Reflections on Seven Faces of the Ming Dynasty

Comments on Seven Faces of the Ming Dynasty 1 I just finished reading a book called Seven Faces of the Ming Dynasty-Zhu Yuanzhang. This book describes in detail the ups and downs of the life and mental journey of the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty from Zhu Yuanzhang's childhood. In the first few pages, you may think that the description of Zhu Yuanzhang in the book is completely speculated by the author. It doesn't matter. Soon, the author listed a large number of historical materials and ancient prose to prove that his description was completely the normal life of farmers at the end of Yuan Dynasty, which made you convinced. The book is interspersed with a large number of ancient Chinese historical materials, which proves that a vivid Zhu Yuanzhang is presented to us, and makes us understand that Zhu Yuanzhang was able to step into the throne in that era when the times created heroes, and his ruling philosophy after he ascended the throne is closely related to his experience. Through this book, we can have a comprehensive understanding of Zhu Yuanzhang, an objective evaluation of the Ming Dynasty and some profound introspection of our nation.

Here are some very interesting excerpts from the book to share with you:

The Poverty Gene of China Culture

Poverty is never a good thing. Poverty blinds people's eyes and prevents them from seeing things other than food; Poverty binds man's body and makes him suffer from primitive desires like animals. Poverty deprives people of their strength, dignity and rights, and makes them feel weak and grovel before nature, gods and power.

In 1950s, American scholar Lewis put forward the concept of "poverty culture". The characteristics of poverty culture summarized by him have existed in China from ancient times to liberation. Such as high mortality, low life expectancy, low education level, long-term struggle for survival, pawning, living a life of slavery, being busy all my life without leisure, longing for power, male chauvinism, caring only about the present, distrusting the government, being weak and incompetent, being sensitive to status differences, and lacking class consciousness. This poor culture gives people a strong sense of destiny, helplessness and inferiority. They are short-sighted, short-sighted and narrow-minded, so they can't understand their difficulties in the broad social and cultural background.

Although self-taught, Zhu Yuanzhang's poem "Poetry is free from nature, and Piao Maoxiong is strong" is quite impressive. Please see how he describes his three-year wandering in Tombstone:

In less than two months, the temple owner sealed the warehouse, and everyone made their own suggestions. There's nothing I can do. According to personal humiliation, God never shuts one door but he opens another. Without a basis, the couple will live alone. Sudden smoke and rapid progress threw dusk into the rickety ancient temple. Looking up at the blue cliff, listening to apes crying on a moonlit night is bleak. I have a long soul and found my parents, but I am lonely and wandering. The west wind is full of cranes, and the frost drops in Russia and Zhejiang. The body is like a tent chasing the wind, and the heart is like boiling soup. A cloud is almost three years old, 22 a year ago.

On the other hand, the Chinese nation is the smartest nation in the world. Perhaps it is because it is extremely difficult to survive in this densely populated land. China people spent all their wisdom on "arresting people". Laozi, the Analects of Confucius, Cai Gentan, Zengguang Scholar and La Roche all talked about how to get along with others. Therefore, China people's strategy culture is particularly developed, and China people's ability to prevent and calculate people is particularly developed. Marx said that China people are "far superior to other Asians in all world affairs". No nation has summed up so much profound survival wisdom as China people: "You can't throw away all my heart when talking to everyone"; "The heart that harms others is indispensable, and the heart that prevents others is indispensable"; "endure the anger of the moment, take a step back and broaden the sky"; "If the world is clear, everything will be learned, and human feelings will be practiced"; "If you learn the tortoise method, you will shrink your head"; "A small number of non-gentlemen, non-toxic and non-husband"; "Eat a small loss and take a big advantage"; "Smart inside, stupid outside, smart enough to make trouble" ...

Those resourceful masters have always been the objects of worship in China: Jiang Ziya, Zhuge Liang, Liu Bowen ... while scientists such as Zhang Zhongjing, Zhang Heng and Zu Chongzhi are unknown. Today, strategic culture is still full of vitality in China. Throughout any bookstore, many survival strategy books occupy a considerable area. China people's strategic thinking mode is very close to military thinking. China people are not good at honest cooperation and fair competition, but good at intrigue and breaking rules. What is needed on the battlefield is improvisation and unscrupulous means. On the battlefield, we should guess each other with the greatest malice and make the best use of each other's weaknesses. On the battlefield, you can use conspiracy to deceive your opponent aboveboard, creatively hide the truth, play hard to get, divert the tiger from the mountain, kill people with a knife, draw a snake out of the hole, throw a golden cicada out of its shell, encircle Wei and save Zhao, and hide the truth. ...

