The sound of the wind · The sound of the rain · The sound of reading

Author: Zhu Xueqin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-04-01
Features: Intellectuals can be divided into two types—academic thinkers and problem-solvers. We always respect the former, but due to the limitations of our temperament, we are probably only suited to be the latter. The so-called "problem consciousness" of the author's generation largely originated in the later period of the Cultural Revolution. The pioneers awakened in the ideological debates of 1968, while the later ones would not be late to the September 13th Incident of 1971. At that time, they engaged in fervent debates about stirring issues in private settings, with weak academic knowledge but vigorous physical strength. Later, the author chose to study at liberal arts colleges and specialize in the history of thought, driven more by the motivation of "problem consciousness" than by a singular academic interest. The generation named after "1968" later underwent significant divisions, with only a few lucky ones entering liberal arts colleges. Even so, among the latter group, fewer and fewer are willing to balance theoretical understanding with "problem-solving" and advance them simultaneously. In those years, thinking about issues that only intellectuals could consider in normal circumstances, while not being recognized as intellectuals themselves, was certainly a distortion of history. However, it forged the intellectual life of this generation. If, after gaining intellectual status, one immediately pursues academic success and abandons the "problem consciousness" of their youth, it is like buying the box and discarding the jade—tragedy of thought for an entire generation. This book records the author's ten-year journey of intellectual exploration driven by "problem consciousness," including academic articles written while enduring solitude, as well as emotionally charged short essays, book reviews—"writing with laughter," "writing with cries," "writing with tears." These reflections on theory and emotion reflect the true insights of an intellectual historian, a passionate concern for the fate of the nation, and a relentless pursuit of self-cultivation and spiritual life.