Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong, put it well, "Take copper as a mirror to dress, people as a mirror to know gain and loss, and history as a mirror to know rise and fall." . The vast 5,000-year history of civilization bears the inheritance of Chinese civilization and the permanence of the Chinese nation. The ancestors recorded valuable information resources with the pen of Dan Qing, which is the treasure of Chinese civilization.
Studying history can help us deeply understand how the Chinese nation has gone through vicissitudes, hardships, perseverance and hardships from a tribe on the bank of the Yellow River.
Will enhance their feelings of loving the motherland and the nation.
Studying history will record the important past events that happened in China, because history will bring us into the alternation of war and peace, experience the hardships of development and progress, feel the struggle between civilization and barbarism, recall the contrast between glory and backwardness, and witness the civilized achievements produced by ethnic migration and ethnic integration.
Studying history will help us know how to distinguish loyalty from treachery, right from evil, good from evil, good from evil, gently touch the spiritual world of the ancients, talk to them and think about the distant past.
Studying history will make us strong from the pain, let the Chinese nation know how to defend itself better, develop after the "phoenix nirvana" of history, enhance national pride in the brilliant glory, and share the same destiny with the country and the nation.
Looking through the evolution of history, you will broaden your horizons, enrich your thinking, and improve your personal taste and accomplishment, all of which are the benefits of studying history.
Learning history is not the ultimate goal, but the real value lies in thinking about and studying history on the basis of learning.
As a non-history major, how should we study history?
Briefly talk about personal experience;
One; First of all, we should respect history;
This is the most basic requirement for studying history; The history of China is sacred to the country, the life course of the Chinese nation, the national dignity of China and the national dignity. For those who love the history of China, it is the most basic requirement to treat the history of China with reverence and care for her like comforting and caring for relatives.
But unfortunately, there are always some people who "curse and study" history with strong prejudice, emotion and personality, and "use the best decission". As long as they insult, abuse, attack, humiliate and vilify China's history, dynasties, events and historical figures, they will emerge one after another. For example, some people accused the Song Dynasty of being a "coward" and the Qing Dynasty of being a "mite-clearing". In ancient China, imperial power and royal family were symbols of the country and the Chinese nation. Our ancestors once shed their last drop of blood, leaving a regretless head for the dynasty and the country. They defended national dignity and guarded national self-esteem with their lives. What are the national feelings of people who insult the China dynasty and the royal family? Where is the national sentiment? Is it worthy of those ancestors who shed blood and died?
China's dynastic regime will always be a static existence in the eyes of future generations, because all their merits and demerits, great evils and great goodness have been integrated into the history of China and become a part of the history of China and the life of the Chinese nation.
If you don't have a respectful attitude, don't talk about learning history. The best choice is not to look at history, leaving an unhealthy mentality, but it is not worth the candle.
Second; Study history from an objective and fair standpoint; On the basis of respecting history, dialectics of historical materialism is the best weapon to study historical issues, because history is the past, events, people, policies and actions are all the past, and right and wrong, grievances and merits are all the past. Therefore, the study of historical events and people must be placed on the balance of history, focusing on their influence on history, and secondly, the research object should be placed on their influence on the times at that time, which is higher than that at that time.
However, the research object often has complex two sides, one positive and one negative, one honor and one shame, one merit and one evil. Therefore, we can't judge its quality simply and rudely, but we can comprehensively compare it and weigh it with historical behavior, and finally come to the conclusion that merits outweigh benefits, or merits outweigh benefits.
For example, the historical evaluation of Qin Shihuang should be that merit lies in the future and sin lies in the present.
Merit lies in the future; Qin Shihuang unified China, which laid the foundation for the territory of China, unified writing and weights and measures, established centralization, improved the county system, and made great contributions to the unification of China.
Crime is contemporary; Burning books to bury Confucianism destroyed a large number of cultural classics left in the pre-Qin period [which will also be a sin in the future], severely punished the law, exhausted the national strength and people's strength to build Epang Palace and the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, did not pay attention to rest, resumed production, stabilized the people's hearts, and brought great pain to the people at that time.
From the standpoint of later generations, it can be concluded that Qin Shihuang did more than he did.
Third; Learn history with serial thinking;
In the study of history, we are very afraid of the' one-track thinking' that determines the quality of someone or something in history only by one point, one thing, one word and one line. People and things should be compared, distinguished and judged by history.
For example, it is a wrong decision for netizens to attack Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's view that "a hundred schools of thought abandon Confucianism", but the national policy of "a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred flowers blossom" should be continued. This is a typical view of historical issues in isolation, lacking a comprehensive consideration of history.
