By Elizabeth Tang Grade 6
History is not just shown in museums or books; if you walk into history, it will start to emerge in your mind.
Walk into history, and I saw “fortitude.” Si Maqian, in the Western Han dynasty of China, chose to endure humiliation for the sake of his unfinished great cause. The crabapple trees were still as they were, but men were no longer the same. Just because Si Maqian pleaded for Li Ling (who had been defeated by the enemy), he angered Emperor Wu of Han and was cast into prison. A young soul became weak and almost died. No one could imagine how brutal the prison was. However, Si Maqian didn’t lose his willpower. He kept writing the first biographical-style history book for 10 years and finished it. Nothing could stop him. And I guess that’s fortitude.
We don’t have to write a book that difficult nowadays, but in our lives, we can learn fortitude from Si Maqian to persist in what we do. If you have dreams, just keep trying—don’t stop, won’t stop, and give everything time. Maybe you can go down in history like Si Maqian. See? Learning history can make you successful.
Walking into history, I saw “beauty.” Walking through the streets of history, I saw the divine buildings of Greece; I saw the fine porcelain from China; I saw the spectacular pyramids from Egypt. Walking through the streets of history, I saw “beauty.” With the sound of the piano and the smell of roses, you can close your eyes and travel to the Victorian era, appreciating the gorgeousness of the city. The attire and the scenery, all together, made the Victorian era a utopia. But in other ways, this “beauty” was also a dystopia. The gap between the poor and the rich was so large that the period didn’t give any chances to poor people.
Looking at history, we can figure out the truth more clearly.
Walking through history, I saw “kindness.” No doubt, history may be dark, but there is more kindness to tell. Joan of Arc, who cared for all living beings, went through war and brought peace at last. Jean Henri Dunant, a Swiss humanitarian activist, advocated for helping the wounded in war and finally established the Red Cross.
We were born in a good time; peace and happiness are all around us, but we must not forget that there are still many people fighting right now. War takes all the good things away from them. What we can do is help them get out of their dystopia by raising funds, food, and water for people living in war zones.
If you walk into history, it will start to make your life better and make our world brighter. We won’t let the mistakes of history happen again.
