The works reviewed in this issue come from Long Fang's masterpiece Tolerance.

I chose Tolerance because Pei received feedback from readers and asked if we could write some books that were more B-loaded.

I thought about it. In order to prevent it from being successful in pretending to be B, I shook my hand and chose a book that appeared in a high school Chinese textbook. ...

The front is full of nonsense, don't believe it. Tolerance is actually very valuable to read.

Let's talk about a popular science excerpt from Baidu Library: Tolerance is a widely circulated book written by American historian Hendrik Willem Van Loon. The author of this book thinks that he reviewed the history of the virtue of "tolerance" being practiced and respected, and mentioned many famous figures in history, thus advocating the spirit of tolerance. Baidu Library commented: "The works fully show the author's literary and historical narrative and his special concern for human destiny." This is a strong subjective evaluation. At least, I believe that more people think that the book Tolerance is more popular than Literature-popularity is a commendatory term here, because only when tolerance becomes a universally recognized virtue can its value be fully reflected.

Without further ado, get into the text.

—————————— I am a dividing line that is not gorgeous at all.

one

When I made up my mind to write the book Tolerance, I could not avoid the possibility of learning from others. Long Fang is a writer with great sense of humor, and tolerance is an interesting interpretation of history. And this time I read Tolerance again, which is undoubtedly equivalent to cooking the soup for the second time, which is inevitably boring. So I can only read one or two in the footsteps of my predecessors, but I hope to know more about the author's thoughts.

As I said before, the value of Long Fang's works lies in its popularity. But there are advantages and disadvantages. The biggest advantage and disadvantage of Longfang lies in popularizing history. A serious historical fact has become a story-like relaxed and humorous tone, so it is widely welcomed by the general public. As a scholar, it is estimated that he will be furious with Long Fang and maliciously criticize his careless attitude towards history. But as a reader, Long Fang gave the public a chance to read history. Reading his books, you don't need to keep a straight face or be in awe, just like a poem written by Ye Zhi on a slow afternoon: "Please take this poem down and read it slowly, recalling the softness of your eyes and their heavy shadows in the past." Heavy epic, in retrospect, the charm is more and more prominent.

two

Fear is the cause of all intolerance.

Tolerance has devoted a lot of space to religion, and human history is always inseparable from the development of religion. Religion has created too much intolerance, or, in fact, too many intolerant people hide behind religious forces to cover up their inner fears.

Long Fang said that he had read many books about miracles, but he lacked a miracle that human beings could survive. A person's strength is limited, and he has to integrate into the complex tribal life at the expense of losing his personality. Because all other desires have to obey the highest requirement-survival. The fear of losing life has taught people to reject dissidents, to destroy civilization, and to hide behind God to create a false paradise.

Sadly, in the end, this intolerance caused by fear will only be a doomed cocoon.

In 476 AD, the six-year-old Western Roman Emperor romulo was deposed by the Germans. In A.D. 1453, the Ottoman Turkish Empire attacked Constantinople, and the king of the Eastern Roman Empire died. 1789 In August, the French Kingdom collapsed with its brutal rule. Every brazen reign of terror eventually destroyed itself. Humans have lost their fear of survival, as Lord of War said: If you fight with yourself, you will always lose.

Sometimes looking back at China's Buddhism and Taoism, even though they were inevitably used by rulers in history, they always lived in harmony with each other in an inclusive manner. Compared with the west, the word religious persecution is far away from us, but today, thousands of years later, I wonder how many people can still have such tolerant beliefs and overcome their demons.

three

If you want to live, others can't live.

The proverb "Live by yourself and let others live" comes from ancient Rome. Long Fang threw it out, which was thought-provoking.

Let yourself live and let others live. It seems simple, but the knowledge is not small. Van Loong believes that any act of keeping yourself alive and not letting others live will eventually lead to self-destruction, just like the Roman Empire and the French Empire mentioned above. In short, to forgive others is to forgive yourself.

Regrettably, however, one of the most obvious human mistakes is to repeat the same mistakes over and over again. The fear of survival is innate, which has caused intolerance for generations. After overthrowing the rulers who only let themselves live, those who survive often go to the other extreme: only let others live.

What's more regrettable is that this is the innate instinct of human beings. Even if Long Fang realized this inevitability, he could only watch. A book "Tolerance" can't save the world in from the mire after all.

"A year ago, if someone said that those in power lived only by the grace of God, sometimes they would make mistakes and" intolerance "would send them to the guillotine; Now, whoever insists that the will of the people is not always the will of God, "intolerance" will also push them to the road of death. " (Excerpted from Chapter 27 of Tolerance: Revolutionary Intolerance) When revolutionaries overthrew tyrants, many injustices in the world collapsed. However, when people forget to celebrate, they always ignore one thing: revolutionaries will eventually follow the old path of tyrants-no one can tolerate dissidents. Even on behalf of the people, the premise is that you have to trust the people-otherwise, your situation is estimated to be no better than that under the tyrant.

After all, people's strength is limited. When seeking refuge from others, the instinct of survival will make people give up their individuality. Society is very complex, tolerant of individuality, and requires too much cost. I don't know if this is a kind of sadness.

Ironically, God is always a puzzling puppet. Maybe one day he was tired of being used by human beings, and another big flood stopped the world, and there was no one in Noah's ark.

Postscript:

Although it is very popular and can't be a B, Tolerance is a book I personally recommend. In a sense, it is a bit like a lecture hall in the last century. Not high, but worth reading. Reading this work doesn't cost brain power, it can be done in a very relaxed and leisurely environment, and even can be used as a pastime. History is a very broad and endless topic. As an ordinary person, you don't necessarily need to worry about your country and people, but I think if you can face the world with a normal heart after reading this book, you will succeed.