[Chairman Mao's Evaluation of Sima Qian of the Literati of Past Dynasties]
The "History of History" is the first general history of the jichuan style in Chinese history, a model of historical books of all dynasties, and is known as the first of the "Twenty-Four Histories", which Lu Xun praised as "the great singing of historians, the departure of rhymeless".
Liang Qichao also believes: "The biography of the "Shi Ji" borrows people from the Ming History; the line of the "Shi Ji" can be vividly presented by one person; the narrative of the "Shi Ji" can be dissected and organized, meticulous and clear. ...... Any scholar must read it. ”
Chairman Mao was familiar with the history books all his life, and he even more highly respected the "History of History", as well as its author, Sima Qian.
Chairman Mao began to read the "Records of History" as early as his youth, and he wrote in a letter to his friend Xiao Zisheng: "The biography of Boyi Lie is from the "Records of History", and I read this part and reached the "Records of History" and studied it in detail. For the sake of several articles of the "Chronicle of History", I have reached the whole of the "Chronicle of History". ”
So, why did Sima Qian write the "Records of History"? In fact, he was influenced by his father.
His father, Sima Tan, who was a former Taishi Ling, had a very deep study of history, and his "On the Essentials of the Six Schools" was read by Sima Qian many times, laying a solid foundation for his later writing of the "Records of History".
One of the most important ideas in Sima Tan's life was to follow the Spring and Autumn Period to write another general history of the Han Dynasty, but before this idea could be put into practice, he died of illness. Before dying, he tightly held Sima Qian's hand and said to him: "After yu dies, Ru will be too historical, and he will not forget what I want to write!" Sima Qian nodded with tears in his eyes and firmly remembered his father's words.
After Sima Tan's death, Sima Qian, in addition to his busy work, began to write this history book, but he gradually discovered that to write a history book, it is not enough to read the book, it is necessary to have accumulation and be familiar with the history of various parts of China. Therefore, he traveled all over China to collect historical records, understand the history of local development, collect many historical anecdotes, and master many first-hand information.
Chairman Mao greatly appreciated Sima Qian's method of on-the-spot investigation, and wrote in the "Record of the Lecture Hall": "Sima Qian's visit to Xiaoxiang, Denghuiji, Kunlun, and famous mountains and rivers, and his arms are Yiguang. ”
Under the influence of Sima Qian, in the summer of 1917, Chairman Mao and his friend Xiao Zisheng traveled with his companions to study, spent several months, traveled to five counties, including Yuanjiang and Yiyang, learned about the situation and customs of peasants in various places, wrote down many records and experiences, and laid a solid foundation for the later writing of the "Report on the Investigation of the Peasant Movement in Hunan".
In 1975, Chairman Mao felt a little better, so he talked with the nurse Meng Jinyun, discussed the Zizhi Tongjian, and mentioned the "Shi ji", saying: "There are two big books in China, one is the "Shi Ji" and the other is the "Zizhi Tong Jian", which were written by talented people in the context of political disobedience. It seems that it is not a good thing for people to be hit a little and encounter some difficulties. Of course, this refers to those who are talented and ambitious. Without these two points, the blow will come, either depressed, or nonsense, or even suicide, that is another matter. ”
In fact, this is also a point that Chairman Mao has been emphasizing, that is, many great works have experienced pain or humiliation, accumulated resentment and unfairness in their hearts to the peak, and finally shouted through the pen, and only then have they achieved great works.
As early as 1957, when the Central Committee wanted to transfer Wu Lengxi to work at the People's Daily, Chairman Mao specially talked to him and said: "When you go to work in the People's Daily, you must be fully prepared ideologically, prepared to encounter the worst situation, and have the spiritual preparation of 'five not afraid.'" The 'five are not afraid' is: one is not afraid of dismissal, the second is not afraid of expulsion from the party, the third is not afraid of the divorce of his wife, the fourth is not afraid of going to prison, and the fifth is not afraid of killing his head. With this preparation for the 'five fears,' we will dare to seek truth from facts and dare to uphold the truth. ”
Then Chairman Mao gave the example of Qu Yuan and Sima Qian, saying: "If a Communist Party member can withstand wrong punishment, it may be beneficial to himself in this way. Qu Yuan's exile was followed by "Leaving the Troubles", and Sima Qian's corruption was indignant to write the "Records of History". ”
Chairman Mao also had great understanding and regret for Sima Qian's grievances after he was punished by the palace, and at the end of 1949, on his way to visit the Soviet Union, he talked about this matter with the translator Zhe, saying: "Emperor Wu of Han became crown prince at the age of seven, took the throne at the age of sixteen, and reigned for fifty-four years, pushing the Han Dynasty to its heyday. However, such an effective emperor, once the courtiers disobeyed his wishes, they actually gave such a poisonous hand. However, what is the reason for talking to the Emperor? He did not kill Sima Qian, and he was already considered to be merciful to his subordinates. However, the punishment of the palace is really cruel enough. ”
In these passages, Chairman Mao, while evaluating Emperor Wu of Han, also expressed his regret that Sima Qian had been tortured by the palace.
