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Text: Xia Xilou
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introduction
He is a chivalrous man, a madman, he fights the sword world, is happy to enmity and hatred, laughs and scolds are all articles.
When we think of this person, what comes to mind is the red jacket, white shirt and gray tie that looks like a battle robe. Under the sunglasses, the expression that seemed to be smiling but not smiling could not hide an unruly face.
He is Li Ao, a famous writer and historian in Taiwan, China, who has written countless books in his life.
In 2017, Li Ao suffered from brain cancer, and the virus quickly took over his body, leaving him in a wheelchair and barely able to speak.
And he did not change his true colors at all, in the last photo with his family, Li Ao looked calm and calmly welcomed the end of his life.
Under the camera, he is smiling, as if expressing his attitude towards death.
His arrogance is a lifetime.
(Li Ao and his son)
1. King Kong Angry Eyes: For Li Ao, death is a performance art
In 2015, when Li Ao was 80 years old, he said that he would live to be 100 years old.
At that time, although he had been cured of prostate cancer, he had always been weak, and a cold could cause a critical illness notice. The so-called people are old and devastated, and it is not that they can "borrow from the sky for another 500 years" if they let go of their cruel words.
Li Ao himself is actually very clear about this.
Li Ao's life is like an angry King Kong, and it is like Truman's world, he was born a character chased by the spotlight. Even death evolved into a romantic curtain call in his own performance art.
In 2017, Li Ao announced to the media the news that he was diagnosed with brain cancer, admitting that his life would not be long in coming, and the reporter responded that his voice was loud, as usual, maybe his condition would improve.
(Li Xiao Old Zhao)
Li Ao only smiled after hearing this, saying that he was returning to the light. Subsequently, he announced that he would start a new show - "Goodbye Li Ao" to bid farewell to this world.
At the same time, he released his own handwritten letter, in which Li Ao sent invitations to his relatives, friends and enemies, hoping that they could come to meet him for the last time, meet each other with a smile, and fulfill their grievances.
This is how Li Ao faced death.
As he quoted Hemingway's sentence "I'm not afraid of death, but I hate death", he is as unruly as Li Ao and chooses to face death in the way he likes.
In July 2017, Li Ao was discharged from the hospital. In August, Li Ao's son Li Jian posted a photo of himself and his father on the Internet, and wrote emotionally: "The best birthday gift I have received in 25 years: a father who has recovered his health." ”
(Screenshot of Li Huan's Weibo)
At this time, the father and son did not know that this was the last photo of Li Ao and his family before he died.
In the photo, Li Ao has been tormented by illness and emaciated, and his lucky three-piece robe is gone, replaced by a Mao suit. Li Ao smiled at the corner of his mouth, put a pair of sunglasses under his cap, and made a triumphant gesture to the camera.
For Li Ao, he did win, and what he won was his own aversion to death.
(Li Ao and his son Li Huan)
2. Bodhisattva low eyebrows: Li Ao's optimism comes from suffering and fighting
Li Ao was not born so optimistic.
It's not so much optimism as it is that he is in the battle against suffering, and he has endless fun and opens a copy of his game in the world.
In 1949, Li Ao moved his family to Taiwan, which coincided with the promulgation of martial law by the Taiwan provincial government, which opened a 38-year period of martial law. Until 1987, when Chiang Ching-kuo announced the lifting of martial law, Li Ao had spent 52 years in a repressive and suffocating environment.
It can be said that in the first half of his life, he was well-read, worked tirelessly, pointed out the evils of the times, criticized the current situation, and devoted himself to promoting social democracy and freedom of speech.
And writing books, scolding, and fighting lawsuits are Li Ao's three magic weapons.
The Bodhisattva lowered his eyebrows, and the Dharma weapon was beside him.
(Li Ao and his study)
Li Ao wrote more than 100 books in his life, and published more than 30 million words.
