Reading history brings wisdom (Volume 1 and 2)

Author: Leng Jincheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-02-01
Features: If Chinese culture is a culture of wisdom, then Confucian wisdom is the deepest page of this culture, Legalist wisdom is the cruel page, Daoist wisdom is the clever page, Diplomatist wisdom is the shameless page, Martialist wisdom is the harsh page, Buddhist wisdom is the detached page, and Yin-Yangist wisdom is the mysterious page. If one can travel through the vast tunnel of time and space in a clear state of mind, through the rise and fall of dynasties, perhaps it won’t be difficult to discover that although one dynasty after another has been overthrown, history still continues. We live at the intersection of tradition and the future. While we create the history of the future, what is the continuation of the past history? So, what is history? History is neither the Tang emperors and Song emperors, nor the Qin Emperor and Han Emperor, nor power, violence, or conspiracy. History is a culture, a great wisdom. Whoever grasps this culture and great wisdom grasps history and can create history! The root of wisdom is culture, and wisdom is originally a form of culture. Therefore, stratagems are not merely a technique. The essence of Chinese wisdom is a profoundly deep culture. Only when this culture permeates both the inner and outer aspects of a person can one naturally reach the realm of internal stratagem sage and external stratagem wisdom, becoming a true sage and wise strategist and thinker.
“A single scroll read leaves my hair snow-white, but I remember only the faint traces, a few lines of the past.” Those abandoned by history are often the “genius calculators,” “wise stars,” and “wicked heroes” with little cultural ambition, while the essence of traditional Chinese culture flows like the Yangtze River, endless and timeless. This should be the clear state of mind we face when confronting the long river of history! It should also be the great wisdom of reading history!