Sima Nan: There is one thing that cannot be avoided

@梁梨沙 said, "Your death is coming soon", he thought it was a malicious curse, I would be irritated by him. On the contrary, from the perspective of dialectics, from the law of birth, old age, sickness and death, this sentence states an objective fact, and it is predictive.

What he said is probably right. After I became positive this time, I have been lingering for more than 10 days, coughing endlessly, heart-piercing, heart-piercing is not an adjective, it really shattered the bullae Yes, I found emphysema when I took the film, and emphysema may cause direct damage to the heart... There are many children in

alley, and they will be fine in a day or two, or two or three days. The old guy is a little troublesome. He is nearly 70 years old. If he catches up with the heavens and comes down to collect people, his death date may indeed be brought forward.

So I replied to him: "I agree, do you know the exact time? I want to know your words, thank you..."

The conversation about Sima Nan's death was calm, and his attitude towards death was open-minded.

life is life, life is death.

Who is Aristotle who said that a real man should be fearless in the face of death.

Grandma Wang next door said that she couldn't die if she fainted.

Chairman Mao taught us that human beings are inherently mortal, and that death is either heavier than Mount Tai or lighter than a feather. To die for those who exploit and oppress the people is lighter than a feather, and to die for the interests of the people is heavier than Mount Tai.

All living beings like us, ordinary people, can't talk about the feathers, and we can't talk about Mount Tai, just leave when you have to, stay calm, and live a good life now. What

said refers to the attitude of independent living individuals towards their own lives. It involves how many people in the entire society will leave at what time. Carefully examine your own macro theories, and don't be like some people who talk about how many people died, just like playing with numbers.

Human life is at stake, and life is priceless, which should be the most basic value.

Most people are careful to avoid death, but the pointer may be on a black background, walk to a certain time zone, and suddenly stop moving, no one can avoid it.

Thus, thinking about death has become the most important proposition of philosophy. Among many philosophical theories, death philosophy is the first philosophy. Since ancient times, all philosophers have seriously considered the issue of death. I appreciate Epicurus' view of death. He does not recognize death at all. He said: "The most terrible evil is death, but death has nothing to do with us. relationship, because when we are alive, death does not exist; when death comes, we no longer exist.”

This is the Ah Q variation of the death philosophy, which is only true when the individual life exists independently, but in Is there anyone who exists independently in this world, who doesn't have loved ones? Who has no worldly concerns? Death leaves great sorrow and pain in the living.

We are human because we live in relationship.

just read the thoughts on death written by Mr. Yuan Zhong, a professor of Peking Union Medical College, during the epidemic. He thought deeply and thoroughly, and I recommend it to everyone.

(after dinner on December 29, 2022, written at No. 8 Nanluoguxiang, Dongcheng District, Beijing)

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of the group

group opinions, attitudes and behavior orientations and views on death

Yuan Zhong

Peking Union Medical College

Life, first of all, refers to the existence of living organisms. Death refers to the absence of an organism. The human individual is the same as all organisms, the most important thing is to ensure the existence of himself and the "species", the so-called "endless life", so the most feared and feared thing of the human individual is his own non-existence - death.

Diseases, especially the plague, will make everyone feel that they are suddenly closer to death, and thus have a strong and spreading fear of death, and deeply reflect different beliefs, tendencies, propositions and attitudes, and affect people's behavioral orientation and evaluation standards , Evaluation principles and scales. From ancient times to the present, all nations in the world are trying to alleviate the fear and fear of death. For example, Christianity believes that death is the eternity of life, that is, "resurrection". The "Bible" says: "I long for liberation and be with Christ." Islam believes that death is only a stage of transition from this life to the afterlife, and believes that at the end of the world, everyone will be resurrected and be judged before Allah. hinduismIt is believed that death is the beginning of getting rid of the sea of ​​suffering, and achieve eternal immortality through reincarnation and resolution of reincarnation.

The traditional view of death of the Chinese nation is obviously different. Confucianism does not worship the supreme god, but only worships ancestors and blood gods, so it is said that "Western beliefs look at churches, Chinese beliefs look at ancestral halls", so Chinese people will instinctively shout "My mother" instead of shouting "my God", as it is said in "Zengguang Xianwen": "The two elders in the hall are living Buddhas, why bother Lingshan to court the Supreme".

So every Spring Festival hundreds of millions of Chinese people go home for reunion, go to graves to worship ancestors, and worship the sacred hometown of their lives. Therefore, before the death of the Chinese elderly, it is useless to ask a priest or pastor to pray at the bed of the elderly. If the elderly’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren can be present, the elderly will see their juniors in appearance, language, temperament, and behavior. Knowing that one's own life is continuing, knowing that one's own life still exists, that is, fulfilling the first function of all living things - "propagation of species", one can go away with peace of mind.

Confucius said: "If you don't know life, how can you know death" ("The Analects"), which reflects that Chinese people use avoiding death to alleviate the fear of death. There are often similar evasions in language. Chinese people do not directly mention death, but use "ascension", "emergence", "journey to the west", "dengxian", "passing away", "immortal death" and so on. Another reason for Confucianism's "valuing life and avoiding death" is to attach importance to family and present life, and advocate "self-cultivation and family harmony", and even say that "family is bigger than the sky". The family is a harbor for many working people to temporarily escape from the sea of ​​suffering. The warmth of the family can comfort the children and relatives who are neglected outside. Therefore, the Chinese do not pursue "paradise after death", but hope that "heaven is right in front of us", and they have "paradise" in their hearts. My home is my heaven."

