People in China have always been a little arrogant. -It's a pity that there is no "personal arrogance", but "gregarious patriotic arrogance". This is the reason why we can't see the improvement after the failure of cultural competition.
"personal arrogance" means being unique and declaring war on the common people. In addition to the exaggerated madness in psychiatry, this arrogant person is generally a bit of a genius. According to Nordau [2] and others, it can also be said that it is a bit arrogant. They must feel that their ideological knowledge is higher than that of the mediocre, and they are not understood by the mediocre. Therefore, they are cynical and gradually become a world-weary family or an "enemy of the people" [3]. But all new ideas come from them, and political, religious and moral reforms also start from them. So how lucky we are to have this "personal arrogance" national! How lucky!
"gregarious arrogance" and "patriotic arrogance" are the same as the party, and they are a declaration of war against a few geniuses; -as for declaring war on other civilizations, it is still second. They have no special talents to show off to others, so they take this country as a shadow; They held the customary system in the country very high and praised it. Since their national quintessence is so glorious, they naturally have glory! If they encounter an attack, they don't have to fight on their own, because there are so many people crouching in the shadows, and they can win with the skill of Mob [4] and a burst of noise. Winning, I am a group of people, and naturally I won; If I lose, many people in a group may not suffer: when people gather to make trouble, they often have this kind of psychology, which is their psychology. Their actions, seemingly fierce, are actually very timid. As for the results, I have learned a lot about restoring ancient ways, respecting the king, helping the Qing Dynasty to destroy the foreign countries and so on. Therefore, it is sad and unfortunate that there are so many people who are "gregarious, patriotic and arrogant"!
Unfortunately, China has only one kind of arrogance: nothing that the ancients did or said was bad, and they were afraid to follow it. How dare they talk about reform? Although there are some differences among different factions, this patriotic opinion is always the same. Calculated, it can be divided into the following five types:
A cloud says: "China is vast in territory and abundant in resources, and civilized at the earliest; Morality is the first in the world. " This is completely conceited.
b cloud: "although foreign material civilization is high, China's spiritual civilization is better."
c says, "China has already had foreign things; Some kind of science, that is, what a child said "Yunyun", both of which are tributaries of "ancient and modern Chinese and foreign schools"; According to the motto of Zhang Zhidong [5], a character who takes "middle school as the body and western learning as the use".
Ding Yun: "There are beggars in foreign countries, and there are grass huts, prostitutes and bedbugs." This is passive resistance.
Wu Yun: "China is a savage good." Another cloud said, "You said that China's thoughts were confused, which is the crystallization of the cause caused by our nation. From the ancestors' confusion, they will be confused to their descendants; From the past to the future. ..... (We are 4 million people,) Can you exterminate us? " [6] This is a step further than "Ding". Instead of dragging people into the water, it is proud of its ugliness; As for the tough tone, it has the attitude of Niu Er in Water Margin [7].
Among the five kinds, the words of A, B, C and D are ridiculous, but compared with E, they are excusable because they are still a little competitive. For example, the children of declining families, when they see the prosperity of other families, talk big and put on airs; Or seek a flaw in others and talk to yourself. Although this is extremely ridiculous, it is always a little higher than that kind of person who lost his nose and said it was an old family disease and boasted it to the public.
the patriotic theory of the E School came out at the latest, and I was most chilling when I heard it. This is not only because of his terrible intentions, but also because what he said is more practical. It is a genetic theorem that a confused ancestor raises a confused offspring. After the formation of national roots, it is not easy to change, whether it is good or bad. French G. Lebon [8] wrote "The Psychology of National Evolution", talking about this matter (the original text has been forgotten, but now it is to the effect)-"Although our every move seems to be independent, it is actually restrained by you damn fool. Comparing the people of our generation with the ghosts of hundreds of generations before, the number is absolutely invincible. " Among our ancestors for hundreds of generations, there must be many people who are confused: Confucian scholars who talk about Taoism [9], Taoist priests who talk about Yin and Yang and Five Elements [1], immortals who sit quietly in an alchemy, and actors who beat their faces [11]. Therefore, although we want to be a "human" now, it is difficult to ensure that the confused elements in the blood vessels will not make trouble, and we can't help but change to a person who studies the face of Dantian: this is really a chilling thing. But I always hope that the evil of this confused thought inheritance will not be as violent as syphilis, and it will be inevitable. Even like syphilis, 66 have been invented now, and physical diseases can be cured; I hope there is also a kind of medicine that can cure mental diseases. This medicine has also been invented, that is, "science" blindly. I only hope that those friends who have lost their noses in spirit will not object to taking medicine under the banner of "an old ancestral disease". China's disorientation will eventually recover. Although the ancestors' influence is great, if they change their minds from modern times, they will sweep away the confused thoughts and things that helped make them confused (documents of Confucianism and Taoism), and then use the right medicine, even if it can't work immediately, the virus can be slightly weakened. After several generations, when we become ancestors, we can share some forces that confused our ancestors, and then there will be a turn for the better. What LeBon said is not to be afraid of.
