Have China people lost confidence? Written on September 25th, 1934, between the September 18th Incident and the July 7th Incident. At that time, after Japanese imperialism ravaged the three northeastern provinces, it gradually advanced into Shanhaiguan. The threat of national subjugation and extinction is imminent, and pessimism and disappointment occupy some people's minds. 1On August 27th, 934, Ta Kung Pao editorial "Confucius' Birthday Memorial" lamented: "National self-esteem and self-confidence have disappeared, and the country has long been on the verge of spiritual disillusionment." In response to this argument, Lu Xun wrote this famous essay on his 53rd birthday.
The author's cold eyes first stared at reality. At the beginning of the article, three facts are listed: boasting of "vast territory and abundant resources" and placing hopes on "League of Nations"; "Blindly pray to God and worship Buddha, cherish the past and hurt the present". These facts can be found in the preface, that is, well-founded facts, and then naturally lead to the argument refuted by this article: "China people have lost their confidence", but the author immediately points out that this formulation itself is inaccurate, because believing in "land", "things" and "League of Nations" is obviously "believing in him" rather than "believing", which is based on the enemy's argument.
After the article pointed out that some people lost confidence in him, the pen turned: "If you lose confidence in him, you will be suspicious. If you turn around, you may only believe in yourself, but this is a new road. " The author's "new life path" here is intended to compare the following "dead end": "The highest point of metaphysics" is to pray to God and worship Buddha, which can only show that "China people are now developing self-deception." This conclusion is a natural extension of the last article, but the writing is full of twists and turns, ups and downs, and the power of logic always runs through progressive reasoning.
After refuting the enemy's argument, the author turned his profound eyes from near to far to the ancient history of our nation. His thoughts run through ancient times and modern times. First, he emerged from the grim reality, pointing out that "self-deception" did not exist now, but existed since ancient times, so that it was "all-encompassing". The word "shrouded" is used here accurately and vividly, which vividly depicts that this trend of thought imprisons people's thoughts like a poisonous fog and spreads to all fields. Then a "however" turn, the author enthusiastically praised "in this shadow, have we lost confidence in China?" Among them, there are people who have worked hard, worked hard, pleaded for the people and sacrificed their lives for the law in history, and there are also people who are now "convinced, not deceiving themselves" and "one after another" and "destroyed once". In this way, the author's thought returned to reality after tracing the origin of the long river of history, and clearly pointed out: "It can be said that China people have lost confidence and used it to refer to some people. If it is added to all, it is simply slander. "
At the end of the article, the correct criterion for judging whether you are confident is put forward: "Premier No.1' s article is not sufficient, so you have to look underground yourself." "Prime Minister" refers to the spokesman of the feudal ruling class in ancient and modern times, at home and abroad on the ideological and cultural front. "Underground" refers to all confident China people in ancient and modern times, in sharp contrast to the above-mentioned "shrouded". This ending not only summarizes the full text, but also echoes the "opening remarks" at the beginning of the article, making the article structurally complete and integrated.
Throughout the full text, the article takes reality as the latitude and history as the organizational material. It starts from reality, then extends to history, and then returns to reality from history. Finally, it is both a summary of history and reality. The article first breaks and then stands, forcefully breaks and firmly stands, and refutation and argument are combined to set each other off. Refutation is based on facts, contains logical reasoning and is eloquent; The argument is straightforward and full of passion; The use of parallelism adds momentum to the article; The combination of argument and lyricism enhances the persuasiveness and appeal of the article.
