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wú yònɡ zhī yònɡ 无用之用 The Advantage of Appearing Useless 选择无用状态而实现的对生命的保全。“无用之用”一说出自《庄子》，“无用”是庄子（前369？—前286）提出的一种保全生命的处世态度。庄子认为，一个能力出众的人会被要求承担更多职责，因而也面临更多困难与危险。这会对身体和心灵造成伤害。只有舍弃进取、有为的意愿，向世人展现出自己的无用，才能避开人世间的各种危险，从而保全自己的生命。 This term means choosing to be useless to realize the preservation of life. Originating in Zhuangzi, choosing to appear useless is a way advocated by Zhuangzi (369?-286 BC) for preserving one’s life. He said that very able people are often required to shoulder many […]

wòyóu 卧游 Enjoying Sceneries without Physically Travelling 以观赏山水画代替亲身游历山水，借以体味山水之乐。南朝画家宗炳（375－443）晚年因病无法游历名山大川，于是将游玩过的山水绘成画作挂在墙上，以卧游的方式权当山水之游。这一术语体现了古代文人乐山乐水的传统，还肯定了艺术对于人生的特殊意义，推动了绘画艺术的发展。 Artists often admire natural scenery beholding landscape paintings rather than traveling to actual spots. When the Southern Dynasty painter Zong Bing (375-443), due to illness in old age, could no longer tour great mountains and rivers, he painted the landscapes he had once seen and then hung

wénzhì 文质 Form and Content 人或事物的表现与实质。”质”指人或事物所具有的实质内容、意义，“文”则指表现出的形式、样态。儒家常用“文质”来指称“礼”的表现与实质。外在的“文”应以“质”为基础，背离基础而追求形式会导致虚饰浮华。同时，“文”也是不可缺少的，内在的“质”需要通过“文”来获得呈现。“质”和“文”应相互匹配。 People and things both exist in form and content, with content representing their essence and form representing their appearance. Confucian scholars often used “form and content” to describe the display and the substance of rites. The external “form” must be based on the internal “content” because form pursued in

wénrénhuà 文人画 Literati Painting 泛指中国古代文人士大夫的绘画，区别于民间的或宫廷画院的绘画，是中国画的一种。又称“士夫画”、“南画”、“南宗画”。宋代苏轼（1037-1101）首提“士人画”，明代董其昌（1555—1636）视唐代王维（701？－761）为“文人画”的创始人。文人画作者多取材于山水、花鸟、竹木等，侧重于抒发主体性灵，表达人的内心世界，间或寄托、书写对社会现实的不满与愤慨之情。文人画讲究笔墨情趣，超越形式技法，强调神韵意境。 This refers to paintings produced by ancient Chinese scholars and writers, as distinguished from those by craftsmen or court-hired artists. It is a sub-category of traditional Chinese painting, also known as “scholarly painting,” “southern school painting,” or simply “southern painting.” Although Su Shi (1037-1101), a renowned Song Dynasty poet, first

wèi jǐ zhī xué 为己之学 Learning for Self-improvement 以自我修养为目的的学问。儒家将“学”作为一种成就道德生命的方式。学者通过对经典和礼法的学习以及对圣贤的效法，不断培养自身的德性，以成就理想的人格。因此，“学”是一个自我修养的过程，是“为己”的。“学”并不是为了向他人展示自己的学问或德行，以获取外在的利益。 The term refers to learning for the purpose of self-cultivation. Confucian scholars view learning as a means of improving our moral life. By studying the classics and rules of etiquette, and by learning from the sages, we may constantly improve our morality in order to develop

wéi biān sān jué 韦编三绝 Leather Thongs Binding Wooden Strips Breaking Three Times 编联竹简或木简的熟皮条断了好多次。中国古人在竹片或木片上书写、记事，然后在这些竹片或木片（称为“简”）上钻孔，用熟皮条（“韦”）按顺序编联成册（“韦编”）。据《史记·孔子世家》记载，孔子晚年喜欢《周易》，百读不厌，以致编联《周易》简册的皮条多次断裂。后以此形容勤奋读书，好学不倦。 In ancient China, people recorded events by writing on bamboo or wooden strips. They used boiled leather thongs threaded through little holes made on those strips to bind them together into a book according to a certain order. According to the

tiān xià nǎi tiān xià zhī tiān xià 天下乃天下之天下 All Under Heaven Belongs to the People. 天下是天下所有人的天下，国家是全国所有人的国家。首尾两个“天下”可以理解为国家或国家的最高统治权；中间一个“天下”是指天下所有的人。古人认为，天下并不固定属于哪一个人、哪一个家族所有，而是属于天下所有的人；谁符合道义，谁有利于天下百姓，谁就有资格拥有天下、治理天下。其中隐含着天赋人权、政以道立的理念。在现代语境下，这句话也可以理解为：世界是全世界所有人的世界——每个国家、每个人都有权参与治理。 All under heaven belongs to all the people in the world; a country belongs to all the people in the country. “All under heaven” can here be understood as the country or highest sovereign power of the country.

tiānwén 天文 The Laws of Constellations and Seasons / Astronomy 天体、天气的运行变化及其规则。“天文”一词出自《周易》。日月星辰的运行、四季昼夜的交替、寒暑风雨的变化，都呈现出某种恒常的法则，这即是“天文”。古人认为，人伦生活与天地万物遵循着相通的法则。因此，人们可以通过对“天文”的观察与效法，确立人伦生活的秩序。 This term, which comes from The Book of Changes, refers to the laws governing the movements of constellations and the change of weather. The term tianwen (天文) means the constant laws that govern the movements of celestial bodies, the rotation of the four seasons, the

tiān rén gǎn yīng 天人感应 Nature and Humans Respond to Each Other. 天与人之间相互感应。“天人感应”之说是董仲舒（前179—前104）明确提出的。他继承了前人的思想，认为同类事物之间可以相互感应。而人作为天的副本，彼此之间也存在着感应。天的变化会影响人和人事，而人的言行、人事的治乱也会在天象上有所反映。统治者如果有悖乱的言行，就会引发灾异。董仲舒试图在“天人感应”的基础上，利用灾异现象规劝统治者施行德治。 Humans and Nature respond to each other. This theory was put forward by Dong Zhongshu (179-104 BC), who had inherited his predecessors’ thinking and believed that things of similar nature could respond to each other. According to him, humans are a duplication

tiān mìng mí cháng 天命靡常 Heaven-bestowed Supreme Power Is Not Eternal. 上天的命令没有恒常不变的受命者。“天命靡常”之说出自《诗经·大雅·文王》。古人相信，上天的命令决定着人世中至高无上的王权的归属。但天命所赐予的王权并不是恒常不变的，殷周的更迭就是由于天命发生了改易。而天命的改易遵循着固定的法则，君主有德则授命，失德则剥夺天命。因此，“天命靡常”的观念警醒着统治者，时刻修养自身的德行以保有天命。 This term first appears in The Book of Songs. It means that there is no one who can forever remain a recipient of the bestowed supreme power by the Ruler of Heaven. The ancients believed that the heavenly order determined to whom the