Confucianism especially advocates the pursuit of spiritual eternity beyond the short-lived existence of the body. "Zuo Zhuan" has "the first is to establish virtue, the second is to make meritorious service, and the second is to establish words. Although they will not be abandoned for a long time, these are called three immortals." The "three immortals", the transcendence of the spirit over the flesh, and the sublimation of the spirit over the material, are pursued by Chinese sages, elites, heroes and scholars.

Chinese Taoism does not avoid death like Confucianism, but goes a step further - denying death, believing that human beings can exist forever like natural mountains and rivers, and live forever. When Taoism deals with the relationship between man and nature, it always emphasizes "the unity of man and nature", and does not regard nature as an object, but regards nature as a subject just like man. Therefore, "Equality of Things" says: "Heaven and earth live side by side with me. And all things and I are one", human beings and all things in nature are living subjects.

At the same time, compared with Europe, after the Renaissance, "god" fell, "man" stood up, and even man replaced God, as long as you walk on the streets and art galleries in European cities, many buildings and works of art display Naked strong men and beautiful women reflect the beauty of the human body. When entering the Great Hall of the People and the Art Museum, the most popular works of art are the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers, great rivers and mountains, majestic mountains, rushing rivers, galloping horses, etc., showing the beauty of nature.

The Chinese are well aware that there is nature before man, because they advocate "Tao follows nature", "man obeys the way of heaven", "human beings are in harmony with the way of heaven", and constantly accepts and infects the long-lasting "essence" of nature so that they can obtain long-lasting energy. As a result, Taoism has developed many methods for pursuing immortality or prolonging life and strengthening health, such as "seeking immortal grass", "alchemy", "fangzhongshu", "breathing", "bigushu", "blessing". "Youshu" and so on, representative figures include Qin Shihuang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty, Emperor Shizong of Ming Dynasty "seeking fairy grass" and "alchemy pill". In contemporary times, we wish Chairman Mao a long life and shout "Long live Chairman Mao! Long live!" It strongly expresses the love, respect and reluctance of the general public for Chairman Mao, and also permeates the influence of the traditional Taoist idea of ​​immortality, that is, the original anti-aging culture.

Like many religions in the world, Taoism has a rich imagination of death and after death, and combined with the ethical constraints and moral cultivation of the real society, it has created a rich culture of life and death and ghosts and gods. Fengdu County, Chongqing City is the only existing Taoist museum of life and death culture in China. It is commonly known as "ghost city". The Bridge of Naihe, the "Wangxiang Terrace" full of family and country feelings, the "Huangquan Road" where life is summed up while walking, and the "Eighteen Hells" where evil is punished, etc., describe in detail the death of Chinese people who permeate their values. various scenes afterwards.

Both Confucianism and Taoism "value life and avoid death" and "value life and despise death"", or even "joy life and hate death", the result is "no preparation for death" in traditional Chinese thinking. When the elderly of other ethnic groups communicate with God, Allah, Buddha, etc. in churches and temples, our elderly are spending Under the previous moon, in parks and squares, singing red songs, dancing square dances, playing Tai Chi, singing Peking Opera, performing Yangko dances... seldom communicated with God about life and death, and thus lacked psychological and spiritual preparations for death.

However, death will come sooner or later. The psychological reaction to death is "disbelief, anger, and shock". The Chinese nation who is not prepared for death has a much stronger psychological reaction than other ethnic groups. I once told doctors and nurses that Chinese people have the most patience. Family conflicts, work Contradictions, social conflicts, etc. can be tolerated, but if someone in a certain place tells them to "eat whatever they should eat", Chinese people who are not prepared to die will have a strong reaction and no longer bear it. The so-called "somewhere" It is a hospital, and "someone" is a doctor. Hospitals are often the "concentrated outbreak" of social conflicts in China, and the main cause of the outbreak is "death". Almost all serious doctor-patient disputes are related to death.

Emphasis on family relationships In a Chinese society with strong family affection and strong pro-life consciousness, the emotions aroused by death can easily make people irrational. I remember that a doctor of a certain scientific research institute in Beijing died of illness in a certain hospital in Beijing. The principle of "the dead is the greatest" should be dealt with. This kind of concept of "the dead is the greatest" that overrides reason, law and science is ubiquitous. Many medical institutions and medical staff have encountered it repeatedly and feel helpless.

How to deal with the "no Acute and seriously ill patients, elderly patients and their families who are "prepared to die"? It is a course that Chinese medical staff must continue to learn. How to face the 1.4 billion people who are "not prepared to die" in the fight against the epidemic? It is an important topic for China's anti-epidemic front.

In recent years, doctors and nurses in our country, together with medical humanities workers, have been exploring "how to tell bad news", "how to let patients and their families slowly accept death", "how to use upward force to face death", "how to "Less despair and more hope when dying", "How to integrate the death wisdom of all human races"... Colleagues do not copy "euthanasia" but advocate "living wills", and comrades promote palliative therapy and palliative medicine to strengthen the final quality of life , the comrades proposed the "hospitality of death" of human life to make the last life uplifting and death beautiful.

Death is the last unknown in life, the unpredictability and uncontrollability of the unknown is disturbing, coupled with the unpredictable and uncontrollable plague , our hearts are too easily disturbed. Doing our jobs well, living our lives well, and doing good things for everyone is the magic weapon for our strong hearts.

If we ourselves have to face death, think about the Relatives, especially those who once loved us the most, inevitably have a kind of longing; if our relatives face death, think about the relatives in the sky and the relatives in the world, and we will be happy in the future and happy in staying. We are nothing more than going to Passing through the world on the road to heaven , leave more flowers and beauty, so as to start well and end well.

on December 30, 2022 in Wangjing, Beijing