Hsiao Chien's book shows a common weakness of Chinese men of letters: they are conceited and self-pitying. They have a deep-seated fear of exposing their own and society's scars, with the result that their memoirs often leave the past in the past.
一般中國文人的通病是自大又自憐，諱疾忌醫，息事寧人，內心深處不願意揭自己或社會的疤，因此回憶錄常為尊者諱，為自己諱，覺得往事不可追，待之如過眼雲煙算了。