The Last 17 Years of Fu Lei

Author: Ye Kai
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-08-01
Features: Amid the ruins of history, his pure voice can still be faintly heard. The family letters and thoughts on home and country are fragile yet beautiful, moving and purifying the heart. To abandon without struggle is hypocrisy; to transcend hardship without trials is frivolous; to be prudent in avoiding reality is cowardice. Moderation, compromise, and petty wisdom are our fatal flaws. These have been my growing beliefs over the past fifteen years, all inspired by Beethoven. Everyone is moving forward, and not in empty slogans, but in solid steps. Although our country has yet to reach the "atomic age" in scientific achievements, the pace of social progress has indeed reached the "atomic age." Our lifelong pursuit, the pursuit of generations throughout history, can never be perfection, yet it is always unattainable, for human ideals and fantasies are endless. Perfection is like the moon in water or the flower in a mirror—always within sight but never reachable. Many have been unjustly criticized in history, even Galileo, Voltaire, and Balzac, let alone us ordinary mortals! As the old saying goes, truth will come to light in time, and right and wrong will become clear with the passage of days. True warriors protect the forests, oceans, cities, and fields of their homeland, and they should also defend their pure hearts and wise foreheads. A scholar once praised The Letters of Fu Lei as follows: the spiritual history of a generation of Chinese intellectuals, the souls that shone brightly through the vast years. Fu Lei's legacy to us is purity and clarity—pearls that shatter things are not tragedies, but pearls that shatter the heart are tragedies. Sentimentality is useless; pessimism is a dead end; positivity and optimism are what we truly need. Reflection implies optimism, and introspection is synonymous with positivity. Without such qualities, reflection and introspection will both fail. The authors of this series express their positivity and optimism from different perspectives. They strive to present the faint traces of the 20th century before us and bring certain corners of China from the past into view. Because their purpose is directed toward the present and the future, their concerns are no longer mere worries but have merged with a special form of optimism. In this series, worries are the worries of optimism, and optimism is optimism that worries. Therefore, this series effectively suppresses affectation to the greatest extent and kicks any kind of complaint out the door. In a sense, this series continues, promotes, and elaborates on the finest traditions of 20th-century Chinese intellectuals. May we share this with our readers and encourage one another.