Literature is also a technology. It was created to overcome the doubts and pains of being human.
From Homer and Shakespeare to Cao Xueqin, each of whom has made unique technological breakthroughs and made great literary inventions. Whether it is "Book of Songs", "Hamlet", or "Game of Thrones" and "My Genius Girlfriend", important literary inventions have flourished in classic literature and even in films, television, comics, and games.
Modern neuroscience has proven that these inventions can alleviate sadness, loneliness, anxiety, pessimism, while stimulating creativity, courage, love, and compassion.
This book examines 25 of the most important literary inventions from ancient Mesopotamia to contemporary times, showing how writers throughout the ages have made technological breakthroughs that have uplifted the human heart and mind.
Selected readings of >> texts
Under the shade of mountains and forests, a scholar bowed his head in shame in front of a rickety elm desk.
This scholar is the young Cao Xueqin. In the future, he would become one of China's greatest novelists. But on that 18th-century afternoon, the only thing Cao Xueqin feared about her future was the terrible outcome of failing the imperial examination.
That morning, his father had just instructed him: "Only in high school can you dress in silk and satin and meet the Holy Lord at the palace." ”
His uncle gently encouraged him: "If you get famous, you can be a salt patrol imperial history, and you will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of your life." ”
But what if Cao Xueqin fails to gain fame? He will never achieve anything, trapped in this dilapidated wasteland in the western suburbs of Beijing for the rest of his life.
Thinking of this, Cao Xueqin only felt that her abdomen was shrinking. He tried to focus on books such as The University, The Mean, and The Analects, which contained the ancient admonitions of Confucius. Active from the 6th century BC to the 5th century BC, at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period, Confucius instructed princes and nobles and introduced many moral concepts such as "wisdom", "loyalty" and "shame".
How many centuries passed, and in the era in which Cao Xueqin lived, these moral concepts became the content of the imperial examination. Millions of students reverently recited the teachings of "wisdom", "loyalty" and "shame", and then became government officials, in charge of taxation and salt affairs. And poor Cao Xueqin knew that she would never join this highly respected group. He couldn't remember even a single word of Confucius's teachings, and the results of his scientific expedition were a mess.
Cao Xueqin, who failed in the scientific expedition, shocked and displeased her family. It's not that the Cao family thinks that the imperial examination is easy, they know that the people who rush to take the examination have been locked up in a small cubicle guarded by a special person for days, with only a kettle, a night pot, and a straw mat by their side, and most of the people who rush to the examination will lose their names to Sun Shan, and some people will even die inside, and the corpses will only be wrapped in straw mats and placed at the foot of the wall outside the examination room. Despite these notorieties in the imperial examinations, Cao's father and uncle achieved excellent results. They assiduously mastered the teachings of Confucius and gained a prominent position in the government.
Eventually, Cao Xueqin's father and uncle lost their status and fell into the current predicament. But they believe that in the near future, the Cao family will definitely make a comeback. After all, they have always been good at gaining fame. Therefore, as early as when Cao Xueqin was young, they taught him to familiarize himself with the classics of Confucius. Cao Xueqin was a smart and inquisitive person, and they believed that he would restore the family to its former glory.
But that's not the case. No matter how Cao Xueqin memorized, all his hard work only made him remember the "shame". Confucius once wrote "shameful and qualified" on the bamboo slips of the Lu State. Mencius, a follower of Confucius, also strongly advocated this view, believing that the heart of shame is one of the "four ends", "without the heart of shame, it is not human." These teachings are still widely spread in the era in which Cao Xueqin lived more than 2,000 years later. At that time, the emperor often sent officials to admonish the people: always be ashamed of their mistakes and look up to the court, that is the right way.
The emperor didn't have to worry that Cao Xueqin would forget at all. In terms of "shame" alone, Cao Xueqin is definitely a loyal supporter of Confucius. He was ashamed of his failure in the exam, ashamed of his mother's disappointment, and ashamed of the predicament his family was in. Unfortunately, however, Cao Xueqin's sense of shame did not give birth to the "four ends" of human nature, as Mencius taught, but only made him feel that he was useless. Under this heavy pressure, poor Cao Xueqin finally gave up on herself. He closed Confucius's book, dropped the dangling elm table, and retreated into the darkest corner of the study, waiting to be annihilated and devoured.
