Peggy jokes.

Two cheers and one boo —— Impression of fifteen years and thirty years of Wanli

1986, when Xu Youyu and others went to study in the UK, the embassy issued a document saying: "The history you studied before can't fully represent the real history ... Now that the country is open, you will make a big joke when you talk to foreigners." This incident made Xu "unforgettable" because "from this incident, we can see how one-sided, problematic and weak the history education of China students was!"

Today, although indoctrination history education still exists, great changes have taken place in history reading. In this change, the first thing that leads the trend is a short history book: Fifteen Years of Wanli written by Chinese American Huang Renyu. Since 1978 Huang entrusted a friend to contact a domestic publishing house, the book has been unreliable for 30 years. Looking back on the impression of this book in the past 30 years, in Huang Renyu's words, it is "two cheers and one hiss".

A qualified approval

The first cheers came from the key figures in the process of publishing the Chinese version.

The first alumnus should be Harvey, studying at Changsha Linda University from 65438 to 0937. Yu works in IBM and is also the chairman of the Hudson River Central Friendship Association in China. He was probably the first person to read Fifteen Years of Wanli, and he discussed the book at the fraternity.

/kloc-in the summer of 0/978, when he was in China, Huang entrusted him to find the publisher of Wan. You know, the English version of the book (1587, a meaningless year) has hit a wall everywhere in the British and American publishing circles because of its unique style, while the Chinese version is Huang's secret hope. This hope has never failed, and Yu's relatives in Beijing are willing to recommend it to Zhonghua Book Company.

1978 China has just emerged from the shadow of the Cultural Revolution, and it is still a question whether he can accept the works of a foreigner, which can be as serious as the so-called "political stance". On May 23rd, 1979, I wrote to Fu Xuanyan, a Chinese editor, recommending Wan's manuscript. Although Fu suggested that it should be published in principle, he was "afraid of going too far and causing political problems", while the person in charge of a bookstore thought that it was "not suitable to publish foreigners' books". Thanks to Zhao Shouyan, deputy editor-in-chief, the first draft of Wan was published.

According to my account, as early as March 27th (1979), Yu called him and said that China "agreed to publish this book in principle". What's going on here? Originally, Huang Miaozi was entrusted by Jin Yaoru and Chen Hanbo to recommend the manuscript. Both of them are experienced old revolutionaries. Jin worked in the Commercial Press (1changed its name to editor-in-chief of Hong Kong Wen Wei Po at the end of 978, and then went to China), and Chen was the acting director of the Publishing Bureau. Jin told Huang that as long as the manuscript was available, it would be published as soon as possible, "which would have a good influence on foreign intellectuals", and Kerwin Chen agreed. The opinions of Jin and Chen naturally carry a lot of weight (Fu's review report also said: "For foreign scholars, the publication of a book in China can have a good influence." ), perhaps this can explain why Huang Renyu can know the fate of the China version in advance.

The second cheer, of course, began after the publication of Fifteen Years of Wanli. 1May, 10,000 was listed. When people first read it, they can use "amazing" to describe it. From the beginning, the readers showed universality: from scholars to students, from writers to entrepreneurs, they all read the flavor from Wan.

Generally speaking, the publication of Wan did not cause any positive response in mainland historians. This is not very accurate. Liu (1960 graduated from Fudan History Department), a researcher at China Academy of Social Sciences, said that this book "was published by Zhonghua Book Company, and I was deeply attracted by this novel theme and writing method". "This book is like a dark horse, which can't be ignored. How to evaluate this book has once become a controversial topic in the history of Ming Dynasty. " Being a topic in academic circles shows how much attention it has aroused. There must be some positive opinions in it. Li Kaiyuan, a professor at Shi Shi University in Japan, recalled: "In the 1980s, when I first read Fifteen Years of Wanli, I was surprised that history could develop in this way, so I lowered my head and set an example to encourage my colleagues who are committed to new historiography, and planned to jointly open up a new future for historiography." This is a group of young scholars who are active in Beijing universities, including Li Ling, Yan Buke, Liu Beicheng and Gao Wangling. He tried to make a breakthrough in the methods and ideas of historical research in the mid-1980s. With the passage of time, more and more historians openly talk about Wan, such as Shang Chuan, Yu, Fan Shuzhi and Mao Peiqi. And many people have recommended it more than once. It can be said that Wan has been gradually recognized by mainland historians.

