Xu Zhuoyun came from a family of scholar-bureaucrats. When he paid attention to history, he was more interested in things related to the common people, such as the thoughts and lives of ordinary people, rather than the governments, countries, wars, etc. that are usually recorded in traditional history books. After retirement, Xu Zhuoyun devoted himself to writing popular history and became one of the most well-known popular historians in China. His main points are:
01. I no longer have respect or illusions about great people.
02. I write history for ordinary people.
03. "China" is a community that has evolved over thousands of years.
The word "China" is not a country, not a political body, not something that can be defined by today's so-called sovereign states, nor is it a cultural system. It is a cultural, political, economic, and social community that has evolved over thousands of years in a wide area and is composed of countless people from different origins living together. This community means that our lives are tied together, our destiny is tied together, and our future is tied together.
The ability to form such a large group cannot be described by the word "sovereignty", nor by the word "blood", so I took four or five different factors and weaved them into an interactive and intertwined network. System, this network system is not temporary, but has evolved over thousands of years. This system is still quite concrete today because it has a core, and this core is something that has been tempered, mixed, and integrated over many years.
Chinese culture, from the Central Plains of China, gathers together many streams, moves to East Asia, moves to Asia, and finally merges into a sea, moving to the sea of the world. The world, the ocean of mankind all over the world, has always been the goal that the Chinese people aspire to. What Confucius said about peace of mind and peace of the common people: this is the final goal of this community. It does not refer to within national borders, but to the whole world.
The concept of "tianxia" formed during the Western Zhou Dynasty means that civilization is common to the whole world and has no national boundaries. Therefore, this cultural tradition, the cultural body recognized by the Chinese people, should be in line with the ideal state of a world of great harmony. Although the realm of a unified world is difficult to achieve, it will always be a goal worthy of aspiration: especially in today's globalized world, it should be a relevant and useful concept.
04. Chinese philosophical spirit: neither collapse nor arrogance
05. There is invisible self-government among the people