History is like a mirror. If the mirror surface is not smooth, the person reflected in it will be out of shape. "Reading History" is a work written by Wang Anshi in his later years. With his rich life experience, he knew that the history written by his predecessors was very different from the historical facts.
He lamented, "Since ancient times, fame has been hard work, and no one will give it to someone else." A lifetime of political activities has required hard work to achieve fame and success since ancient times. But in the end, who will the cause be entrusted to?
“The darkness at that time was still a mistake, and the confusion of customs made it more confusing.” Historians wrote history, covering up the darkness of the time, allowing mistakes to be passed down. There were divergent opinions, rumors were passed down, and lies were confused with truth. "What is passed down by dross is not the pure beauty, but what is difficult to describe is the spirit." Some of the dross handed down from history are not the real essence of history. Just like a painting brush, it is easy to imitate the appearance, but it is difficult to draw the spiritual essence. "It is impossible to fulfill the ideals of the sages and stick to the dust of paper for thousands of years." Finally, he confessed that although I cannot realize the ideals of the sages of ancient times, I must stick to their ideas (actually his ideas for reform) even though they are written on paper. The history has been covered in dust! This reflects that although Wang Anshi failed in the reform and will be written into the history of being demoted, in his heart, he is still strong and strong. It was really in the middle of a dream, when I woke up from the drunkenness, I thought about it.
When we read history, when we are young, we have no doubt that there will be mistakes in the black and white words, and we follow what others say. But after you have a certain amount of experience, you can truly have your own judgment. Didn’t Confucius say, “You should not be confused at forty”? So is it true that people under forty cannot distinguish right from wrong? We can't blame us for the fact that there are fakes and lies everywhere in today's affairs. It turns out that they have a historical heritage. Telling a lie a hundred times becomes the truth. It is not an invention of today. Our country is a big country that has created many firsts, and lying and fraud is also a first!
After reading this article "Reading History" by Wang Anshi, I really have to think about it. The winners are princes and the losers are thieves. The official history is all written by imperial literati. They will inevitably praise the current dynasty and deny the previous dynasty. The historian is neither confused nor confused, either concealing evil and promoting good for the gentleman, or making choices and tampering with the emperor's orders. He is only allowed to sing praises for those in power. When the history was compiled in another generation, another correction came. There were many versions of one thing, and unofficial historians joked that they couldn't agree on one. What we can see today is that even the contemporary party history has been changed over and over again, and the paper is covered with dust. How can we understand the five thousand years of Chinese history?
So how should we read history? How to understand true and false? I am reminded of what Mr. Lu Xun said about "A Dream of Red Mansions": "The meaning of fate varies depending on the reader's vision: Confucian scholars see "Yi", Taoists see prostitution, talents see entanglement, revolutionaries see rows, and gossips see palace secrets." If it is not intentional, the butt determines the head, perhaps it is the stance that determines the point of view.