--Preface to "Beiyang Bing Ge" Tian Binge The ten-volume series of documentary literature "Beiyang Bingge" is the famous work of Mr. Dong Yao.Writing biographies for ten people took 20 years of work and accumulated 3 million words, sir, I have no regrets.Danqing is applied to the world, whether it is consistent with the past and the present, what is the matter, don't pay attention to it, it is a matter of self-choice, and it is always happy. Named "documentary literature", the color of "historical biography" is strong after all.Therefore, "Beiyang Bing Ge" can be regarded not only as a novelist's story, but also as a history reading, as a wild history reading, as a leisure history reading, as a leisure history reading, as a traitor history reading, as a hero history reading...Inadvertently, Mr. Dong Yao has done Tai Shi Gong again, very fortunate! Very fortunate!

This is very difficult for Tai Shigong to do.The first difficulty is that the time interval is too short, and the chaos of history has not yet settled into clear water and clear sand; the second difficulty is that the mainstream prejudice is too heavy, and arbitrary opinions still dominate the official and folk tongues.You write, what do you write? Why do you write? Fortunately, in the middle of writing, Mr. Dong Yao has already left the mental queue that followed him. Civilians return.Whenever we get together and talk freely over a glass of wine, Mr. Dong Yao is always impressed by the hard-won freedom of spirit and freedom of writing.Often get together and drink, often drink and get drunk, always drunk and always clear, looking back at the mentality of the past twenty years with drunk eyes, "Beiyang Bingge" can only be the personal words of a civilian cultural person after historical thinking.

It is inappropriate to characterize the history of the Republic of China from 1912 AD to 1928 AD as "warlord separatism" and "warlord melee" under the background of "warlord government" in the current modern and modern history of China.If there is a bit more historical balance, we will admit that the ideals of the pioneers of the Chinese democratic revolution have not been fully realized in the 90 years after 1911. Who has the right to describe the first 16 years of the Republic of China Pollution? China is still in transition.There are many uncertain factors in the transition period, so there are many thinking patterns, behavior patterns or power patterns that have no proven results during this period.The overall situation in the early days of the Republic of China was turbulent, which was also the reason why warriors, literati, capable people, and bad guys fulfilled their ambitions.

There are ten biographies of Ji Qi literature in "Beiyang Bingge", and most of them are the objects of negation, whether they are in the Kuomintang or the Communist Party.Mr. Dong Yao's biographies of these historical figures are tantamount to publicizing a cultural judgment standpoint that is different from political trials.It takes guts.After reading "Beiyang Bing Ge", I know that Mr. Dong Yao's literary criticism also includes more historical understanding and humanistic tolerance.Because, what he traces is the traces of history, and thus explores the human heart, human feelings or human wisdom of history; converted into words, "Beiyang Bingge" naturally becomes a belated account about the struggle, prosperity, and loneliness of the influential figures in the early Republic of China. extinct records.Why is it necessary to distinguish between negative and positive? That is the need for stage performances.In life, no one has time to measure human nature, passing by in a hurry, grasping what they want, and throwing away what they got.

I admire Mr. Dong Yao's perseverance in writing.I admire him even more for his historical excavation of the human nature and personality of the ten biographers.Braided handsome Zhang Xun, how "revolutionary" he sounds! But his political loyalty reflects his firm personality, which is the most conscientious and good ability that has been consumed most in the political arena since then.He is like Wu Peifu, Duan Qirui, and Zhang Zuolin, and he is not stained on the level of patriotism and chastity.Due to the limitation of materials, the book "Beiyang Bingge" is still unable to "return history to its original face".This is roughly the case, and it seems that the author and the reader can basically have no regrets.It's for shame.Thousands of words are out of sequence.

June 16, 2001