Straightforward soliloquy

Author: Zhang Ming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-03-01
Features: Everyone loves to talk about history, and they talk about it with great enthusiasm, but not many are willing to sit down and really think about it. History seems to be like a cute girl (very eye-catching!)—everyone wants to dress her up. Not only that, the current trend is almost like wanting to give her a face-lift, replace her heart and lungs. Of course, from another perspective, it might not be entirely bad that everyone is talking about history. At least it shows that history still has a market, as people are willing to listen, which in turn inspires more and more people to join in the conversation. Unfortunately, our historians seem to be unaware of this. They only sit at home complaining that history has been ruined by "talking enthusiasts," yet they still focus solely on writing serious academic papers that only a few or a dozen people can understand. In reality, those who study or research history can also talk. As long as they can talk in an accessible and insightful way, sharing knowledge and ideas, perhaps they will also attract an audience, especially ordinary people.
Over ten years ago, when I first learned what historical research was, I wrote a thin, very naive little book. In the preface, I wrote that I was an outsider knocking on the door of academia. Over the past decade, it seems I’m still knocking on that door, still only writing about things that are only understood by a few. In recent years, I’ve attended lectures and read articles on the cutting edge of academia, but I’ve never even reached the back end of it. It’s not that I dare to hope for anything more, even just standing outside the door, I probably can only stand at the edge of the open space. Actually, staying on the fringes is quite good.