Great Transformation and Crazy Scholar - The Worldly Sentiments of a Scholar in Turmoil: The Worldly Sentiments of a Scholar in Turmoil

Author: Wang Kailin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-11-01
Features: The fifteen cultural figures selected in this book are all deeply emotional and sensitive individuals. They lived in turbulent and chaotic times, constantly grappling with questions of whether to focus on words or deeds, whether to cultivate oneself or serve the public, whether to advocate revolution or reform, whether to embrace innovation or uphold tradition. They constantly questioned what was beneficial or detrimental, what was right or wrong, what was primary or secondary, what was superior or inferior. The dilemma of either breaking through or establishing oneself troubled and tested them. Regardless of their fame or failure, their life's answers were each unique in their brilliance and flaws—this is precisely what I want to contemplate, examine, and critique. Gong Zizhen once wrote in a letter to Qin Dunfu: "The more officials admire their predecessors, the deeper their understanding of the world becomes; the deeper their understanding, the less ignorant they are." We can surely learn something from these famous individuals, though each person has their own methods and destinies.