Secret Archives of Chinese Civilization (Another Face of Our History)

Author: Li Yangquan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: In ancient times, entertainers were not like today's star bigwigs who could travel around. Of course, their fame would not be as great as today's bigwigs, mainly because our media has been too weak for a long time. However, they were able to achieve fame and recognition through their exquisite skills. And this fame and recognition were recorded by people, becoming a fragmented yet unique ancient entertainment industry. Stories about them were always scattered. So, let's take a look at these scattered and entertainment-related figures... The emperor's homosexuality, the commoner's toilet, cruel punishments, bloody dining tables, colorful underwear, the "guardian sand" of virgins, imaginative sexuality, wars changed by details, the turbulent world, mysterious medical skills, and using lamb hindquarters to fill the holes after a beating. All history is contemporary history. What is called history is just that these people and events have passed, but they are basically the same as us in many aspects today. Especially for everyone being an ordinary person (whether a great man or an ordinary person, an emperor or a commoner, a beauty or an old woman, a loyal minister or a treacherous one), their various details in real life—eating, drinking, defecating, urinating, entertainment, love, hatred, joy, anger, beating, cursing, or interesting and ugly, or special and casual—truly resonate with our own daily habits. Even, the occurrence, development, change, and disappearance of many major historical events, if you really see through the clouds, their roots are actually here. Thus, through the ages, it is still amusing to read and also brings many inspirations, reflections, and thoughts. China deserves praise for its history. However, these aspects of history that are either interesting or ugly, which are extremely attractive and worth reading and understanding, due to various reasons, were never seen in almost any middle or high school textbooks, reference books, bookstores, or libraries—contemporary historical works and historical readings. Orthodox history books always prefer to wear a serious face, only talking about those that can be placed on the negotiation table—solemn and dignified components; they even adopt a dignified diplomatic language. It seems quite serious and scientific, but it is not necessarily 100% the truth. It is possible that it actually originates from those life details that historians often look down upon—interesting or ugly. Moreover, Bo Yang once said: "These official histories compiled only after a dynasty has fallen are just a collection of biographies of many people, and these biographies mostly draw from one-sided accounts such as epitaphs, personal histories, and family chronicles." Mr. Lu Xun and others also had similar views. Most of us have never seen history, especially ancient history, and can only learn something about it through existing historical books. Since various orthodox history books write in this way, why can't we write it differently, appropriately supplement it, or even occasionally correct it? Since there are orthodox history books, why not have folk or individual historical books? Huang Renyu's series of outstanding works can be considered folk or individual actions. Then, can't we organize, collect, describe, and narrate history from a newer, fresher, more interesting, and less attended-to perspective? Wouldn't that be great? Li Yangquan's newly published China's Secret Archives of Civilization—Another Face of Our History is just such a historical book that is both interesting and valuable. From his unique perspective, he divides the five thousand years of China's vast civilization into nine chapters (Cultural Entertainment, Daily Life, Sex and Marriage, Crime and Punishment, Medicine, Education, War, Business, and the World). This arbitrary division makes it a worthwhile book to play with in the form of Chinese history. The author uses a large number of little-known details and humorous language to present Chinese history to us in a completely new way. This may help everyone see another face of history. Clouds change, and the ocean shifts. The footsteps of history, whether interesting or ugly, special or casual, fill all the details of past life. History should never be boring; it can be solemn in textbooks, but it cannot and cannot be like this in all writings. In this book, the author uses the perspective of "seeing the familiar as strange" to "torture" the interesting or ugly aspects of the Chinese people. These civilizations created by our ancestors may be the most humanized part of our history. The author uses little commentary but makes the "facts" speak with knowledge and interest. Although some of the quoted texts (so-called "wild history") may not meet the "authenticity" standards of historians, it does not hinder us from believing them for now. Who can say that orthodox history textbooks are free of problems? The content of this book is rich, the knowledge is diverse, the writing is concise, and the narration is vivid, making it truly "extensive hunting and selective extraction," "thickly accumulated and spontaneously expressed," and thus very worth reading and understanding. Diving into the depths of history, exploring the pearls of the ocean, sitting patiently on a cold bench, and grinding a sword for ten years—what kind of spirit and will is needed! To complete such a magnificent work, the author read a large number of "official histories" and "wild histories," novels and poetry selections, short essays and notes, specialized readings, maps and treatises, translated documents, as well as many folk anecdotes, old traces and legends, folk sayings, and underworld slang, and then conducted meticulous compilation and fluent writing. How could this be accomplished in just "three years of spare time" (as the author humbly states in the preface of the book)! It is truly admirable.