However, the records and legends we have read about immigrants in the early Ming Dynasty are full of bitterness and bitterness. According to folklore, at that time, in order to prevent people from fleeing halfway, everyone who registered made a small incision on their little toes, so Shanxi immigrants were all double toes; Tie a long rope and escort the road. So people have developed the habit of carrying their hands behind their backs. Even if you urinate, you should report to the officer. Soldiers can't do anything until they untie their hands. So going to the toilet is called relieving oneself in all parts of North China.

What the Tang and Song Dynasties presented to the world was a dynamic and export-oriented competitive society, while the Ming Dynasty under Zhu Yuanzhang was introverted, anti-competitive and unimaginative. The 300-year Daming initiated by Zhu Yuanzhang is one of the most stable dynasties in the history of China. These 300 years are the most turbulent stage in European history. However, it is in these drastic changes that modern western civilization was born. Huang Renyu said, "When Cromwell defeated Charles I in the wasteland of Meston, it was AD 1644, that is, the year when Emperor Chongzhen of China went to Jingshan Park, that is, the year when the Ming Dynasty perished". The 300 years of the Ming Dynasty is an era of combining Chinese and Western culture, which is a big step backward and a big step forward.

Reflection on Seven Faces of the Ming Dynasty is a book about seven famous figures of the Ming Dynasty, including Zhu Yuanzhang, Hai Rui and Wei Zhongxian, who played an important role in the rise and fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Both Zhu Yuanzhang and Hai Rui have advantages worth learning from others, but they also have irreparable shortcomings, but they are successful because they are both extraordinary and unique. Zhu Yuanzhang, a farmer sitting in a dragon chair, used his shrewdness, thoroughness and ignorance to build a prison empire that he thought was impregnable. This prison is not only for ordinary people, but also for bureaucrats and even his direct descendants. What's more, until today, it seems that China's thoughts have not been completely liberated from the mental prison he created. Environment can influence and change people. Before he got the land, Zhu Yuanzhang changed from a compassionate person to a cold-blooded hooligan. He is very good at making friends and using others. He used high-tech people, and he made others willing to be convinced and willing to do things for him! It can be said that this is his ability and the biggest reason why he can win the world. Of course, another important reason for his success is opportunity, an opportunity for him to turn over. In fact, not everyone may encounter opportunities, but the ability can be cultivated or created by themselves.

Judy is a usurper. He is proficient in power. He played with power in applause and carried out bloody slaughter at the same time. No matter his relatives, they say that blood is thicker than water, but it has never appeared in his place. I don't understand what a cold-blooded person this is. Maybe his heart is made of stone. This is a man who will do anything to achieve his goal. I can see his inner struggle and pain, so don't try to do anything wrong or do anything for a certain purpose, which will make you feel that you have no goal and lose your humanity.

Zheng Chenggong, the son of a pirate born in a foreign country, has been burning a bright "boyhood" in his character. Historically, Zheng Chenggong was "bold and handed down from his mother". Zheng Chenggong's Japanese mother is brave, knowledgeable and strong-willed. Maternal love is great, and we will not ignore the influence of mother's inheritance on Zheng Chenggong. Superior family background, gifted talents and smooth growth experience have cultivated Zheng Chenggong's strong self-confidence, superiority and aristocratic spirit.

The success and failure of the seven characters in this book are all influenced by their environment, so the environment is particularly important to people. The people we come into contact with in life and study will also affect us. The so-called "those who are near Zhu Zhechi and Mexico are black" is undoubtedly proved by the examples of several characters in the book.

Although this book is about seven characters, I appreciate three characters, but they all have mistakes, but they have those sparkling qualities.

After reading Seven Faces of the Ming Dynasty, it is easy to read a book written by a dogmatic materialist. Between laughter and scolding, we have an insight into social history. This new way of historical interpretation makes people feel hearty to read, but it is still meaningful afterwards.

