Nonsense China's official history

Author: Bei Yang
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Unveiling the glamorous veil of history, Bei Yang presents the naked truth of the "official history" to the world. He repeatedly laments that China's so-called "official history" is nothing but "a river of flying elephants and a sea of lies." The twenty-six histories of China, known as the "official history," are nothing but a river of flying elephants and a sea of lies. Those who follow the trend will surely be filled with indignation and unbearable pain. In fact, calling it a sea of lies is still being polite. It is truly a large vat of soy sauce. Chinese historians lack principles, justice, and logic. All who succeed are considered outstanding, while all who fail are deemed rebellious or unruly. The famous Taiwanese writer Bei Yang shocked the world with his book "The Ugly Chinese." In this book, Bei Yang continues to fiercely criticize the outdated customs and various of the nation. Bei Yang is a legendary figure whose life has witnessed the turbulent social changes of modern China. In his early years, Bei Yang was a passionate "patriot" who once admired Chiang Kai-shek. After the "July 7 Lugou Bridge Incident," he joined the Three Principles of the People's Youth League, underwent training in the Youth Cadre Class, and took an oath to "live and die for the leader." After coming to Taiwan, he experienced setbacks but also served as the general secretary of the "Youth Writing Association" of the Jiang Jingguo Literary Corps. These political experiences undoubtedly show Bei Yang's strong political sentiments. Later, Bei Yang was imprisoned by the Nationalist authorities on the grounds that his cartoons in the family edition of the "China Daily" "insulted the leader." After his release, he was arrested again, this time on numerous political charges: "self-accusation," "left-leaning thoughts," "cultural unification work for the communists," "obvious intention to subvert the government" through illegal means, and more. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison (serving over nine years) on June 27, 1968. If judged by the charges of the Nationalist authorities at the time, Bei Yang had long been suspected of secretly collaborating with the communists. According to the united front thinking of mainland China at that time, Bei Yang's struggle against the Nationalists was no less intense than that of an underground party cell. This clearly shows the overreaction of the ruling Nationalist party. Bei Yang had no political ambitions. The mainland and Taiwan were separated by a vast sea; how could he collude with them? In reality, Bei Yang was simply a cultural figure, a folk writer, and his criticism was fundamentally focused on cultural critique. In his view, any political system is worth questioning, and if the cultural foundation is not corrected and improved, it will remain flawed. For a long time, Bei Yang was known as "the living Lu Xun" in Taiwan. In terms of the sharp and incisive criticism of social reality and the use of essays as the main weapon for struggle, the two had certain similarities. However, their essence was quite different. Lu Xun coexisted with the construction of modern Chinese thought in the modern period of China. He was both a founder and an continuous pioneer. He shared the fate of national awakening and liberation and was closely linked to the history of Chinese literature and culture. Therefore, Lu Xun was completely historicized and symbolized by history. Compared to this, Lu Xun still belonged to the elite intellectuals of modern China who were historicized. He had always been interpreted and understood within the discourse of national liberation and historical awakening. Bei Yang's historical circumstances were quite different. Bei Yang did not carry as much historical significance. He was simpler, more personal, folk, and secular. The cultural critique in Bei Yang's essays was also a secular critique. He focused on criticizing all unreasonable phenomena in daily society, pointing out social flaws without reservation. No one observed the secular society as deeply and meticulously as Bei Yang. He himself was a secularized intellectual, even more like a traditional Chinese scholar who lived among the people, neither teaching in universities nor working in government positions. He was a freelance writer who earned a living by writing. Such people were quite numerous in China in the 1930s and 1940s. After 1949, mainland China no longer had such intellectuals or scholars. Shen Congwen, for example, nearly went insane when he was not invited to attend the session of the Writers' Congress. Not being institutionalized meant the end of Chinese intellectuals in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. It was not until the 1990s that a group of freelance writers, such as Wang Shuo and Wang Xiaobo, emerged in mainland China. Bei Yang was also a freelance writer, and his stance could be said to be that of the folk, the style of a free writer. His way of speaking was clearly different from the discourse of intellectuals who had long been institutionalized. In contemporary mainland China, the number of non-professional and non-institutional writers is increasing. Reading the writings of Bei Yang, a "living fossil" of Chinese freelance writers, undoubtedly evokes a sense of familiarity. In any case, Bei Yang was a very unconventional intellectual. He was a "non-aristocratic" scholar, in my opinion, a