Mr. Mu Tao's articles have a big realm, big feelings, and great persistence, but they are good to write from a small place. If you are not careful, if you look at it from a small place, it is easy to lose your eyes and lose the essentials.

He talked about letters, historians, trees and monuments, Tao and morality, respect and shame, cost and cost, using historical facts as a reference, saying the meaning of "Spring and Autumn", but it was deep and realistic. Therefore, it can "turn the sky into the air and be surprised", quote the scriptures, but do not die under the words, all because "read the history and put it into practice, and review the old to know the new". "History is already dead, and only by reading it alive can it have new value. Croce said that "all history is contemporary history", and he meant it in a nutshell. However, whether or not you can read history alive is not only a matter of learning, but also a test of the reader's knowledge. Mu Tao admired Ban Gu's "Spring and Autumn" penmanship, and praised him for writing Liu Bang's birth text "really from the heart and not exceeding the rules", which is enough to be a model for later generations of historians, and what he values is the historical tradition of "Confucius is the Spring and Autumn Period, and the chaotic ministers and thieves are afraid". He emphasized the sobering significance of history, did not agree with the pragmatic attitude towards history, and looked beyond the Tang Dynasty, which established the history museum system, and used the historical books of the pre-Qin and Han dynasties to say "the common way" and find "the great truth of heaven, earth and man". If you don't have an eclectic temperament, take the essence and use the macro knowledge, and still have a "practical application" mind, you probably won't be so focused and pen.

Scholars who are slightly involved in literature read "Hanshu", and they pay more attention to "Art and Literature". Mu Tao talked about the admonition of the "Book of Han", but he started from the "Food and Goods Journal", he talked about the reduction and exemption of agricultural taxes by Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and said that Jia Yi's "On Accumulation and Sparseness" and "Admonition to Cast Money and Sparseness" have all kinds of matters of our time as references. It is not difficult for readers to distinguish the meaning of praise and disapproval and good intentions. Talking about food and goods without talking about art and literature, what you see is the author's world mind and feelings for helping the world. Ouyang Xiu said that "literature is basically about moistening the body, and political affairs can be transitive", and the intention is also here. Mu Tao praised Dong Zhongshu highly, saying that he "laid the foundation for the core position of Confucianism in Chinese culture, and reasoned by etiquette and entered the religion with etiquette", which was a self-proof and self-breakthrough of "worry" born from his own personal observation of the inherent problems of Chinese culture that lacked the main religion. Cai Yuanpei worked hard to "replace religion with aesthetic education" many years ago, and Liu Xiaofeng once spared no effort to "import" the fundamental intention of Christianity for the Chinese people, which is no different from Mu Tao's thoughts. However, Mu Tao's "cleverness" lies in the fact that he has "a wit born from 'Chen'", and his "new thinking" is not imported, such as he emphasizes that Jia Pingwa's novel brushwork needs to be "looked at with the eyes of 'Chinese painting'", "he (Jia Pingwa) is good at using 'broken brushwork and scattered fronts', and a large area of mass rendering seems to be stuffed, but in fact there is a connection between layers and veins, and the true qi is dripping and warm, and vast and heavy." There are Western colors in the rendering, but there are Chinese lines hidden. He has developed the traditional 'freehand', which seems to be chaotic and neat, and the details are vague and indescribable, but the whole is clear and clear." It is not difficult for readers who are familiar with Jia Pingwa to understand that this is talking about works such as "Qin Cavity" and "Ancient Furnace". But it might as well be interpreted as Mu Tao's master's own way. The problem of Chinese culture can be solved by Chinese culture itself. However, the kung fu of "seeking all bodies" is not easy to obtain. If it weren't for the deep foundation of old books, and immersed in ancient books, immersed in ancient books and calmly played with their souls, it would be difficult to have such insight. Otherwise, the writing of "Qin Cavity" and "Ancient Furnace" will not be puzzled and criticized.

It is precisely because we have seen through the inherent problems and limitations of Chinese culture, which lacks the main religion, that we are well aware of the shortcomings of the cultural revolution in the early 20th century, which abandoned classical Chinese and used vernacular Chinese, "because the traditional cultural chain has been broken". Mu Tao has deeply reflected and criticized the simplicity and crudeness of this dualistic thinking. That kind of extraordinary things at extraordinary times in a special social and cultural context have become "normal", and "tame" generations of intellectuals have been immersed in it without knowing it, and have no intention or ability to reflect on "this evil fruit borne by the tree of culture", let alone strive to "rebuild Chinese culture and rebuild Chinese cultural self-confidence". Mu Tao's repeated emphasis on old rules, etiquette, order, and simplicity of writing style, and emphasizing the integrity of keeping the heart of writing and the integrity of writing, is to rebuild the cultural self-confidence of the Chinese and restore the ability of traditional Chinese culture to speak on current social issues. This is a "return to the original", but the "return to the original" is to "open a new one". To regard this as "conservative" or "culturally conservative" is to underestimate him. With the attitude of "cultural radicalism", the academic circles will study the academics of the "Xueheng School" and "Zhugong" of the year, expound the truth, prosper the quintessence of the country, and melt new knowledge. Judging the cultural efforts of "cultural conservatism" from the perspective of righteousness, carrying out the ministry of criticism, and not being biased and non-party, and not agitating or following" is enough to show the ugliness of this kind of thinking. A discerning person must not be observed.

