36. On Death：The greatest fairness is death.

We will all eventually face death, yet we persist in the illusion that we will live forever. When contemplating matters, we unconsciously assume our own eternal existence. We instinctively avoid death—not only physically striving to prevent it, but also unconsciously fearing it psychologically. Even though history has repeatedly proven immortality impossible, we persist in extending our lives, even fantasizing about eternal youth. The root cause of all this is that humans are constantly guided by the force of existence. This force drives every individual to seek eternal being, making the fear of death utterly natural.

Regarding attitudes toward death, Chinese history can be divided into two distinct periods: before the Qin and Han dynasties, and after. Pre-Qin and Han Chinese seemed less fearful of death. The Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods produced numerous historical figures who defied mortality, willingly sacrificing their lives for their convictions even when escape was possible. Examples include Bo Yi and Shu Qi, who starved themselves to death rather than eat grain from the Zhou dynasty; Shen Sheng, the crown prince of Jin; Xun Hu, a minister of Jin; Wu Xie and his sons of Chu; the Tai Shi brothers of Qi; Ji Zi of Wei; as well as Zuan Zhu, Yu Rang, Nie Zheng, Hou Ying, Jing Ke, and Wei Sheng. Yet after the Qin and Han dynasties, such fearless individuals became exceedingly rare—perhaps only a handful, or even none, in a dynasty spanning centuries.

Logically, overcoming the fear of death represents a sign of cultural advancement. Such an advanced spirit should have evolved and progressed. Why, then, did this spirit gradually decline after the Qin and Han? Why did the spirit of "a man will die for his true friend" degenerate into the cowardly maxim that "a miserable life is better than a glorious death"? The fundamental reason lies in the extreme fear that unified emperors harbored toward those unafraid of death. Once individuals lose their fear of death, they can resist any ruling power. If the populace no longer fears death, rulers instantly become vulnerable before their subjects. When Liu Bang learned that Tian Heng had committed suicide thirty li from Chang'an, he was astonished. What shocked him was that Tian Heng's two attendants killed themselves at his grave after burying him. What terrified him was that the five hundred warriors who had fled with Tian Heng to the island, upon hearing of his death, also took their own lives collectively. Though Liu Bang was the supreme emperor, before Tian Heng and his followers, he was nothing. For if these men feared not death itself, how could they fear an emperor? Tian Heng and his followers chose suicide over submission to Liu Bang's rule, rendering the emperor's authority utterly meaningless in their eyes. Therefore, once a unified empire is established, rulers inevitably strive to instill fear of death in their subjects, for only those who dread death are easiest to govern. To this end, rulers incessantly indoctrinate the populace with various notions of mortal terror. This is precisely why, after the Qin and Han dynasties, the Chinese people grew increasingly afraid of death.

Yet no matter how much we fear death, it remains inevitable. Since it is an unavoidable occurrence, why should we dread it? As society progresses, people should become increasingly able to face death with composure. We must recognize that death is society's greatest equalizer. It is precisely because humans die that society continually advances. If some truly became immortal, humanity would be firmly controlled by this immortal elite, with the rest forever enslaved to them. This would plunge humanity into darkness from which there is no escape—a truly terrifying prospect. It is precisely because death exists that the demons of history depart one by one, leaving humanity with hope for progress. No matter who you are, you will inevitably die like everyone else. Nature treats all equally—this is the greatest fairness among humankind.