How to tell children historical stories?

The son asked: Is Yan Qiu a good person or a bad person? I replied: not a good person or a bad person. The son asked again: After Cao Cao killed Lv Boshe, he was considered a bad man, right? I replied: Yes. So the son's ultimate question appeared: why did the good man Guan Yu help the bad man kill a man who was neither a good man nor a bad man? "Netizens have different opinions on this topic, which leads to a topic-how should we tell our children about history? This is not an easy thing. History itself is thick, rich in texture and very complicated, lacking certain life experience accumulation and knowledge cultivation, and unable to understand the nuances. Children are simple in thinking, accustomed to using good guys/bad guys, black or white, and making a simple binary classification of good and evil, so as to understand history, which is naturally full of doubts. I did something similar when I was a child. In the ancient history of China, the teacher talked about the uprising in Daze Township, saying that it was the first peasant uprising in the history of China, which was of great historical significance and was later suppressed by the Qin Dynasty. I raised my hand and asked, "All the peasants revolted were good people. Why did it fail? "At that time, I watched cartoons, comic books and some movies and TV dramas with main themes. In the end, justice won, so I think the Daze Township Uprising should have a brilliant ending. Incredibly, it failed. The teacher was a little puzzled to hear this question. Finally, the answer he gave was: "Good people may not win, and bad people may not fail. A good man has failed, but he can set an example for other good people. "Although I didn't understand it at the time, in retrospect, this answer is the best in children's understanding. There are many examples of children's cognition deviating from the real history. For example, Kong Rong, when I was a child, everyone heard the story of Kong Rong letting pears. My impression in my mind has always been a gentle, honest, modest and kind uncle. Later, after reading the history books, I realized that this guy was actually a risk-averse alcoholic in bad karma. In Guan Yunchang, Cao Cao, played by Jiang Wen, has a line: "Kong Rong, a man, will never let go of pears and wine. "When I was a child, my parents told us the story of Kong Rong letting pears, and always added,' You should learn from Kong Rong's spirit of humility. "If a child really read Kong Rong in history books and learned his manners, what do you say? In fact, I have a slightly extreme view, that is, there is no need for children to "establish a correct view of history from an early age." "Historical views and values are different, and we can give examples to teach them, but historical views are a process of accumulation. Letting a child "establish" a view of history is as absurd as riding a bicycle on the highway-there is no such displacement. The most important thing about the history told to children is not right or wrong, but interesting, so don't mix too much preaching, just tell stories-they will be interested if they are interesting; With interest, you will take the initiative to understand; If you know more, you will naturally form your own historical view; It is not too late to distinguish right from wrong after establishing the historical view. Of course, there are simpler ways to face other people's children. For example, the problems encountered at the beginning of the article can be solved as follows: Call the children around and say earnestly: "To make this problem clear, we must start with the relationship between Cao Cao and Yan Wen boss Yuan Shao. To clarify Cao and Yuan Yuanyuan, we must first say Dong Zhuo-why did Dong Zhuo go to Beijing? This has to talk about the disaster of the same party and the evolution of the relationship between the northwest warlords and the Qiang people ... "-At this point, most children are impatient, so you can rest assured if you leave directly.