Oral History of Lao She's Death

Author: Fu Guangming
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2007-01-01
Features: Some of what people previously knew about "The Death of Lao She" may have, to some extent, become another form of "Homeric epic" or "a puzzle of the past," compiled in a highly formulaic manner using fixed "characteristic adjectives"? How much "historical truth" is preserved within it? The significance of "The Death of Lao She" in oral history lies in its presentation of multiple perspectives on the same event, differing from those of "the past." Among different voices, there is "coexistence, mutual interference, and contradiction"; between different parts, there is often "obscuration and concealment." Perhaps some even attempt to present their own voice as a solo, simplifying history with a single sentence. I was once perplexed by this, but now I recognize with increasing clarity that this "Rashomon-style" historical truth is at least one of the meanings of history itself. — Fu Guangming