學歷史的大用：呂世浩(Shih-Hao Lu) at TEDxTaipei 2014

歷史不應該只是一門死記背誦的學科，讓社會大眾覺得索然無味。經過多年研究，呂世浩得到一個結論：古人和我們學歷史的方法不同。

現代教育是一種以培養工匠為目標的教育，因此著重於知識技術的傳授，和古人不同，古人的歷史是拿來用的，但現在歷史教育不是。呂世浩想告訴大家，我們可以看古人是怎麼解決這些問題，藉古人的案例來啟發自己的智慧，進而成為知識的主人，開創屬於自己的人生。

講者：呂世浩(Shih-Hao Lu)
現為國立台灣大學歷史學系專任助理教授的呂世浩，進入台大執教至今，短短幾年，便以其深厚的實學、過人的口才與縝密的分析能力，迅速獲得廣大好評。他開設全球Coursera第一門中文文史課程「中國古代歷史與人物－－秦始皇」，從中國傳統史學出發，提倡應該用思辨的方式學歷史，使同學重新發現歷史的有趣和有用，吸引了全球四萬多人上網登記，成為目前排名第一的網路中文課程。

呂教授改變了過去重記憶而輕思辨的歷史上課方式，他在課程中不斷丟出一個又一個的問題，刺激同學的思辨能力，讓他們了解什麼是歷史學的思維方式。

歷史學是一門研究「時」和「變」的學問，讀歷史是為了以古人的智慧來啟發自己的智慧。所有的知識都將隨時而變，只有能夠運用知識的智慧，才能讓世界變得更加美好。

Professor Shih-Hao Lu is an Assistant Professor of History at the National Taiwan University (NTU). Known in NTU for his witty and articulate nature, he employed unconventional ways to inspire students to view and analyze Chinese history as a fun and relevant learning experience. Professor Lu launched the very first Chinese history course on Coursera titled "Historical Figures of Ancient China - First Emperor of Qin", which attracted more than 40,000 people to register. This class is currently the top-ranked online Chinese course on Coursera.

Instead of requiring his students to memorize facts and dates in history, Professor Lu encourages students to cultivate reasoning abilities, so that they understand that every historical perspective can be analyzed and assessed using the tools of critical thinking.

History is a study of "time" and "change". Studying history is to inspire one's own wisdom through ancient wisdom. Professor Lu believes that even though knowledge changes over time, our world can be a better place only if individuals learn to adopt collective wisdom from others.

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Help us caption & translate this video!

Hello everybody.

Before I start today’s talk,
I’d like to ask a few questions.

Be honest now!

Raise your hand if you think
history is a worthwhile major.

(laughter)

Raise your hand if you would jump for joy
if you or your child

successfully tested into history.
(laughter)

Raise your hand if you’ve memorized
countless names, places, years, events,

and thought to yourself, “This is useful.”
(laughter)

From the show of hands, it’s obvious
what people think about studying history.

Many years ago, when
the entrance exam results were posted,

people would ask me
which university I tested into.

I replied “National Taiwan University”
and everyone’s reaction was “Wow!”

Then, they’d ask
which major I tested into.

I replied “History”,
and everyone’s reaction was “Oh.”

(laughter)

It’s clear from their reactions
what they thought.

From that moment, I became interested
in researching the following:

What’s the point in studying history?

Think about it.

Ever since we were kids,
we had to study history, but why?

We’ve all had to memorize
years, locations, people, events,

but why?

After the tests are over,
how much do you retain?

Most importantly, even if you remember,
what value does it add to your life?

When I thought about these questions,
I realized something interesting.

In ancient times, emperors and scholars
had to study history

and they thought it was extremely useful.

These days, we’ve all to studied history
since we were kids

but we often don’t know why we do it.

Why is there such a huge discrepancy
between then and now?

Were all these ancients idiots?

Or is our intelligence a hundred times
more advanced than theirs?

I don’t think so.

In the end, I discovered the answer
is in the way we study history.

The way the ancients learned history
is vastly different than our way.

How so?

When the ancients read history books
and they read about a pivotal moment

in an important historical figure’s life,
when that person needed to make a choice,

at that point in their studies,
the ancients would close their books,

and they imagined themselves
in that situation and thought,

“What would I do?”

Only when they thought it out,
did they then open the books back up

and see if that person’s decision
matched up with theirs.

Why did that person make this decision?
Did that person succeed or fail?

What did he lose or what did he gain?

Using this method,
we can utilize the ancient’s wisdom

to hone our own intelligence.

Why aren't we using this method today?

Because the goal
of our modern education system

is to train workers.