spokesperson for the secular society. The key issue lies in the fact that Bei Yang always stood on the side of the secular society to speak. He did not want to tame the secular society but tried to construct a genuine secular society, and the modern nation-state should be a reasonable extension of this genuine secular society. To reiterate, what sets Bei Yang apart is that he did not elevate the secular society to the level of the elite society. Instead, he first sought to construct a genuine secular society and then brought the elite society to the level of the secular society. Therefore, he saw it as his responsibility to continuously criticize society and push for the self-reliance and self-respect of the Chinese nation. Bei Yang was very clear about his cultural stance. He often intentionally made his writing ordinary, that is, popular. He never described his writing as carrying the burden of the nation-state's journey to modernity but intentionally emphasized his secular, folk, and popular stance. He once wrote in an article, "The reason why Bei Yang's essays were published and published is entirely due to the love and support of the readers. Otherwise, who would dare to risk the loss of principal and interest, the risk of total defeat, to print the works of an unknown old man like me? In the early days, I wrote with the same feelings as now, just to make a living, with no lofty ambitions. Later, as I wrote more, I occasionally received letters of encouragement, which made me a little happy. Later, as the encouragement increased, I finally felt that I was a little extraordinary." Of course, this was a clear understatement, but it also shows Bei Yang's conscious attitude of popularization. This made his writing always stay within the discourse space of the secular society, speaking to the common people. Bei Yang's essays always carried a passion for advocating justice for the underprivileged. He paid attention to any unequal phenomenon in society and expressed his views mercilessly. This was also the source of the great appeal of Bei Yang's essays. He called for justice for all the wronged and oppressed, and for the victims of the grassroots. This made his works the best spiritual comfort for the common people. In Bei Yang's narrative, "Bei Yang" always presented himself as a role of the underprivileged. This treatment was completely free of pretense and appeared sincere, approachable, and down-to-earth. His call for equality and justice was closely related to his life experiences. Bei Yang often mentioned in his memoirs and many essays that he had been an orphan in his childhood. His life had been full of hardships, which made him always deeply empathize with the struggles of the lower classes. Whenever he saw unequal phenomena in life, he could not help but feel indignant. The equality and justice that Bei Yang spoke of were not profound maxims, nor was it the legal debate of the academic school, nor was it the uprising and rebellion of revolutionaries. It was just the common phenomena in the secular society, the daily news stories that were constantly updated by the media. Bei Yang's discussion of social equality and justice had nothing to do with the idea of a red revolution. He did not have those profound revolutionary truths or great revolutionary goals. He was just a common person, a person who should have the basic right to survival and respect. In his later collected essays "We Want to Live with Dignity," Bei Yang included some chapters that reflected his experiences after weathering the storms of life. Despite the hardships of time, the old man remained the same, criticizing the ugly and advocating equality and dignity. It can be said that Bei Yang's later political essays became more prominent, but he did not lose his folk nature. This series of essays is divided into three series according to the main themes of Bei Yang's essays. The first series published is "Crazy Beauties," and the second series is "A Traditional Reflection." This is the third series, which we categorize as the "Civilization Integration" series. The critique of the "soy sauce culture" is the focus of Bei Yang's essay critique. As mentioned earlier, Bei Yang is famous for his fierce reflection on Chinese tradition. His reflection and critique are different from others in that they are direct, sharp, thorough, and to the point. It can be said that the discourse of anti-tradition reached its peak with Bei Yang. "Soy sauce" is Bei Yang's most pointed and vivid metaphor for Chinese traditional culture. This "soy sauce" has been simmering for two thousand years, filled with all kinds of ingredients, with a pungent and unpleasant smell. But since modern times, there have always been some restless people who stir it up, letting its smell spread, making people face it and see the dregs and ugliness inside. From Lu Xun to Bei Yang, they were undoubtedly the most intense stirrers. Bei Yang pointed out that the fundamental problem of Chinese culture lies in the fact that it went wrong in its very nature as daily life. And the political culture that arose from it is even more absurd. The critique that Bei Yang wanted to carry out is the daily culture that has been passed down to this day in China, that is, the culture of secular life itself. Bei Yang did not criticize political culture directly, but his depth may lie in the fact that he viewed the flaws of political culture from the perspective of secular life. Only he valued secular culture and daily culture so