Inspiration and lesson of Steem from "Monthly Review" “月旦评”给 steem 的启发和教训

“月旦评” (Monthly Review) originates from the idea of “胆评”, which means ‘The Guts to Judge’. Therefore, the motto of Monthly Review is “if you got the guts to write, you should have the guts to review”.

When this idea was brought up with @rivalhw, it was only meant for a joke.

Today , Monthly Review had been carried out for quite a while as a weekly activity for the Chinese community in Steemit. You can check out futher details from this page @rivalhw.

Well, now that you are familiar with where ‘Monthly Review’ comes from, I would like to take this opportunity to sort through the odds and ends that I had accumulated for so long.

1

As grassroots, everyone has the idea of changing their lives. Even in the ancient days of the Middle Kingdom, if the proletariat can never see hope of a well-off society, they will not be satisfied, and thus trouble and disturbance in the society. So how did the imperial court appease the people?

The answer is the imperial examination.

In the eyes of the Court, they give the peasants a chance to become an official. If you didn’t make it in the imperial examination, it is simply because you didn’t work hard enough. So you can’t blame on the Imperial Court because you are not capable enough. The responsible now is cast to the people. In the people’s view, they want a reform so that they can become decision makers; so why not just take the Imperial Examination since it presents a better deal. If they can’t make it, just repeat it. But if they rebel against the emperor, they shall be beheaded. So this is how the ancient China restored stability in the society, because everyone is pushing their focus and effort towards the Imperial Examination, and there is no time for rebellion.

The great invention of the imperial examination system begins in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. It was a win-win situation for both the government and the people. It lasted for more than a thousand years and ended with the formation of Republic of China. Before the invention of the imperial examination system, the rising channel of the civilian population was the nine-grade system that began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. The predecessor of the grade system was the Election system of the Han Dynasty. That is, "to lift respect and modesty".

Filial piety among father and son, integrity and honesty among ministers and officials. If everyone thinks his ability to evaluate is good, he would be recommended as an official. And among everybody's evaluation, Big V’s evaluation is regarded as most important. This is why the wind of the Three Kingdoms period is prevailing, including the monthly review of the " Monthly Review ". Equivalent to China’s annual college entrance examination and simulation test (but in a frequent manner), we all expect to rely on this official wealth to change the world.

In @angelina6688’s post, Cao Cao had the courage to submit the scroll, but Big V Xu Shao had the courage to state his opinion. "Rule of the world's able officials, the treacherous man in troubled times", this is his assessment to Cao Cao. “Isn’t Big V's influence big? Yes it is. And for the next 2,000 years. The forecast will continue to affect, it is estimated that Cao Cao's "traitoring" black pot will carry till the days of mankind extinction.

It's not just Xu Shao. At that time there was another big V, known as "Mr. Water Mirror" Sima Hui, well-known for judging and voicing its own opinion, later conveyed by Xu Shu to Liu Bei: A person of superior learning and ability who remains invisible. The Fu Long is Zhuge Liang, and the Phoenix is Pang Tong. This evaluation directly affected the later half of Zhuge Liang's life, and even the later generation's deification of Zhuge Liang, which established the keynote for the immortal masterpiece Romance of the Three Kingdoms, which was written after the millennium, and established the first male lead.

(source: upload.wikimedia.org)

2

When a Big V upholds respect and modesty. Having a way out is better than no way out. However, due to historical limitations, this system has many drawbacks.

Fame comes with burden. In the story of Three Kingdoms, "徐庶走马荐诸葛, 刘关张三顾茅庐". So why did after Xu heard his mother was under house arrest by Zhugeliang, he immediately leave LiuBei. Relationship is base in emotions, but if tested and got blacklisted as “unfillial”, it is a dead-end.

If we look at Kong Rong from the story of “Kong Rong gives his pear”, his whole family was executed under the crime of being “unfillial”, it killed his entire family until there is a Chinese idiom created, “覆巢之下岂有完卵” which means none of the young generation survived.

