The British Museum's explanation of the Renaissance says: "This was a time when people changed the way they saw the world. ”

In the history of the Chinese, the "way of seeing the world" has actually changed. The "Twenty-Four History" has always been regarded as the "criterion" for accurately recording and reviewing the past, but their standards vary from era to era.

In the "Historical Records", Sima Qian recorded the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, recorded Qu Yuan, who "believed but doubted, loyal and slandered", and recorded the story of "Zhao's orphans". In Sima Qian's standards, he wrote history, in order to "study the changes of heaven and man, through the changes of the past and the present, and the words of the poor family". So in his history, he asked, if Heaven is just, why did a person like Bo Yi Shuqi, who was virtuous and almost strict in demanding himself, end up starving to death in Shouyang Mountain?

But Sima Guang, he wouldn't ask like that. In "Zizhi Tongjian", there is no Qu Yuan, no Li Bai Dufu, and no Bo Yi Shuqi, he only cares about those people and things that "in view of the past, in order to govern the Tao". His criterion is, as a "social person", how can he be considered to have fulfilled his duties?

"History books" are not only historical records, but also the most fiery, clear and unreserved moral concepts of historians. While we feel comfortable taking their accounts as facts that happened, we also accept the historians' standards of "good and evil", "right and wrong", and "the way the world should be". So, will Durant, a historian of civilization, says that history is mostly speculation, and the rest is bias. As later generations, we don't actually have the right to choose another perspective - materials and perspectives have long been connected by flesh and blood, and the past we see will always pass through the eyes of historians, and we don't even have the right to choose the depth of field, the tone, and who to close-up.

But curiosity does not allow reading at the same pace, always wanting to find more angles, materials, and piece together more complete and flesh-and-blood characters. Pei Songzhi annotated "Three Kingdoms", made many detailed aspects, and even rewrote the character of the characters. He provided two ways for Xun Yu to die: Chen Shou wrote in the text of "Three Kingdoms" that Xun Yu died because of worry. Pei Songzhi said that there is another way to say "Wei's Spring and Autumn": Cao Cao gave Xun Yu an empty food box, and Xun Yu knew that Cao Cao couldn't tolerate him, so he committed suicide. He also provides two explanations for Cao Cao's killing of Lü Bohao's family: the Book of Wei says that Cao Cao fled to Lü Bohao's house, and Lü Bohao's sons knew that Dong Zhuo was arresting Cao Cao and wanted to tie him up, so Cao Cao killed them and ran away. In "The World Says New Words", it is said that Cao Cao killed Lu Boyao and his son because he suspected that Lu Boyao was going to hand him over to Dong Zhuo, claiming that he would rather me bear the people of the world than the people of the world bear me. And Chen Shou didn't record this incident in the "Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms" at all.

Later, when people who study history choose screening materials, they often can't resist the temptation, and even look for a puzzle that fits their own story line.

The Book of Jin was criticized by later generations, because in the compilation, too many "novelists' words" were used: "Yulin", "Shishuo Xinyu", "Youminglu" and "Sou Shen Ji", which not only have paragraphs, but also strange powers. But this gave future generations more perspectives to observe the characters. It's like a whole page of a puzzle, put together into a complete pattern, tightly fitted, and nothing is left to be considered "correct". Now, there is no such thing as being absolutely "right", because with more pieces of the puzzle, there are more possibilities.

Lu Xun once praised the "Records of the Historians", saying that it is "the swan song of the historian, the rhyme of the separation", and when he praised the historiography and literary value of Sima Qian's works, he actually admitted a foundation, here, the historical narrative and the literary narrative are like a pair of brothers, and they have grown up along the same trajectory. But then, they parted ways due to different understandings of "real". People have built a thousand-foot-tall embankment between "literature" and "history" with the intention of not inviolating each other.

But from another perspective, literature also provides more "material" for history, and now, not only poetry can be used as historical materials, but even epitaphs, chronicles, and legends are used as materials for "reconstructing history". From this point of view, the Book of Jin, and even all subsequent works that enter the inner space of the characters to narrate history, while providing certain historical archives and materials, also provide a stronger stance and sympathy for the past: they re-"shape" the historical figures, their positions, the views of the people at the time, and their own attitudes towards the present.

In the eyes of historians of some genres, this is a danger, but for others, it is the meaning and pleasure of reading and writing history – like a detective, breaking through a puzzle that has already been put together to see if you can get a new pattern!

And I, who sneaked after the historians and writers, cared most about people. In this book, I have collected some of the old essays from nearly ten years ago, revised them, and put them together with some new essays to form a series, writing about the times that I think should be most noticed today. The people in this book, who were well-educated thousands of years ago, faced choices again and again in the turmoil of the times, because they had unrealistic fantasies about life, and their eyebrows fluttered, and they fell into the endless abyss.

When I use the historical records left by my predecessors and contemporary research, I can't help but make reasonable speculations, hoping to see their hearts as a modern person a thousand years later. Maybe they don't see it at all, but it's just a futile attempt to prove that they have the same problems as us.

History can restore the past in infinite detail: what to eat, what to wear, what to wear, how to see a doctor, how to change the house and speculate on the land. Of course, history can also be a "guide to life": tell you how to pat your boss on the back, build a good relationship with your colleagues, and everyone loves you. You can also buy "McKinsey teaches you XX rules in the workplace" and "Warren Buffett's XX advice to young people" at the same counter in bookstores. After reading 800 "workplace cheats", you are convinced that you are a "workplace elite", and you can't avoid a sudden layoff.

On another level, history can also be an emotional exchange – since people are of the same mind, we are deeply involved in the problems of life, and they have encountered them before. I wanted to use this book to write about their lives, like a switchback run, like a roller coaster, with highs and lows, which is something that cannot be expected or avoided. Even in the midst of the greatest worldly success, there can be discouragement and emptiness. I want to go back to their time, stand beside them, and see the most turbulent and confused life in front of them.

Time has changed, the world has changed, but the problem of "life" is still in front of you and me. I want to open their answer books and see their answers. Right or wrong. But they write so seriously, chic and beautiful. That's how good it is.

There are probably a lot of deficiencies and omissions, and sometimes there are too many speculations, and it is inevitable that wild horses will get off the leash. You are also welcome to send me an email, questions, suggestions, compliments, and complaints, all of which are received: [email protected]. You are also welcome to scan the following QR code to follow my official account.

Thanks for seeing here.

Thanksgiving Day 2017 in rural America