However, in this corner, Cao Xueqin made an unexpected discovery, which was a yellowed and faded ancient book. For half a century, it has been lying there, unnoticed by anyone. In 1670, the Kangxi Emperor issued an edict urging the Chinese people to respect the true doctrine of Confucianism and depose the false heresy, and this ancient book was discarded. At this time, Cao Xueqin ignored the holy oracle, he opened the pages of the book that had been sealed for a long time, and then saw ......
Ancient books are back in sight
The emperor of the South China Sea is a man, the emperor of the North Sea is a sudden, and the emperor of the center is chaos. When and suddenly meet in the chaotic land, the chaos treats it very well. He and suddenly conspired to repay the virtue of chaos, saying: "Everyone has seven tricks, and they eat and breathe with hearing and hearing, which is unique, try to chisel it." "One day chisels, seven days and chaos.
After reading these forbidden texts, Cao Xueqin clearly knew how she felt: outright shame. Once again, he disobeyed the will of the imperial court and read things that should not be read.
But then, to Cao Xueqin's surprise, he no longer felt ashamed. He felt the exact opposite, and the shame and anguish in his heart lessened. I don't know when he realized that even if he couldn't be a perfect scholar, he could be at ease.
Was it the story of Chaos that influenced him? Is it the chaotic story that removes the shame in Cao Xueqin's heart? To figure it out, the curious Cao Xueqin moved the scrolls to his rickety desk. With unprecedented enthusiasm, he delves into the abandoned story with a thirst for it, until he glimpses a hidden invention.
Chaotic paradigm
Chaos was invented by the mysterious sage Zhuangzi. He is thought to have lived about a hundred years after Confucius during the Warring States Period, when seven great powers (and dozens of smaller vassal states) competed for the central and eastern regions of present-day China. Fighting is frequent, and riots continue. The soldiers fought each other with iron spears and copper halberds, and the death toll reached an unprecedented level, and Bai Qi, a cruel general, even claimed to have annihilated millions of enemies. It was not until the Qin State conquered the countries that Bai Qi served that this great battle was quelled. At this point, the king of Qin, who ruled the four seas, began to call himself "emperor".
Followers of Confucius condemned the violence of this period. Qin Shi Huang believed that human nature was inherently evil, so law and force were needed as moral support. Contrary to his thinking, Confucius advocated that the Chinese people were inherently good, and that as long as the ruler behaved benevolently, the people would naturally be respectful and obedient. Confucius was far from the idea of the kings of other countries, and after Qin Shi Huang unified the world, he ordered hundreds of Confucian scholars to be buried alive.
Nevertheless, there was some understanding in Confucius's thought that the monarch should rule China, and they also believed that there should be a unified set of laws to rule China. Confucius called this law "Tao", that is, "the way the universe works." In this way, we will live forever in the immutable laws of justice, faithfulness, and charity. Breaking this path will cause the ensuing shame to urge us to return to the noble path.
Zhuangzi was well aware of Confucius's thoughts on the laws of the universe. He also knew that Confucius believed that shame was a slap in the face that drove us away from the dangerous path of disobedience to tradition. However, Zhuangzi could not convince himself to agree with Confucius. In his view, shame, the punishment of the soul, is as unnatural as the iron law of the ruler. So, Zhuangzi left the classroom, left the battlefield, and wandered aimlessly in the lotus flowers in the mountains and the plum rain. Until one warm afternoon, the leisurely Zhuangzi saw the koi swimming in the pond and the sparrows flying in the sky, as if suddenly inspired by God, he suddenly realized: koi and sparrows are different! Koi fish and sparrows have their own ways of survival, and their "ways" are not suitable for each other. If koi try to survive in the way of sparrows, they will not fly high into the sky; If sparrows try to survive in the way of koi fish, they will drown in the water.
"Therefore, there is not only one way of survival in the world," Zhuangzi thought, "but there are thousands of ways, and each creature has its own way." ”
Stimulated, Zhuangzi decided to share this discovery with the world: "I should also write a book of wisdom, teach dozens of disciples, spread my knowledge far and wide, and bring wisdom to people......"
