Color Version 60 Essays That Will Affect Middle School Students' Lives

Author: Lu Xun, Baoyang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-09-01
Features: At one time, around the second and third years of the Republic of China, the banknotes of several national banks in Beijing were gaining increasing credibility, truly on the rise. It was said that even the rural people, who had always been obsessed with cash, knew that these notes were both convenient and reliable, and were very willing to accept and use them. As for those who had a bit of understanding, they had long stopped carrying the heavy and cumbersome silver dollars in their pockets, only to suffer unnecessary hardships. I suppose, apart from those who had a special fondness for silver, most of them were probably using banknotes, and mostly their own country's. But unfortunately, they later suffered a significant blow. This was the year when Yuan Shikai attempted to become emperor, when Mr. Cai Songpo left Beijing and rebelled in Yunnan. One of the impacts on this side was the suspension of redemption by the Bank of China and the Bank of Communications. Although redemption was suspended, the government still had the power to compel merchants and citizens to continue using the notes; and the merchants, true to their old tricks, would not demand the notes but claimed to be unable to find small change. If someone were to buy goods with tens or hundreds of banknotes, I don’t know how they would do it, but if they just wanted to buy a pen or a pack of cigarettes, would they pay with a one-yuan note? Not only would they not be satisfied, but they also didn’t have that many notes. Then, they might exchange for copper coins, but a few less, and they would say they didn’t have copper coins either. Then, they might borrow cash from relatives or friends, but where would they get it? So, they lowered their standards, no longer caring about patriotism, and started using foreign banknotes. But at that time, foreign banknotes were as good as cash; if someone lent you these notes, they were lending you real silver. I remember I still had thirty or forty yuan in Bank of China and Bank of Communications notes in my pocket, but suddenly I became a poor man, almost starving, and felt quite anxious. The mood of the rich men who hoarded paper rubles after the Russian Revolution must have been similar; perhaps even deeper and greater. I tried to find out if the banknotes could be exchanged for cash at a discount, but it was said there was no market for it. Fortunately, eventually, there was a black market for them: at 60% of face value. I was very happy and quickly sold half of them. Later, the rate rose to 70%, and I was even happier and exchanged all of them for cash, which felt heavy and solid in my pocket, as if it were the weight of my life. Usually, if a money changer gave me one less copper coin, I would definitely refuse. But when I had a handful of cash in my pocket, feeling heavy and secure, a sudden thought came to me: we are very easily turned into slaves, and even after being enslaved, we are extremely happy. If there were a kind of violence that treated people as less than human—not as humans, but not even as animals, as nothing at all—and if people then envied animals and sighed, "displaced people are not as good as dogs in peace," and if they were then given a price slightly equivalent to that of animals, like the Yuan Dynasty law that fined one ox for killing a slave, then people would be completely satisfied and praise the prosperous age. Why? Because although they were not considered humans, they were at least equal to animals. We don’t need to read the "Imperially Commissioned Twenty-Four Histories" or enter a study to examine the superiority of spiritual civilization. Just flipping through the "Mirror of History" that children read—or if that’s too cumbersome, look at the "Compendium of Dynastic Eras"—we can see that the "three-thousand-year-old ancient country" of China has always been engaged in nothing but this little game. But in the newly compiled so-called "history textbooks," it’s not very clear, it seems to say: we have always been good. In reality, the Chinese have never fought for the "price of being human"; at most, they have been slaves, and this still holds true today. Yet, times worse than slavery are not uncommon. The Chinese people are neutral; during war, they don’t even know which side they belong to, but they belong to whichever side it is. If bandits come, they belong to the officials, and of course, they should be killed and looted. If officials arrive, they should be their own people, but they are still killed and looted, as if they also belong to the bandits. At this time, the people hope for a certain master who will take them as subjects—not to be, but to be treated as beasts of burden, willing to find their own grass to eat, as long as he decides how they should run. If someone could truly decide for them, set up some rules for slavery, then naturally, it would be an "immense grace of the emperor." The pity is that often, there is no one who can decide for a while. For example, during the Five Dynasties of the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms, the time of Huang Chao, the Five Dynasties, the late Song and Yuan dynasties, apart from the usual service and tax payments, they also suffered unexpected calamities. Zhang Xianzhong had an even more eccentric temperament—he killed those who refused to serve or pay taxes, those who served or paid taxes, those who opposed him, and those who surrendered to him: he completely destroyed the rules of slavery. At this time, the people hoped for another master who would be more considerate of their rules of slavery, whether old or new, as long as there was some rule that could put them on the path of slavery. "When will the days of darkness end? I will die with you!"—this is just lamentation, but few actually decide to put it into practice. In reality, it is usually a mess of thieves, and after the chaos reaches its peak, a stronger, or wiser, or more cunning, or even an ethnic person emerges to restore order to the world. They set up rules: how to serve, how to pay taxes, how to bow, how to praise the emperor. And these rules are not as changeable as they are now. Then, "all the people rejoice"; in a more idiomatic way, it is called "peace in the world." No matter how much the scholars who love to show off might exaggerate, or how many good titles like "the era of the rise of the Han nationality," "the era of the development of the Han nationality," or "the era of the revival of the Han nationality" they might set for the history books, their intentions are indeed felt, but the wording is too roundabout. There is a more straightforward way of saying it—first, the era of wanting to be a slave but not being able to; second, the era of being a slave for a while but being relatively stable. This cycle is what the "scholars of the past" called "a period of order and chaos." From the perspective of the "subjects" of the future, those who made the chaos were clearing the way for the "masters," so it was said: "They are driving away the demons for the sage emperor." Now, which era have we entered? I’m not sure. But seeing the veneration of national essence by scholars of Confucianism, the praise of indigenous civilization by writers, and the enthusiasm for reviving the past by moralists, it’s clear that they are all dissatisfied with the current situation. But what path are we heading toward? In the face of inexplicable wars, the rich move to the concessions, and women and children hide in churches, because those places are relatively "stable" and won’t turn them into slaves for a while. In short, those who revive the past, flee from danger, and whether wise or foolish, seem to long for the prosperous age three hundred years ago, the "era of being a slave for a while but being relatively stable." But are we, like the ancients, eternally satisfied with the "age that has always existed"? Are we, like the revivalists, dissatisfied with the present and long for the prosperous age three hundred years ago? Of course, we are also dissatisfied with the present, but there is no need to look back, because there is a road ahead. And to create this third era in Chinese history, that has never existed before, is the mission of the youth of today!