The above is my remedy for the "people who don't make progress"; As for the "extinction" clause, it's all useless, needless to say. Are the two terrible words "extinction" what we humans should say? Only Zhang Xianzhong [12] and others once claimed this, which has been reviled by human beings so far; And what actually happened? But I have a word, to persuade the E-faction. The phrase "extinction" can only scare people, but it can't scare nature. He has no mercy: when he saw a nation that was heading for extinction, he asked them to be extinct, and he was rude. We want to live, and we want others to live; I can't bear to talk about the extinction of others, but I'm afraid that they will go to extinction on their own, which will make us tired and extinct, so I'm in a hurry here. If you don't change the status quo, you can prosper and live a real, free and happy life, that is to say, being barbaric is also very good. -but can anyone dare to say "yes"?
[1] This article was first published in New Youth, Volume V, No.5, on November 15th, 1918, with the signature Xun.
[2] Nordau Nordau (1849-1923) was a Hungarian-born German doctor, political commentator and writer. He is the author of the political theory "Degeneration" and the novel "Emotional Comedy".
[3] "Enemy of the Nation" refers to the hero of the Norwegian playwright Ibsen's play "Enemy of the Nation", such as Storman. Storman is a hot spring medical officer who is enthusiastic about public health work. Once he found that the bath mineral spring contained a large number of infectious bacteria, and suggested that the bath should be rebuilt. However, the municipal authorities and citizens, fearing that their economic interests would be harmed, strongly opposed it, and finally dismissed him and declared him a "public enemy of the nation".
[4] mob English: rabble.
[5] Zhang Zhidong (1837—199) was born in Nanpi, Zhili (now Nanpi, Hebei), a great bureaucrat in the late Qing Dynasty and one of the leaders of the Westernization School. "Middle school is the body and western learning is the use", see his book "Persuading Learning?" Setting up a school: "The method of its school has about five essentials: one is to learn both the old and the new. Four Books and Five Classics, China's historical events, and the map of political books are old studies; Western politics, western arts and western history are new learning. Old learning is the body, western learning is used, and it is not neglected. " In the book "Huitong", it is said: "Middle school is internal learning, western learning is foreign learning, middle school governs body and mind, and western learning should deal with the world, and it is not necessary to rely on scripture, but it must be contrary to the righteousness."
[6] The words "confused thoughts" and "caused by our nation" here are based on the comments made by Ren Hongjuan (that is, Ren Shuyong) in the column of "Communication" in New Youth, Volume 5, No.2 (August 15th, 1918), which contains "our country's history, writing and thoughts are confused no matter what. This kind of confused seed exists not only in the history of writing, but also in the hearts and minds of present and future generations. Therefore, I dare to make a bold declaration that if China is to be good, unless the human race (suspected by the word "make") dies out first in China! Unfortunately, there is not one advocate of abolishing Chinese, although it is extreme! " Equal language. According to Ren Hongjuan, a scientist from Baxian County, Sichuan Province. The words quoted here were made by him in order to oppose Qian Xuantong's argument that Chinese characters must be abolished first in order to abolish Confucianism and destroy Taoism and drive away the childish, barbaric and stubborn thoughts of ordinary people.
[7] The characters in Niu Er's novel Water Margin. For the story that he forced Yangzhi to sell knives to him with an insolent attitude, see the twelfth chapter of the book "Yangzhi Selling Knives in Bianjing City".
[8] G. Lebon Le Peng (1841-1931), French doctor and social psychologist. In the first chapter of the first book "The Psychological Law of National Evolution" (that is, "The Psychology of National Evolution" as mentioned in this paper), he said: "We should regard race as a permanent thing that transcends time. The composition of this permanent thing is not only the living individuals who formed him in the basic period, but also the long-term continuous dead, that is, their ancestors are also. If you want to know the true meaning of race, you must extend it to the past and the future at the same time. The dead are infinitely more numerous and more powerful than the living. They rule a huge range of unintentional, and this invisible force reveals all the manifestations of wisdom and character, especially for the dead, rather than for the living. In guiding a nation, only on them can a race be built. Century after century, they have created our ideas and feelings, so they have also created all the motives of our behavior. People in the past not only imposed their physical organization on us, but also imposed their thoughts on us; The dead are the only masters of the living who have no room for debate. We bear the burden of their mistakes, and we accept the reward of their virtues. " (According to Zhang Gongbiao's translation, the Commercial Press first published in April 1935)
[9] Daoism, also known as Neo-Confucianism, is an idealistic ideological system formed by Zhou Dunyi, Cheng Hao, Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi in the Song Dynasty. It holds that "reason" is the noumenon of the universe, describes feudal ethics such as "three cardinal guides and five permanents" as "natural principles", and puts forward the idea of "preserving natural principles and extinguishing human desires" in order to maintain decadent feudal rule.
[1] Yin-Yang and Five Elements were originally a natural view with simple materialism and dialectics in ancient China. It uses water, fire, wood, gold and earth and the concept of "Yin and Yang" to explain the origin, development and change of nature. Later, Confucianism and Taoism distorted and mystified the theory of yin and yang and five elements, which was used to explain the rise and fall of dynasties, social changes and even people's fate, and to promote idealism and mysticism.
[11] Traditional opera actors who hit their faces draw painted faces according to "Facebook". "Beating the BaZi" is a martial art in traditional Chinese opera. At that time, the New Youth discussed the issue of "slapping the face" and "slapping the child".
[12] Zhang Xianzhong was one of the leaders of the peasant uprising in the late Ming dynasty. See note [1]
on page 196 of this volume, which is taken from "Hot Air", with feelings recorded in 38.
The famous saying: "Personal arrogance" means being unique and declaring war on the common people.