Surprising Chinese History

Maybe it’s the reason that I’ve been studying Chinese history over and over again since middle school, all those dramatic shifts don’t seem surprising any more. To the opposite, I found more similarities between different historical events. Such as those students in June Fourth, their patriotism, idealism and irrational behaviors might be traced back to May Fourth movement in 1919, or even 1895 when some civil examination candidates expressed their opposition to the treaty of Shimonoseki to the Qing emperor. Or when reading the history of Soviet Union, I was terrified by how identical those tragedies happened in both countries. If traditional China recycled itself by changing dynasties and emperors, who know whether modern China is just entering into another cycle? Talking of June Fourth, everyone wishes it will never ever happen again. However, it’s neither the first, unfortunately, nor the last in long terms. History tends to repeat itself if we don’t learn from our past.