In the 1980s, many college students, especially graduate students, fell in love at first sight. Zhu Xueqin, a professor in the history department of Shanghai University, was a graduate student in the history department of Shaanxi Normal University. He said, "When I first read Fifteen Years of Wanli, if I was shocked, I still remember it clearly." Jiang, a historian of science and technology, has a more interesting memory: "I studied for a master's degree at 1982 ... I read many papers of my predecessors, but it often makes me sleepy ..." Do I have to make writing a career? "I secretly asked myself many times and felt a little depressed. At this moment of hesitation, fifteen years of Wanli appeared. It is like a guiding light, which makes me understand that academic texts can actually be written like this! This strengthened my confidence in choosing an academic career. Xu Jilin, a distinguished professor from Zijiang, East China Normal University, once admitted to the media that he had read ten thousand books when he was a graduate student in the history of political thought. "When I just started my academic research, Huang Renyu's Fifteen Years of Wanli had a great influence on me. ..... I almost imitated this book to write my debut. "For a long time, Huang Renyu's books have often been recommended as reading materials in university classes. For example, in the spring class of 2002 of Shanghai Normal University, the students read Wan He's The Great History of China under the recommendation of their teachers. I didn't know Huang's name until I was recommended by a teacher who taught China history by the Hudson River when I was in college in the early 1990s.

In fact, the influence of this book on scholars is not limited to history majors. Liang Zhiping, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Art, talked about Wan when summing up his academic career: "His books are by no means arrogant and conceited, and even arrogant. I really appreciate Huang's scholarly demeanor, so when I started writing the book Seeking Harmony in the Natural Order in the summer of 1987, I deliberately integrated the historical spirit I felt in the fifteen years of Wanli into my own historical narrative. " Professor Peking University's Chinese Department also said in his academic report that Wan inspired his views on China's century-old literature and introduced this view to students more than once.

In the 1980s, theoretical data once investigated "what books the writers have read recently", and the most popular literary works only appeared once, but Wan was included in the bibliographies of two writers at the same time, which shows that Wan had considerable influence in the early stage of publication. There are two writers who read Wan, Wang Xiaobo and Wang Shuo. Wang Xiaobo commented on Wan, and there is no lack of seriousness in humor: "Old good books are better than new bad books". Wan is a mirror that shows how predecessors did things. ..... Confucianism cannot grow into a modern country. "

It may be hard for anyone to think that Wang Shuo, who gives people a sense of cynicism, is also a fan of Wan. Wang Shuo said that when he was young, he thought that history was just a pile of old paper, plus "studying the sequela brought by China's revolutionary history", so he was "deterred from history books and insensitive to thanks". Until 1995, he bought a copy of Wan because of his admiration. Unexpectedly, he was greatly impressed after reading it. After reading it, he said that Wan "opened my eyes like a window". What is even more rare is that he understands why our history books are not good-looking, because "rigid thinking limits people's horizons." ..... The high degree of politicization and ideology stifles the personality and courage of historians, which is their lack of reflection and innovative spirit on historical methods, thus causing the lifelessness of historical works "; He also reflected on what some people often call "sense of stability". Even if there are difficulties, if "blindly adopting conservative measures for stability and security is actually an escape and sacrifice"-he asked anxiously: "In today's society where we claim to be prosperous and stable, praise peace and prosperity, and seem to be full of vitality, will we use Mr. Huang's sharp knife to find all kinds of rotten skin and tendons under the skin? ..... Looking at the historical lessons of the influence of traditional politics on the economy, do we still want to delay escaping for a few days under the guise of stability and unity? He reminded people: "Our reform began with the restoration of economic policies, and gradually turned to structural adjustment, and then turned to the economic system. However, in the end, it will always fall on the political system. Although he said that he was "short-sighted" ... and he could only talk casually, which means that he really thought of it after reading a book, the author thinks that this article is quite in place, even more worthy of our attention than his literary works.

