Exploring the origin of Chinese cultural thought, thinker｜Sun Yong: Thousands of Sails Pass by the Long River

[Editor's Note] China has a long history, but most traditional history books focus on the change of dynasties. Is there any other way to write history books? Writer Sun Yong made an attempt in his new book "A Thousand Sails Pass by the Long River - The Origin of Chinese Cultural Thoughts". He selected 37 figures in the long history of China to explore the origin of Chinese cultural thought. The following is his speech at the Shanghai Library.

China has a long history, and there are countless wonderful places waiting for us to discover. However, with such a long history and tens of millions of words of history books and documents, how can non-professional readers understand it? Recently, I published a book titled "A Thousand Sails Cross the Long River - The Origin of Chinese Cultural Thoughts". This book is less than 70,000 words long and selects 37 people to try to connect thousands of years of thought and culture. Someone asked me, "You only took this scoop of three thousand weak water. What did you think?" Today, I will talk to you about some of my personal thoughts.

Read history from the perspective of cultural inheritance, continuation and development

I have loved history since I was a child. Most Chinese history books focus on dynasty changes. The advantage of writing this way is that the time clues are clear and there are no flaws in the structure. However, after reading too many such history books, confusion arises: is the change of dynasties and the detailed list of emperors something that ordinary readers need to take the time to pay special attention to? How meaningful is it to know when these emperors were born and when they died? For many students, if they often recite the chronology of dynasty changes, they will lose a lot of interest in learning history. So I have been thinking, is there any other way to write history books? Later, I saw the work of a famous Western historian. He put aside the change of dynasties, but used the method of cultural comparison to write history through representative events of various characters, technologies, and technologies of various cultures. This suddenly made me realize that we can also have such a history book.

My teacher Mr. Qian Gurong said, "Literature is the study of humanity." I think history is also created by the activities of countless living people, among which the creators of cultural and technological activities are a very important part. Therefore, I decided to throw away the limitations of the imperial chronology and write a historical reading based on cultural representatives. In the book, the names of emperors are rarely mentioned. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and a few other people were mentioned in a few sentences because they were related to important cultural changes at that time, but I basically did not write about how the imperial court was replaced. I think reading history from the perspective of cultural inheritance, continuation and development may be a new perspective and very interesting.

I mentioned at the beginning of the speech that this book only writes about 37 historical figures. Some people may ask, there are so many famous intellectuals in Chinese history, why only 37 were selected? My important consideration in choosing a character is that this character was not only very accomplished at the time, but also had a great influence on later generations of culture. Therefore, I boldly used the words "source" and "flow" in the title of the book. I not only want to see the source, but also its subsequent flow. Next, I will talk to you about the content that "impacted" my soul and some of the thoughts that resulted from it.

The uniqueness of Chinese ancestors’ understanding of the origin of the world

In the beginning, human beings all over the world lived in wilderness mountains and forests. The living environment was harsh. It was a very common phenomenon to fear the nature of heaven and earth, and then to worship gods. Therefore, to a large extent, mythology can be said to be the origin of civilization.

Comparing various creation myths, the uniqueness of the Chinese ancestors’ cognition is that they worship gods but are not superstitious about them. The legend of Pangu's founding of the world embodies this understanding. Of course Pangu was a great god. He single-handedly opened up the world. Pangu was a human again. When he was tired, he lay down like a human. His body turned into the dazzling starry sky and evolved into thousands of worlds on the earth. Therefore, in the Chinese creation myth, the world is not a gift from a superior God, but the result of the joint creation of man and God. This is also the first simple manifestation of the idea of ​​​​"harmony between man and nature" in Chinese thought.

In Chinese creation myths, not all good things in the world come from God’s favor. For example, the appearance of "fire" is not stolen from the sky like the myths of some ethnic groups, but was first used by the "Suiren clan" who lived in ancient times. For another example, to subdue the great flood, the heavenly god "Xi soil" was powerless, but the human heroes Yu created miracles.

Revere God and revere nature, but do not believe in God or fear nature. Human beings rely on their own unity and struggle to make a difference. This self-confidence derived from the Chinese creation myth has always affected the development process of the Chinese nation and is also the reason for the ups and downs of Chinese civilization. , an important reason for uninterrupted operation for thousands of years.

A friend asked, is there any excavated physical basis for writing about Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang? In "Historical Records", Sima Qian placed Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang at the origin of Chinese civilization, but there is a lack of archaeological evidence. So, can myths like this be the origin of our Chinese cultural thoughts? This is a very interesting question.

