What Makes Us Human?

“Usually, as an annalist history indifferently and persistently does nothing but add link to link in that enormous chain that stretches through the millennia, adding fact to fact, for all excitement needs time for preparation, and every real event must undergo development.”

— Stefan Zweig

Behind the great moments of history, it is the seemingly faint starlight that gathers into the galaxy of the past. History is inseparable from humanity. How does she weave this chain together with us, and how does history, in its indifference, become human? Perhaps at every decisive moment, it is the darkness behind that reveals why the stars shine so brightly.

Within this constellation of history, the most easily overlooked are the stories of countless ordinary people. They leave no names in chronicles, and are often obscured by grand narratives. Yet these stories have never truly vanished—for as long as someone remembers, as long as someone recounts them, they remain part of history.

These forgotten fragments—how do faint lights continue to glimmer against the night, and how may we still find traces of humanity within the cold chains of history? History is not merely the accumulation of events, but the complexity and truth woven from moments too often overlooked.

茨威格说，历史是一位编年记录人，她心思冷淡却持之以恒地将一个个环套编成一个巨大的链条——这链条延伸几千年，在它上面一个个平淡事实比肩而列，因为所有的精彩纷呈都需要准备时间，每一桩真正的事件都需要有发酵的过程。

在历史的重大时刻背后，正是这些看似微弱的点点星光，汇聚成了历史的银河。历史与人类紧密相连。她是如何与我们共同编织这条链条，而历史又是如何在冷峻的叙事中变得有人性的？也许在历史的每一个特殊时刻，正是背后的黑夜告诉我们，为何星光如此耀眼。

在这片星光之中，最容易被忽视的，正是无数小人物的故事。他们无法在史书上留下名字，常常被宏大的叙事所遮蔽。但这些故事从未真正消失，因为只要有人记得、有人讲述，它们依然是历史的一部分。

这些被遗忘的片段——在黑夜的衬托下，如何仍有微弱的光芒闪现；在冷静的历史链条里，我们如何仍能找到人性的温度。历史不仅是事件的堆叠，更是那些被忽视的瞬间共同编织出的复杂与真实。