This training,
which starts in primary school,

began during The Industrial Revolution.

There was a need to supply
the demand for manpower

created by the industrial revolution

so the new education system
focused on skills and technology.

It doesn't care
how a man becomes fully realized

or how to solve
life’s complicated questions.

This system demands that we memorize
large swaths of historical knowledge

but never tells us
how this information relates to our lives.

Therefore, the pedagogy stresses
rote, rote, rote.

Right? This was our schooling.

The ancients needed to train
emperors and scholars

so they demanded critical thinking
when studying history.

Today, we need to train workers
so we demand rote when studying history.

The ends are different
so obviously the means are different.

How did I come to this theory?

It actually began with
two of my professors from Taiwan

The first is Professor Yu.

Professor Yu was grew up
towards the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Born into the royal family,
he studied at the imperial school.

Sixty years ago, he arrived in Taiwan
and started a private academy,

where I was his student
for nearly twenty years.

From him,
I learned what real Chinese knowledge is.

I learned that the education
the emperor gave his own children

was different from that
offered to the commoners’ children.

He taught me that Chinese studies
was meant to be practical.

The second is my academic advisor,
Professor Jy-Sheng Ruaan.

He spent his life
researching historical documents

and taught me
how to analyze Chinese historical texts.

He also taught me to analyze and observe,
from a historical context,

the thoughts and actions
of these ancient emperors and scholars.

It’s because of these two teachers,
that I was inspired to bring forth

the wisdom of the ancient emperors.

It should no longer be kept a secret.
It should be accessible to everyone.

In order to achieve this goal,
and with the enormous support of

National Taiwan University’s Center
for Teaching and Learning Development,

we started the first ever, large-scale,
free web course

in Chinese literature and history.

Initially, I only wanted to conduct
an online teaching experiment.

I wanted to know if old knowledge
would be accepted by people today.

Imagine my surprise when
over 43,000 students enrolled.

Everything we've talked about up to now
has just been principles and theories,

which are meaningless without application.

Next, I’ll show you an example of how
the ancient emperors studied history.

How many of you recognize this painting?

Good!
You all know this depicts “Yi Shang Na Lu”

which is the story of Zhang Liang
retrieving Huang Shi Gong’s shoe.

Most of us have read this as children.

Since everyone is familiar with this story

can anyone tell me
what is this story really about?

This is a story about wisdom.

Its moral is certainly not as simplistic
as respect your elders, be punctual.

If that's all there was to the story,
then Chinese wisdom is way too shallow.

What does this story want to tell us?
Let’s take a look.

“One day, Zhang Liang was strolling
along a bridge in the city of Xiapi.”

This phrase seems straightfoward enough

but historians interpret this phrase
a bit differently

by adding historical context.

When we examine something,
we must view it as a moment in time.

What was Zhang Liang doing
before he took his stroll?

Well he just committed
an earth-shattering crime;

he had attempted to assassinate
the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang.

Why did he want the Emperor dead?

Zhang Liang was a descendant of
Han state chancellors.

The Qin state destroyed the Han state.
Zhang Liang wanted revenge.

To achieve this goal, he wiped out
his family fortune and hired assassins,

but the attempt failed and
he's a wanted man.

So now, he’s fled to Xiapi.

Now a normal person
would be panicking and laying low,

but Zhang Liang is just
strolling along a bridge.

From this, you know that this young man
is extraordinarily bold.

Then again,
you'd have to be extraordinarily bold,

to try to assassinate the Emperor!
(laughter)

At this point in time,
Zhang Liang meets a remarkable person.

An old man walks towards him
and does an incredibly odd thing.

The old man takes off his shoe,
throws it over the bridge,

and says to Zhang Liang,
“Kid, go fetch my shoe!”

Alright!
Time to apply my method.

Everyone, close your textbooks,
shut your eyes, and ponder this:

If you were Zhang Liang,
what would you do?

Think! Think it through!

Sorry, this talk is only 18 minutes
so I have to cut this short.

Ok, let’s see what Zhang Liang does.
His reaction is pretty extraordinary.

“Liang was surprised; desired to assault.”

In other words,
he wants to beat up the old guy.

We expect this from a fiery youngster
but does he follow through?

He doesn't. Why not?

What he says next is very blunt,
“He is old. I must restrain myself.”

This is not an easy thing to do.
He is forcing himself to tolerate this guy

because remember, he’s still a fugitive,

he’d really be screwed if he accidentally
beat an old man to death.

Since he’s decided to hold his temper,
he fetches the old man’s shoe.

Then the old man absurdly says,
“Help me put it on.”

