On February 23, 2016, 18-year-old high school student Lin Jiawen committed suicide by jumping off a building, leaving a suicide note that is thought-provoking. His departure has led to the fall of a new star that could have shone in the field of historiography, which has been deplored by many historical researchers.
Lin Jiawen was born in a scholarly family, his parents both worked in school, and his grandparents and great-great-grandfathers also taught and educated people all their lives.
Lin Jiawen, who grew up in such an atmosphere, has been particularly fond of reading since he was a child. In 2001, "Hundred Lectures" was launched. It builds a bridge between scholars and ordinary people in the form of lectures to Chinese history and literature.
This is a program that Lin Jiawen likes to watch very much, and listening to the stories of hundreds of schools of thought also made him have a strong interest in history. Because of the good conditions of the family and the fact that his parents were very supportive of him reading and buying books, Lin Jiawen had a bookcase of books at a very young age.
As he read more and more, so did his questions, which led him to study and study for answers.
By the time he was in middle school, he had already wandered in the paradise of historiography, from ethnic history to Song history, from writings to documents. Historiography is not only a hobby for him, but also a career that he can study quietly.
In order to better study the history of Tangut, he taught himself Tangut literature. In order to have a systematic learning logic, he studied philology and bibliography.
And his study and research are not done behind closed doors. In his spare time, he will talk about historiography with historians on the Internet in private messages, and Hu Baoliang became acquainted with him online in 2013. Hu Baoliang was the editor of Yuelu Books, and he published a book at that time, and Lin Jiawen felt that the book was very valuable after reading it.
The two have been interacting on the Internet, but Hu Baoliang didn't know at that time that this confidant who talked with him eloquently about the past and the present was a middle school student.
In 2014, at the age of 16, Lin Jiawen published a 300,000-word historiographical monograph "When Taoism Ruled China: The Political Practice of Taoist Thought and the Rapid Rise of the Han Empire" at his own expense.
This book was a pure accident for him, originally he was just trying to better supervise his own learning, so whenever he had an insight, he would write down his thoughts and thoughts, but he didn't expect to write a book in the end.
And this book "When Taoism Ruled China" reinterprets the face of chaos, Emperor Wenjing governed the country with Taoist thoughts, did something in inaction, and created an enlightened and prosperous era after decades of recuperation. In-depth and sophisticated.
When it came time to publish the book, both the publisher and the school wanted to make Lin Jiawen a "genius of history", but Lin Jiawen refused, and he proposed that his publication request was to conceal his age.
Because Lin Jiawen, who has been surfing the Internet since junior high school, knows the unspoken rules of the online world. Everyone wants to vomit quickly, and he doesn't want to be someone else's after-dinner conversation, and he doesn't want to get himself into that pointless argument.
He knows what he will face when he becomes famous at a young age, which is nothing more than someone else's "hurting Zhongyong" as a matter of course. Most people don't care about whether the content is deep or not, they only care about whether their age is fake. He doesn't want to make himself cannon fodder, and he doesn't want to waste time consuming the emotions that others impose on him.
However, in the face of interests, all secrets cannot be kept.
In December 2015, Lin Jiawen wrote his second historiographical monograph "Sorrow and Happiness for the World: Fan Zhongyan and Qingli Xinzheng" through the winter and summer vacations.
This time, under the persuasion of many parties, Lin Jiawen relented and could disclose his identity. This relief was like water opening the floodgates, and the overwhelming news reports came to him. He was overwhelmed by the network.
For the online world, there is one more thing to talk about. And for the field of historiography, this is a rare talent.
Professor Li Yumin and Lam Ka-man have met six times, and each time the two will discuss historical issues, he deeply appreciates the depth of Lam's historical scholarship. He said that the books written by Lin Jiawen are fully in line with academic norms and of a very high standard.
Teacher Zhang of Shanghai Normal University also lamented that Lin Jiawen's level is beyond the reach of ordinary doctors. The real one can be described as a "genius of historiography".
Although Lin Jiawen has extremely deep research ability in history, he does not devote all his time to history. He is not biased, and his grades in all subjects are relatively balanced, and his grades are also in the middle and upper reaches.
may be the reason for reading history since he was a child, he is a little young and old, and his interpretation of his "young and old" is that he has a normal heart and looks at fame and fortune relatively lightly.
And this ordinary heart comes from his plan for his future. He thinks that those who do research should be able to sit on a cold bench and be able to calm down and not be disturbed by external objects. It is precisely because of his yearning for historical research that he has cultivated a normal heart.
He also expressed the hope that he would be able to engage in historical research in the future, especially in the direction of ethnic history.
