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师直为壮 – Chinese philosophy and culture

shīzhí-wéizhuànɡ 师直为壮 Troops Will Be Powerful When Fighting a Just Cause. 用兵有正当的理由,士气就旺盛,富有战斗力。“师”泛指军队,在此指出兵、进军征伐;“直”即正,指名义、理由正当;“壮”即壮盛,有力量。中华民族自古不轻言战争,而是注重战争的正义性,并且相信为正义而战的军队一定斗志旺盛、所向无敌。 This term suggests that when there is a good cause to use military force, the troops will be high in morale and valiant in fighting. The word shi (师) here is a general term for all military forces and operations. The word zhi (直) means […]

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诗 – Chinese philosophy and culture

shī 诗 Shi (Poetry) 中国古代文学的主要体式,也是中国古代最早产生的文学体式。它按照一定的节奏、韵律、字数和句式要求,用凝练的语言、丰富的想象反映社会生活、表达思想情感。“诗”与“文”是中国古代文学的主要形态,古人所说的“诗”主要分古体诗和近体诗,一般不包括唐以后出现的词曲。古体诗也叫古风,是近体诗产生前除楚辞体之外的各种诗体的通称,其格律比较自由,不拘对仗、平仄,押韵较宽,篇幅长短不限,句子有四言、五言、六言、七言、杂言;近体诗也叫格律诗,它的字数、押韵、平仄、对仗都有严格的规定,有五绝、七绝、五律、七律、排律等。诗与词曲的区别是:诗不配乐,词曲可配乐歌唱。在中国,诗已有两千多年的历史,古人认为诗能够连通人与自然、表达志向、抒发情性,集中体现了中国文学艺术的精神特质与审美追求,这与西方将诗看作文学的门类很不相同。在中国古代,儒家思想对诗的创作有重要指导作用,而道家与佛教思想对于诗的意境理论影响深远。因中国最早的诗集是《诗经》,所以后世也用“诗”专指《诗经》。 Shi (诗) is a major genre of ancient Chinese literature, the earliest literary form that emerged in China. Observing the requirements of a certain rhythm, rules of rhyming, number of characters, and type of verses, and using concise language and rich imagination, it reflects social life and conveys thoughts and emotions. Shi and

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慎思明辨 – Chinese philosophy and culture

shènsī-míngbiàn 慎思明辨 Careful Reflection and Clear Discrimination 谨慎周密地思考,清晰明确地分辨。古人认为,人的成长包括五个阶段:博学(广博地学习),即收集信息,吸取知识;审问(详尽地追问),即提出问题,解除疑惑;慎思(谨慎周密地思考),即消化整理,融会贯通;明辨(清晰明确地分辨),即形成概念,择定结果;笃行(切实地实行),即将认知付诸实践,形成品格。这五个阶段大致可约为学习、思考、实践三个方面。“慎思明辨”就是思考,是由学习到实践的中间阶段。也就是说,学习与思考、学习与实践是相辅相成的;而思考则是学习的深入和提升,是实践的前导,是从学习到实践转化的关键所在。 It was thought in ancient China that a person matured through five stages: broad study for collecting information and acquiring knowledge, close examination for identifying problems and resolving doubts, careful reflection for absorbing and mastering knowledge, clear discrimination for developing concepts and reaching conclusions, and earnest practice

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慎独 – Chinese philosophy and culture

shèndú 慎独 Shendu 儒家提出的一种道德修养方法。“慎独”有两种不同含义:其一,将“独”理解为闲居独处。人们在独处时,没有他人的监督,最容易放纵行事。“慎独”即要求在独处时谨慎对待自己的行为,自觉遵守道德、礼法的要求。其二,将“独”理解为内心的真实状态。人们可以在言行上表现出符合道德、礼法的要求,但心中却没有对道德、礼法的认同与追求。“慎独”则要求在心上做工夫,使内心与道德、礼法所要求的言行相符。 A kind of ethical self-cultivation advanced by the Confucian school of thought, the term has two different meanings: First, du (独) is understood as at leisure and alone. When people are alone, without someone else’s supervision, they easily act in an undisciplined and immoral way. Shendu (慎独) requires being careful with one’s conduct

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三思而行 – Chinese philosophy and culture

sānsī’érxínɡ 三思而行 Think Thrice Before Acting 原指经过三次思考以后再去施行。是一种过于谨慎的处事态度。适度的思考是正当言行的前提,但如果思虑过于谨慎,则容易心生顾虑、犹豫,使对私利的关切影响对道义的遵守。《论语》记述鲁大夫季文子“三思而后行”,孔子认为,季文子思考两次即可,不必三思。后人在使用“三思而行”一词时,或淡化其过度谨慎之义,仅用以劝诫谨慎行事,强调在言语行事之前应周详地思考,从而做出符合日用伦常之道的选择。 Originally the term referred to taking action only after having reflected thrice. This is a kind of attitude handling things too cautiously. An appropriate measure of reflection is a prerequisite for proper speech and action, but if one becomes too cautious, then hesitation and doubt easily arise in

