? 1. The scientific spirit of seeking truth and being pragmatic
Under the severe pressure of survival and the tradition of Confucian pragmatism, scientism in the history of science and technology in China has been an intermittent trickle, and scientists who pursue scientism are rare. More than a thousand years after Wei Jinchun's mathematician Liu Hui, there has not been a scientific master of scientism. It was not until the late Ming Dynasty that Xu Xiake, a legendary figure, creatively completed another lightning development process of China's scientism.
Under the social conditions of ancient China, it is not an exaggeration to say that scientism is a miracle that comes once in a thousand years. The spirit of scientism is different from the traditional strong practical spirit, which takes thousands of years to create and cultivate. As Wang Guowei said, "it will take decades for a husband's material civilization to be taken from other countries." The only spiritual interest is not as good as thousands of years of practice and a day or two of genius. "
? As far as the spirit of scientism is concerned, Liu Hui in Wei and Jin Dynasties passed away like a meteor in the night sky, while Xu Xiake, more than a thousand years later, although his contemporaries and descendants were not as spiritual as he was hundreds of years ago, his transcendental spirit of scientism was finally understood, respected and carried forward to a certain extent in China's ideological and cultural history. From then on, China's scientism spirit no longer needed to be recreated by later generations, nor was it necessarily imported from the West, but lived with China's own scientism.
When Xu Xiake travels, he goes to a wild place, but he doesn't take official roads or avenues. As long as there are places of interest, he must look for them. He must study how the mountains go and how the water flows. He doesn't have to have a road to climb, use his hands and feet, and he is not afraid of dangers, tigers and wolves, and storms, just to find the mysteries of nature and answer doubts in his heart.
He swam with his spirit and his life, which was unprecedented and unprecedented. On the way out, Xu Xiake encountered thieves several times, was robbed of property and luggage, and even was in danger of his life. I ran out of ammunition several times and was trapped in the mountains. I had a narrow escape. But for the sake of knowledge, Xu Xiake's heroic journey, thieves are not afraid, barbarians are unstoppable, political chaos is immovable, go his own way and die.
Xu Xiake's scientific practice is full of the brilliance of scientism. His approach is to pursue the combination of novel and profound subjective psychology and natural phenomena. Xu Xiake's scientific exploration is not for practicality, but for innovation and depth.
Xu Xiake discovered that the Jinsha River is the source of the Yangtze River, corrected the mistake that the predecessors regarded Tiandu Peak as the highest peak of Huangshan Mountain, discovered the influence of mountain height and temperature on mountain flowers, and explored the causes of stalactites. On the contrary, these are all based on curiosity, and they want to know the mysteries and operating rules of nature, which has no substantive practical value.
Xu Xiake's exploration of Qian Shan Wanshui has gone through difficulties and obstacles, and is full of a strong scientific exploration spirit of being free from vulgarity and doing nothing. Therefore, Xu Xiake has become an eternal legend, and Xu Xiake's travels have become an eternal book.
2. Unique innovative spirit
Xu Xiake abandoned the old road of traditional intellectuals, fell in love with mountains and rivers, and realized the innovation of life path. He has unique skepticism and courage to challenge tradition in scientific investigation, attaches importance to on-the-spot investigation and realizes the innovation of research methods and knowledge. Xu Xiake's innovative spirit is unique and provides new connotation for the innovative spirit of the Chinese nation.
Xu Xiake has read a lot of books since he was a child, but the books he read are very miscellaneous, and there are many strange books at home. The geography of mountains and rivers in the book became Xu Xiake's fantasy imagination when he was a teenager. At the age of 65,438+09, he set a lofty ambition that "a gentleman faces the blue sea and dies on the horizon". When he was in his twenties, he regarded fame and fortune as a cloud, never considered high officials and rich people, accumulated wealth and enjoyed a leisurely life. What does a senior official have? If you are a man, you must travel!
? Xu Xiake takes pleasure in suffering, "travels with his life" and devotes himself to tourism and geographical investigation. He "travels in rocky habitats, and there are no obstacles in the parade regardless of the journey or years." From the age of 22 to his death at the age of 54, he spent most of his life traveling and inspecting. Over the past 30 years, it has covered 2 1 province, city and autonomous region. His mind communicated with nature for a long time, and he was the closest scientist to nature at that time. His travels are the voice of nature. With his own maverick, he surpassed the dark reality, thus making a great achievement.
Xu Xiake's Travels is recognized as an encyclopedia of geography, from which many branches of disciplines started and laid the foundation. Many previously unknown mysteries of mountains and rivers, caves and karst wonders were described and known to the world. Xu Xiake's Travels is also the first monograph that comprehensively and objectively reflects the face of western China. In the vivid and detailed description of the natural geography and human geography of the western regions, future generations can fully understand the politics, society, economy, nationality and border defense in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, which were unknown to previous generations.