When the teacher asked him what he was looking forward to the upcoming college entrance examination, Lin Jiawen smiled, and said that he was looking forward to being admitted to the Department of History of Peking University, and it would be good if he could go to the ** Department of Eurasian Studies at Indiana University in the United States to further his studies.
But he didn't wait for that day after all.
On February 23, 2016, he committed suicide by jumping off a building after leaving a suicide note. He was 18 years old at the time, and he was less than four months away from the college entrance examination.
Perhaps, geniuses are all lonely. Lin Jiawen is usually talkative and sunny, but he is also a little high-minded and low. His history teacher once said that he was very stressed when he was in class, and sometimes he had to look at his "face" to give a lecture.
Even sometimes, she will let Lin Jiawen go to the podium to give lectures to his classmates, but what Lin Jiawen says is often very profound, and few people can understand it, except for his two history teachers, Liu Wenfang and Liu Yawen.
Because Lin Jiawen is usually a bit old-fashioned, and the two history teachers often discuss some historical issues with him, his classmates call him "Mr. Lin".
But some classmates don't like him, and some people think he is arrogant and unsociable. He doesn't care about this, it's just that no matter how talented a person is, he needs to be understood, and he seems a little lonely in the high ground of history.
In 2015, he was diagnosed with depression, and his parents took him to prescribe medication, which was a pain for him. But he is very comfortable with his illness and is not taboo.
In December 2015, he once posted on Moments: "The *** that people write about taking medicine is weight gain, but after I took it, I was sleepy all day long, and my whole body hurt." ”
During his depression, he repeatedly brought up the topic of "death" with his friends. He once discussed with a friend which way to die was the least painful. He thought it was euthanasia, but at the time it was not allowed. Probably because of this, he chose to jump off the stairs completely.
In order to prevent his death from being discussed, in order to arrange the aftermath of a group of people, he wrote a suicide note.
It was a suicide note, and it was also a proclamation.
He explained what happened after his death, and also expressed his innermost thoughts. He said that death was his deliberate decision, and this time he was indeed mentally prepared to die.
Professor Li Yumin was shocked when he learned of his death, in his eyes, Lin Jiawen was a very talented historical researcher, the two talked six times, and he did not realize that Lin Jiawen was suffering from depression.
He also remembered the last time the two met, and Lin Jiawen gave him a copy of "A New Edition of the History of the Song Dynasty", perhaps to express his gratitude or to express his confidant.
Because Lin Jiawen gave himself the goal of studying Song history when he was in junior high school, probably this "New Edition of Song History" is also his entrustment.
In Lin Jiawen's suicide note, he shouted out the reason for his suicide: "The future is too unattractive to me".
He is able to imagine his future life, and there is nothing he can do about what he can achieve in real life that is completely out of touch with what he wants to achieve. He didn't want others to comment on his departure, so he wrote a suicide note to explain to me.
Lin Jiawen finally arranged a lot of people and many things, and he didn't want any of his writings to be published or republished after his death, so he transferred all his copyrights to one person.
His history teacher, Liu Yawen. He said that Liu Yawen is the only person he believes will not go against his will. And I also liked her for two years.
Subsequently, he advised his father to cherish his mother, to get rid of his bad temper and extremely unhealthy diet, and to recognize his actual living situation and abilities. From the words, it can be seen that Lin Jiawen is dissatisfied with his father, and it can also be seen that he hit the nail on the head when he pointed out the problem.
He said that eating habits were a projection of a person's character and sense of responsibility, and he pointed out that his father lived a somewhat muddy life.
At the same time, he is more understanding of his mother, he hopes that his mother can earn money to take care of herself, relying on others is unreliable, but money and career can make her rely on her life. In addition to this, he also expressed his gratitude and apologies to his teachers and classmates who helped him.
In the end, it is probably his true idea of the world and the future, his denial of vanity of value, his denial of impure research, and his denial of living in mediocrity.
For him, thinking too much, asking too much, and pursuing too much are all tortures, because the more people think too much, the more difficult it is to live simply, which may be the so-called Huiji must be hurt.
Lin Jiawen's suicide note is neither long nor short, but it can be seen that he is disappointed in reality and the future. Obviously, he originally had ideals and goals, but he didn't know why he was abandoned.
However, this is enough to cause us to think deeply, how the current school education can really teach students according to their aptitude, so that students can become talents. In the face of a very talented person like Lin Jiawen, what kind of attitude or education should the school use to guide?
Lin Jiawen's suicide needs us to think deeply, and his suicide note is even more worthy of our reflection.