ISSUE36【越洋农场战队】作业，欢迎拍砖留链互拍！

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TOPIC: ISSUE36 - The greatness of individuals can be decided only by those who live after them, not by their contemporaries."
WORDS: 365          TIME: 0:45:00          DATE: 2006-7-26

As the times goes by, the history would appear its original visage to as. Some people claim that only those who live after them, not by their contemporaries, can decide the greatness of individuals. In my point of view, in most occasions this is true, yet at the same time we should understand our limitations on determining the value of individuals in history due to the space and time difference.

To begin with, the author's assertion is in accordance with our daily experience and common sense. Examples abound in history illustrating this point of view. The famous president named LiYu in Southern Tang dynasty of China immediately comes out into my mind. To be a president, he is considered as one of most inefficient president in Chinese history who forfeited his country all because of his incontinence. Yet his poems are highly priced by people afterwards. Take a Chinese Chairman Mao for another opposite example, who is considered as Christ of old China. Yet his commits many mistakes in Cultural Revolution, of which some people argues make China degrade ten years. Everyone has advantages and shortcomings, so do the great people. Thus to some extent only through historical perspective can we correctly judge the greatness of history figures.

The main reason why we can judge a person easier than his contemporaries can is that time can wash out and deposit the controversy about an individual, while the most valuable merits data survive. Our judgments, which based on more superior value system, are not influenced by the authorities and outdated ideas. That is, we judge them more objectively and justly with more wisdom. Moreover, the greatness of the individuals cannot be discovered by public and their peers mainly because of their extraordinary talents and wisdoms beyond the understanding of their contemporaries, which is better understand in later times when the society is more advanced. What we cannot mention here is the great painter Van Gogh, who leads a tragic life and is not identified by his peers at his time, yet creates the most valuable paints coming down until now.

However, we should not make this assertion any further that we can always value the greatness of history figures more objectively and justly. Firstly, the current criterion and value system we use to judge the greatness of history figures is far from perfect. Tending to ignore the specific historical background of historical figures, we are possibly make mistakes. Secondly, what we based to judge them is historical documents and records, which is hardly integrated and authentic. These factors would inevitably affect the accuracy and objectiveness. The further a historical figure lives from us, the harder we find the data on which we based.

Moreover, the contemporaries can also discover the greatness of the great people around them. Those agree with the author that contemporaries cannot decide their greatness imply that we cannot discover and decide the greatness of individuals in our times. However, this is not necessarily the case. The well-known Nobel Price is best to illustrating the point of view that we can judge the greatness of contemporaries, since the Nobel Price is only given to the alive.

To the sum, at the same of we grasp the merits of justice and objectiveness of greatness judgment by later people, we should also notice the limitation of times and space. Besides, the importance and significance of contemporaries’ judgment is equally important and valuable.