Chapter 6 Inspiration from "Wildfire Collection"

Long Yingtai returned to Taiwan after living overseas for ten years, and wrote her essays while working as a professor.She lived in Taiwan since she was a child, and went abroad for nearly ten years, but when she returned to settle down for the first time, she became "easy to get angry", and everything that she took for granted before unexpectedly became unacceptable.Indeed, if two civilizations from different origins choose to collide with one individual, what happens may be called a tragedy.However, Long Yingtai turned it into a positive force. The world is very big, and the openness of information makes it easier to integrate with the international community. After gradually getting to know ourselves and the enemy in the outside world, we will naturally make adjustments and no longer feel nervous when facing the outside world.This is a critical step.The excessive inferiority complex and self-esteem I once had stemmed from being unfamiliar with the world.Therefore, it can be believed that some surprising topics in the past have become common sense today.However, I also believe that people still need to understand the things behind Long Yingtai's topic.This is one of the reasons why Long Yingtai is still relevant today.

Taiwan's political system and social norms today are transplanted from a foreign culture. Although some concepts are familiar to everyone and are frequently used in discussions, this does not mean that everyone is talking about the same thing.Between these nouns, there can be significant cognitive differences.Therefore, when arguing, sometimes the chicken talks about the chicken, and the duck talks about the duck. It seems that they are using the same language and nouns, but they are actually talking about different things. First, the concept comes from foreign cultures.When it is expressed in "Chinese characters", these "characters" carry its original soul and inject some foreign blood, and start to express itself with a new look.Then, a fixed impression is formed in our minds to form a new round of concepts.They may not be exactly the same as the original intent.Just like the concept of political parties in modern politics, when it enters Eastern culture, it often carries our original sense of group organization that lives together and dies together, and is loyal to each other. It is based on a cultural value system that advocates individual orientation.That kind of looseness and alienation is completely different from the close connection of traditional families and small groups in Chinese culture.Those discrete individuals in heterogeneous cultures, combined with the influence of religion in Western culture and the tradition from citizen to citizen, have formed a social cell structure with civic responsibility, civil rights, public morality, self-reflection, and self-restraint.

In such a way towards a society governed by the rule of law, at first glance, a mess of scattered sands are doing their own thing, but in fact there are rules and regulations. In the 1980s, Taiwan's centralized system was at the end of its rope.A scholar no longer needs great wisdom to understand and point out the unreasonableness of the system.However, it is not easy to give early warning of difficulties in social adaptation after system changes.Politicians, including scholars, are also immediately faced with a learning process: how to shape their normal minds as ordinary citizens and balance their civil rights and responsibilities; how to resist the temptation of power and enter social life as citizens on an equal footing.

The publication of Long Yingtai caused a shock on the eve of qualitative change in Taiwanese society, and Long Yingtai's criticism became an impressive phenomenon, so people may ignore the underlying foundation that supports it. What is special about Lung Ying-tai is that she not only directly criticizes the system, but also directly criticizes the de-citizenization of society, that is, the lack of civil society characteristics, and the weak civic consciousness including every individual. .At the heart of her critique of Taiwan's education is the point that education is not preparing for civil society.Based on his own understanding of the world and Taiwan, Lung Ying-tai must have known that after the collapse of Taiwan's centralized system, a transplanted system would immediately face the weak foundation of civil society and face deep-rooted obstacles.Long Yingtai chose to stand in an isolated position from the very beginning.It not only criticizes the government, but also sharply stabs everyone's heart: Are you ready for a civil society, and are you a qualified citizen?If not, change yourself first.In the face of the Chinese cultural circle, Lung Ying-tai does not shy away from the heterogeneous cultural origin of her ideological resources; in the face of the public, she relentlessly points out everyone's weaknesses and unfulfilled civic responsibilities.

But Long Yingtai's sharpness does not tend to be condescending.She is also a citizen like you.This sense of proportion is often difficult for an intellectual who spreads fire.Coming out of the Chinese cultural circle, many people can achieve beautiful writing, correct content, and strict logic. However, perhaps we are used to the special position of "scholar" in this culture. The adjustment will often still "open low and go high".When doing social criticism, you forget that you are also a member of society.The greater the intensity of the criticism, the status of the self will continue to rise, and it will not be possible to maintain equality in dialogue with readers.Because the concept of equality has historically been absent in our culture, our own "low-keyness" is often a product of reason rather than instinct.

Compared with twenty years ago, intellectuals who belong to the same Chinese cultural circle have a bigger stage to express themselves.However, in order to leave behind a text that not only shocks the time, but also has a long-lasting aftertaste and far-reaching influence, it requires not only solid writing skills, strength of thought, but also many other things.Reading Long Yingtai, I often think: the sharp ice peak piercing the calm water may only show a corner, but you can always find a steady mountain seat under the water surface.