"At a point in 2017, I basically don't have time to read the history books I love until after 10 or 11 o'clock in the evening, so I know that I have to make a decision, whether to continue to do the current work, or to take a new road? But where is that new path? I don't know, and I don't want to give up my love of history. Starting in 2017, and probably for a long time to come, I can finally do what I really like and am good at. ”
Liu Xun is a scholar with a very amazing resume. His resume reads: Doctor of Biochemistry from Oxford University, engaged in the research and popularization of "Zuo Biao". In 2019, he published Hegemony: The Establishment of a New International Order in the Spring and Autumn Period, a set of popular history books about Zuo Zhuan.
Why would a person who has already achieved a top degree in the field of biochemistry give up the field of study for more than ten years and choose a completely different field to deepen it? What should you choose between your own interests and enthusiasm and scientific research that seems more promising? If you choose a new field, does it mean that your previous life is in vain?
Liu Xun has proved with his own life trajectory that love is indeed the core pillar that can best support his career. This choice was not easy, and he went through nearly a decade of preparation and brewing. But in the re-chosen career, he was more passionate and tireless. His story may be a perfect proof of the idea that "hobbies are suitable for lifelong careers."
PhD in Biochemistry, University of Oxford
Teaching Assistant Professor, General Education Center, ShanghaiTech University
When I studied science, it wasn't because of my preferences.
When I was in high school, I was very good at liberal arts and sciences, so I asked my dad, essay selection or rationalization? My dad said that the liberal arts are the embroidered legs of the flower fist, and the science is the real skill. I listened to my dad.com. I don't know which science subject is the most interesting, I asked the university admissions office, which of your subjects is the most expensive? They told me that at that time, two things were the most expensive, one was computer science and the other was biochemistry. At that time, everyone thought that the 21st century was the era of biological sciences, so I chose this major.
But in my spare time in college, I still loved to read history books. I thought at the time that if you like something, you shouldn't think of it as a career, but as a side hustle. That way you don't get disgusted with what you love because you want to make money from these things.
Later, I graduated from undergraduate and went abroad to Canada to study for a master's degree in biochemistry. Life science experiments have a special feature that requires a long wait. In the process, I chose to read the history books, and read the Bible, the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, and the twenty-four chronicles. At that time, I still thought that such a "farming life" was very good. I went to Oxford University for my PhD, still in the field of biochemistry.
I had a girlfriend at that time and she had a big influence on me. I live every day doing experiments, and she's a PhD in social anthropology at cambridge university, studying social anthropology every day: Why are the dots on the Mawangdui map so similar to modern maps? Why were ancient people so accurate in drawing maps?
I was doing research and meetings with her, and in the process, I found the world outside the lab very interesting, much more interesting than our experiments, and the humanities major was very interesting. And once people know how wonderful the outside world is, it is always a little unwilling to go back to the past to do experiments. When I graduated, I was looking for a job at a consulting firm like McKinsey, and I wanted to explore something else, but it didn't work out.
My second girlfriend and I had collapsed, and then I met my third girlfriend, my wife. After returning to Shanghai with her, I wondered what I should do in the future. There are two paths, one is life sciences, the other is to transfer administration, I chose administration. When I was very idle at work, I had to think about what to do, and I began to read the history books again, reading the "Left Biography".
Why read The Left Biography? Not because I particularly liked it, but because this book was the only ancient book I couldn't read in high school. I can read the "History of History" and the "Book of Han", but "Zuo Zhuan" is particularly difficult, its text is particularly boring, and it is all empty words.
So I thought, now that I have time anyway, I'll start working on it. A bit like when Liu Cixin was shutting down the power station in Niangzi, his life at that time was also very stuffy, and he began to think about his own affairs. So I went to work while thinking about "Left Biography" as a project.
When I read "Zuo Biao", I found that I did not like all the "Zuo Biao" books on the market, and none of them met the requirements in my mind. Thanks to my PhD training at Oxford University, you know what good things look like. Oxford is a very cultural place, the quality of the bookstore there is also very good, I can not accept the existing quality, I decided to make a book of "Left Biography" myself. From this point on, I began to go deeper, and two years later, I had a rough model.
So I began to think, is this reading book doing well? I hung it on Douban and asked for everyone's opinion. Someone contacted me and said that we are a book club, and now that we are reading "Zuo Biao" together, we all find it difficult to understand, and since you have written a book, you can also join us. I participated in this book club, which is one of the largest Sinology organizations in Shanghai today, called "New Knowledge of Sinology." In the beginning, everyone took turns reading a paragraph, and then everyone came to explain, and slowly it became me alone, and everyone listened.
So I started talking about "The Left Transmission", three rounds, six years.
After six years of talking like this, slowly it became more and more slippery, and I would start to add paragraphs, just like practicing crosstalk at the overpass. Another person contacted me and said he wanted to publish it for me. After the first publication in 2014, I found it sold out well and sold out in two months.
But at the same time, my administrative work is getting busier and busier, and in 2017, I have reached a node, and I basically don't have time to read the history books I want to read until after 10:11 p.m., so I know that I have to make a decision, whether to continue to do administration, or to take a new road?
