读中国人的精神。。。

《The Spirit of the Chinese People》is a social and historical works which deserve high reputation in the world literary circles. First and foremost , i have to attach my attention to the background of the author: Gu Hong Ming—The 54 period (1917-1927).It was around World War 1. Just as the saying from《A Tale of Two Cities》: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair. The world situation when the writer lived was characterized by turbulence and intranquility . China faced tremendous challenges no matter domestic and foreign. The imperialist powers enforced the Qing dynasty government to sign unequal treaties and Trade invasion. Nonetheless, the war indeed promoted the process of the exchange of national culture. So this book came into the world with heated arguments and the author even men of that time’s pure dream.At the first time you open up this book, you could easily get the point Mr. Gu laid stress on that Chinese and their civilization have the great three features: deep, broad and simple, which American, Britisher, Germen and French don’t have. That’s our nature, a gentle race. And the nature, however, depending Chinese culture and even spirit. They exist side by side and play a part together. None is dispensable. So, this book, a large part of the chapters talks about Chinese diverse culture, including language, words, thoughts…especially the author’s dearest confusion. It is definitely obvious that Mr. Gu spend much efforts to expound the essential of it. Although it seems a little tedious and boastful, but there is no denying that confusion is china’s valuable property no mater how time goes by. When talking over the topic of a country, the atmosphere always serious and tough, while the author’s tone is much humorous, making the deep essay become attractive.But, there’s some viewpoint I can subscribe to mostly in the women part. The author’s view in this part have overt prejudice, or we can call it ‘era color’. He thought the buddha is the standard of the best woman. It is obvious that the opinion is too stupid. There’s no definite model of the outstanding woman as the society is improving continuously. Another strange thought of him is that he praised highly of the monogamy and polygamy. The family structures are normal in the feudal polygamy marriage system, but most contemporary countries hold monogamy in esteem. So this viewpoint is unacceptable to the modern men like me. Though, put aside all this. Mr. Gu emphasized that only love and advocate our country and our culture can get the world’s respect. Priority should be given to the confidence of culture. His point maybe a little ideal and extreme, but considering of that war time, the point is positive and predictive. We can never forget our root of culture, and carry forward our spirit well at any time.