much. Because daily culture has problems by nature, then the political culture that grows from it and tries to transcend daily culture cannot have a sound nature. But this is just a follow-up, just a deduction based on the premise of this critique. For Bei Yang, "soy sauce" is the root, it is all. He stirs up the "soy sauce" to remove impurities, to remove dregs, and to give the Chinese culture and Chinese society a cleaner and purer nature. Bei Yang painfully realized that Chinese people carry too much cultural burden. The gentle and refined attitude cannot change the "ugly Chinese," but rather should use strong medicine, concentrate all efforts, and criticize mercilessly, even if using too exaggerated and absolute a critical attitude, to bring about change in the current situation, similar to the great and violent reforms advocated by Lu Xun. This is also the resolute attitude of Bei Yang as a "wild intellectual." Bei Yang's critique of social civilization and his critique of tradition are closely linked, with no substantive difference, but for the convenience of editing and reading, we have divided them into two sections, each selecting three volumes. "A Traditional Reflection" focuses more on the critique of traditional social systems and cultural roots, while "Civilization Integration" tends to reflect on the ethical habits, daily mentality, and education system of society. These reflections also the style of Bei Yang: seeing the big in the small, criticizing social flaws, and being witty and humorous. In the "Civilization Integration" series, Bei Yang gives a sharp critique of the Chinese people's tendency to admire foreign countries and kowtow to them. As a fierce critic of tradition, Bei Yang naturally disdainfully refuses to stand on a narrow Orientalist stance. Instead, he sees the one-sidedness of the Chinese people's admiration for foreign countries. The excellent aspects of Western civilization have not been learned by the Chinese, but only the external and negative fashions have been imitated: lifelike. Bei Yang's stance and value orientation on Western culture, systems, and civilization have always been to absorb the essence of Western civilization, which is consistent with Lu Xun's "gathering policy" in terms of deep connotation. However, Bei Yang's essays do not discuss the political systems of Western countries. Instead, they use some subtle daily life details in Western countries as standards, seeing the spirit in the details, to measure whether China has reached the level of civilization required by a modern developed country. This reflects the characteristics of Bei Yang's "cultural critique." Bei Yang believes that "to judge whether a country is civilized or barbaric, one only needs to see how much respect they have for traffic lights and zebra crossings; one can immediately draw a conclusion" ("Anti-Collision Alliance"). He praises America as a polite and civilized country that makes the Chinese feel ashamed, mainly because American citizens abide by traffic rules. He blames the Chinese for lacking traffic awareness, walking and bumping randomly, and drivers are the same, resulting in chaos on the roads and frequent traffic accidents. Bei Yang not only points out the root cause of the chaos in traffic: the traditional character of the Chinese people who do not abide by rules, and the government's lenient law enforcement and perfuncerie, but also gives the "prescription" for the cure: "only severe punishment—of course, fair and just severe punishment—is the effective medicine for curing traffic chaos" ("Anti-Collision Alliance"). This is a conclusion that Bei Yang draws based on the traffic rules of Western countries as a reference. Such criticism is direct and sharp, and is not without simple extremism, but it shows Bei Yang's decisiveness and lovability. While advocating "Westernization," Bei Yang wasly aware that Western things, especially those from America, would "change" when they entered China, turning into something like a "four-in-a-row." The reasons are complex, but they are definitely related to the "soy sauce culture" in traditional Chinese culture. The political of being a "Western slave" is one of the products of this change, and it is the product of his critique of the "total Westernization" and "kowtowing to foreign countries." It is embodied in people like "Western slaves." They are full of English, have a "second-hand plate temperament," and treat all Westerners as masters ("The Taste of Western Slaves"). They are the result of the Chinese people's decadent self-respect caused by excessive self-esteem. As mentioned above, only a spirit and attitude of "admiring foreign countries but not kowtowing to them" can prevent the aftereffects of Westernization, including the phenomenon of "Western slaves." Bei Yang was clearly still a liberalist. He did not hide his admiration for Western democratic and free systems, and he also praised the emphasis on individual value in Western civilization. Especially, he admired the essence of individual self-discipline in Western civilization. These views were all expressed by Bei Yang thirty or forty years ago. Today, many of them are debatable. Especially in the current era, post-colonialism theories are in vogue, ethnic identity politics has taken root deeply, and cultural nationalism is also eager to make a move. All of these may make it difficult for people to resonate with Bei Yang's views, and there are undoubtedly many opponents. But from another perspective, no one sees