Ok! Shut your eyes.

If you were Zhang Liang and encountered
such a presumptuous old man,

what would you do?

Let’s see what Zhang Liang does.
Why he’s the Zhang Liang we know today.

“Liang retrieves the shoe,
genuflects at length to help put it on.”

He doesn’t just help put on the shoe.
He doesn’t just kneel down and help.

He kneels for a lengthy time and
helps the old man with his shoe.

Why does Zhang Liang do this?

Because he knows the first principle
the old man is trying to teach him.

Which is, in life, you choose
either to not put up with something

or to endure it to the very end.

When we do something,
we can choose either not to do it

or to see it through to perfection.

If you’re going to show restraint,
bear it to the end.

Since you’ve already fetched his shoe
and decided to help him put it on,

you might as well genuflect at length.

This was what the old man
wanted to teach Zhang Liang

about the importance of "restraint."

Why did he want to teach Zhang Liang?
Let’s take a look at what happens next:

“Satisfied, he smiles, walks away.
Liang is stunned.”

Why is Zhang Liang surprised?

When masters match wits,
they don’t use lengthy monologues.

Yelling in the streets?
That’s for lesser men.

With masters,
a few glances, a few words, a few moves,

and they've sized each other up.

When the old man ordered Zhang Liang
to fetch his shoe,

he wanted to unnerve Zhang Liang
but Zhang Liang wasn’t fazed.

Likewise,
when Zhang Liang kneeled at length,

he wanted to unnerve the old man
but the old man wasn’t fazed.

Instead, the old man extended his foot,
and once shoed, walked away smiling.

What was Zhang Liang’s reaction?
"Liang is stunned!"

We know that in this short timeframe,
these two have sparred three times.

And the old man has dealt Zhang Liang
a crushing defeat.

(laughter and applause)

Why did the old man
treat Zhang Liang this way?

Know this, Zhang Liang was
highly talented and courageous;

he received the best education
money could buy.

In his past,
he was always better than everyone

so he never needed to show restraint.

But ever since the old man appeared,
he's thoroughly bested Zhang Liang.

This was to teach Zhang Liang that

there will always be someone
better than you.

It’s good for young people to be brave

but if you can’t show restraint,
then you can’t be prudent.

So restraint is the first principle.

Let’s see what happens next.

The old man walks away, but turns around
and tells Zhang Liang “You can be taught.”

That’s why we know
the old man is there to train Zhang Liang.

“After five days time,
meet back here at dawn. “

Zhang Liang knows that the old man
is extraordinary,

so he genuflects and says, “I promise.”

This next passage, I’ll read for everyone.

“At dawn on the fifth day,
Zhang Liang arrives at the bridge.”

The old man is there before Zhang Liang
and rebukes, “You broke your promise.”

He walks away and says,
“Come back at dawn after five days.”

On the fifth day, when the rooster crowed,
so it's still dark, Zhang Liang arrives.

The old man is already there before him

and once again scolds,
“Come back at dawn after five days.”

Ok, now I’d like to ask everyone,

in these few short phrases,
which two words are the most important?

When you read, you must be able
to grasp the keywords

otherwise you'll miss
the point of the entire essay.

Which two words?
“Before” and “after”.

Why stress before and after?

Because the old man is teaching
Zhang Liang the art of war.

The art of war states that
the first to the battlefield controls

while the army who arrives after
will be controlled.

Controlling versus being controlled
makes all the difference in the world.

So far, the old man has bested
Zhang Liang twice.

So if you were Zhang Liang,
what would you do?

Let's take a look.

"After five days,
Liang arrives before midnight."

Why before midnight?

We agree to meet on the fifth day, so I
arrive before midnight on the fourth day.

There’s no way Zhang Liang can lose.

Even if the old man were already there,
Zhang Liang wouldn't be considered late

because they agreed to meet
on the fifth day.

As it turns out,
the old man wasn’t there first.

"After a while, the old man arrives and
happily says, 'This is the correct way.'

He presents Zhang Liang with a book,
Sun Tzu’s The Art of War."

Why was the old man delighted?

Because he knew that Zhang Liang
has learned the second principle

which is the importance of
“striving to be first”.

How do you become first?
What does “first” even mean?

If you don't get this concept
then you'll miss the point of the story.

Previous students have answered that
to be first is to be earlier than others.

But if you’re earlier than others,
that’s just a relative first;

that’s not an absolute first.

The art of war demands absolute first.

So what is absolute first?

Absolute first is when you exceed
your opponent’s expectations.

Since the old man wasn’t expecting
Zhang Liang to arrive before midnight,

Zhang Liang has attained absolute first.

