issue48 @@A DREAM @@小组第六次作业 by 吴虑

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48-“The study of history places too much emphasis on individuals. The most significant events and trends in history were made possible not by the famous few, but by groups of people whose identities have long been forgotten.”


History is the study of the past, with special attention to written record of the actives of human beings over time. When it comes to the study of history, we would find a surprising and interesting phenomenon that most of the history place a lot of emphasis on individuals no matter heroes or devils. Actually, it is a studying method which is effective rather than ignoring the groups of people whose identities are forgotten. As my point of view, emphasizing the well-known few is usually the prior alternative in historical study, in terms of feasibility, importance, and readability.
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Admittedly, no one could deny the great effect on the history. People usually ascribe those significant events and trends in history to the famed figures at that time. For example, when talking about the famous persons in the history, we always mention the strategist and politician Napoleon Bonaparte who were the Emperor of France in seventeenth century. Another example is the sixteenth American president Lincoln who made his best effort in the Civil War which brought a rather different America. Hence investigating these people is vital in the study of history.

However, those unidentified masses were as important clues as, those famous few, if not more so, to the social backgrounds behind historic events and trends. In fact, the real impetus might lie in those groups of people with forgotten identities. Almost every college student acknowledges Martin Luther King and his “I have a dream”. He is well known as his fight for the freedom, equality, and dignity of all races and peoples through nonviolence. But could he himself achieve so big success without the corporate effort of mass of common people who possessed the same dream as him? Albeit he was the leader of fighting for civil rights for black people, but the most important effect should be attribute to the masses, the ones having long been forgotten. Another telling example is war against Japan in China. Thousands of people until now admire Mr. Mao, the first president of the New China, very much and own him great appreciation; nevertheless, it is agreed by everyone that common people prove to be the real winner of the revolution.

Unfortunately, detailed investigation on those anonymous masses is usually less feasible than that on those famous few. Firstly, data and information about common people behind the most significant events and trends in history are often much more insufficient than those about famous individuals. Second, numbers of those common people are awfully greater than those of famous individuals, thus it is always an impossible mission for historians to complete a comprehensive research on the former. Imagine that a historian plans to study the role of ordinary students in May Fourth New Culture Movement in 1910s’ China. Since the identities of those students have long been forgotten, how can he find the historical materials about them? Even if the materials are available, how can he accomplish the research on such a huge number of students? Obviously, both the unavailability of resources and difficulties in investigation compel historian to place more emphasis on the famous few.

In sum, although neglecting the ordinary masses in history might distract our attentions from investigating the deep social reasons of those historic events and trends, emphasizing the well-known few is generally the better choice in the study of history. After all, the latter has a considerable advantage over the former in three aspects: easier to accomplish, more important for analyzing events and trends, and more interesting to attract readers.4