Against Hu Xueyan---Telling You the Real Hu Xueyan: Telling You the Real Hu Xueyan

Author: Shi Haojie
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: How can we objectively evaluate a figure in history? Can we avoid the tendency of elevating a historical figure to the heavens when praising them, or condemning them to hell when criticizing them? The publication of Counter-Hu Xueyan: Introducing a Real Hu Xueyan offers a rational perspective for observing and thinking about historical figures. Since ancient times, there have been rules for business, rules for being an official, and rules for the underworld. Although these three realms can intersect, they are absolutely distinct in boundaries. Whoever confuses these boundaries will lose their foundation. Hu Xueyan engaged in business dealings with the officialdom based on the rules of commerce, expanded his market with the status of an official, and repaid officials using the rules of the underworld. While he might have succeeded for a time, he ultimately lost his foundation. This was the tragedy of that era, and also the tragedy of Hu Xueyan himself.