His published books such as "Fayuan Temple in Beijing", "Monologue under Tradition", and "Summoning Spirits for Freedom" have influenced a generation of young people in Taiwan and the mainland, making Taiwanese people who were shackled during martial law still yearn for freedom, and also sowing the seeds of liberalism in the hearts of young people on the mainland.
Xu Zhiyuan wrote in "Those Sorrowful Young People":
"I remember that night, I longed to shout loudly, to jump and jump in my cabin, to shout at the class: 'Do you know Li Ao?'"
(Xu Zhiyuan)
Li Ao is the "savior" in the hearts of a generation of intellectuals.
However, the world is like this, and magazines such as "Wenxing" and "Qianqiu Review," which Li Ao presided over and compiled, have been repeatedly banned by the Taiwan authorities, and more than half of the books he wrote have been seized and banned from publication.
And Li Ao did not give up, he firmly believed that he could fight skillfully.
If he is not allowed to write a book, he will do the show. So, with the support of many parties, he first did more than 500 episodes of the "Li Ao Series" on Truth Satellite TV, and then made more than 700 episodes of "Li Ao Has Something to Say" on Phoenix Satellite TV.
(Part of Li Ao's "Qianqiu Review" magazine)
In the show, Li Ao's words are sharp, the language is old and spicy, and the classics are quoted without losing humor, which is hilarious and admirable.
According to incomplete statistics, Li Ao scolded more than 3,000 people in his life, including the Jiang family's father and son, high-ranking Kuomintang officials, literati and historical figures he disdained, and businessmen and celebrities.
Litigation is even more commonplace for Li Ao, who has appeared in court more than 300 times in his life, suing Chen Shui-bian, Lee Teng-hui, and the Taipei City Government.
For Li Ao, his bodhisattva lowered his eyebrows, not compassion, but the pen in his hand, the laughter and anger in his mouth and the summons of the court.
As he himself said, soldiers have always died on the battlefield, and in the same way, his final battle against death is that he turned his disgust into a show.
(Li Ao made a big fuss about Taiwan's "Procedure Committee")
Death can make his body disappear, but he can use death to make his own golden body.
Therefore, even at the last moment of illness, he is still very optimistic. Although he said that he wanted to live to be 106 years old like Song Meiling, when he really faced death, he accepted it very calmly.
3. Li Ao of nun Sifan: I will die without a place to be buried
In 2005, Li Ao was invited to the mainland to carry out the "Shenzhou Cultural Tour", and successively delivered speeches at Peking University, Tsinghua University and Fudan University, which caused a sensation throughout the country.
What few people know is that Li Ao at that time prepared the speech all night, and could not even stand on the podium alone the next day. Before taking the stage, the staff injected two injections of diazepam in his leg to allow him to complete three speeches: King Kong with angry eyes, Bodhisattva with low eyebrows, and Nun Sifan.
(Li Ao speaking at Tsinghua University)
This seems to be a metaphor, for Li Ao, since he has a proud body, he will never be able to bend down in front of the world. No matter how tortured he is, in the face of the public, he can always cross his eyebrows and laugh and scold.
When interviewed, the reporter asked him what his epitaph was, and Li Ao said that he did not have an epitaph because he would donate his body for the doctor to "cut with a thousand cuts", which is the so-called "death without a place to bury".
(Li Ao when he was young)
It seems that for Li Ao, he is a "nun Sifan", and the world is where he lives in the world.
In the last days of his life, Li Ao gave up intubation, chemotherapy and other treatments, but chose to be peaceful and calm. His optimism and calmness have already been cultivated and sanctified for more than 80 years.
The so-called nun Sifan is not afraid of death.
Resources:
[1] Li Ao died of illness! In the face of medical treatment, show a "warrior" attitude. Global Medicine, 2018-03-19
[2] Li Ao died of brain cancer at the age of 83! Eight years ago in Hangzhou, he once said that he wanted to be buried next to the tomb of "Su Xiaoxiao". Qianjiang Evening News, 2018-03-18
[3] Li Ao's handwritten letter was exposed a year ago! Farewell to the World "Witness the Curtain Call of My Life".Taiwan,2018-03-18