並列摘要
In China's modern history, Tan Sitong's heroic death may be the most exciting event. My article presents four aspects to explain Tan's idea of death. The first is the psychological aspect: in his youth, ill-treated by his father's concubine, Tan had the idea of making light of one's life, and from the death of relatives, he learned the changeableness of life. The second aspect is the philosophical aspect: it means the consciousness of belittling the individual, derived from the infinite universe; and the idea of ”life and death are the same” is based on the law of conservation of matter. The third one is the religious aspect, which indicates the idea of samsara of soul and the spirit of Bodhisattva in Buddhism. The last one is the ethical aspect which includes the idea of ”to die for an understanding friend” and the virtue of dying for righteousness. Tan's spirit is always in our memory.