Russell was the nobel laureate in literature, an Englishman, a well-known writer, philosopher, logician, and mathematician.
His relationship with the mainland is also very deep, as early as more than 100 years ago, Russell personally set foot on this land that made him new, strange and admired.
In 1920, the Qing government had been extinct for a long time, but people's minds were still firmly imprisoned by the feudal system and it was difficult to get rid of them.
This year, Russell was 48 years old, although the war in the First World War had subsided, but the clouds of war still hung over Europe, he was a lover of peace, but in his appeal, the smoke of war has not gone away, he was extremely disappointed, and he once again embarked on the road of going out to lecture.
And this time Russell chose to go all the way to the east, Russell went to the Soviet Union, where he stayed for more than a month, he saw the current situation of the Soviet Union, the poor everywhere, the displaced people, let him be very disappointed, although the Soviet Union was a big country at that time, but the impression of Russell was very bad, and even disgusted.
Russell returned to China after leaving the Soviet Union, and at this time he actually did not intend to go to China to see, until he received a telegram from Peking University inviting him to go to the lecture, and the idea of going to the farther East to see aroused Russell's beating heart.
Russell has always been fascinated by Chinese culture, and has read some books by ancient Chinese people, which are deeply fascinated by the strong cultural atmosphere, and after serious consideration, he embarked on a passenger ship to China.
After a long sea voyage, Russell arrived in Shanghai in October of that year, thus beginning his special life in China for nearly a year.
He examined China and Chinese with the eyes of an outsider, and after returning to China, he wrote a book called "The China Question", which wrote a lot about the problems that existed in China at that time and recorded some infuriating things.
For example, when Russell was leaving, a famous writer asked him to point out the weaknesses of the people at that time, and Russell's prevarication only used three words to evaluate, which although it was difficult to hear, but it was powerless to refute.
Let's take a look.
greedy
Russell commented that the first word used by the Chinese people at that time was greed.
Throughout the history of human existence, this word seems to be applied to everyone, which is more like a common weakness of human beings, and it is precisely because of this that the world has not always been so peaceful.
More convincing are the First and Second World Wars, both of which can be said to have erupted on a large scale driven by the greed and weakness of human beings, who were not satisfied with the status quo of their lives and greedily wanted to plunder better living conditions, and then did not hesitate to provoke war.
And this point seems to be nothing wrong with applying it to Chinese at that time, especially in the rulers of the late Qing Dynasty, which is even more prominent.
They do not think about the lives of the people, they do not think about how to strengthen the country, but they only care about their own selfish interests, even when foreign nations invade, these people still put their personal selfish desires above the morality of the country, which is really infuriating.
For example, the qing dynasty's corrupt official He Yan, who held a high position of power and should have exerted his light and heat for the imperial court, but he used the power in his hands to grab improper benefits.
How can it not be surprising that the entire treasury of the Qing Dynasty is not rich as his own small treasury?
For example, Empress Dowager Cixi at the end of the Qing Dynasty, when the country was in crisis, she did not rise up to resist, but still thought about how to maintain her luxurious life, after the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, Cixi ran away, and when she returned to Beijing again, she continued to enjoy, and at every turn, she came to a full Han table.
During Russell's time in China, the warlords were at war, the people were still miserable, and these warlords with heavy armies were still greedy and fought for personal gain.
cowardice
Russell commented that the second word used by the Chinese at that time was cowardice.
When facing an opponent who is stronger than oneself, it is common for people to be afraid, but when faced with the problem of survival, they still dare not rise up and resist, which is cowardice.
When the Western powers knocked on the door of China by force, more and more foreigners appeared on the land of China, and they used the state as a backstage to demarcate the concession area on the mainland land and exercised the privilege of being above the people.
What is even more infuriating is that they always think that they are on top of the world, and they can even trample on the lives of the people of the country at that time.
I remember a book that told the story of this:
During the Republic of China period, there was an American who drove recklessly on the crowded streets of Beijing, but no one at that time stepped forward to stop it, but just dodged one after another.
There was a person who was killed by a foreigner because he did not have time to dodge, and the family of the deceased was in pain, begging his grandfather and grandmother to seek justice, but no one in the big City of Beijing dared to take care of this matter, and even the policemen who should have protected the people also helped the foreigners escape responsibility, and finally the matter could not be solved.
And for many years afterwards, cowardice still lingered around the people.
I also heard the old man in the family say something like this:
During the War of Resistance Against Japan, there was a village where there was only one Japanese soldier guarding the place, but it was such a person that no one dared to resist hundreds of villagers and let him do whatever he wanted.
It's really infuriating to think about it now, but can't hundreds of people do one person?
indifferent
Russell commented that the third word used by the Chinese people at that time was indifference.
Hanging on high without caring about oneself is an extremely irresponsible attitude to life, but in China at that time, this kind of thinking was firmly imprisoned by many people.
In Mr. Lu Xun's works, we can find indifferent people everywhere, and Lu Xun uses them as a prototype to portray one memorable character after another.
Lu Xun's original ambition was to learn medicine to save people, but after seeing too many people's indifference, Lu Xun decided to abandon medicine and follow the text, and he wanted to use the pen in his hand to awaken the indifferent Chinese.
When Russell came to China, Lu Xun was teaching at Peking University, and presumably he should have had exchanges with Russell, and it seems that a consensus can be reached on the point of cowardice of the Chinese people.
This not only reminds me of the scene when the six gentlemen of Wushu were calmly righteous, there were many people around the crowd, but none of them stopped them, and even some people clapped their hands and applauded, this kind of indifference is really chilling.
In the book, Russell does not mention who the person who did not let him evaluate the weakness of the people, but said that he was a famous writer at that time, and this writer did not get angry after hearing these three evaluations, russell wrote in the book:
As I was leaving, a well-known writer asked me to point out Chinese main weakness, and I could not resist and said three things: greed, cowardice, and indifference. After listening, he not only did not get angry, but also thought that it was appropriate to judge, and then explored ways to remedy it.
The writer's reflection also won Russell's respect, which he considered to be the integrity of Chinese intellectuals and the greatest merit of China.
brief summary:
After reading Russell's evaluation, I think everyone was angry, but at that time it was the truth, and people were powerless to refute it, which was actually not all to blame the people at that time, but only to blame the feudal system and the weakness of the country at that time.
Today, a hundred years have passed, russell mentioned these three points, has long been no longer applicable to us, if anyone dares to evaluate this, presumably will not be able to eat and walk.
A strong country is the freedom of the people, a strong country is the people's self-confidence, a strong country is the people's self-reliance, and the Chinese nation, which holds its head high, has released a dazzling light to the whole world!
References: China Issue, etc.
(Figure net, invasion and deletion)