Focus 1: The exquisite selfishness of our ordinary people is not something that we have today. At least since , has been like this since the Ming and Qing dynasties.
finishing sentence 2: The exquisite selfishness of our ordinary people may be related to the continuous wars, involume and hungry memory that have been continuing for hundreds of years in the Ming, Qing and Republic of China.
Finishing sentence 3: Today's society is more positive feedback on , which is one of the important reasons why our people generally use erotic self-interest.
Many people criticize today's society, and there are "exquisite egoists" everywhere. Some of them believe that this phenomenon has only emerged in recent decades. In fact, this is an illusion. The truth about
is as follows: To put it bluntly, At least since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the background color of our national character has always been "exquisite egoism", and this has never changed from .
I will give a few examples and you will understand how "delicate and self-interested" our ancestors have been:
At least since the Ming and Qing dynasties, once our ancients have money, they will marry a few concubines. To put it bluntly, snatch sexual resources from the poor and the bachelors in society . The rich people in history never consider the feeling of the poor as bachelors. You are just a matter of bachelors . I just want the concubines in five, six, seven or eight. So at this point, our ancestors were very selfish in and , and there is no fairness. What is exquisite selfishness? That's it. Interestingly, a few poor peasants became such people after they made a fortune through hard work.
At least since the Ming and Qing dynasties, landlords have never been ruthless in collecting land rent. They can charge you 70%, absolutely not 60%, they can charge you 50%, and absolutely not 40%. As for whether the tenant farmer's family can eat enough, the landlord does not consider it at all. In short, It’s all my business to starve to death. This is the common background of ancient landlords. What is exquisite self-interest? That's it. Interestingly, a few poor peasants became such people after they became landlords through hard work. (Note: Most landlords are like this, and they do not deny that there are a few gentry who have generous style)
In the past three thousand years, some of our ancestors have long figured out that the earth is round, and the list of these wise men is very long. To give a few examples: Zengzi , Zhang Heng , Zhao Youqin , they have long known: the earth is round, and they can explain why the earth is round. However, although a few of our ancestors knew that the earth was round, the knowledge of "the earth was round" was historically discarded by the Chinese and did not study it in depth. Why? The answer is: Because many "smart people" in ancient China thought: Is the earth round or square? It's all my business. If you study this, can I make money? cannot. Since I can't make money, why should I study it? This is why in our past three thousand years of history, has only technology, but no science , because technology can bring money, but science cannot bring money . What is exquisite self-interest? This is exquisite self-interest.
At least since the Ming and Qing dynasties, the officialdom has been almost "no official is not greedy". This does not require much explanation. It has been a public secret. Even the famous anti-Japanese hero Qi Jiguang cannot survive alone. In order to be promoted, he also bribed his superior ( Zhang Juzheng ) . He gave Zhang Juzheng money and beautiful (historical material original text: Qianjin Ji) . Moreover, at least since the Ming and Qing dynasties, officials of the emperor's government have decided whether to do one thing. Their decision-making standards are not to serve the people, but to "will doing this benefit my career?" . What is "exquisite self-interest"? That's it.
At least since the Ming and Qing dynasties, not only have officials and masters from all dynasties sophisticatedly benefited themselves, but the people they ruled were actually sophisticatedly benefited themselves. For example, the British missionary Timothy (Timothy) Richard) records in "Experience of the Forty-Five Years of the Late Qing Dynasty": In the late Qing Dynasty, he was in Shandong to provide disaster relief. The hungry people lined up to receive relief funds, and each person could only receive it once. Li Timothy made a mark on the palm of his hand with ink. However, the people who received secretly washed their hands and lined up again, repeatedly impersonating using this cheating method. In short, others starved to death, and I don't care. I use any means to embezzle as many copies as possible until the cheating is revealed. And as for the rules and contract spirit of , I'm sorry, there is no . What is "delicate self-interest"? is extremely smart and only seeks selfishness in everything, referred to as "exquisite selfishness" .
At least since the Ming and Qing dynasties, although there are occasional "showing unfairness when you see the road", it is not a common phenomenon, but a heroic legend and a knight story. In our real history, is more of the numb onlookers written by Lu Xun. They don’t care about themselves and hang up high. They each clean up the snow in front of their own doors. Even if they care about the frost on others, that is the background of our national character. Exquisite egoism is not a new thing. In history, it has long been this virtue, but it was not called this name before.
Yes. To put it bluntly, we all have the gene "exquisite self-interest" .
Mr. Sun Yat-sen was a fellow villager in his hometown of Cuiheng Village, Xiangshan County. actually didn’t have a good evaluation of him . Do you know why? First, Sun Yat-sen destroyed the "Northern Emperor Temple" in the village. Second, Sun Yat-sen was wanted by the Qing government for organizing the first Guangzhou Uprising in 1895.
So, when Sun Yat-sen was young, the villagers of Cuiheng Village had a bad reputation for him. They rushed to draw a clear line with Sun Yat-sen, for fear that they would be implicated.
