To use an inappropriate analogy, there are four moles on the fat face of our Chinese history, which are very conspicuous, right on the surface of the face.

The first one, 4,000 years of Chinese history and 5,000 years of Chinese civilization, both of these statements say that our history is long and thick. But our history is a history of dynasties, 25 histories, and 25 major stages. Why do you say that? Because the continuation of dynasties and dynasties is not a natural extension, but a revolution, one overthrows another, it is bloodshed and sacrifice, and basically the power comes out of the barrel of a gun, and it is customary to say that it is a change of dynasty. Between paragraphs, it is the senior welder who welds together. Our history is more like a thick chain of rings and rings. We have a general history of China, but there is no general history of China, there are experts in the Qin and Han dynasties, experts in the Wei and Jin dynasties, experts in the Tang Dynasty, experts in the Song Dynasty, and so on.

What does this way of history bring us?

We have such a long history, but very few of the big buildings left, especially the royal palace, were set on fire by later generations. The Qing Dynasty was followed by the Republic of China, which opened a new page and opened a new era of civilization. If it is another imperial system, the Forbidden City in Beijing may not be preserved.

We have more than 20 dynasties, and each dynasty has so many princes and generals, and if their quarters and offices were preserved, what a magnificent scene would be today. But the fact is that once a son of heaven and a courtier, not only the dynasties were broken and rebuilt after the dynasties were broken. Even in a dynasty, when the new emperor ascended the throne and took over the jade seal from Lao Tzu, he had to implement new ideas. Not only the emperor, but we can also consider a practical question: What kind of mentality does a section chief and section chief have toward the actions of his predecessor after taking office? There are very few people who continue to advance on the original basis, and he wants to implement the "new policy." He does not have a "new deal", subordinates and colleagues will think that he has no level, there is no "new thing". What is the root of culture? What is the shadow of culture? These things are big problems.

The second one, the order of our history is arranged in this way, from the three emperors and five emperors all the way down to the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, this is the inductive method used. In fact, we Chinese look at history and do not follow this law, but use the deductive method. The common people have two sentences, one is "Thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi", and the other is "Five hundred years to produce a true dragon son".

These two sentences are very important and are the great wisdom of the Chinese. For example, in the first sentence, let's calculate specifically, the period from 1919 to 1949 is 30 years, the period from 1949 to 1979 is 30 years, and the period from 1979 to 2009 is 30 years. I won't say the second sentence, it's taboo.

The third, before the Tang Dynasty, was written by historians, and after the Tang Dynasty, the history museum revised history. In the era of historians, due to the different talents and cultivation of historians, and even the different perspectives and visions, history has ups and downs. In the era of the History Museum, because of "the book becomes the emperor", there is a problem of authenticity and falsehood in history. History is the history of people, and human consciousness and political consciousness are two different things, but the emperor demanded political consciousness, and politicizing history is incomplete and incomplete.

Fourth, most of the authors were Confucians. Since the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has been a national study and a university. There is a general lack of insufficient expression of the two gates of Buddha and Tao. It's like treating the leader of another unit, respecting but not kissing, or even not paying attention to it at all. Buddhism and Taoism, like Confucianism, are things that are integrated into the blood of the Chinese people, and these three are the three biggest elements in the life of the Chinese people. If a person does things with prejudice, the harm will not be too great, but if he uses prejudice to revise history, the problem will be great.

These four moles are unique to us and are typical of Chinese characteristics.

In this context, a "view of history" from different perspectives has emerged. Wen Tianxiang is an ancient, "in Qi Taishi Jian, in Jin Dong Fox Pen" is a kind. Today's people have a kind of "history is a little girl who can be dressed up". Overseas scholars are also a kind of, as Xia Zhiqing said: "Excessive patriotic enthusiasm can make a literary historian blind himself." When I read these "views of history," I feel that the methods and attitudes of managing history are a very big thing.

"A Study of the Three Regional Literary Scholars of the Tang Dynasty" is a monograph on literary history, and the method of governing history is new, which is in line with the characteristics of Chinese culture and the characteristics of Chinese literary tradition. The attitude towards history is tolerant and open, clarifying some old issues, but it can also lead to many new topics.