"Know thyself": the humanist tradition and methodology for studying history

I ntroduction.

Many people are confused: What is the use of studying history? The answer to this question is:

«Histories make men wise» [1 , p. 268]. Why can reading history be wise? What is this wisdom that comes from reading history? How can one be wise by reading history? It is still a series of questions left in moral education.

The need to study history: «Histories make men wise».

It is often said that people live in the moment, every day is a life of chores, as long as healthy and happy, every day is the best life. According to

Xin Huili

« K NOW THYSELF»:

THE HUMANIST TRADITION AND METHODOLOGY

FOR STUDYING HISTORY

Annotation. What is the use of studying history? The answer to this question is: Histories make men wise (Francis Bacon) Man is a stage of historical existence, and people respecting history is respecting mankind itself, living with a soul, which is the goal and realm of modern education as it should be. Man needs to know not only the objective world, but also the subjective world. «Know thyself» is the tradition of science and humanism. Only by looking through the lens of history and being present in history and culture can we reflect our true selves, by level of thinking that is scientifically applied through richer and comparable life experiences to explore historical truths and summarize the laws of history, which is a dignity and a mission that human beings have given themselves. This is a very important element in the development of the world, life and values. The development of a world, life and values perspective should be complemented by an education in historical perspective to bring it to the fore and make it sound.

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory, healthy and happy are realistic and basic needs, but not the whole of life. In one’s spare time, especially in adulthood, one should know and understand one’s own history, know yesterday and look forward to tomorrow, so that one can be full of spirit and soul, and truly live in the river of history.

As a hurried passerby on the earth, everyone is a person who has come from history and will eventually become the past again. Only when one knows where has come from can one know where is going, and this is the path to follow in life. Therefore, since man lives in the present, he lives in the past and the future, in the long history and culture – it can be said that the dimension of time is the most essential thing. People are the stages of history, people respect history is to respect human beings themselves, that’s why there is the expression «time old man». For example, the cultural value of those places of interest or antiques is not only an address, or an item, it is because of the history that they survive and are rich in meaning. The longer the time and the richer the experience, the greater its value.

Studying history allows us to understand the ideas of our ancestors, to take the best from them and remove the worst, and to change and enrich our own minds. Familiarize yourself with the difficulties encountered by ancestors to sum up experience and take fewer detours for faster and better development. We will develop an attitude of seeking truth from facts and improve our ability to distinguish right from wrong; we will develop our ability to think in multiple directions by analyzing historical events from multiple perspectives such as politics, economy, and social ideology.

Scientific and humanist traditions: «Know thyself»

To live a worthy and meaningful life, one should also live with wise, as the so-called «To understand oneself is to be illumined» [2, p. 67]. After all, man is still a spiritual being, and his spiritual activity (soul) is the hallmark of man as a higher animal. Man is a sensual being, but also a rational being. One needs to know not only the objective world, but also the subjective world, and it seems that the latter is more important. The philosophical words «Know thyself», engraved on the Temple of Apollo in Delphi-precisely in the tradition of science and humanism. Every individual «consciously helps to determine the historical process» [4, p. 318]. «This twofold meaning of activity – its simultaneous impact upon the individual...and upon the course of history, i.e. the concrete mediation between man and history» [4, p. 318]. But sadly, many of our grandparents, generation after generation, have passed away in a hurry before they have developed any awareness and left much of a trace. They could have used their leisure in their later years to quietly enjoy the splendor of the morning sun and the grandeur of the sunset, completing their historic legacy. What is more disturbing is that the decadence of the spirit of science and humanism in the current education and teaching reality has been long overdue, and a kind of egoism and «Exquisite Egoism» is popular on campus, which seriously affects the overall development of education and teaching. Education has become more utilitarian and flattened, and the ultimate value of education is diminished. A life with soul is the goal and realm of modern education.

How to»Know thyself»

There is no direct and easy way to know oneself yet; one must reflect one's true self by knowing others and society, especially through the lens of history and by being present in history and culture. To understand history is to understand people universally. «But in the curriculum there is a subject closely akin to sociology that can give the student a very adequate idea of society and the way in which it is linked with the individual. This is history» [5, p. 275]. As the ancient Chinese say:»Use copper as a mirror to straighten your clothes; You can know the gains and losses by using people as mirrors; Taking history as a mirror can cure rise and fall» [6, p. 2561]. In fact, using history as a mirror, we can also see a true self. With the extension of both ends of time, the depth and breadth of life, which is thus rich in meaning, can be expanded. It can be said that only through the washing of the river of history can a person’s worldview, outlook on life and values gradually become sound. If we can put the ups and downs of life into the life of ordinary people and restore it to the background of history and culture, then most of the pain and resentment in life can be relieved. Hegel condensed this view into this famous line in the preface to Phenomenology of Spirit: «The truth is the whole. Lukács argues that this concept was taken by Marx from Hegel and given a materialistic makeover. In Marxist philosophy, it means to have a holistic and comprehensive understanding of human social life, not to explain history in terms of mere natural factors, but to take the whole social movement of subject and object as the basis of history, highlighting the practical and social nature of the activities of human material existence. If we need to understand a particular historical event or process, then we must regard it as an aspect of a specific whole» [7, p. 4–5].

Most excellent literary works depict historical subjects, and naturally become a scene of history. Life’s wind, rain and snow or poetic feelings are hidden deep in the mountains of history. For example, from the narrative of the Chinese film «My Memories of Old Beijing», one can travel through the turbulent years and revive the dusty childhood. What a rhythmic memory and reverie! However, this spiritual activity has been submerged in the sea of secularism in recent years. Many people, not least some professional scholars, have become less and less aware of history and its reflection, and what they see and hear and think is always free from the pattern of their own interests, often trapped in a «spiritual poverty» that they cannot extricate themselves from. In the hustle and bustle, many people are busy but muddle through. They spend their days comparing money and wealth with others, using only themselves as coordinates, laughing at others for being poor while hating others for being rich. They do not know, or do not want to know where they came from, and can not know where to go.