Xu Xiake's long-term rich practice is the reason why he created knowledge that his predecessors did not create, described scenes that his predecessors had never seen, and accumulated valuable materials that his predecessors had never seen in their writings. Practice makes true knowledge, and innovation comes from practice.
There are few ancient local chronicles in China. Although they are of historical value, the author seldom makes field trips. Therefore, the source of information can only be copied from old books or extracted from local reports. A considerable part has not been inspected and verified, and a lot of knowledge is specious. It is not surprising that the judgment is wrong. From the earliest Gong Yu in Han Dynasty to Shuijing, and then to the unified Ming Dynasty in Yuanhe County and Huiji County, these problems inevitably existed.
? With a sincere feeling for nature and a heroic spirit, Xu Xiake went deep into areas that had not been reached before and made a large-scale and long-term field trip. He didn't take the old road and blindly follow the classics, but boldly doubted and carefully verified, and found a new way with unique insights and fearless spirit.
For example, the geography book "Yugong" in the Warring States period has the saying that "the Minjiang River guides the river", and later books have been used. Xu Xiake has doubts about this. With this question, he finally found that the Jinsha River originated in the southern foot of Kunlun Mountain, which is more than 1000 miles longer than Minjiang River, so he came to the conclusion that the Jinsha River is the source of the Yangtze River.
Xu Xiake's rich practice is a creative activity, which transcends the predecessors. Only by accumulating rich practical experience can we lay a solid foundation for scientific research and innovation. The reasons why Xu Xiake surpassed his predecessors in tourism, geography, history and literature. He is even called the originator of branch disciplines such as cave science and karst geomorphology, because his rich investigation practice, fearless spirit and arduous independent thinking surpassed his predecessors, and he finally surpassed his predecessors in achievements and set up a monument in the history of scientific investigation and research.
3. Live the true spirit of self.
Those things written in the Ming Dynasty, Mingyue, the first emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, the first prime minister Zhang, the first tough guy, the first honest official Hai Rui, the first loyal minister Yu Qian, the first gifted scholar Yang Shen, the first famous soldier Qi Jiguang and the first great philosopher Wang Yangming ... However, these glorious figures in history are not the finale. Guess, who was the finale of those events in the Ming Dynasty?
You probably didn't expect it to be Xu Xiake! Why did Yue Ming leave the most important grand finale to Xu Xiake? He is not a senior official and has no fame. He only does one thing in his life.
At first, Yue Ming was very confused and puzzled. Why did Xu Xiake do this? No funding, no recognition (at least not before death), no interest, no future, giving up everything and spending a lifetime just to travel? What is it for? He was puzzled, so he remembered another story.
Hillary Clinton, a New Zealand mountaineer, is often asked a question by reporters after climbing Mount Everest: Why did you climb it? He never answered, so the reporter kept asking. Finally, once, he answered an answer that everyone could no longer ask: because it was there! Because it's there.
? In fact, many things in this world don't need a reason. As Xu Xiake said before his death, "Zhang Qian in the Han Dynasty, Xuanzang in the Tang Dynasty and Lu Ye Chu Cai in the Yuan Dynasty all traveled around the world. However, they all accepted the emperor's orders and were ordered to travel in all directions. " "I'm just a civilian. I wasn't ordered. I only wear clothes, crutches and sandals. I traveled around the world alone, so I have no regrets when I die. "
? When the moon says, what I want to tell is in this story. I believe many people will ask, what did you say? Such a large space tells the rise and fall of a dynasty, but in the end, it tells such a story. What are you talking about? He said that the latter words were for people who don't understand, and those who do don't need to continue reading.
In "Those Things in the Ming Dynasty", Mingyue talked about many things, such as the rise and fall of dynasties, helpless replacement, princes and princes changing, but only this last thing is what he thinks is the most important. He said that the so-called hegemony, eternal glory, everything is just dirt. First it becomes feces, then it becomes soil.
Finally, what he expressed through Xu Xiake was enough to despise all princes and princes. The most perfect conclusion is that there is only one kind of success-living your life in your own way. Xu Xiake is a lucky man. He lives in his own way. His "true self" spirit makes him unable to hide his shining brilliance even in the depths of history!
In Xu Xiake's carefree life, many people don't understand, and many people repeatedly advise him: "Why do you need it?" It's hard to do so many useless things without any funding! "However, Xu Xiake never doubted or wavered, but unswervingly spent his unique life in his favorite way!
How many of us have the courage to live our own lives? How many people live in the expectation of others or society? Either you don't know what you want, or you know what you want, but you don't have the courage to change and pursue. Therefore, you are in pain and confusion. Xu Xiake's "true self" spirit, which is not influenced by tradition and bound by secularism, bravely lived his own life in his own way, and finally achieved the reputation of a strange man through the ages. We ordinary people don't want any fame and want to live our lives in our own way. When we leave this world, we can say "I have no regrets in my life", which is enough.