But later, National Government respected Sun Yat-sen as the "Father of the Nation". Cuiheng Village's evaluation of Sun Yat-sen was completely reversed: those villagers who used to draw a clear line with Sun Yat-sen, now they say to everyone: The Father of the Nation is a great man from our village.
What is exquisite self-interest? That's it.
We all say: those in the authorities are confused, while those onlookers are clear. We ancestors in history are also as refined and self-interested as foreigners in history can see clearly.
For example, in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China, there was an American missionary who lived in China for 54 years. His name was Ming Enpu (Arthur Henderson Smith, born and died: 1845-1932). In 1899, Ming Enpu published a book called "The Character of Chinese People" (Chinese) Characteristics) . Let's take a look at how the American in this book evaluated the people of the Qing Empire:
Ming Enpu commented on Qing nationals: citizens of the Qing Empire, indifferent to other people's sufferings and lack sympathy . As long as you look at the tragic experiences of women, children, and daughter-in-law, you will understand.
Ming Enpu’s comments on the Qing Dynasty’s nationals: The citizens of the Qing Empire were not lacking in wisdom. What they really lacked in is personality and conscience.
Ming Enpu’s comments on the three nationals of the Qing Dynasty: In the Qing Empire, small stalls and vendors were flooding the streets and alleys. The citizens of the Qing Empire, has no concern for public resources and takes everything that is not strictly prevented and easy to get. It has .
Ming Enpu’s comments on the four principles of the Qing Dynasty: The citizens of the Qing Empire either had no faith or did not ask all beliefs, so that they believed in all gods, but was just to get benefits , and they lacked a sense of solemnity in their hearts.
After reading this, do you feel familiar?
Yes, That is our ancestors, they are also refined egoists . We inherit their genes and refined selfish genes.
So, to put it further, why do we have the gene of "exquisite self-interest"?
The answer is: If our ancestors were not "delicate and self-interested", they would have perished and would not have been the same as us today.
Let's go far. In the cave era, our ancestors all fought for a piece of meat, fighting to the death, and they were all exquisite and self-interested. Otherwise, they would not be able to survive and their genes would not be able to copy.
Let’s talk about it closer. For example, when the Ming Dynasty fell and the Qing Dynasty rose, the Qing soldiers arrived in counties, villages, towns and towns, and asked all Han people to shave their hair. , who did not obey, killed all those who did not obey . Speaking of this, do you understand something?
pair, We are actually descendants of the people .
Those who do not want to be obedient to the people, have integrity, and are willing to plead for the people of the world, are almost all killed by the Qing soldiers. The rest are basically timid, afraid of death, exquisite and self-interested, and those who do not have any profit or gain early. What we carry is their gene . Although it is unpleasant, the fact is that the terrifying memory of history can really be inherited through genes. Let’s look back at our ancestors and then look at ourselves and you will know that existence is reasonable .
But we must know that in the Spring and Autumn Period and Warring States Period Before the Han and Tang Dynasties, the Chinese at that time had a mental outlook of ancient ways, a chivalrous and loyal heart, and were different from the Chinese who had been humble, profit-oriented, and refined and self-interested since the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Why did this change occur? I think that the long-term war, hunger and involuntary may be important reasons.
As for modern China, Being a refined and self-interested person is easier to get positive feedback . To give the simplest example, take the life event of "marriage" as an example, What Chinese women value most when choosing a spouse is the economic ability of Chinese men . As long as a Chinese man is not in good economic conditions, no matter what talent you have, your temper and personality, and your character are good, it is basically difficult to win the favor of your favorite women.
On the other hand, it is also true. As long as a Chinese man has good economic conditions, he will be favored by the opposite sex even if he is not very good in other aspects. Then this kind of thing will in turn stimulate Chinese men and let men know from the bottom of their hearts: needs to make money, be refined, be self-interested, and not get up early without profit, otherwise finding a partner will become a problem.
As far as I know, women in other countries in the world also consider the economic conditions of men, they do not value money as much as Chinese women.
So, Chinese men know that in this society, can only pick the women they like by making money, getting rich, buying a house, and buying a car. Otherwise, they can only pick the remaining . On the other hand, as long as a man has no money, no house, or car, then no matter how warm you are, no matter how caring you are, no matter how caring you are, no matter how much you care about the world, and no matter how much you ask for the people, women will not appreciate you. not only does not appreciate you, but also says that you are crazy . Under such an incentive mechanism, it is natural that Chinese men must be refined egoists, and the fittest survive . Since there is such a social soil, refined egoists will inevitably be produced in batches.
Of course, the example of marriage and love we give is just one aspect of the world. In fact, isn’t it the same in other aspects of life? If you don’t have money, not only women look down on you, but relatives look down on you, and even classmates look down on you. What kind of social and cultural soil does have, will produce whatever kind of people. There will be a cause for the result. A sophisticated and self-interested society will produce a sophisticated and self-interested person , a big dye vat, that’s it.