In order to have a good reputation and show everyone how filial you are, funeral luxury is a trend that time. No matter how hard it is, filial reputation is vital. When the parents died, the funeral would cost the children’s entire fortune and they were to be buried along in the parents tomb. The children share mourn for several years, husband and wife won’t have their personal life. In later generations, tomb raiders like to rob the tomb of the Eastern Han Dynasty because of the treasures in them. Such incidents cause pain in Cao Cao, who cried out, “The GDP the Han Dynasty is not low, but all wealth is buried. Therefore when Cao Cao died, he set up a will and took the lead to have a low key burial.

If you read the stories of 3 kingdoms, you will realize that a lot of talents come from the magical place of “颍川”, which is Henan today. A lot of Chinese aristocrat like Sima Hui, Xu Shu and probably Zhugeliang come from this place. So is the others like Guo Jia, Zhong Yao, bell, Xun Yu, Xunyou... And so on... Is it a poor geomantic place in other places, that we have a lot of talent in Henan?

Well, the Chinese Steem Grassroot community look for each other for support and warmth. In other words, there is no one man’s island in a community, and as everyone support each other, the movement will become bigger. Just like in the ancient Chinese history, the heroes were monopolized by talents of Henan when in reality, there are also talents elsewhere that were not recognized. Just like within the Chinese Steem community, no matter how good a minnow’s article is, the support between the whales will always stand out more.

3

Steemit is just like the situations in the 3 Kingdoms

When I started activities in Steemit like “the rank of heroes”, “Newbie 3-1”, “The Voice of Mandarin”, “hopeful projects for newbies”, ect. The people that join this activities allows me to be familiar with them, and I became familiar to their background and styles of writing. It was easy to determine if the post they made were original or copied. So although my current vote is worth $1 and if they write a good article, if I don’t upvote them, who will then? And there are strangers that post good articles and I wanted to give them an upvote, but then after I checked, it’s not original. If I upvote post that are copied from somewhere it will mean that I’m not good in evaluating and it will only be a shame for me. Judging is the article is original or not require extra effort. And strictly speaking, this is also my contribution to the group.

Therefore, I often reflect on how these plagiarism can be avoided as far as possible and be as fair as possible.

One of the ways is to follow up on “Monthly Review” activity and learn, making the judging of our activities to be open, transparent and democratic. Like @rivalhw stressed many times that the review is not David's review, but everyone's review. In fact, it did. Now “Monthly Review” have more fame than David.

Another way to do this is to take turns and go decentralized, as in the recent "Black and White Challenge" that I have no idea who started it. That's what I want to achieve, and let's remember the activity itself, not @dapeng. So, I would like to try to hand over the activities to other friends to host, each time a change of organizer, take turns hosting. This is also a problem, that is, the organization of events is not easy, time-consuming and laborious, if carelessly handed over to the unreliable person, it could be a disaster.

4

Are you a minnow? Looking at the poor SP of yours, your post isn’t poor compare to the whales, when everyone has few hundred SBDs, you don’t event earn half of theirs. If no one votes, no one sees your post. So what should you do?

One, You gotta depend on the whale’s upvote.

History has taught us, you got to have all the right keys and connections to get your name out. Just in the cn category of steemit is about 400 articles a day, if you don’t find a way, your post will only be an archive that no one sees.

So who are the influencers or Big V?

In the activities organized by “Monthly Review”, the organizer @rivalhw is our Mr.Mirror. His ranking in the 华语水浒英雄榜 is top 4, and one upvote by him would give you 15 sbds. The best part is, he likes originality. So what are you waiting for?

And we have other moderators like @deanliu @lemooljiang @tumutanzi with rep more than 69, and we have @hannahwu. All you need is these Big Vs to give you an upvote, and you will be able to get more than what other minnows give you.

So, how to join?

You can do so by participating in the activities they organize, write stuff that has similar themes. You can visit their page from time to time and learn what they write, and who they comment on. Commenting is like leaving a name card, and that is how people know you exist.

But if you’re thinking, “Well, my own ways”. I salute for that. But I have to say, there isn’t just one Big V around, so just make friends with them to improve your writing skills, and that would make you happier, and earn at the same time!