Therefore, in order to read through Mu Tao's writings, the mind must not wander around in the intellectual atmosphere of the past 100 years, but must do some work on the so-called "suspension" of phenomenology, temporarily suspend the tradition of Western studies, and the tradition of cultural modernity created by the intellectuals of the "May Fourth" generation. It's not that these two traditions are bad, it's just that there are other possibilities in the realm of culture. There is also the possibility of extending from the "heart of China". This possibility is rooted in the spirit and spirit of the classical tradition. It is necessary to "dive back and forth, play calmly", and also have understanding and instrumental knowledge, which is the wonderful and conspicuous place of Mu Tao's article, and I think it is also his pride.

The ancient gentleman was clear in etiquette and ugly in knowing people's hearts. This is probably the greatest repunate to traditional literati, and it is also an important issue for today's people to be more careful when reading and writing. Mu Tao writes about the state of the world, writes about human feelings, refers to Chen ills, and throughout the ancient and modern times, there is no lack of criticism of the heart, that is, there is an insight into the world and human feelings to practice as a foundation. He emphasized that "articles should be written in accordance with the time", and further pointed out that "timeliness is in line with the general rhythm of the social process, not a momentary beat or drumbeat." The person who writes the article should be clear-eyed and calm, see the focus of the situation, and see the change in the trend of society. Once the article loses the reality of the times and society, and loses its true knowledge and true feelings, it will decline. With such insight, the article is naturally not empty. He said, "We in China used to call ourselves the 'country of etiquette', which is true, because the rules are specific and the etiquette is clear. Later, the etiquette was disrespectful, many rules were smashed as the 'four olds', the big rules were lost to the government and the opposition, and the unspoken rules that could not be put on the table emerged. "It's about the old people and the old things, but the starting point and the end point are all in the present, and using the past to metaphorize the present or the present to talk about the past is the key to reading history. Westerner Bacon said that "reading history makes people wise", and a wise vision is able to penetrate the subtleties of the world, gain insight into the world, people, people, and all living beings, and the realm and feelings born from this are fundamental. Mu Tao has excellent rhetorical skills, and his penmanship is deeply won by the notes of the past dynasties. In the notes of the predecessors, there is the charm of good Chinese writing, and it is easy to cultivate the "hidden" feelings of the literati, but Mu Tao's writing, the realm is "up", but the words are implemented, and there are fireworks and the taste of life. "The practice of human affection is the article, this is an ancient precept. Practice is tempering, and reaching is thorough. A good article in the world is to write through how the heavens temper people. ”

Mu Tao commented on his works with the word "idle book". This is not straightforward. Jin Shengsigh "Reading the Fifth Genius Calligraphy" cloud: "If you read, you must first know what kind of mind the writer is. For example, the "Historical Records" must be played out by Taishi Gongyi's belly grudge, so he specially focused on the spirit of the "Ranger" and "Cargo Colony" biographies; and even in the rest of the records and biographies, whenever he encountered the squandering of money and murder, he was amazed. A "Historical Record" is only six words, which is the purpose of his life. "Water Margin" is not. Shi Nai'an didn't have a belly grudge to play, but he was full of warmth and nothing, and he was idle, so he couldn't help but stretch out his paper and pen, find a topic, and write out his own many brocade hearts, so right and wrong are not wrong to the saint. "Reading Mu Tao's words carefully, you can see that this gentleman has a belly out of place, and the ambition of writing is far away from Shi Nai'an, which is quite similar to Taishi Gong. "Zhou Yi" "Dishan Qian" hexagram "Dictionaries" said: "Humility, the gentleman is more than the few, and the thing is even." "Humble gentleman" and "praise things and give nothing" are the basic impressions given by Mu Tao and his writings, but he also has the "love" and "chivalrous" side of Jin Shengsi, and has "cotton needle and mud pricking method", "outside the pen and ink, there is a sharp blade to poke in". If you can't appreciate this in his writings, you are mistaken about him.

Or in "Zhou Yi", there is a "Fu" hexagram "Yi" that says: "Fu, its heart to see heaven and earth?" Mu Tao valued the rules of the ancients, emphasizing that "we have come to think about the standards of literary creation in a normal state of the country", and that we must have "Made in China", get out of the "apprentice" mentality of Chinese people who have studied in the West for a hundred years, and find cultural self-confidence. It is about to take the meaning of "return and return" and do some work of "returning to the original and opening a new one". Although it is a "previous atmosphere", it is not an opening to the possibility of the future.

Mr. Sun Yu said that in the early 70s, he read "Hu Shiwencun" by chance, and realized that "the pioneers of the New Culture Movement are a group of people who have a deep taste for Chinese culture." Later, I came into contact with the works of Lu Xun, Chen Duxiu, and Zhou Zuoren" and was attracted to them, "not only in the vernacular, but also in the strange atmosphere in the ancient poems and texts, and their ancient customs deeply stained in the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties." Half of the footprints are in the past, half in the present, and there is a wonder of history. This passage can be used to illustrate my feelings when I read "The Previous Atmosphere".

To be honest, in this era, there are really not as many people with true insight and great insight as we think. Mr. Zheng Peikai, who studied Chinese history at Yale, said: "The May Fourth generation did not break with tradition, but it broke with our generation. I agree with this very much, but I always think that if Mr. Zheng reads Mu Tao's article, in addition to praising "I have a kinship with my heart", I am afraid he will not be too pessimistic about the revival of Chinese cultural traditions and the continuation of the thousand-year-old cultural context.

Yang Hui