-
Unit 1
Chinese Humanism
1.
To
understand
the
Chinese
ideal
of
life
one
must
try
to
understand
Chinese
humanism.
The
term
'humanism'
is
ambiguous.
Chinese
humanism,
however,
has
a
very
definite
meaning. It
implies, first a just conception of the ends of
human
life; secondly, a complete
devotion to these ends; and the thirdly,
the
attainment
of
these
ends
by
the
spirit
of
human
reasonableness or the
Doctrine of the Golden Mean, Which may
also be called the Religion of common
sense.
要了解中国人的人生理想,
就必须先了解中国的
人文主义。
“人文主义”
这个词含义模糊含混,然而中国的人文
主义却有它明确的界说。它的意思是:
第一,对人生目的的确切认识;第二,为实现这一
目的而行动;第三,实现的
方式是心平气和,即中庸之道,也可称作“庸见的崇拜”。<
/p>
question of the meaning of
life has perplexed Western
philosophers, and it has never been
solved- naturally, when one
starts
out
from
the
technological
point
of
view,
according
to
which
all
things,
including
mosquitoes
and
typhoid
germs,
are
created
for
the
good
of
this
cocksure
humanity.
As
there
is
usually too much pain and misery in
this life to allow a perfect
answer to
satisfy man's pride, teleology is therefore
carried over
to
the
next
life,
and
this
earthly
life
is
then
looked
upon
as
a
preparation for the life hereafter, in
conformity with the logic of
Socrates,
which
looked
upon
a
ferocious
wife
as
a
natural
provision for the training of the
husband's character. This way of
dodging
the
homes
of
the
dilemma
sometimes
gives
peace
of
mind for
a moment, but
then the eternal
question, “what is the
meaning of
life?”
comes back. Others, like
Nietzsche, take the
bull
by
the
horns
and
refuse
to
assume
that
life
must
have
a
meaning
and
believe
that
progress
is
in
a
circle,
and
human
achievements are a
savage dance, instead of a trip to the market,
but
still
the
question
comes
back
eternally,
like
the
sea
waves
lapping upon the
sho
re: “
what is the meaning
of the life?
”
人生的
意义是什么,
这个问题一直使西方哲学家备受困惑。
他们从目的
论出发,
认为包括蚊子乃至伤寒菌在内的万事万物,
都是为这个
自负的人类的利益而存在
的。如此这般,人生的意义就从来没有揭示出来过。今生今世自
有百般磨难,因
而自傲的人类始终无法事事如意。
于是目的论又
转向来生来世,
把今生的世俗生
活看作为来世所进行的准备。<
/p>
这与苏格拉底的逻辑恰好符合,
即认为一个凶悍的
妻子对她丈夫的性格锤炼来说,
是一种天然的恩赐。
以
此躲避人生的难题固然可
以使人暂时心平气和,但问题仍旧没有答案:
< br>“人生的意义何在?”另外有一些
人,像尼采那样知难而上,否认人生“必须”有
什么意义,认为人类的进步不过
是一种循环,
一种野蛮人的舞蹈
,
而不是去市场采购,
所以没有什么特殊的含义。
然而问题还是没能解决,它就像海浪一样不断冲击着堤岸:
“人生的意义究竟
何
在?”
3.
The
Chinese
humanists
believe
they
have
found
the
true
end of
life and are
conscious of it. For the
Chinese the end of
life lies
not in life after death, for the idea that we live
in order
to
die,
as
taught
by
Christianity,
is
incomprehensible;
nor
in
Nirvana,
for
that
is
too
vainglorious;
nor
yet
in
progress
for
progress
’
s
sake,
for
that
is
meaningless.
The
true
end,
the
Chinese
have
decided
in
a
singularly
clear
manner,
lies
in
the
enjoyment
of
a
simple
life
especially
the
family
life,
and
in
harmonious social
relationships.
The first poem that a
children
learns in school
runs:
While soft clouds by warm breezes
are wafted in the moon,
Lured by flowers, past the river I roam
on and on.
They
’
ll say
“
look at the old man in the
spree!
”
And know
not that my sprit
’
s on
happiness borne.
中国的人文主义者认为自己找到了人生的真谛,<
/p>
并时时意识到这一点。
在中国
人看来,<
/p>
人生在世并非为了死后的来生,
对于基督教所谓此生为来世的观点
,
他
们大惑不解,他们进而认为:佛教所谓升入涅槃境界,过于
玄虚;为了获得成功
的欢乐而奋斗,纯属虚荣;为了进步而去进步,则是毫无意义。
p>
中国人明确认为:
人生的真谛在于享受淳
朴的生活,
尤其是家庭生活的欢乐和
社会诸关系的和睦,儿童入
学伊始,第一首诗便是:云淡风轻近午天,傍花随柳
过前川。时人不识余心乐,将谓偷闲
学少年。
4. That represents to
Chinese, not just a pleasant poetic mood
but the summer bonum of life. The
Chinese ideal of life is drunk
through
with this sentiment. It is an ideal of life that
is neither
particularly
ambitious
nor
metaphysical,
but
nevertheless
immensely
real.
It
is,
I
must
say,
a
brilliantly
simple
idea,
so
brilliantly simple that only the mater-
of-fact Chinese mind could
have
conceived
it,
and
yet
one
often
wonders
how
the
West
could have failed to
see that the meaning of lies in the sane and
healthy enjoyment of it. The difference
between China and West
seems
to
be
that
the
westerners
have
a
greater
capacity
for
getting
and
making
more
things
and
a
lesser
ability
to
enjoy
them,
while
the
Chinese
have
a
greater
determination
and