Pulse of civilization

Yu Yue, a 30-year-old financial sector professional in Chengdu, Sichuan province, traveled to Jingzhou in Hubei province for something different last May. She went to celebrate a 500th birthday.

The guest of honor was Zhang Juzheng, the powerful Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) minister and reformer.

Yu didn't go alone, with a friend flying in from Beijing. In Jingzhou, they found a local stylist and dressed in Ming clothing. The tomb was quiet when they arrived, with only cypress trees and a few other young women who had come for the same reason. They were also dressed in the flowing silks of the Ming Dynasty, as if by prior agreement.

Yu and her friend brought gifts connected to the historical figure that would have likely resonated among fellow history lovers: a copy of the Tax Collection and Administration Law, a book on educational psychology, a small bag of soil from Beijing, the imperial capital, and a printed photograph of Zhang's name carved into a stone tablet at the Imperial Academy in Beijing.

Yu's interest in Zhang began with a middle school textbook and a line that read "senior grand secretary of the Ming Dynasty, architect of tax reform".

"I memorized it for an exam, not because I wanted to know him. I didn't have the life experience yet to understand," she said.

Years later, she picked up the book 1587, a Year of No Significance. It painted a tragic portrait of Zhang: a minister who essentially ruled the empire for a decade, only to be posthumously purged by the young emperor he had mentored. His family was destroyed.

It was the small details that made Yu want to stand before his grave.

"Historical records showed he was a man who loved bright clothes, used face cream and perfume daily, and groomed his beard carefully," she said.

"He had a meticulous approach to his appearance, which brought him down from the cold stone. He became relatable, even adorable — not just a hero, but a living person," Yu said.

"He was likable. Even people who disagreed with him politically seemed to like him. In real life, it's hard to get everyone to like you," she said.

Yu has pondered the significance of this connection.

"To stand before a grave is to feel the very pulse of our civilization. These figures connect us to our origins, transforming history from mere facts into a story of flesh and blood," she said.

"Death is not the end. Oblivion is. For as long as a name is spoken and a story is told, a soul endures. Our remembering becomes its rebirth, allowing the past to live again within us."

Yu believes historical figures like Zhang act like a mirror, revealing faith and easing doubts that have defined our own journeys. "These people give warmth to history. Each visit is a spiritual anchor, reminding us we are not bystanders, but part of this enduring river of civilization," she said.

lihongyang@chinadaily.com.cn