The truth is unknown, only close. People who have been studying history can't escape this limitation.

"All history is modern history". It is a long-standing inconvenience that history is written by winners.

Zhang Hongjie used ancient metaphors to describe the present master. He is a historical figure for 500 to 600 years. Under his interpretation, he has become a key for us to understand the present society. If you understand this, you won't just watch the fun.

Zhu Yuanzhang

The author is the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who used the most pen and ink. Among them, the comparison with Mao ... is the most meaningful. Both of them are farmers and know the sufferings and needs of the lower class. They have experienced many battles and believe in the principle of the supremacy of force. Understand China's worldly wisdom. Defeated the literati regime with more cultural accomplishment than them. Unite China. However, the peasant consciousness left in their hearts makes them short-sighted and eager for quick success. They are powerful people in power and politics, but they are mediocre people in social cognition. Only in this way can their utopian ideal be shattered.

Judi

The special environment has created a special person. His own talent is outstanding, but he is not a prince. The law of history is that the strong survive. Faced with the choice between life and death, he became a usurper. After the exam, he was given a platform to display his talents.

He is a better ruler than his father. He accomplished almost all the major events in the Ming Dynasty, including opening up the territory, building the Great Wall, Zheng He's seven voyages to the West, and compiling the Yongle Grand Ceremony. Great undertakings and extraordinary actions, one after another, make people overwhelmed and at a loss. I was dumbfounded when I saw the result. These actions followed one after another, without giving people any chance to breathe and object.

History is often strikingly similar and repeated. Today, we are also in such an era, with the launch of Shenzhou VI, the Three Gorges Project, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, the 2008 Olympic Games and other major events have occurred one after another.

(English, Swiss) Harry (name)

A consolation symbol in China people's mind.

He is not so much a paranoid as an idealist. Being born in China is both his sorrow and his luck. Sadly, such a country is doomed to accomplish nothing. Fortunately, for thousands of years, he was the only Harry remembered by the people. His heart is like a bright moon, but there is ink underground.

Zhang

When I read Zhang's deeds, I felt unprecedented depression and despair. When the most cruel side of the Chinese people was displayed in this man, I felt extremely shocked. After the shock, I lost in thought and thought that all this was a fact and a history. I am afraid of the past and even more afraid of the future.

It seems far away to establish respect for life as in the west.

After reading Seven Faces of the Ming Dynasty, the four books discuss Zhu Yuanzhang, the usurper Judy, the upright official Harry, the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, the traitor Zhang, the traitor Wu Sangui and the loyal minister, showing the whole picture of the Ming Dynasty, which is both strong and fragile, resolute and lax.

Zhu Yuanzhang was born in poverty, which also made the whole Daming Dynasty have a strong peasant class atmosphere. Jianghu experience made him join the WTO, and his admiration for military discipline and knowledge made his empire impregnable. However, extremes meet, and totalitarianism planted seeds for later rebellion and corruption.

Judy's loyalty took away the young nephew's throne, but he also created the legend of seven voyages to the West and the prosperity of Yongle life.

Harry, a scholar, an obsessive-compulsive disorder patient, is also a firm desire in a corrupt society. The "tiger mother" education he received from childhood made him have perfectionist requirements for himself and society, and he was a "saint" who practiced himself.

Wei Zhongxian-honest and lovely, ingenious, made him stand out among the shrewd and speculative eunuch Li, and after taking power, he exposed his straw bag temperament. The East Factory System is the epitome of totalitarianism. Zhang's anti-social personality, refugee temperament, lack of humanitarian spirit and respect for women. Military discipline is lax, knowledge is not respected, and the flexible advantage in the rogue stage becomes a disadvantage after being in power and stable.

Wu Sangui, the second generation of infatuated officials, has a warm personality. Affectionate for Chen Yuanyuan, shrewd in doing things, loyal to the new master and pursuing the old master, he could have enjoyed his old age, but was terminated by Kangxi's vassal reduction. Zheng Chenggong-brave personality, versatile Chinese-Japanese mixed blood, father of One Piece, strong Japanese mother. Ocean-away from the deformed Ming system, so as to be free and open.

Take people as a mirror, you can know the gains and losses; Taking history as a mirror, we can know the rise and fall.