In essence, the creation myth is a kind of information from the ancestors, the origin of civilization passed down by oral tradition in a distant place. Myths from various countries around the world, including the widely spread Western creation myths, basically have no reliable archaeological evidence. Although new archaeological discoveries continue to be made, it is difficult to obtain complete evidence of ancient monuments in the primitive era when our ancestors had just left the animal kingdom. In fact, myths are passed down orally. Myths are allowed to be imagined, but they are not completely imaginary. At least they are imagined based on the stories passed down orally from ancestors.

The Chinese creation myth is the original expression of our ancestors’ outlook on life, values, governance and world view of the Chinese nation. Strictly speaking, Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang were not the so-called emperors of later dynasties. They were just representatives of the group culture at that time. The ancestors focused the great creations of that time on them. Therefore, I think it is tenable to choose them as cultural sources to write about.

Liu Dawei's "Dayu's Control of Floods" 145×558cm

Among the hundreds of pre-Qin scholars, Lao Tzu was the first to think hard about the natural mysteries of heaven and earth. The "Tao Te Ching" handed down by Laozi has already had countless interpretations. "Tao generates one, generates two, two generates three, and three generates all things." This is Laozi's concise discussion on the mysteries of nature. We can also pay attention to another kind of his philosophical thinking, which is the thinking about "being" and "nothing". This highly abstract thinking of Laozi has made a great contribution to Chinese culture and even world culture. For example, the simple black and white pieces of Go have created the most complex changes among all human games. For another example, the black and white in Chinese painting and calligraphy, as well as the wonderful "sweeping white" in calligraphy, are both magical uses of "being" and "nothing".

The most famous case after Laozi's philosophy was popularized is probably the black and white Tai Chi diagram, which is still studied and used with great interest by people today. Related to Tai Chi, there are also the Bagua characters composed of long and short horizontal lines. Some people think that it is just a fortune-telling thing. This is prejudice. European researchers believe that the long and short horizontal sounds of the Bagua inspired the long and short sounds of the telegraph language. Further research showed that the language system of 0s and 1s, the basis of digital technology, was inspired by the long and short tones of the telegraph.

That may be a stretch. I just want to point out that Chinese thinkers starting from Laozi are no worse than thinkers of any other nation in the world in their ability to think abstractly and understand the origin of the world.

After the pre-Qin period, there are many vivid cases to prove the creativity of scientific thinking. Such as Zhang Heng. Some people pointed out that there are only records of the seismograph made by Zhang Heng, and there is no actual object. It is doubtful whether it was ever produced. I repeatedly read various historical materials and reviews, and finally came to the conclusion that regardless of whether the recorded seismographs could accurately measure earthquakes, nearly two thousand years ago, when most peoples in the world were extremely afraid of earthquakes, they believed that they were caused by gods. When mankind had to beg for mercy to escape punishment, a scientist in China dared to propose making an instrument to measure earthquakes. This in itself is a great and great innovative thinking.

How was the vast territory of China formed? The answer to this question must be told loudly to the world. Of course, there were various wars in ancient times to compete for survival resources. However, the force that drove the land of China to finally become one was not war.

Everyone knows that "Dayu controlled the floods". Shun appointed Dayu to control the great flood. Dayu organized a capable team and traveled across a vast area from west to east and from north to south. This is the origin of the concepts of "Kyuzhou" and "Shenzhou" as we later called them. Dayu and his team told the ancient tribes everywhere that the flood was terrible and that to control it, they had to unite. The upper, middle and lower reaches worked together and performed their respective duties, so that they could succeed. Therefore, the study of Dayu's flood control cannot be limited to water conservancy projects, but must understand that this is the stage of the birth of our nation-state, and even the concept of taxation was gradually formed due to the need for water control. The common cause of controlling the great flood reflects the cohesion of our country at its inception.

This kind of tracing allows us to see more clearly why the combined strength of the Chinese nation is much stronger than countries that simply rely on war to conquer. In fact, the cultural gene of pursuing peace is deeply rooted in the collective soul of the nation. For example, Sun Tzu, the master of the art of war in the pre-Qin period, emphasized not how to fight, but the understanding of the dangers of war, the importance of "non-war", "strategy with troops," and the need to exhaust all means to prevent war from happening. This kind of belief has a long-lasting influence on future generations. There is a long couplet summarizing Zhuge Liang's life: "If you can attack the heart, you will be defeated by the side. From ancient times, we have learned that soldiers are not warlike." This reflects the consistent peaceful thinking of Chinese wise men.

The community of the Chinese nation has a long history. The reason why we are now called "descendants of Yan and Huang" is related to the tribal wars in ancient times. At that time, the tribes represented by Emperor Yan and the tribes represented by Huangdi had a war over survival resources. In the end, Emperor Yan's tribal group was defeated. The Yellow Emperor was tolerant and wise, and he announced that the defeated tribes could continue to survive and multiply on their original lands. Emperor Yan claimed that they would never betray. Emperor Yan led the tribe, which was mainly engaged in farming and searching for medicinal herbs to treat diseases. Later generations honored him as the Shennong clan. Emperor Yan was the first practitioner of the concept of "people's livelihood first". The history of the great integration of the Chinese nation also started with the Yan and Huang Dynasties.

Here, we should emphasize the contribution of Cangjie, the historian of the Yellow Emperor. Of course, it is not necessarily scientific to attribute all the emergence of Chinese characters to Cangjie. However, Cangjie held an important position as a historian and had the possibility of integrating the cultural creations of all parties. Therefore, he was an iconic figure in the birth of Chinese characters. Why should we discuss writing when discussing the great integration of the Chinese nation? The famous scholar Mr. Jao Zongyi has an academic inference. He believes that when Chinese characters matured, our ancestors already knew that there were pinyin characters in the world, but their ancestors consciously took another path. We can clearly see the wisdom of our ancestors today. China has a vast territory and is a community formed by the integration of many ethnic groups. Our culture needs to be easy to communicate and has a long history. Controlling pronunciation with words is an extremely rational choice. If words are controlled by voice, then there will be many different languages. It is difficult to imagine what the situation will be like in today's Chinese cultural circle. China's cultural civilization has been uninterrupted for thousands of years. There are various reasons, but the square Chinese characters are indispensable. Therefore, Cangjie is not a technical figure, but a figure who laid the foundation of the entire culture.

Oil painting "Cangjie Creates Characters". On December 7, 2022, the China Art Palace held a special media event for the "Creation of the World - Chinese Creation Myth Literary Creation and Cultural Communication Project" achievements exhibition. Photo by our reporter Zhang Chi

In the process of exploring the origin of Chinese cultural ideas, I was deeply impressed by the tolerance and generosity of Chinese culture.

The pre-Qin period when a hundred schools of thought contended was a period of great cultural development. Later, it took a detour and Qin burned books to seduce Confucians, which was scolded by later generations. By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu advocated that Confucianism should be respected only, but various cultural schools could still exist in society. For example, foreign Buddhism and local Taoism gradually grew, and among the people, they were sometimes even more dynamic than Confucianism. In the Sui Dynasty, some Confucian scholars simply put forward the concept of "three religions can be one" and believed that the "three religions" can learn from each other and penetrate each other. This is a quite open cultural concept.

The Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty were years when Chinese culture flourished and stars shone brightly. Why does this happen? Inclusivity is one of the important factors. Many of the great poets and writers of the Tang and Song Dynasties were based on Confucianism and absorbed various schools of thought. Therefore, their ideas were broad and varied, and they did not have the petty mentality of a frog in a well. Take Su Shi as an example. Su Shi's personal experience was quite rough, but his writing style was bold and profound, which is often soul-stirring to read. Why is he so optimistic? Could it be that the embarrassment of personal fate cannot affect his emotions? Su Shi had read the Four Books and Five Classics. When he was young, he took the exam on Confucian propositions, which was like picking something out of a bag. However, he did not limit himself to this, talking about Zen, visiting Taoism, and studying various schools of thought. Therefore, when his fate is unpredictable, Buddhism allows him to calm down and settle himself; Taoism helps him cultivate a noble spirit and sweep away decadence. Later generations said that Su Shi "had both Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism", which was indeed very accurate.

When it comes to the inclusiveness of ancient Chinese culture, Xu Guangqi is a case that deserves more attention. When Xu Guangqi lived, ancient Chinese society was in a clear downward spiral. The magnificence of the Tang Dynasty, the prosperity of the Song Dynasty, and the progress of the early Ming Dynasty had all disappeared. In the process of dealing with overseas Chinese, Xu Guangqi deeply felt the horror of being left behind. The backwardness in natural sciences is especially obvious.

