When I first opened the book " Human Stars Shining ", I actually didn't like it very much.
From the title of the book, it gives people a bright and positive feeling. In the vast river of history, human beings can still have their own shining points. But after reading the contents of the book, I felt a little uncomfortable.
The story in the book is 14 historical events. What makes me uncomfortable is that some historical events are always accompanied by blood and cruelty.
For example, The seventh monarch of the Ottoman Empire Before Mohammed II captured Constantinople, he promised that his soldiers could burn, kill and loot the city for three days.
On the eve of the final battle, the city was held for the last mass. People who believe in God or do not believe in God all took to the streets to pray for the city; and outside the city, a group of people shouted the name of "Allah", ready to go. Is this a contest between the gods in heaven, or a contest between the sexual desires of humans on earth?
After the city was broken, I couldn't help but think, can the shining moment of human beings be built on the pain and destruction of another group of people?
However, as this book progressed, I followed Stephen Zwigg and translator Wang Xiuli to see the little people in history one by one, and I seemed to slowly understand some things.
In contrast, Nunes de Balvoa's story, he is a Spanish explorer known as the "discoverer of the Pacific" and "the first person to conquer the New World".
For Balvoya , he bet on his life in order to discover a corner of the world that has never been discovered, and can take credit in front of the king and leave a mark in history. Indeed, he discovered the Pacific Ocean, a sea that his predecessors had never seen.
But for the indigenous people, this sea is nothing more than the sea water they can see every day. They may not be able to understand why Balvoya and the people he brought were so excited about this ocean. The discoverer of this sea water was not Balvoya, but the indigenous people who grew up on this land, but no one recorded it.
If the first one is the natives of the Americas, or the Americas are comparable to Europe, the outcomes of the two will be very different. From a certain perspective, history is so unfair that no one knows the real discoverer, but later generations with the help of power can leave a mark in history.
But there is no way to "if". This is also the charm of history. Anyone can be the promoter of history, even if he is an unknown little person.
History was created by humans, but it also created humans. Human beings cannot stop the wheel of history, just as human beings cannot stop the train that is moving. But the train in history is moving in a specific direction along the railway tracks built by countless names.
Stick to your dreams! Go and experience the pain and joy that life brings to you, and maybe one day you and I can leave a glimmer of light in history.