Have China people lost confidence? The core of this article is to discuss the self-confidence of China people. Therefore, a correct understanding of the meaning of confident people praised by the author is the key to understanding this short article. The author thinks that "the backbone of China" is the concept of a nation, not just the concept of a certain class or group in the Chinese nation, especially when ethnic contradictions have become the main contradiction. Our Chinese nation is a great nation with a glorious revolutionary tradition. She trained thousands of heroes in Qian Qian, including outstanding figures among the working people, people with lofty ideals in the exploiting class and outstanding figures in the ruling class. Due to historical conditions, the latter has more opportunities to exert its intelligence than the former; Their contributions to the development of the Chinese nation in the fields of politics, economy, military affairs, culture, science and art are easier to go down in history than the latter. The "hard-working people" mentioned in this paper refer to those who persist in a certain cause, have the courage to endure hardships and struggle for the benefit of the country and the nation. Just one year after writing this article, the author wrote the historical novel "Water Control", which shaped the image of Dayu, an ancient hero of water control, and can confirm each other. "Hard-working people" refer to peasant leaders who risk their lives, rise up and cut firewood into soldiers, and national heroes who are loyal to the country and have lofty aspirations. The exact meaning of "pleading for the people" refers to asking the people to save lives or relieve suffering. The source of this word can be found in the biography of Han Kuai Tong: "Xixiang intercedes for the people." The expression "plead for the people" was criticized on a large scale when the ultra-left ideological trend was rampant, so that some textbook editors had to delete this sentence from the article when choosing this short article. However, as a dramatist said with the help of the characters in the play: "What is the crime of pleading for the people?" Almost at the same time as writing this article, the author wrote the historical novel "Non-attack", which created an ancient image of Mozi who pleaded for the people and can also confirm each other. The "law" of "sacrificing life for righteousness" can be used as a standard and standardized solution here. In addition, "law" has the meanings of fairness, integrity and justice in the etymology of all countries in the world. Therefore, giving one's life can be interpreted as giving one's life in pursuit of certain norms (such as fairness and justice), which is similar to giving one's life for justice, and "giving one's life for justice" comes from Mencius Gao Zishang. Throughout the ages, many outstanding figures in the ruling class have taken it as the criterion of action, and such an example will never be lost. Even some pioneers of proletarian revolution sometimes use this idiom to inspire their revolutionary will. It can be seen that the types of people listed by the author here are not limited to a certain class or group, but refer to the essence of our entire Chinese nation. Lu Xun is a model of seeking truth from facts. As for the so-called "official history", although he borrowed Liang Qichao's view that they are only the genealogy of emperors and princes, this does not mean that he simply denied and obliterated the ruling classes of past dynasties, and it does not mean that he did not recognize the contributions made by outstanding figures among them. He once affirmed the "heroic" and "heroic" of the rulers of Han and Tang Dynasties, and "the people are confident that they will not be slaves of foreigners"; He also praised Cao Cao, who was mistaken for a traitor, as "a very capable person, at least a hero", and even more, he praised some poets and essayists who made important contributions in the history of literature. Lu Xun never praised the peasant uprising leaders who were reshaped by some modern people in principle, but made no secret of their historical limitations and class limitations. His criticism of Zhang, the leader of the peasant uprising in the late Ming Dynasty, is an example.
Similarly, the "backbone" in real life includes not only the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the revolutionary people under his leadership, but also outstanding figures in other classes and groups of the Chinese nation. Just two years before the author wrote this article, in the "December 28th Incident" provoked by Japanese imperialism, the 19th Route Army stationed in Shanghai rose up to resist, which dealt a heavy blow to the enemy and was easy to command. A year before the author wrote this article, 29 army fought bloody battles in xifengkou, using broadsword and flesh and blood to fight against the enemy, which shocked China and foreign countries. In these battles, the heroic spirit of the Kuomintang army fighting the enemy to the end is undoubtedly the concrete embodiment of "having a well-thought-out plan, not deceiving others" and "fighting one battle after another". In the face of national enemies, they should belong to the national "backbone" together with the China Productive Party and the revolutionary people under its leadership. As for the people accused by the author of losing self-confidence and developing self-deception, they mainly refer to some elites in the Kuomintang government, but they should not be understood too absolutely. This article clearly states that this kind of self-deception has "enveloped everything". It can be seen that this trend of thought is not limited to a class or a group. When discussing the influence of the Thirty Years' War on Germany, Engels pointed out that the vulgar habits of bourgeois philistines "have polluted all classes in Germany" and "it often hangs over the throne like a shoemaker's hut". "This ancient genetic virus" even "infected" the Party, so that "we must be alert to these people". In connection with the author's persistent anatomy of the "inferiority" of the nation, we should also admit that this development of self-distrust and even self-deception is not isolated from some unconscious parts of the people. Because of this, we emphasize national self-confidence in the face of difficulties, arouse national pride, and "Have China people lost their self-confidence?" "It is a glorious chapter for Lu Xun to practice this task.