it is totally out of the question, needless to say. "Extinction" these two terrible words, is it that we human beings should say it?Only people like Zhang Xianzhong [12] once made such a claim, and it has been reviled by mankind to this day; and what effect has it actually produced?But I have a word, I want to persuade the princes of the Wu faction. The phrase "extinct" can only frighten people, but it cannot frighten nature.He is ruthless: he sees nations that are heading towards extinction, and he invites them to be exterminated without mercy.We want to live, and we also hope that others will live; we can’t bear to talk about the extinction of others, but we are afraid that they will go to the road of extinction themselves, and they will become extinct if we are tired, so we are anxious here.If you can prosper without changing the status quo, and you can live a truly free and happy life, then it is good to be barbaric. ——But can anyone dare to promise to say "yes"?

[1] This article was originally published on November 15, 1918, No. 5, Volume 5, of "New Youth", signed by Xun. [2] Nordau Nordau (1849-1923), a German doctor, political commentator and writer born in Hungary.He is the author of the political commentary "Degeneration" and the novel "The Comedy of Emotion". 〔3〕"The Enemy of the Nation" refers to people like Storman, the protagonist of the Norwegian playwright Ibsen's play "The Enemy of the Nation".Strowman is a spa medical officer with a passion for public health.Once he found that the mineral springs in the bathhouse contained a large number of infectious bacteria, and suggested that the bathhouse should be remodeled.However, the municipal authorities and citizens strongly opposed it for fear of damage to their economic interests, and finally dismissed him and declared him an "enemy of the nation".

[4] mob English: mob. [5] Zhang Zhidong (1837-1909), styled Xiaoda, was born in Nanpi, Zhili (now Nanpi, Hebei), a great bureaucrat in the late Qing Dynasty, and one of the leaders of the Westernization Movement. "Middle school is to integrate Western learning for use", see his book "Encouraging Learning · Designing Learning": "The method of his school has five essentials: one is to learn both the old and the new. The four books and five classics, Chinese history, political books and maps are old. Western politics, Western art, and Western history are new studies. Old learning is the body, and Western learning is for use, not to be neglected." In the book "Hui Tong", it is said: "Middle school is internal learning, Western learning is external learning, Chinese learning governs the mind and body, Western learning responds to world affairs, not necessarily based on the scriptures, but must not be contrary to the meaning of the scriptures."

[6] The phrases such as "confusion of thought" and "caused by our nation" here are aimed at Ren Hongjun ( That is, Ren Shuyong) sent Hu Shi’s comments in a letter, which stated that “my country’s history, writing, and thought, no matter how confused, are always left behind after the success of this kind of nation that has not progressed. This kind of confusion Seeds not only exist in the history of writing, but also exist in the hearts and minds of present and future descendants. Therefore, I dare to declare boldly that if China is to be good, unless people (suspect the word "make" is wrong) the Chinese race will be extinct first! It is a pity that the abolition of Chinese and Chinese, although they go to the extreme, they still haven't reached one!" and so on.According to Ren Hongjun, a native of Baxian, Sichuan, a scientist.The words quoted here were written by him in order to oppose Qian Xuantong’s argument that in order to abolish Confucianism and Taoism, and get rid of the childish, barbaric, and stubborn thoughts of ordinary people, Chinese characters must first be abolished.

[7] A character in Niu Er's novel "Water Margin".For the story of how he forced Yang Zhi to sell him a knife with an outrageous and unreasonable attitude, see the twelfth chapter of the book "Yang Zhi Sells a Sword in Bianjing City". [8] G. Le Bon Le Bon (1841-1931), French doctor and social psychologist.In the first chapter of the first part of his book "Psychology of National Evolution" (that is, "Psychology of National Evolution" in this article), he said: "We should regard race as a permanent thing that transcends time. The composition of the permanence is not only the living individuals who constitute it in the basic period, but also its long-term succession of the dead, that is, its ancestors. To understand the true meaning of race, it must be extended to both the past and the future. The dead are infinitely more numerous and more powerful than the living. They rule over vast spheres of the unintentional, and this invisible power reveals all expressions of wisdom and character for the dead, more powerful than the living. Even more so are those who live. In directing a people, out of them alone is a race built, and from century to century they have formed our ideas and sentiments, and therefore all the motives of our actions. Men of the past have not only imposed upon us their physical organization, they have imposed upon us their thoughts; the dead are the only indisputable masters of the living, we bear the burden of their faults, we accept their virtues The remuneration." (According to Zhang Gongbiao's translation, the first edition of the Commercial Press in April 1935)

〔9〕Taoism, also known as Neo-Confucianism, is an idealist ideological system formed by the interpretation of Confucianism by Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi, Zhu Xi and others in the Song Dynasty.It believes that "reason" is the essence of the universe, describes feudal ethics and morals such as the "three cardinal guides and five constant principles" as "natural principles", and puts forward the idea of ​​"preserving the natural principles and eliminating human desires" in order to maintain the decadent feudal rule. 〔10〕Yin-yang and five elements were originally a kind of natural view with simple materialism and dialectics in ancient my country.It explains the origin, development and change of nature by the five substances of water, fire, wood, gold and earth and the concept of "Yin and Yang".Later, Confucianism and Taoism distorted and mystified the theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements, and used it to explain the rise and fall of dynasties, social changes and even the fate of people, and to promote idealism and mysticism. 〔11〕Face-slapping Traditional opera actors draw painted faces according to the "face makeup". "Strike the handle", martial arts in traditional opera.At that time, "New Youth" had a discussion on the preservation and abolition of "slapping the face" and "slapping the handle". [12] Zhang Xianzhong, one of the leaders of the peasant uprising at the end of Ming Dynasty.See note [10] on page 196 of this volume. 〖Production: