Cultural historian Feng Tianyu revises a new book dedicated to his father and wife in Wuhan

Cultural historian Feng Tianyu stayed in his home to read and think about the revision of the new book dedicated to his parents

I believe that Wuhan will definitely rise again

Our reporter Lu Yanxia

Today, Wuhan, which was sealed by the new crown pneumonia epidemic, will officially usher in the day of lifting the ban. During this time, Feng Tianyu, a professor at Wuhan University and a famous cultural historian, stopped at his home in Wuhan. He calmly read and thought about it, revised the proofs of his recent book "On the Outline of Chinese Cultural Ecology", and wrote in the book "Where I would like to dedicate this book to Wuhan for two months." Father folks. " Recently, Mr. Feng Tianyu accepted an exclusive interview with our reporter.

Reporter: What book did Mr. Feng read during the "closure"?

Feng Tianyu: With the outbreak of the New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic, mankind is facing a severe ecological crisis. Its impact on the international community is so great that it is only seen in more than 70 years after the end of World War II. The epidemic situation and the fight against the epidemic have given us many enlightenments, so-called worries and enlightenment. By chance, I am revising the proof of the new "Chinese Cultural Ecology Outline". I have read the topic of "Cultural Ecology" for three months, reread Chinese and foreign classics, and studied "Book of Songs", "Book of Changes", "Zuo Zhuan", "Mandarin" and "Warring States". "Chapter", "Historical Records", "Ming Yi to be visited" and "History of the Peloponnesian War", "A Brief History of Mankind", "Lessons of History", "Roman Clubs", "Silent Spring", etc. During the discussion period, "ecology", "advancing medical and medical care", "businessmen saving the nation", "collecting style and poetry admonition", "do not enter the Xiucide trap" and other topics.

Reporter: You said that reading Sun Simiao's "Emergency Precautions" has a lot of insights, can you talk about it?

Feng Tianyu: Browse the famous medicine masterpiece "Preparing for Thousands of Gold" by Sun Simiao, the "King of Medicine" in the early Tang Dynasty, and there is indeed the feeling of exploring the mountains and exploring treasures. The medical country, the Chinese medical doctors, and the medical doctors. "The Chinese language" Jinyu "has a specific statement on the topic of" shangyi medical country ": top doctors should not only treat diseases for people, but also treat patients in the country. In recent times, Sun Yat-sen, Lu Xun, Chekhov, etc. were the doctors of the medical country; in this tragic battle against epidemic, Zhong Nanshan and other groups of doctors have emerged from the treatment of the disease, the people and the country. These ancient and modern "surgeons" are worth emulating.

Reporter: You read the ancient and historical books, leading to the two questions of "Sales of Merchants" and "Mind Collection and Poems", which is very interesting.

Feng Tianyu: "Zuo Zhuan" contains the spring and autumn businessman Gao Gaozheng, the anti-Japanese war history contains Lu Zuofu and the Minsheng Company's feats of anti-Japanese salvation. Reminiscent of the outstanding performance of the anti-epidemic private entrepreneurs, he has a better understanding of the historical functions of businessmen. The historical events of ancient and modern times help us to get rid of the stereotypes of "reinventing the capital and repressing the end" and deprecating businessmen, and make the argument of "private enterprises going out of class" that once appeared in recent years unbreakable.

Lu Xun said: "It is better to read the history than to read the classics." The specific evolution of history has unfolded many classic truths, and the lessons are self-evident. Reading "The Book of Songs · National Breeze", "Zuo Zhuan" and "Warring States Policy · Qi Ce" leads to the question of "" Feng Feng "and" Poetry Admonishment "", and understands the importance of broadening the way of speaking and "the mouth of the people is better than Fangchuan" Historical lesson. "Historical Records · Taishigong's Preface" said: "The empty words I want to contain are better than what I see in the depth of my actions." Chengya Siyan.

I read foreign classics about ecological issues, such as "A Brief History of Mankind", "Lessons of History", "Silent Spring", etc., and I have a new understanding of cultural and ecological issues.

Reporter: Since mid-March, the two reading promotion brands in Beijing Reading Season and Shenzhen Reading Month have teamed up to launch an online sharing activity of famous readers who read a book to light up the North and the South. You have been sick for two hours of lectures online, and there are hundreds of bookstores and book clubs in Beijing and Shenzhen to listen to WeChat readers at the same time, and the response is enthusiastic. What is your comment on this reading activity?

Feng Tianyu: This kind of activity organized by the publishing industry and the book industry uses the Internet to connect scholars and readers, to conduct discussions on the same theme and the same set of classics, to learn from each other, to exchange ideas, and to expand reading activities to a deeper extent. I listened to Mr. Yang Tianshi's lecture. The content was precise and novel, and the discussions with readers were also vivid and interesting. Such reading activities will continue to have considerable results.

Reporter: One week before the closure of Wuhan, Mr. Feng got a proof of the "Chinese Cultural Ecology Outline" written in recent years, and recently wrote "I would like to dedicate this book to Wuhan's father and fellow villagers who closed the city for two months". It can be seen that this epidemic has new inspiration for your cultural and ecological research.

Feng Tianyu: Indeed. In modern times, Wuhan had twice closed the city. One was the Qing Dynasty's closure of Wuchang City during the Taiping Army's attack, and the second was Wu Peifu's Beiyang Army's closure of Wuchang City during the Northern Expedition War. But these two military closures were limited in size (only Wuchang, one of the three towns). The outbreak of the new coronary pneumonia epidemic, the closure of three towns in Wuhan on January 23, a mega-city with a population of 10 million, was closed for more than two months due to ecological problems, which is unprecedented. This has given us a new understanding of the importance and severity of ecological problems, and the subject of the humorous book "The Outline of Chinese Cultural Ecology" has been deepened.

