01_中国哲学的精神中英对照.pdf

第一章 中国哲学的精神 哲学在中国文化中所占的地位，历来可以与宗教在其他文化中的地 位相比。在中国，哲学与知识分子 人人有关。在旧时，一个人只要受 教育，就是用哲学发蒙。儿童入学，首先教他们读四书，即《论语》、 《孟子》、《大学》、《中庸》。四书是新儒家哲学最重要的课本。 有时候，儿童刚刚开始识字，就 读一种课本，名叫《三宇经》，每句 三个宇，偶句押韵，朗诵起来便于记忆。这本书实际上是个识字课本 ， 就是它，开头两句也是人之初，性本善。这是孟子哲学的基本观念之 一。 THE place which philosophy has occupied in Chinese civilization has been comparable to that of religion in other civilizations. In China, philosophy has been every educated person s concern. In the old days, if a man were educated at all, the first education he received was in philosophy. When children went to school, the Four Books, which consist of the Confucian Analects, the Book of Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean, were the first ones they were taught to read. The Four Books were the most important texts of Neo- Confucianist philosophy. Sometimes when the children were just beginning to learn the characters, they were given a sort of textbook to read. This was known as the Three Characters Classic, and was so called because each sentence in the book consisted of three characters arranged so that when recited they produced a rhythmic effect, and thus helped the children to memorize them more easily. This book was in reality a primer, and the very first statement in it is that the nature of man is originally good. This is one of the fundamental ideas of Mencius philosophy. 1 Place of Philosophy in Chinese Civilization 哲学在中国文化中的地位 西方人看到儒家思想渗透中国人的生活，就觉得儒家是宗教。可是 实事求是地说，儒家并不比柏拉图 或亚力士多德的学说更像宗教。四 书诚然曾经是中国人的圣经，但是四书里没有创世纪，也没有讲 天堂、地狱。 To the Westerner, who sees that the life of the Chinese people is permeated with Confucianism, it appears that Confucianism is a religion. As a matter of fact, however, Confucianism is no more a religion than, say, Platonism or Aristotelianism. It is true that the Four Books have been the Bible of the Chinese people, but in the Four Books there is no story of creation, and no