At that time, Sima Qian had a friend named Ren An, and after being unjustly tortured, he wrote to Sima Qian, hoping that he could save his life as he had done when he cried out for Li Ling.
However, Sima Qian, who had already seen through the world and said that it was difficult to save him, wrote him a famous "Book of Baoren An", which contained a famous sentence: "Man is inherently dead, or heavier than Taishan, or lighter than Hong Mao." ”
For example, in the article "Serving the People" written in honor of Zhang Side, Chairman Mao wrote: "People always have to die, but the meaning of death is different." In ancient China, a literary scholar named Sima Qian once said: "Man is inherently dead, or heavier than Mount Tai, or lighter than Hong Mao." To die for the interests of the people is heavier than Tarzan; to die for the fascists, to die for those who exploit and oppress the people, is lighter than the feathers. Comrade Zhang Side died for the interests of the people, and his death was heavier than Taishan. ”
Chairman Mao also made a classic quotation about the Book of BaoRen' An, that is, at the 7,000-person congress in 1962, Chairman Mao preached: "Sima Qian later explained to his friends that he had suffered great humiliation and humiliation and why he still wanted to live, and the main purpose was to complete the history of history. Why did he suffer strange humiliation, this is because at that time Emperor Wu of Han was confused and made a wrong decision, so what did the victims think of him when he made this decision? If it sinks, people will be finished, and like Sima Qian, they must take off in adversity, and finally there will be qualitative changes.
"Now that many comrades who have suffered setbacks have been rehabilitated, if they want to come out to work, do they have to be assigned to work at the same level or higher positions?" If you are demoted to a lower level to do work, or if you are transferred to another place to do work, then what is not to do? Why can a person only rise and not fall? Why can't we just do the work in this place and not be transferred to another place? I think that this descent and mobilization, whether correct or not, is beneficial, can temper the revolutionary will, can investigate and study many new situations, and can increase useful knowledge. I myself have experience in this area and have benefited greatly. If you don't believe me, you might as well give it a try. ”
Chairman Mao then quoted from Sima Qian's Book of Baoren'an: "King Gaiwen performed "Zhou Yi"; Zhongni'er wrote "Spring and Autumn"; Qu Yuan's exile was given "Leaving Sorrow"; Zuo Qiu was blind and had "Chinese"; Sun Tzu's foot was on his feet, and the "Art of War" was revised; Bu Wei Qianshu, the hereditary "Lü Lan"; Han Fei imprisoned Qin, "Speaking Difficulty" and "Lonely Anger"; and "Poems" were three hundred pieces, most of which were the works of the sages who were angry. ”
In fact, there is both Chairman Mao's helplessness and encouragement to everyone.
In China's history, all kinds of unjust things often happen, and now socialist society cannot avoid it, but now once it is found that there are mistakes in handling, we can screen, rehabilitate, and let them start their work again, but as a party, we must also have this psychological endurance, and when we are treated unfairly, we must not be too passive, and we must learn from Sima Qian, Qu Yuan, Zuo Qiuming, Han Fei, and others, and the more we are in adversity, the more we must maintain an optimistic attitude, and we must firmly believe that the Communist Party is a fair party, and sooner or later it will make a fair evaluation.
Therefore, the reason why Chairman Mao admired Sima Qian so much was that in addition to his great work "The Chronicle of History", there was also his great spirit of not being discouraged in the face of adversity, but on the contrary, he became more and more frustrated and energetic, which was more worthy of study by the Communists.
(References: "Mao Zedong Reading History", "Mao Zedong Chronicle", "Sima Qian", "History")
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