Two, know how to cease opportunity

The articles in Steem CN are too much and there isn’t a lot of Big V, so it would be difficult for you to get high percentage of Upvote. Utopian.io is a good opportunity, but if you’re too late, there won’t be much opportunity for you.

And outside the CN community there is the English community. If you can’t enter, is isn’t the end yet. Few months ago, Ned gave few million SP to some Chinese users. The Chinese area was more prosperous than ever, and it was an opportunity. These two days, price of SBD increase, we wouldn't know when there will such opportunity again, but we shall keep a look out.

So in Steemit, there are lots of old members that have ups and downs and they are leaving slowly. And the new members are coming in stronger and better, soon to be the new generation of influencers.

Can you last long on Steemit?

*Big V refers to a person with big influence, basically someone with big SPs or a whale on Steemit.

Original post written by @dapeng: “月旦评”给 steem 的启发和教训
Translator: @asianetwork

“月旦评”，简写成“胆评”，口号是：“你有胆投稿，我就有胆评。”

“月旦评”活动刚刚发起时，我对发起人 @rivalhw 开了这么个玩笑。

“月旦评” 是 steem 华语圈长期举办的周期性活动，具体情况可以看 @rivalhw 的主页。今天，天使李娜 @angelina6688 发帖，给大家普及了“月旦评”一词的由来。借此机会，我梳理一下长期以来积攒的零碎想法。

1

身为草根，有点理想的，都想改变命运。古人也是。如果无产阶级永远看不到奔小康的希望，就会不服，就会闹事，社会就会动荡，那么朝廷拿什么安抚民心？

答案是科举。

朝廷说：你看，不是没给你们机会哦，是你们自己不争气，考不上而已。于是就可以把责任归结到个人头上了。草根们对视两眼，得了，造反不就是为了当官嘛，那还不如考试，考砸了大不了再考，而造反造砸了是要砍头，于是也都心服口服，纷纷当范进，毕生精力都扑到考试上，没工夫谋反。于是，社会就稳定了。

科举制这项伟大的发明，是隋唐时期才出现的，官民双赢，所以一直持续了一千多年，到民国才结束。科举制发明之前，平民的上升通道，是魏晋开始的九品中正制。而九品中正制的前身，就是汉朝的察举制。也就是常说的“举孝廉”。

谁孝顺（父父子子），谁清廉（君君臣臣），大家给他的评价就好，就举荐他做官。而大家的评价里，大 V 的评价最重要。这就是为什么三国时期评人之风盛行，包括出现了每月一评的“月旦评”。相当于每年的高考和模拟考，多来几次嘛，大家都指望靠这个当官发财改变世界呢。

@angelina6688 的帖子里说了，曹操有胆去投稿，大 V 许邵就有胆评。“治世之能臣，乱世之奸雄”，这是他给曹操的评价。大 V 评价的影响力大不大？大。影响后世两千年。目测还会继续影响下去，估计曹操“奸雄”的黑锅得背到人类灭绝的那一天了。

不只是许邵。当时的另一位大 V，人称“水镜先生”的司马徽，也有过一条著名评价，后来由徐庶转达给了刘备：“伏龙凤雏得一可安天下。”伏龙是诸葛亮，凤雏是庞统。这条评价直接影响到诸葛亮的后半生，乃至后世对诸葛亮的神化，为千年后写成的不朽名著《三国演义》奠定了基调，确定了第一男主角。

插图：三顾茅庐 (来源：upload.wikimedia.org)

2

靠大 V 的点赞来“举孝廉”，算是布衣的一条出路。有出路比没出路好。但是，受历史局限性，这个制度有很多弊病。

弊端之一，就是为名所累。三国有段著名的故事：徐庶走马荐诸葛，刘关张三顾茅庐。为什么徐庶一听母亲被曹操软禁，就立刻离开刘备（走之前推荐了诸葛亮来接班）投奔曹操了？亲情是感情上的原因；而基于现实的考量，一旦担上“不孝”的恶名，完了，以后别想混了，必被别的孝子取代。往轻了说是职业生涯就此断送，往重了说……看看孔融吧，三岁让梨的孔融，孔子的嫡子孙孔融，建安七子的大文学家孔融，被安上了个不孝的罪名，给满门抄斩了。灭门的时候，他家的娃还留下个“覆巢之下岂有完卵”的成语。

