Read Issue 1

Author: Zhu Yongli
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: The more certain a conclusion is, the easier it is to be challenged. The more bland and superficial the preaching, the more interesting the reading process becomes, as it fosters a kind of cat-and-mouse game between the shortsighted and the foolish. Reading and publishing belong to two different disciplines. Publishing often only involves the superficiality of ideology, while reading reveals the true core of contemporary thought—the parts that can be said and the parts that can remain unsaid. Yet it genuinely plays a role, much like all mysterious scientific laws, it never boasts, only the sensitive can perceive its existence. We regard the history of ideas as too grand because we forget the invaluable doubt and contemplation amidst the noisy reading. But the latter rarely speaks, they hold no prominent position in the history of discourse, and they reveal their value silently in the form of thought. The more certain a conclusion is, the easier it is to be challenged. The more bland and superficial the preaching, the more interesting the reading process becomes, as it fosters a kind of cat-and-mouse game between the shortsighted and the foolish. Reading and publishing belong to two different disciplines. Publishing often only involves the superficiality of ideology, while reading reveals the true core of contemporary thought—the parts that can be said and the parts that can remain unsaid. Yet it genuinely plays a role, much like all mysterious scientific laws, it never boasts, only the sensitive can perceive its existence.