But where is that new path? I don't know, I don't want to give up my hobby, I've been doing it for many years, I've published a book. More and more people are agreeing with what I'm saying.
At that time, our school set up a general history education center to give students in science and engineering a course on history and philosophy, and I applied for a job. Since then, I have been working full-time on cultural matters, the history of Chinese civilization and the pre-Qin Confucian classics. I took my classmates to read two books together, and I called it "The Way of the Inner Saint and the Outer King," "Inner Saint" is to read the Analects of self-cultivation, and "Outer King" is to read the "Zuo Zhuan," a history book that talks about the international situation.
At the beginning of my life choice, I chose biochemistry, which I dedicated ten years to, and seven years after returning to China to administrative work. And from 2017 to a long time to come, I can do what I really like and am good at.
When I do administrative work, my perception is that this is my job, and I want to do it well, to achieve quality that matches my own brand. And now I'm a teaching assistant professor, I don't have to work from nine to five, but that feeling is - you are doing things for yourself, I write books, prepare lectures, this thing I would have done, and now I can get paid, more interesting, so I do it is particularly exciting, there is no so-called 996 concept, every day is starting at nine o'clock, working until two o'clock in the morning, at night I write to think about it, but I don't feel tired.
Liu Xun, who works on the case
This is the mindset shift from working for your own work, from working for your own reputation, to working for your hobbies and working for yourself.
Hegemony: The Establishment of a New International Order in the Spring and Autumn Period by Liu Xun, published by Zhonghua Bookstore in August 2019
I have a course called "General Theory of Chinese Civilization", which talks about Chinese history from the pre-Qin to the late Ming Dynasty, but the emphasis is on civilization. I told my classmates, you are all science and engineering subjects, what is the use of studying history? I'm not from a private point of view, I'm from the perspective of a teacher who teaches history to convince my students that I think there are four aspects of the role:
The first role is to help students learn.
What is the difference between students learning well and not learning well? The key is to have a clear mind. Only when the brain thinks clearly can it be said clearly and written clearly. If you want to learn well, the key is to cultivate a high level of thinking, a very important question is, how do you think about the most cattle people in history?
For example, how to build a world-class army? This question is the problem that Shang Martin is thinking about, so in the class I will tell the students how Shang Martin considered this problem at that time. This is the first level.
The second is to contribute to the cause.
To be successful, the first and most important thing is professional level, but once you start to lead the team, it is this problem, leadership. No matter how many science and engineering courses you study, you won't tell you how to cultivate leadership.
Of course you have to practice by bringing a team. But you also know that when you go to the English corner to practice English, of course, it will cultivate your courage to open your mouth, but in fact, the progress is very slow, because the level of people in the English corner is not bad. You must look at people at a high level, so a good way to cultivate leadership is to look at the great leaders in history, how to unite people, how to organize things, how to regulate behavior, how to take responsibility.
The third is that reading history helps people live this life well.
I was particularly touched by this. For example, physical chemistry in our science and engineering, learning general relativity, special relativity, although it is very subtle, but to some extent, it has limitations.
For example, when you really encounter difficulties, how can you not waver? When you really encounter temptation, how can you not be confused? You really encounter death, whether it is an old death or a sudden death, how can you do it without fear?
These are not taught in your professional classes, or even in general liberal arts classes. Where to talk about this? "Confucianism", "Taoism", "Dharma", "Buddhism", "Science of Science", "Psychology", these philosophers are all exploring these questions. For example, "Zhuangzi" talks about life and death, it is particularly thorough, and understanding these contents will help us live this life well.
The fourth is to help improve the pattern of people.
What does a person really want in this world to spend his life? On the one hand, it is the success of the career and the happiness of the family, on the other hand, you become a human being and go up the realm of human cultivation. We are all modern people, to learn the history of ancient times, this is through the ancient and modern. Your life, your understanding, has one more dimension. As Mr. Qian Mu said, at the beginning there will be a kind of warmth and respect for history, and will not think that they are at the top of history, and all the evils in ancient China are attributed to the evil feudal society. You don't think about it so simply.
Therefore, from these three perspectives, through the arts and sciences, through the ancient and modern, through the East and the West, these three levels, are conducive to opening up these joints, so that people can be more understanding, more accessible.
In ancient China, Confucius had a call called "Da Ren", that is, a person who was well-connected. Confucius was the first master, and I hope that every modern person can strive to be a master.
Starting this Saturday, we will continue to push Liu Xun's "Left Transmission" series of video courses (a total of three episodes). He will jump out of the traditional perspective of "libid and bad and messy", use his logic and academic training expertise to sort out the main line of historical development in the early Spring and Autumn Period, so that everyone can see a Spring and Autumn Era that is closer to the historical reality, and then hope to let everyone feel how rich the connection between ancient China and our world more than two thousand years ago is. Stay tuned.
Interviews & Editors | Li Ying; Proofreading | Lily
Video | Eddie; Typography | Tian Xiaona
Click on the blue word "Learn More" at the end of the article to watch the full video.