为了名声好，当时葬礼奢华之风盛行。孝嘛，绞尽脑汁，也得要个孝顺的名声啊。父母去世了，就倾家荡产办丧事，一辈子的积蓄全埋到父母的坟墓里，一守孝就是好几年，期间连夫妻生活都不能有。后世的盗墓贼，最喜欢盗的就是东汉的墓，里面全是金银珠宝。曹操为此痛心疾首：咱们汉朝的 GDP 不低啊，可是咱们把钱都埋了啊。所以，曹操去世时前立下遗嘱，要薄葬，自己带头，煞一煞不正之风。

弊端之二，是拉帮结派。

读三国，会发现一个特别的现象，那就是很多人才，都来自“颍川”这个神奇的地方（今属河南）。前面说的司马徽和徐庶，就是颍川人（这么说来，诸葛亮的名声是出自颍川）。还有郭嘉、钟会、钟繇、荀彧、荀攸......等等等等。难道是别的地方风水太差，就我们河南人才多？

不是。其实是因为抱团取暖，大家相互点赞，一人独吹不是春，大家互吹春满园，于是越做越大。这些名人未必全部有才，但其中有才的人，必须在出名之后，才华才有地方能施展得开。事实证明，别的地方也是人才济济，例如江东，但是当时被我们这些河南人的名气 给盖过了。就好比 steem 上草根的文章写得再好，也难上流行热门榜，因为被大鲸们的互赞给盖住了。

这造成了人们对许邵“月旦评”的负面评价。有人说月旦评过于主观，有人说月旦评结党营私。《后汉书》认为月旦评是许劭用来攻击他哥哥许靖的工具。诸葛亮的侄子诸葛恪（后来在东吴权倾朝野），曾经给东吴丞相陆逊的信里写道：

都特么是许邵这帮人互相吹捧诽谤搞出的事儿。

（自汉末以来，中国士大夫如许子将辈，所以更相谤讪，或至于祸，原其本起，非为大雠。惟坐克己不能尽如礼，而责人专以正义。）

3

三国时期的这个情况，跟 steem 很像。

我在 steem 上发起了一些活动，包括“水浒英雄榜”、“新人三个一”活动、“华语好声音”活动、“新人希望工程”等等。来参加活动的人我就眼熟，熟了的好处就是熟悉他的背景和写作风格，容易确定他的新帖是原创不是抄袭，如果外加写得好，不赞他赞谁？虽然目前我的赞只值 1 块钱。而陌生人，有几次我想点赞，一查却发现是抄袭。点赞抄袭帖说明我缺乏判断能力，丢的是我的脸，但判断是不是抄袭却要额外花时间。严格来讲，这就属于拉帮结派，虽然我的初衷并非如此。所以，我常常反思，怎么能尽可能避免这些弊端，尽量公平。

一个方法就是向我们的“月旦评”活动学习，让活动的评判标准公开化、透明化、民主化。@rivalhw 多次强调：月旦评不是大伟的月旦评，而是大家的月旦评。事实上也确实做到了，现在月旦评比大伟的名气大。

另外一个方法就是轮流坐庄，去中心化，比如最近风行“黑白摄影挑战赛”就是，我完全不知道是谁发起的。这是我希望达到的目的，让大家记住的是活动本身，而不是 @dapeng。所以，我想试着把活动交给其他朋友来主办，每次换个主办人，轮流坐庄。这样也有问题，就是举办活动并不容易，费时费力，如果不慎交给了不靠谱的人，可能把活动给毁了。这事儿我还没想好。

以后再说吧。

4

你是草根吗？天天看着自己可怜巴巴的 SP，发的帖子质量不见得比大鲸写得差，但人家是上百 SBD，而你只有几分钱的收入，没人赞没人看，根本看不到未来的出路。怎么办？