However, Zhuangzi suddenly realized that he must not do that. If he taught others his own way of thinking, then he would contradict the truth he had realized, and he would re-embark on the wrong old path of Confucius and the troubled Warring States.
Zhuangzi sat by the pool and pondered. How can he help people find their way? How can he empower them to guide themselves? He has to preach and teach, but he can't preach and teach. It's a paradox......
Then, Zhuangzi had an idea, he thought: I will not preach and teach, I will not preach and teach, I will abandon the way of Confucius, let people's minds fly, and let them return to their original hearts.
To complete this educational subversion, Zhuangzi went back to before Confucius, all the way back to the Yellow River valley in 2000 BC. There, soothsayers of the Shang Dynasty carved a pair of symbols, "yin" and "yang", on the tortoise shell. "Yin" stands for "night" and "yang" for "sunshine", and together they represent the grand duality of nature. Just as night is relative to day, everything in nature has its opposite: hot summer versus cold winter, smooth versus rough, lucid versus dreaming.
In explaining these concepts, the followers of Confucius gave each pair a distinction: hot summer is better than cold winter, and smooth is better than rough. And Zhuangzi wants to change this practice. He believed that there was no superiority or inferiority between yin and yang, and that summer was good for ladybugs and winter was good for lynxes; A smooth plane tree is good, and a rough elm tree is good. Once one grasps this duality, the unity constructed by Confucius disintegrates into an infinite number of independent "Taos."
But Zhuangzi hesitated again, and he realized that he was stuck in the old way of teaching others again. If he really wanted to break the monotony of the world, he shouldn't go around preaching yin and yang. The only way he could do it was to do the opposite, teaching the "non-yin" and "non-yang."
Coming up with these subversive theories was a headache for Zhuangzi, who felt that he was stuck in philosophical rhetoric. He should stop thinking about it and return to his true ways. So, Zhuangzi emptied his mind, immersed himself in his heart, and put pen to paper.
Zhuangzi's creation
Zhuangzi wrote a "chaotic story". This story doesn't teach yin and yang, it doesn't teach any rules. After reading through it, our hearts are filled with fear of Chaos' tragic death, and we will feel that Chaos' death should not be due to the difference between the Great Emperor and the North and the South.
So, just as Zhuangzi had no planned plan, the story of "non-yin" and "non-yang" dismantles our absolute belief in a single path.
After writing the chaotic story, Zhuangzi did not stop there, he was still working hard. Why? Zhuangzi himself didn't know, he just followed his nature and didn't think too much. But if we think about it, we can see that the nerve force in the story has a potential price: we are terrified of the two emperors, and even condemn them. Not only do we think that Chaos should exist in its own way, but we also think that the two Great Emperors are bad guys. If we think this way, we are back to the old ways and fall into a single mode of thinking, believing that some "Taos" are good and others are bad.
So, Zhuangzi wrote the following story to balance the chaotic story:
The former Zhuang Zhoumeng is Hu Die, and Hu Die is also lifelike, self-proclaimed and suitable! I don't know how to do it. Oh Ran Jue, then Yu Ran Zhou also. I don't know that Zhou's dream is Hu Die, and Hu Die's dream is Zhou? Zhou and Hu Die, there must be a difference. This is called materialization.
This is the story of "Johnson's Dream Butterfly". Unlike Chaos Story, it doesn't contain any characters who can be seen as villains. Rather, it takes us into two different experiences of life. We are Zhuangzi who dreams of butterflies, and we are butterflies who dream of Zhuangzi. In both cases, we're at ease. We become something from one thing to another, but there is no gain or loss in between. Like a ladybug in summer to a lynx in winter, we can enjoy both sides of life.
At this point, if you are still thinking about the story told by Zhuangzi, you may have already begun to think: since "Zhuangsheng's Dream Butterfly" more fully connects the two life experiences, why doesn't Zhuangzi erase the chaotic story? Good question, my dear ladybug. The answer to this question is: "Zhuang Sheng's Dream Butterfly" may connect yin and yang more completely than the chaotic story, but this does not mean that it is better than the chaotic story. Each story has its own "way":
The neural function of the chaotic story is more precise and powerful, and it powerfully dismantles our belief in oneness.