Cultural inclusiveness lies in being able to learn things that are more advanced than one's own and integrate them well with one's own traditions. Xu Guangqi's efforts are quite specific. He compiled the last calendar for the Ming Dynasty, which synthesized the known knowledge of European astronomy and various practical knowledge and skills with the traditional Chinese cognition, and established a framework for the agricultural society that has lasted for thousands of years and the European that is moving towards modernization. A bridge of communication. To this end, he hired many European scholars who came to China. Xu Guangqi personally presided over the editorial affairs and solved difficult problems in scientific and technological exchanges between China and the West. To give a simple example: In ancient China, twelve hours were used for timekeeping. How does it connect with Europe’s twenty-four timekeeping units per day? Xu Guangqi wisely divided each hour into two timing units, twelve became twenty-four, and the large measurement unit became a small unit. This is where the "hour" we now call comes from.

Xu Guangqi was keenly aware that China's traditional mathematical knowledge and theory lagged far behind Europe, which was the key to the overall backwardness of science and technology. To this end, he was determined to narrow the gap through his own efforts and personally participated in the translation of large European geometric masterpieces. Although Xu Guangqi's various efforts were temporarily lost in the dust of history due to the end of the Ming Dynasty and his own death, his ambitions were eventually inherited by future generations, and "Principles of Geometry" gradually became a required course in new schools. It is not an exaggeration to say that Xu Guangqi is "the first person to be able to communicate between China and the West".

There is a saying in the "Book of Changes": "Heaven moves vigorously, and a gentleman strives to constantly strive for self-improvement." This sentence highly summarizes the tenacious fighting spirit of the Chinese nation. Earlier, we have talked about the significance of Dayu's flood control to the formation of the nation-state. In fact, the more obvious symbol of Dayu's flood control is his fighting spirit that is not afraid of hardships and dangers. This is the original portrayal of the national spirit of self-improvement and an important reason why Chinese civilization has lasted uninterrupted for thousands of years.

Whenever the Chinese nation encounters a disaster, there are always heroes like Dayu who step forward and lead the charge to lead the nation through difficulties and obstacles. In addition, I also pay attention to another type of people who are constantly striving for self-improvement. Chinese civilization has been reborn from the ashes several times, which has a lot to do with their dedication. Here we take Guan Hanqing as an example.

When the small court of the Southern Song Dynasty collapsed in Yashan, the people on the Chinese land, especially those living south of the Yangtze River, entered very difficult times. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty implemented a harsh and high-pressure policy on the newly conquered lands. At the slightest sign of resistance, they were immediately mercilessly exterminated with iron fists. As an intellectual group, the pain is twofold. In addition to survival anxiety, there is also the pain of cultural destruction. Guan Hanqing is an intellectual who lived in such an era. In the civil society that was ignored by the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty, a cultural phenomenon that was almost ignored by the rulers at the time, Zaju, was born tenaciously and spread among the people. It became a highlight of the era of cultural barrenness and was adopted by later generations. mentioned repeatedly in history. Guan Hanqing is an important representative figure of this cultural phenomenon. He created the image of Chinese heroes such as Guan Yunchang in Zaju. His classic play "The Injustice of Dou E" was a voice of protest against the society at that time when people were in dire straits. In my opinion, Guan Hanqing is another type of national elite besides the images of Dayu and Xin Qiji. He is low-key and down-to-earth, and dares to strive for self-improvement and the revitalization of Chinese culture in a state where it is almost impossible to survive.

The national spirit of constant self-improvement had taken shape in the era of Dayu's flood control. After thousands of years of cultural tradition, this spirit has continued to develop and grow, and eventually became the iconic spiritual banner of the Chinese nation.

Today, the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation has entered an irreversible historical process. At this time, exploring the origins of Chinese cultural thought is not only to trace back, but also to draw the strength to move forward and inspire the majestic power of national rejuvenation.

Sun Yong, a writer, has served as the president of Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, director of Shanghai Press and Publication Bureau, vice chairman of Shanghai Writers Association, and director of Shanghai CPPCC Culture and History Committee. He has published twenty or thirty novels, essays and cultural essays. Among them, "Thinking Bagua" published in the early 21st century and the recently published "A Thousand Sails Across the Long River - The Origin of Chinese Cultural Thoughts" embody his in-depth exploration of cultural thoughts.