So the crux is how do you exceed
your opponent’s expectations?

If you can’t figure this out,
then everything else is pointless.

How do you exceed expectations
and achieve absolute first?

The answer lies in the first principle
that the old man taught Zhang Liang

Only by showing restraint to the end
can you then achieve absolute first.

These two principles are clear in
Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

Appear as weak as a young maiden,
and the enemy, with defenses down,

will open their gates.

The moment the gates are open,
charge in as quick as a fleeing rabbit.

Restraint and first are achieved when
the enemy can’t close their gates in time.

The essence of the art of war
is these two principles.

Are you powerful?
Absolutely

Why was Zhang Liang able to destroy
the powerful Qin Dynasty?

Because he choose to assist Liu Bang.

How did Liu Bang conquer China?

He proved his legitimacy by being first
through the gates of Guanzhong.

But when Liu Bang entered
the gates of Guanzhong,

southern Guanzhong was ruled by a general
whose forces were much stronger than his.

Liu Bang wanted to attack at once but
Zhang Liang advised him not to.

Instead, since the general was rumored
to be extremely avaricious,

Zhang Liang proposed that they
offer the general a bribe.

With such corrupt leadership,
no wonder the Qin Dynasty collapsed.

(laughter)

After the general accepted the bribe,
Liu Bang thought they're in the clear.

Zhang Liang disagreed
and said they must attack immediately.

Liu Bang asked why?

Zhang Liang replied that
even though the general took the bribe,

his subordinates are Qin subjects
and they might not capitulate.

But since the general took our bribe,
his guard is down.

If we attack now, we will surely win.

So, it's because Liu Bang
heeded Zhang Liang’s advice,

that he was able to
overthrow the Qin Dynasty.

The Han Dynasty’s four glorious centuries
started with

that old man teaching Zhang Liang
how to achieve "restraint" and "first."

Now back to our original question.

Why did the ancient emperors and leaders
study history?

What’s the point of learning history?

The goal of studying history
is to understand human nature.

For millennia, history has been recorded,
all the way from princes to paupers,

how they made decisions
as the times and their lives changed,

only by studying this,
can you fully comprehend human nature.

The purpose of studying history
is to inspire wisdom.

We can use the wisdom of the ancients
to ignite our own wisdom.

We can use the lives of the ancients
as the grindstone upon which

we sharpen the metaphorical sword
called our own intellect.

A grindstone can’t cut anything,
only a sword can cut.

You must extract wisdom from history,
memorizing facts is useless.

Ok, so why do we want to understand
human nature and inspire wisdom?

Because when you face
a difficulty in your life, trust me,

you're not the first person in history
to have encountered this problem.

There have been countless others
who have faced this exact challenge.

How did they approach the problem?
What was their solution?

When you're filled with hopelessness,
remember that there was once a man

who had suffered immense humiliation,
but he licked his wounds, regrouped,

and with three thousand Yue troops
he overthrew the Wu kingdom.

When you feel that
you’ve been taken advantage of,

remember that there was once a clan
who'd been mistreated for three centuries,

innumerable soldiers and civilians
had been killed.

The day came when they started to believe
that they should change their destiny.

When they amassed seven hundred soldiers,
they swore to the heavens that

the Qin would control its own fate,
the Qin would conquer the world,

and in the end,
they united the warring states

and established China’s first dynasty.

When you’re feeling sorry for yourself
because your parents aren't good enough,

that life is undependable,

remember that there was once a man,

his dad died when he was three,
his mom died when he was a teenager,

he grew up absolutely destitute,

he received no formal education,
everything he learned he taught himself,

That man grew up to be one of the most
learned individuals in Chinese history,

a sage of the East,

he's influenced Eastern thinking
for over two millennia,

that person is Confucius.

And even that Western sage
was born in a manger.

(laughter)

When you think that you have nothing
left worth living for,

remember that there was once a young man
strolling on a bridge in Xiapi,

at that moment,
he had lost everything,

but he believed that one day,
he would annihilate the Qin dynasty

and in the end, he did the impossible.

He destroyed the world’s
most powerful empire,

and became an enduring symbol
for Chinese wisdom.

As long as you apply the right method,

history is an unlimited
treasure trove filled with wisdom,

it’s a source of inexhaustible strength.

I firmly believe the goal of education

is for people to master knowledge,
not for people to be slaves to knowledge.

But to master knowledge,

you must first understand
how to ignite your own wisdom.

I hope you can obtain wisdom from history,
be the master of your own destiny,

and start living your ideal life.

Thank you!
(applause)