I used to dislike the subject of History in my high school, because it was a useless subject taught by a boring teacher.
It was all about event names and times, at least that was what my history class struck me as. Our teacher was like a lousy guide too busy with finishing his work and going home. He would wear a poker face and use an emotionless sound listing all the main incidents like they were just statistics. There is no care for the death of the innocent and no outcry over the barbarity of the invaders. We could fall into asleep during the class about Nanjing massacre. That was quite a scene.
Out of different personal education or life experiences, the youth, including me tend to have a negative feelings about China and its history. Not until I got the rare chance to have several real talk with some foreign China hands did I realise how laughable of me to dismiss my home country while foreigners came to China to learn its culture and history with sincere curiosity and admiration.
I tried to see China and its history from an outsider’s perspective, in a more peaceful and positive way. Guess what I got from that? The bearing in the world that I once felt to lose.
History should never be reduced to big names and times, and should not be confined to wars, killings and conspiracies as well. It may be a fact that history is written by winners, but the truth is that the real beauty of history is the unsung grass-roots heroes, who restore our lost faith in humanity and social justice. That is the biggest gift the history can give me.