The scientific way to «Know thyself»

Knowing one’s own history is not simply a matter of recollecting one’s own life or relying on only a few words on the Internet, nor is it just a matter of having read a textbook or two and memorizing individual historical figures and events, being a dressed-up «little girl», but also of learning and thinking, reading academic history in a scientific way, and reading and understanding history.

Learn to tell stories, develop historical thinking and sensibilities, and find the coordinates and context of people in history.

It should also be known that historiography is deduced and constituted by historical figures, historical events and their value judgments according to a certain historical logic, and is constantly discovered and improved by generations of historical scholars – a vast and profound system of thought. With the change of times and the continuation of history, through the efforts of generations of scholars to excavate, as well as generations of readers to read and think deeply, it is not difficult to find that some major historical events’ context and outline gradually emerged, and thus built into a scientific and credible system of thought.

Admittedly, there are still many historical existences, perhaps be forever buried in the barrenness of history, and historical scholars can only give some kind of rational explanation and speculation in conjunction with other disciplines. From the point of view of historiographical features, it can be said that this abstract truth has as much historical value as the concrete truth. Therefore, in the vast literature of history, there are not only national histories, but also world histories; not only ancient histories, but also modern histories and modern histories; not only official histories compiled by successive dynasties, but also foreign histories and unofficial histories handed down by the people; not only various biographies of people, but also family histories, genealogies and local histories; not only legends of emperors and generals, court politics and conquests, but also stories of human creations and inventions in the process of development; not only general social development, but also specialized subject histories, such as the history of science and technology, literature, thought and philosophy, which better reflect the process and direction of the development of human civilization. Historians are scientists and humanists, not politicians and businessmen – only hastening to peddle compiled historical knowledge to fool the masses. The true historian represents humanity, faithful and dedicated to history, the dignity and mission that humanity has given themselves first is to explore the truth of history, and second, to summarize the laws of history.

But then again, it is not easy to really read history and make it coherent because of the mediocrity of the world and the lack of persistence and determination. The so-called historical perspective, that is, people’s basic views and understanding of historical events and figures and their evolutionary process. Needless to say, people’s view of history is uneven, clear or vague, right or wrong. Or rather, most of them are ignorant and disordered. «The point is, above all, to prevent false ideas, still only too current, from taking hold» [8, p. 276]. If we sit in a well, ignorant, or are armed in the head, even the present generation cannot grasp the truth of history, let alone the next generation! «In this context, what is most lacking is not self-confidence but introspective skepticism – a truly humble and truth-seeking scientific virtue. The element of Subjectivity – that is to say, the reflection upon itself of the individual will in antithesis to the Substantial (as the power in which it is absorbed) or the recognition of this power as one with its own essential being,in which it knows itself free – is not found on this grade of develop-ment» [9, p. 137].

Generally speaking, reading history must have the corresponding comprehension: First, a rich and comparable life experience, and second, the level of scientific application of thinking. In a free and flourishing academic platform, one can read, think, understand and judge, discern the truths and falsehoods in historical narratives, and go through a process of self-denial. It is difficult to read the real history without this hard study. For example, in order to carry out the study of the critical inheritance of traditional moral culture and treat several major schools in the history of Chinese thought, some scholars first went from anti-Confucianism to emulation of Chuang Tzu thought, and then to practice of Confucianism, to praise of Mohist, going through a process of turning back and forth. This is probably inseparable from the in-depth and continuous comparative identification and thoughtful study.

Needless to say, in the face of complex and multifaceted historical cruxes, most people can only half-understand. «Reality is infinitely complex; and that therefore we can succeed in expressing it only slowly, laboriously, and by using complex systems of distinct concepts; that, as a matter of fact, we will never arrive at anything but an imperfect expression of reality» [10, p. 279]. For example, today’s perception and judgment of the 40 years of reform and opening up and social transformation (scientific and educational development and market economy, etc.), with its huge contrast in values, is in fact a problem of understanding historical development, and the «anti-intellectualism» movement, which reached its peak some time ago, has deep ideological roots, in addition to causing great economic and social disasters, and is in line with traditional legalistic culture. At the end of the Warring States period, Han Feizi, who represented the Legalists, preached the «Five Dormice», saying that besides officials, soldiers, and peasants, other Confucians, chivalrous merchants, and merchants (or himself included) were all useless and harmful dormice and must be banned.

In summary, «Righteousness is the benefit brought to people» [11 , p. 317]. That is, the just depends on the moral wisdom of man. «We must nevertheless be wary of facile notions about continuity. The teaching of history would be false to its goal if it did not leave the impression that, as a well-known aphorism puts it, history neither begins nor ends any-where» [12, p. 276–277]. It is only when we read the great history that we can be considered wise. Once we ascend to the heights of wisdom, it becomes clear that many pictures in history are familiar, yet never equivalent. Yesterday is the cause of today, today determines tomorrow, the way of life and history is always continuous and forward.

Conclusion

In short, even if you are not a historical figure or a historian, it has its own value when we can follow the direction of history, consciously connect historical events and figures with our own growing destiny, consciously immerse ourselves in history and culture, and be an understanding person who is humble and prudent, who follows the trend of history rather than being profit-oriented. Or as Qu Yuan said: «My way ahead’s long, long one, Oh!// I’ll seek my Beauty high and low» [13, p. 20]. Another example is that Confucius said: «In the morning, hear the way; in the evening, die content!» [14, p. 35]. Therefore, the establishment of a world view, life