There is no scenery for entrepreneurs to read Wan. BenQ Company's students have been reading ten thousand books since their school days, and they have read them five times in twenty years. He combined Wanhe with organizational management to read: "The value of this book is that when we observe these people in the organizations around us, we can see the future rise and fall of enterprises from their daily practices, ideas and opinions, thus cultivating insight into the future." Entrepreneurs who draw wisdom from Wan also include Uni-President Group, China Broadband Fund and Vanke.

In recent years, historical writing is very popular, and it is not difficult to find an author who pays tribute to Wan. We are familiar with Wu Si, Li Yaping, Yi Zhongtian and others. Their works sell well, but to be fair, it is difficult to have as far-reaching an impact as ten thousand books. As for other historical writers, most of them just tell stories in old history books, but they are schemers-emperors and generals are often good at this, which makes China's history full of cold; Seeking power by history is harmful to cultivating citizens.

Over the past 20 years, Wan has become more and more popular, which is related to the word-of-mouth effect. The younger generation who read Wan in their early years is now well known by experts. Wan frequently appeared in newspapers because of their recommendation. The Internet is more convenient for readers to communicate and more and more people are exposed to this book. There are currently three online editions of Wan, with a sales volume of tens of thousands and more than 860 comments from readers, most of which have received rave reviews. The cheers of ordinary readers are real and tangible. Shenzhen Business Daily commented: Wan has been reprinted for 30 years, just like a cup of Kung Fu tea. After a long period of fermentation and accumulation, its influence gradually spread from academia to the public. "

With a loud boo.

From academic circles to ordinary readers, there are many people who hiss, although not as many as cheers.

Professor of Shanghai Normal University recalled that "Wan" was published soon after, I asked a historian how to evaluate this book. The teacher simply said that the man was just a reporter before liberation. " Huang Renyu 1964 graduated from the history department of the University of Michigan, but his predecessor turned a blind eye.

It is probably a feature of mainland historians that they have different opinions on their own background, rather than academic discussions. Wang Chunyu, a researcher at the Institute of History of China Academy of Social Sciences, wrote the article "Memories of Huang Renyu", which attracted many netizens' refutation. The difference between Wang and Huang is not so much a difference in temperament as a conflict between two social characteristics-one advocates gentleness and has a strong habit of seniority; The other advocates the supremacy of personality, and sons can call their fathers by their first names.

The author's critical articles at the academic level include Pan Shuming and Xu Sumin's Misunderstanding of Li Zhi's Works in the Fifteen Years of Wanli (Southeast Academic, No.5, 2000). This paper puts forward a valuable rebuttal to the historical data application of the chapter Wan Shu Li Zhi, but it is not enough to overturn the discussion in this chapter.

Recently, Professor Chen of the Central People's University wrote an article "Questioning", accusing China of his "unscientific" view of history, discussing history with history, violating the principle of historical research, and even denouncing Huang's misreading of individual historical materials as a distortion and tampering with historical materials, saying that Wan "is not worthy of being an academic work". Throughout reading, emotion is more than rationality, and "tampering" and "unqualified" are obviously exaggerated words.