problems the way Bei Yang does, and no one dares to be so candid in expressing a certain degree of affirmation of Western civilization. Re-discovering Bei Yang is not just a historical review but also a warning to the present. In the "Civilization Integration" series, a considerable number of articles again expose the old history. It is not an exaggeration to say that Bei Yang is a troublemaker. The history that has been concealed and covered up is the history that has been glorified and magnificent. Bei Yang insists on tearing off the appearance of history and letting us see so many historical traces. Bei Yang's knowledge of history is rich, and his observation of history is thorough, which is admired even by professional historians. He wrote "The History of the Chinese People" in prison, which is a work full of emotion and writing. No official history can match him in exposing the truth of history and letting us see more violence, debauchery, and oppression that existed in history. In a certain sense, Bei Yang's view of history is actually in line with Mao Zedong's words: "Wherever there is oppression, there is resistance." But the result of the resistance was still a change of regime, and history repeated itself. Bei Yang's writing of history is to restore its original face, that is, the "history of ghosts." He picks up stories at will; he flips through them, and they are all materials; the strange and interesting stories are all historical facts with roots. In his view, the twenty-six histories of China, known as the "official history," are nothing but a river of flying elephants and a sea of lies. Bei Yang said, "To call it a sea of lies is still being polite, it is really a large vat of soy sauce." In "The Jade Emperor Sits High in the Clouds," he wrote, "The Chinese are really strange. Once they show a little prominence, they must show some extraordinary talent and some strangeness. This method is not understood by Westerners. Have you heard anyone say that Mr. Washington is a worm—dragon? Or have you heard that Mr. Lincoln was born with red light all over the room, with red light all over the room? Only the leaders of the Chinese political arena, whether they are the ancestors of a unified or the descendants of a miserable little situation, whether they are long-lived dynasties of a hundred years or short-lived dramas of three or five years, are all extraordinary." He wrote about those emperors, after becoming emperors, the official and unofficial histories of later generations all wrote them as deities. The greater the power, the more spectacular the strangeness. Bei Yang studied the founding ancestors of each dynasty according to the order of the "official history," and found that their birth was either an insect, a snake, or some kind of white tiger spirit, or that the room was full of red light, with various omens early on, and it was really. Through Bei Yang's analysis of the birth of the emperors of ancient China, he saw that the "official history" created ghost stories to maintain the legitimacy and rationality of the existence of feudal emperors, making it seem that all emperors were destined by heaven, with extraordinary birth, and were born as dragon species. He pointed out, "This is the so-called 'official history' of China, and it is also the 'good history' praised by the sages. What does it have? It's all there, just lacking the truth" ("And See the 'Good History'"), and the root of it is the traditional culture of "might makes right" that created this absurdity and untruth in history. This is Bei Yang's heavy blow to the "sea of lies" in Chinese history and culture. The thing he wanted to do can be called the most thorough demystification of history. In this series, Bei Yang gives a sharp critique of education. Bei Yang has nothing but to say about any unsatisfactory status quo, and education is even more so a "tunnel" full of problems in his eyes. He takes "saving the next generation of children" as part of the modern education reform, and targets the problems of the education system, analyzing its causes in detail, and proposes specific reform measures, with the aim of building a strong and democratic modern country composed of physically and mentally healthy citizens. He wants to clear up this tunnel with his own strength. Of course, this is impossible. But Bei Yang's spirit is precious, his sense of responsibility is significant, and until today, Bei Yang's criticisms are still so appropriate. Bei Yang's education system in Taiwan during the 1960s and 1970s (some articles involve the 1980s). At that time, Taiwan's Nationalist government also hoped to revitalize Taiwanese society through education. Taiwan's education in the 1960s and 1970s went through a rapid development process. However, the advantages of educational resources were still very scarce, and the competition for good schools and ways to go abroad was extremely fierce, which made primary and secondary school students unbearable. Bei Yang criticized the joint examination system. He called for "the joint examination system must be changed," the most important reason being that he saw that the huge pressure of the "joint examination" had led to vicious tutoring, which was a murder of the physical and mental health of primary and secondary school students, and also a devastation of the teaching of "vicious tutoring." Bei Yang pointed out that the reason the official repeatedly and failed to stop the "vicious tutoring" was mainly due to the fierce competition