The perspective of thinking should be placed in the comparison between "a hundred schools of thought contend" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period and various core concepts.
The contention of a hundred schools of thought is a unique historical product of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and it is also the ideological product of a hundred schools of thought contending fiercely for political rule. It has been 300-200 years since a hundred schools of thought contended to the era of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. If a hundred schools of thought continue to contend, there will be no reunification of Qin Shihuang, the birth of the Han Dynasty and the emergence of the Han nationality in history. Since Qin Xiaogong appointed "Shang Yang Reform" in 356 BC, Legalism has become the absolute dominant position of Qin State.
In terms of political thought, with the success of Shang Yang's political reform, Qin took the lead in embarking on the national system of feudal social system and realized the prosperity of the country. It was not until 22 1 BC that Qin Shihuang unified China, and after the national reunification, the society should have moved from chaos to great governance, cultivated with the people, cherished private capital, resumed production, increased population, established social order, and established humanistic ethics. However, Legalists did the opposite and ran counter to society.
Legalists first opened the prison of historical documents in China,' burning books to bury Confucianism', destroyed a large number of China cultural classics since the pre-Qin period, blindly took' theory of evil nature' and' law, power, art and power' as the concept of governing the country, but severely punished the law and kept the corvee, which seriously brought great disasters to the people and the country, leading to peasant uprising and the demise of Qin State 30 years later.
Can Legalists win the hearts of the people at that time?
Can you stand firm in front of the social trend at that time?
Since then, Legalism has become the dominant ideology that assists Confucianism and occupies the second place in the region, which has become the necessity of historical development.
Secondly; Investigate Taoism
It has been more than 70 years since the Taoist school "governing by doing nothing" implemented the concept of "learning from Huang Lao" in the early Han Dynasty. It pays attention to governing by doing nothing, paying attention to recuperation, cherishing people's separation, resuming production and increasing population, all of which are the advantages of Taoist thought of governing the country.
But the shortcomings of Taoism are also deeply rooted. Make it a tool instead of using it; Let people die again, and don't migrate far. Although there is a boat, there is nothing to take, although there is a soldier, there is nothing to show for it. Let people use it again.
Be willing to eat, wear, live and enjoy. When neighboring countries confront each other, the voices of chickens and dogs are endless, and the people die of old age. ]
This is the ideal state described by Laozi.
The strength of Taoism lies in philosophy, not in political ideas. The transcendental realm of "small countries and few people dying of old age" runs counter to the concept of "great unity". In the early Han Dynasty, politics faced major problems, national unity and administration were destroyed, the county system faced severe challenges, and the country was in danger of being split again.
The "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion" in the period of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty and the "Huainan Rebellion" in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty are clear evidence. Liu Gai and Liu An are loyal followers of the "Learning of Huang Lao". Again; mohists
In the eyes of future generations, the most attractive thing is technology, indeed. However, there are many problems in the core concept of Mohism, such as universal love, non-attack, and choosing a virtuous person. What do you mean? Universal love means unconditional love, no attack, no war and opposition to war, which is also contrary to the idea of reunification by hook or by crook. If Mohism becomes the idea of governing the country, China may become a country with "the unity of politics and religion". Mohism advocates "natural selection of kings", that is, the establishment of natural rights through natural elections and direct opposition to imperial power. So Mohism was the first of the four schools to die out.
Finally, the study of Confucianism. In the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu suggested to Emperor Wu that he should carry out the political program of "rejecting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone". The core political ideas of Confucianism, such as "harmony between man and nature", "benevolent politics" and "humane thoughts of benevolence", advocated the concept of self-cultivation and cultivation, and the highest goal of educating people was "self-cultivation, keeping the family in order and governing the country", which met the actual needs of society and rulers at that time.
The establishment of political thought has created conditions for the complete unification of culture, territory, society and nation, and the Han nationality was born under the guidance of the concept of great unity. The birth of the Han nationality is the greatest achievement in the history of China.
From learning history to studying history, we can see that history brings the greatest effect;
One; The history of China has an inseparable continuity. No historical event, policy or person can be viewed in isolation and statically, which is a matter of course. This is not the case, but after a long period of continuous evolution, movement, competition and transformation, it has become an inevitable result.
Second; As a result of China's historical development, it has formed its own unique ideology, politics, economy, culture and humanities, and its influence continues to this day. This is what we often call' China's national conditions'. Even today, with the proliferation of western values, anything foreign, whether advanced or backward, must first face the test of whether it conforms to China's national conditions.
Study history, study history and look forward to the future.