Mr. Lu Xun said: "If you want a complete book, there will be no book that can be read all over the world." Based on the author's years of editing experience, what he said is very correct, so the author agrees with the targeted criticism, but does not agree with the criticism on the line. The author also thinks that it is unscientific to label everything with "science". British physicists James Jeans and A.Eddington believe that there is no objective standard for science, and the material world is just a structure in people's minds, because people's "cognition is formed subjectively". American scientist Morris? Golan's Science and Anti-science fully exposes the conflicts, myths and deception in the scientific community, and writes the absurdity of worshipping science as a religion. American writer Colin? In Evidence, Evans described how the so-called "medical and scientific evidence" in many major cases led to the court's misjudgment. After all, people are moving, not angels. Historical view is a subjective category. Have you noticed that for a long time, under the guidance of the so-called scientific view of history, China's historical research has become lifeless everywhere, and the history textbook is even more "only the four great inventions of Zhao Zhouqiao, Chen Sheng and Guangwu, plus a Zhang Qian connecting the western regions", which makes people "disconnected from their own history" (in Xiao Gongqin). In view of this, the High School Attached to South Normal University thinks that Wan "has beautiful writing style, unique historical interpretation, grand historical concept and profound realistic concern" and "can especially stimulate our teachers and students' desire to think", calling on teachers and students to read Fifteen Years of Wanli, hoping that "textbooks will no longer be the dominant ideology" and "students will become people with independent spirit through education".

Domestic scholars dislike China's "stagnation theory", which stems from national feelings, but they are unable to refute it. Generally speaking, the theory of backwardness comes from international comparison, and the theory of progress focuses on its own success-horse-drawn trains replace walking at home, and some have entered the era of magnetic levitation. How can it be more conducive to improvement?

Different from China's traditional view of history, which tends to be morally praised or criticized, Huang Renyu's view of history focuses on the technical explanation of history, and its core vocabulary "digital management" is often misunderstood. Even scholars and celebrities who admire Wan are no exception. For example, Ge He equated it with "digital management", while Wang Xiaobo regarded it as statistics and questioned that "numbers can be false". Netizen "Weizhou" wrote an article to prove that this is a false proposition. This paper interprets "digital management" as "standardized management" and demonstrates that denying "standardized management" will lead to centralization. These understandings depend on the meaning of the text, or force others to understand. When Huang Renyu studied the finance of the Ming Dynasty, he had long emphasized the habit of officials of the Ming Dynasty to tamper with figures and follow the trend, but in some places, the land inventory in the early Ming Dynasty was actually used until the Republic of China. "Wan" shows how a closed bureaucratic class stifles any positive factors and "does not allow or advocate uneven development in various places". Huang has a deep understanding of the disadvantages of centralization.

In fact, Huang's "digital management" means that the whole social resources can be calculated truthfully, integrated into a record system (the core of which is the formal property rights system), and can flow and exchange freely: "If the society can accept absolute and supreme property rights, everything can be added, subtracted, inherited, transferred and entrusted. Therefore, all aspects of material life, whether private or public, can be handled by numbers. The exchangeability of wealth is conducive to the accumulation of wealth and creates a dynamic environment. " This is a real business society. The market is not a primitive "self-realization market", but a modern "social planning market", which not only has reliable and clearly defined property rights and individual rights, but also does not exist any form of extortion-every asset and its increase or decrease can be updated in time, and can be arbitrarily divided and combined and quickly converted into capital; The government protects the safety of property and transactions, but it is not allowed to interfere with the distribution of property at will. Such a society does not advocate moral high-profile, but encourages individual creation. The wealth accumulation is amazing, but the gap between the rich and the poor is gradually narrowing. The judiciary is independent and fair, the information is true and transparent, and it is difficult for corrupt officials and profiteers to survive; People have rights, but they don't ask for privileges. (See Manser? Olson, Keith? r？ Sunstein, Hernando? De? Works by Soto and others. )

Although Huang Renyu has repeatedly expressed optimism about the legal and economic ties between high-level and low-level institutions in China, the author dare not agree easily. Strolling through the streets of Beijing, you can see the slogan "truthfully declare the census data and truly reflect the economic panorama" everywhere. It is conceivable that we are still far from "managing numbers". The popular folk proverb "Counting is an official, and officials count" also shows that today it is somewhat similar to traditional China.

This impression has been very long. Finally, explain the origin of the topic. In September, Huang Renyu entered the University of Michigan, majoring in journalism. In the department head, Wesley? Moeller's "Law and Journalism" class has a relaxed and lively atmosphere. Huang concluded: "In America, three cheers are not enough, but two cheers and a boo." This is a free, equal, open and pluralistic atmosphere-when can our history class change the habit of instilling like this?