Paranoid Critique (Contemplating Between Historical Contingency and Necessity)

Author: Su San
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: Some have labeled Su San as the "Mainland Yangmingtai," but I dare not agree. It's not about superiority or inferiority, but about uniqueness. Yangmingtai's talent shines like the sun, while Su San's "Brother" is profound and far-reaching, far from being an ordinary woman. For example, Su San discusses European royalty with unique insight, truly seeing what others fail to notice. She skillfully handles various materials, placing them in the right context, effortlessly navigating vast historical resources, and casually illuminating complex Sino-Western social and cultural phenomena. Moreover, she does so with a grand, unrestrained style, writing without hesitation, as if "great actions do not mind minor details."
These words are entirely discussions related to Sino-Western cultural differences. However, they are neither academic nor literary. Even if I try to summarize them myself, it would be difficult. They are not ordinary articles at all; they can be considered rough topics with many themes. In short, they aim to explore the roots of cultural formation and development in the long river of history from a sociological perspective. These ideas are scattered throughout many historical readings. There are more aimless discussions in the book than rigorous research. The degree of its "stubbornness" and carelessness may exceed most people's imagination. If a professional scholar were to continue to elaborate and argue on certain topics, then the book's purpose of "throwing a brick to attract jade" would be achieved. This is a truly rough "heavy brick," and its success or failure depends entirely on its "stubbornness."
In terms of the order of the articles, they are not arranged in the true order of writing. In fact, you can start reading from any article at any time and stop at any point. If you insist on reading them in the original order I wrote them, their original writing order is roughly as follows:
1. A Week in Yunnan
2. "Seven Plays" in the Bamboo Forest
3. Gandhi's Asceticism
4. The Union of Spirit and Flesh
5. Watching Peking Opera on Christmas Eve
6. The Pure Woman
7. Random Talk on Gentlemanly Manners
8. History and Tradition
9. Enlarging a Coordinate
10. Arbitrarily Broad Reading
11. Strolling Through the British Isles
12. Contemplating Between Chance and Necessity
13. Getting Closer to Spain
14. Reading "A Hundred-Year Family — Liang Qichao, Liang Sicheng, Liang Congjie"
15. Reading Huang Renyu I
16. Reading "The Biography of Kang Youwei"