between students. He continued to find that too many students produced too many student resources, which was also the most fundamental reason for the popularity of "vicious tutoring." Bei Yang also saw Taiwan's characteristic "colonial consciousness education," in addition to the original imperial examination tunnel, there was also a new "imperial examination tunnel" of Western origin ("Gathering the Great Freshness of the World"). This is a new imperial examination tunnel with "life with going abroad as the goal," and "vicious tutoring" is still its only magic weapon. Therefore, Bei Yang detested "vicious tutoring" and strongly advocated "family planning" and contraception, believing that it was the "only way to eradicate vicious tutoring" ("Family Planning! Family Planning! Family Planning!"). Through family planning to reduce the population, correspondingly improve people's living standards and education quality, and change the education status quo. The problems faced by Taiwan at that time still exist in mainland China today, and even exceed them. Bei Yang's sharp criticism is still reasonable today, and it has reference significance for how we educate the next generation and for the various problems and difficulties of contemporary education. In this series, Bei Yang still criticizes the outdated customs and various of the nation. Lu Xun has long criticized the cold, numb, and jealous character and the spectator mentality of the Chinese people. Years later, although the social situation has changed somewhat, these shortcomings still exist surprisingly, and are extremely similar to those in the past. Jealousy has caused terrible consequences, with internal struggles, lack of unity, and even tragic deaths. It is the most extreme manifestation of the of the nation, so Bei Yang called it the "source of all evils" and fiercely criticized it. Bei Yang also paid attention to human weaknesses. In many essays, he mercilessly exposed various weaknesses of human nature. How long-standing habits had shaped various social psychology. As a Chinese person, Bei Yang so sharply criticized the Chinese people that many Chinese could not understand why. National pride and self-confidence are always slogans and scriptures of a nation. People are happy to act as elites who promote the spirit of national tradition, and no one is willing to reveal shortcomings. Especially overseas Chinese are happy to define the Chinese nation as a hardworking, wise, and mutually helpful collective. But Bei Yang painfully felt the various vices, negative characters, and narrow-minded psychology of the Chinese people. He pointed them out frankly, making the Chinese people face them and have the courage to do so. As a fierce critic of the secular society, Bei Yang was not a pessimist. He held a far-reaching ideal, a sincere desire to improve Chinese civilization, and was indignant at the world and hated evil as enemies, never compromising, and never softening. All of this stemmed from his honesty and thoroughness. "The Chinese have so many ugly faces, only the Chinese can reform the Chinese. The suffering of the Chinese people is multifaceted, and everyone must awaken. If we all become good critics, we can appreciate ourselves, appreciate our friends, and appreciate our leaders. This is the road that the Chinese people should take at present, and it is the only road." In the end of "The Ugly Chinese," Bei Yang said so. The fundamental problem, of course, is not that Bei Yang's words are sharp and direct, but whether he is telling the truth? Unfortunately, as long as the Chinese people are honest and clear, they have to admit that Bei Yang's blunt statements are facts, and they have to be overwhelmed by Bei Yang's keen observation and analysis. Even today, it is still a wake-up call. Since May 1960, when he started writing a column in the "Independent Evening News," it has been nearly half a century. Looking at the huge changes in history, the cultural diseases that Bei Yang pointed out have not disappeared. Some are still stubborn, and some have become even more severe. Since this is the case, it is meaningless to oppose Bei Yang. It is tantamount to covering one's own eyes again. Bei Yang was just asking everyone to open their eyes to see the facts. He was not wrong, he had the courage, he had the pain of flesh and blood, he was responsible, and he was real. Today, with the strong economic development of mainland China, the rise of China in the 21st century seems imminent. The Chinese people are also intoxicated with the imagination of a brilliant future. At such a time, reading Bei Yang's essays and truly removing the bad habits on our bodies, taking a more pragmatic attitude to absorb the excellent achievements of human civilization, and paying attention to the renewal and reform of our education system, will undoubtedly have an infinitely profound significance for creating a healthy, strong, broad, and vibrant Chinese civilization. I was honored to be recommended by Mr. Bei Yang and Ms. Zhang Xianghua to take on the role of the chief editor of the essay series. I deeply feel that my knowledge is shallow and my talent is limited, and I am not qualified for the job. However, respect is better than obedience, so I accept this with gratitude. Here I thank them for their trust in me. Due to the urgency of time and my limited ability, errors and omissions are inevitable, and I hope the will criticize and correct them. This is the preface. Chen Xiaoming November 9, 2005, Beijing