The nerve function of "Zhuang Sheng's Dream Butterfly" is wider and softer, and it opens the door of our hearts to duality.
If Zhuangzi only wrote "Zhuang Sheng's Dream Butterfly", its power would not be enough to break the shackles of singularity; If he only writes chaotic stories, its openness is not enough to reflect the meaning of duality. Therefore, Zhuangzi wrote two stories that allow our thoughts to cross the smooth and the rough, the hot summer and the cold winter.
Through these stories of yin and yang, Zhuangzi also gives us something else to the brain: the neural experience of self-acceptance that the young Cao Xueqin found in ancient books.
Self-acceptance and its neuroscientific principles
As the young Cao Xueqin discovered, the acceptance of the self is trapped by shame.
Shame is our "moral" emotion, along with guilt and pride. These emotions are not true morality, they do not arise from universal right and wrong, but are simply thoughts of our brains, and they are as diverse as individual human beings. But modern psychologists still associate shame, guilt, pride, etc., with morality, because these emotions reinforce the moral code of the society in which we live. Shame and guilt prevent us from committing socially recognized evil, while pride encourages us to practice socially recognized good.
Pride is often condemned by philosophers and theologians. For too long, collective pride has fueled destructive tendencies such as sexism, hooliganism, and nationalism. But modern psychological research has shown that pride in an individual's personality – whether it's a bizarre idea, a unique fetish, or a quirky skill – can improve our mood, increase our perseverance, and even make us a more reliable friend. Pride gives us a calm confidence in our own way of being, prevents us from seeing different ways as dangerous, and encourages us to value the differences of others.
Shame is always bad for health. It weakens our self-esteem, leads to problems such as anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and even causes damage to relationships. These problems are rooted in the nasty neural mechanism of shame, which hurts us more than guilt. Guilt simply makes us feel uneasy about our outward behavior, while shame makes us feel miserable about our inner nature. Thus, shame does not provoke a salutary sense of remorse and help us correct wrongdoings such as lying and cheating. On the contrary, it stung us and made us hate our own nature: "I am so ugly. I'm so stupid. I'm really good for nothing. ”
Therefore, if we have to feel bad about ourselves, guilt is healthier than shame. Our own physiology seems to recognize this. Guilt seems to have evolved more recently in the brain, degenerating shame into some sort of residual "organ" like tonsils or wisdom teeth. Although shame cannot be surgically removed like these residual organs, its negative effects can be reduced if we target its neurological source, which is our inner cultural norm.
Cultural norms are present in brain regions such as the frontal medial gyrus that are responsible for recording. Its existence is ingrained and cannot be completely eradicated, and some minimum cultural norms are also needed by the brain. Nonetheless, we can augment our inner cultural norms to alleviate shame, i.e., enhance the brain's perception of socially acceptable behavior. A simple and safe way to enhance this perception is to be kind to those who behave differently than we do. The more diverse our peers and the cultural norms behind them, the more comfortable our brains will be.
In terms of alleviating shame, "Johnson Dream Butterfly" has the same effect. In the process of turning from Zhuangzi to a butterfly, we move from one "Tao" to another, and our inner norms expand and self-blame decreases accordingly. This is why this story alleviates the shame of the young Cao Xueqin.
However, even if this method cures the young Cao Xueqin, its efficacy is still limited by how the brain works. Reading a short butterfly story doesn't directly save our brains from unhealthy shame. Our medial frontal gyrus requires hours of immersion in cultural norms. Therefore, in order to truly accept ourselves, we need to "turn into a butterfly" in the entire literary system for a while. To help people gain access to this expansive literary experience, Zhuangzi wrote dozens of similar stories, composing a long scroll that would later become known as the Zhuangzi. However, it was not until more than a dozen centuries later that this butterfly technique was developed in another literary invention. Cao Xueqin later found the invention in another dark corner of the study.
When it was discovered by Cao Xueqin, no one knew what to call this peculiar invention. It is not poetry, it is not a drama, and it is not any form of literature and art that the literati of the time praised. After Cao Xueqin's death, the invention received a straightforward name that just reflected its novelty.
The name is "novel".