Thought Treasury Series 1 Walk with Your Head

Author: Zhou Ruijin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features:
1,595 years ago, a famous Chinese poet known for refusing to "bend his waist for five bushels of rice" left official life and retired to the countryside. He farmed for a living, often engaging with local scholars and neighbors in discussions about literature and current affairs, coining the timeless phrase, "Let us enjoy the fine writing together and analyze its doubts." Unbeknownst, nearly half a century later, this phrase was used by a great leader as a "stick" and a "hat" to label a large group of intellectuals who criticized societal issues and commented on politics as "right-wing elements opposing the party and socialism." From then on, "fine writing" was equated with "poisonous weeds," and "doubts" were linked to heresy. The timeless phrase transformed into "let us jointly criticize the poisonous weeds and strike down the heretics." This marked the beginning of two decades of "leftist" suppression, plunging the nation into a state where "all sang in unison and no one dared to speak." It wasn’t until the discussion on the standard of truth, like a spring thunder, that China ushered in the spring of reform and opening up, and this situation began to change. The times have now vindicated the phrase "Let us enjoy the fine writing together and analyze its doubts," restoring it to its original meaning.
The so-called "fine writing" refers to extraordinary articles with new ideas, perspectives, materials, and language. Such writing enlightens people, provides social lessons, benefits the nation, and represents the essence of the times—a precious spiritual treasure worth collectively appreciating, critiquing, and exploring. As for "let us analyze its doubts," it advocates independent thinking, free thought, the (flourishing of a hundred schools of thought), and mutual refinement. Clearly, this famous phrase from over 1,500 years ago still holds universal value today: pursuing truth requires walking with one’s head, tempering thought, speaking one’s mind freely, and daring to innovate.
Throughout human history, nations that have advanced toward prosperity, civilization, and democracy have always cherished their national intellectual treasures. Whether it’s arguments for enriching the state and strengthening the military or critiques of societal problems, as long as they benefit the nation and its people, the more the better. Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, among other great philosophers, contributed to the flourishing of Greek civilization. The European Renaissance in the 15th century also ushered in modern human civilization, while Rousseau, Diderot, and Voltaire of the Encyclopedists laid the ideological foundation for modern democratic politics.
In Chinese history, the Hundred Schools of Thought during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods didn’t also lead to the unification of Qin and the splendid reigns of the Tang and Han dynasties?