要是你只想躬耕于南阳，不求闻达于诸侯，那就维持现状挺好；否则，有两条出路。

第一条，上文已经介绍了：得靠大鲸的点赞。

得傍大腿啊，同学！这里没有科举制，不是谁考卷写得好就能上名校！这些天来，你乌泱乌泱地发帖，可是你拜过码头了吗？去过颍川了吗？

你就算是诸葛亮满腹经纶，那也得靠大 V 帮你把名声打出去，才有刘皇叔来顾你家茅庐呀！每天光中文区就四百篇文章，你不想想办法的话，你的文章惊天地泣鬼神，可是哪个人类能看得见啊！

那么谁是大 V？

“月旦评”活动里，主办人 @rivalhw 就是水镜先生啊！@rivalhw 在 华语水浒英雄榜位列第四，对应梁山角色是天闲星公孙胜，手持 6 万 SP，如果给你全力点赞一次，你的帖子就会得到 15 SBD（约合 1000 元人民币）的收益。更庆幸的是，@rivalhw 的爱好不是马术高尔夫球这种高不可攀的贵族活动，而是原创文字！也就是你小学就会的作！文！——那还等什么，赶紧去抱啊。

还有“月旦评”的评委们， @deanliu @lemooljiang @tumutanzi，这些都是声望 69 以上的大 V ！ 还有 @hannahwu，虽然目前声望略逊，但那也是独立博客圈响当当的狠角色，在 steem 上的前途不可估量！若是这些人你都不喜欢的话，去水浒英雄榜上找别的大 V 啊！只要他们给你一个赞，胜过草根点你千赞万赞啊！

怎么抱大腿？

参加他们举办的活动，写他们推崇的东西啊！去他们府上（主页）拜访，看看他们自己都写些什么，看看他们都给谁点赞给谁留言。你再留个言就等于递个名片，人家才知道你的存在啊。

你说你喜欢我行我素，不屑于取悦他人。是，我佩服有骨气的人。可是，大 V 的喜好不只一个，总有个跟你不谋而合心相印的吧？你不用屈尊拍马屁，只需找对人，交个志同道合的大 V 朋友，你才能越写越好，越写越开心，而且同时有钱赚啊！要不然，你还不如躬耕于新浪博客和 wordpress；来 steem 界面丑发帖慢编辑器难用，你说你图个啥？

第二条，上面其实也暗示了，得抓机遇。

诸葛亮虽然被大 V 点赞，但是为什么不去 SP 最多的曹操阵营，而去了屌丝刘备阵营？因为那里有出头的机会。曹操阵营人才太多，嗷嗷待赞的也多，每人分的就少，轮不上诸葛亮。而刘备那里，SP 不多，但是对诸葛亮 100% VP 点赞。

这就好比 steem CN 区文章太多，大 V 又少，分给你的赞也不会多。去别的阵营看看，比如现在 Utopian.io 就是很好的机会。趁早去，去得晚了可能机会也就没了。“伏龙凤雏”里的凤雏庞统，同样去抱刘备的大腿，去了一看，刘备左腿趴着关张赵马黄，右腿趴着诸葛亮，满了。最后，伏龙流芳百世，凤雏一事无成。

CN 区之外的阵营有英文门槛，如果迈不过去，也不是没有出路。前几个月 Ned 代理几百万 SP 给几个中文用户，中文区空前繁盛，就是一次机遇。这两天 SBD 疯涨，也算是个机遇。以后还有没有这种机遇，没人知道，但是可以走着瞧。

曹操阵营的司马懿，一开始啥都不是，也没有大 V 点赞，不管发什么帖都沉底，根本没有出头的机会，但是他坚决不换阵营，他能熬。司马懿熬死了自己阵营的曹操，曹丕，曹真，曹爽，还熬死了敌方阵营的诸葛亮。最后，机会终于落到他家头上了，他的儿孙建立了晋朝，取代了矿主。

steem 上，很多老人在多次沉浮里慢慢离去。沉舟侧畔千帆过，新人的地位越来越高，熬成了老人，成为了新一代的大 V。

试试看，你能在 steem 上熬多久？