Since 1980, I have devoted myself to the study of cultural history. For 40 years, I have always regarded cultural ecology as an important entry point. The history of culture is not limited to the biographical records of individual cultural heroes. It is by no means the genealogy of emperors and generals, but the creative "common cause" of hundreds of millions of people in a specific ecological environment. The "Chinese Cultural History" published in 1990, on the "Chinese Cultural Ecology" on this. In the future, I will continue to discuss the cultural ecology in several works, but I still haven't reached the end.

In recent years, I have had two serious illnesses, several times dying. After the rescue, I feel that there is not much time to come. I must pay close attention to this topic. By the second half of 2019, I have drafted an "Outline of Chinese Cultural Ecology". An analysis of the historical evolution of Chinese cultural ecology at three levels: economic activity and social system. Because I think cultural and ecological issues involve not only the relationship between man and nature, but also the social relationship of man, which is a combination of "heaven" and "humanities". The revision of the proofs coincided with the closure of the city to fight against the epidemic and the turmoil of the society, which attracted imagination, leaving such heart marks in the manuscript. When the book is published in the future, please ask the king to criticize and correct.

Reporter: You have lived in Wuhan for a long time, and you have experienced this epidemic. What is your expectation for the revival of Wuhan in the future?

Feng Tianyu: I was 3 years old when the War of Resistance Against Japan came and I came to Wuhan with my parents. For this city that has lived for more than 70 years, it is full of deep emotions. I have full confidence in the revival of Wuhan, which experienced a major epidemic. Wuhan is a thoroughfare of nine provinces, with excellent natural endowments and strong economic and cultural heritage. The awkward book "Zhang Zhidong's Biography" and "History of the Revolution of 1911" are discussed in detail here. The location advantage of Wuhan in China and even the whole world is very prominent. As early as the Qing Dynasty, the United States and Japan called Wuhan "Toyo Chicago". This is not an illusory reputation. Hankou's foreign trade used to "drive to Tianjin and catch up with Shanghai". Until the mid-20th century, Wuhan Industry and Commerce ranked first in the country. In the late 1990s, especially in the 21st century, Wuhan made rapid advances. It is also one of the largest higher education bases in the country, with more than one million college students, ranking first in the country and the world. The Wuhan people are hardworking, intelligent, good at learning, and creative. Many factors have determined that Wuhan will definitely rise again and regain its glory.

Reporter: In your opinion, how does the worldwide spread of the epidemic affect "globalization"?

Feng Tianyu: The worldwide spread of the epidemic is a very serious situation. As predicted by some scientists and politicians, this is the biggest challenge facing humanity since the end of World War II. All countries use "closing the city" or even "closing the country" to cope with it. This is bound to make globalization unprecedentedly frustrated, and the self-closure of countries and regions will become a trend. The variability and stubbornness of the new coronavirus will lead to a longer period of time for the epidemic, coupled with various secondary disasters, will endanger economic activities and affect international politics in a few years, so we should not be blindly optimistic about the situation.

Some commentators believe that the shrinking of "globalization" and the rise of closureism are the future trends. I don't think it's a blind eye. Countries "closing cities" or even "closing countries" to deal with the epidemic will inevitably frustrate globalization and seize the opportunity of isolationism, but this is a short-term phenomenon that will also affect the medium-term, but will not cover the long-term. Because economic globalization and the global transmission of information, which have been formed for more than half a century after World War II, have become inertial, such as the division of labor in the industrial chain and the difficulty of completing the entire production process in one country and one place, the fundamentals of economic integration have been determined Impossible to reverse. However, various levels of adjustment will occur, and we should make scientific adjustments.

Reporter: What are the implications of this new coronary pneumonia epidemic for Mr. Feng?

Feng Tianyu: This epidemic has brought us a lot of inspiration. A few items can be listed:

First, raise the ecological awareness of the country and the people. After the Industrial Revolution, anthropocentrism and the conquest of nature became the mainstream consciousness, and its infinite expansion is very dangerous. The cultural ecology that has emerged since the 1970s has reflected on this, and advocated that humans should return from "controlling the sky" to "shuntian", from "strong anthropocentrism" that blindly conquers nature to "weak anthropocentricity" that respects nature ". The New Coronary Pneumonia epidemic once again teaches us that we must adapt to nature while using it.

Second, in the face of the punishment of human beings by the Great Epidemic, we must improve the health care system. In the past two decades, there has been significant progress in health care, but it still needs to be improved. At present, China's medical and health expenditures account for a low share of the total finance. In the future, medical investment should be increased to a relatively large extent, and a relatively complete medical and health system should be established, which not only meets the routine needs, but also helps to respond to emergencies. This is the way to long-term stability.

Thirdly, the "human kindness" in the national military-civilian anti-epidemic should be maintained and promoted, holding high the banner of humanity, democracy, and the rule of law, carrying forward Nightingale's spirit of healing and saving people, and full of worries about the disasters in the country and the region Be sympathetic and lend a helping hand in a timely manner. You should also be full of compassion for disasters in other countries and regions, instead of taking neighbors as the beggars. "Old and old, old and young, and young and old" are greatly beneficial to the healthy development of society.