John bunyan was a Puritan in England. He didn't believe in the state religion, so he was imprisoned in Bedford Prison 12 years. His masterpiece (Pilgrim's Progress) was written by him in prison!
Many great writers and thinkers have written in prison. I don't know what to think of john bunyan's writing situation in prison, but I can't help thinking of Qu Qiubai in China. I sympathize with him, not simply because I sympathize with him, but because I understand him, and the scholar died. Qu Qiubai's Confessions, a scholar's memoir, recalls his life.
They are all spiritual believers, but john bunyan wrote an allegorical novel like the Oracle. Bunyan said:
Do you want to solve the melancholy?
Do you want to feel relaxed and happy? But stay away from debauchery
Do you want to see argots and their explanations?
Or would you rather be immersed in meditation?
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It is still a little difficult for orientals to understand the inner beliefs of westerners, because it involves the subtle understanding of the inner souls of both sides from different hemispheres. Their rich souls come from different worlds and the blood relationship passed down from generation to generation. If orientals simply read john bunyan's famous book, it is just a story. In fact, in the western world, this book is too famous and enlightening.
When I think of this book, I will inexplicably see the sad Qu Qiubai's tenacious loneliness in confession. Instead of praising his ideals, he pitied his loneliness. The scholar's feelings of saving the world died in a noble and sad way in the contradiction of self-decline. Did he foresee the future?
In fact, there are too many such people in life, who are passively out and die.
The picture below shows the Chinese version published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House 1983.
The protagonist in the book is dreaming. ..
John bunyan's hometown
(The picture is taken from the Library of Rational Professional Writers.)