Don’t sing praises for the emperor, but only speak human words for the common people? Bo Yang’s "Outline of Chinese History" We have only one country, and that is China. We are proud to be Chinese, not proud to be members of a dynasty. When China was as powerful as the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty, we were proud to be Chinese. When China was in decline, such as the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Five Dynasties, the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, and the end of the Qing Dynasty, we were still proud to be Chinese. China, our mother, is our only foothold. All dynasties are just Chinese dynasties, and all countries are another name for China. ?
This is what Taiwanese writer Bo Yang wrote in "Outline of Chinese History".
"Outline of Chinese History" is a masterpiece written by Bo Yang during his nine years and twenty-six days in prison while he devoted himself to sorting out Chinese history. With nearly 800,000 words, the book narrates and comments on the entire history of China from the mythical age when Pangu created the world to the invasion of Beijing by the Eight-Power Allied Forces in the first year of the twentieth century.
Bo Yang made a sensation in the Chinese world with "The Ugly Chinese". With his criticism of the bad nature of the nation and the weaknesses of traditional culture, Bo Yang is undoubtedly an enlightener of the new era. In Bo Yang's eyes, this imperial masterpiece of Chinese history actually interprets "human history". Bo Yang's view of history is centered on "human beings" and overthrows the traditional imperial historiography. He claims to be a history written by civilians and written in prison. "We do not sing praises for the emperor, but only speak human words for the common people", so it is named "Outline of Chinese Human History", with the focus on "human beings".
When Qian Liqun, a professor of the Chinese Department of Peking University, read Bo Yang's works, he naturally thought of Mr. Lu Xun. Lu Xun once had an idea. He wanted to choose something that has always been extremely special and extremely representative. A kind of Chinese character. To make a "History of Chinese People", Mr. Lu Xun did not write it in the end. The history series books "Outline of Chinese People's History" written by Mr. Boyang are to some extent what Lu Xun wanted to write. The "History of the Chinese People". ?Mr. Boyang and Mr. Lu Xun are similar in a sense. They both insist on criticizing the weaknesses of the Chinese people and the weaknesses of Chinese traditional culture. They also insist on self-reflection and the self-reflection of the entire nation.
Bo Yang is not a court historian, nor an academic historian, but a civilian historian. He writes history with his consistent critical spirit, comments on history from the perspective of human nature, and has insight into human nature and human nature. Historical, unique and subtle. Bo Yang despised the emperors of the past dynasties. He did not call the emperor by his temple name like other history books, but called him by his first name. Bo Yang does not stand from the standpoint of "revising history", but from the standpoint of "telling history".