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三才 – Chinese philosophy and culture

sāncái 三才 The Three Elements “三才”指天、地、人。《易传》在解释《周易》卦象时提出了“三才”之说。在由“—”(阳爻)、“- -”(阴爻)六画所组成的一卦中,处于下位的初爻(一爻)、二爻象征地,中间的三爻、四爻象征生活在天地之间的人,上位的五爻、六爻象征天。六画统一于一卦之中,也即象征着天、地、人是一个整体。三者遵循着共通的法则,但在各自的领域中法则的具体表现有所不同。 The Three Elements refer to heaven, earth, and man. When explaining the trigrams, Commentary on The Book of Changes proposes the idea of “the Three Elements.” In a trigram which consists of six undivided and divided lines, the first and second lines at the bottom represent earth, the third

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三表 – Chinese philosophy and culture

sānbiǎo 三表 Three Standards 衡量言论正确与否的三条标准。表:标准,准则。墨子主张通过言论判断是非,应以“三表”作为标准:其一,以历史上圣王成功的治理经验作为标准。其二,以民众的实际经验作为标准。其三,以言论应用的实践效果是否有利于国家、人民作为标准。墨子以“三表”为依据建立自己的学说,并以此考量、批评其他学派的主张。 The term means the three standards used to measure the truth of an assertion. The Chinese character biao (表) in this term means standard or norm. Mozi believed in judging right or wrong by following the three standards. The first one was the successful way in which the ancient sage kings

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仁者爱人 – Chinese philosophy and culture

rénzhě’àirén 仁者爱人 The Benevolent Person Loves Others. 仁者对他人充满仁爱之心。“仁者”即有仁德的人,是有大智大勇、德行完满、关爱他人、有人格魅力和感召力的人。“仁”在孔子那里是最高的道德范畴和境界,以“爱人”为基本规定,意思是“仁”从孝父母、敬兄长开始,进而关爱家族其他成员,进而扩大至全天下的人。孟子将其提炼为思想命题,并应用于治国理政,提出君子由亲爱亲人而仁爱百姓,由仁爱百姓而爱惜万物。在儒家看来,人虽然有差等,但仁爱却是普世的。它是构建和谐、友善社会的基础和目标。 The benevolent person has a loving heart. Renzhe (仁者) refers to benevolent and virtuous people or people with loving hearts, who have tremendous courage, wisdom, perfect moral character, charm, and charisma, and who love and care about others. Confucianism holds ren (仁) as the highest moral value. The basic

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曲 – Chinese philosophy and culture

qǔ 曲 Qu (Melody) 曲是继诗、词之后兴起的一种文学体式,一般指宋金以来的北曲(音乐多用北方曲调,演唱和念白用北方音)和南曲(音乐多用南方曲调,演唱和念白用南方音)。因鼎盛于元代,故又称为元曲。“曲”与词的体制相近,但句法较词灵活,多用口语,用韵也接近口语。曲大致分为两种类型:一种是进入杂剧、传奇的唱词,属于戏曲(也称剧曲);另一种是散曲,和诗词一样,可抒情、写景、叙事,能演唱,但没有念白和关于人物动作、表情等的提示语,又称为“清曲”。不过,总体上说,古代戏曲的成就和影响要大大超过散曲,而元代又是中国戏曲史上的黄金时代,当时有姓名记载的戏曲作家就有八十余人。关汉卿、白朴、马致远、郑光祖四位戏曲作家,代表了元代不同时期、不同流派的戏曲创作成就,因此后人称他们为“元曲四大家”。元曲在思想内容和艺术成就两方面都体现了独有的特色,和唐诗、宋词、明清小说一样,成为中国文学史上一座重要的里程碑。 Qu (曲) is a literary form that came into being later than poetry and ci (词). It generally refers to the northern- and southern-style melodies created in the Song and Jin dynasties. Northern melodies were composed mostly with tunes in northern China and performed in northern dialect, while southern melodies had southern tunes

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求放心 – Chinese philosophy and culture

qiú fànɡxīn 求放心 Search for the Lost Heart 寻求、找回丧失的本心。“求放心”是孟子所提出的一种道德修养方法。孟子认为,每个人天生都具有善心,也即是“四端”,它是每个人都有的天赋德性,是人之为善的根源。但在人的成长过程中,受到外在事物与环境的影响,固有的善心可能会被削弱和遮蔽,从而出现违背道德的言行。因此在个人的道德修养中,需要努力发现并找回自己所固有的善心。 To search for and retrieve one’s lost heart is a way to cultivate one’s morality propounded by Mencius. In his view everyone was born with a benevolent heart, which meant the “four beginnings” of benevolence, righteousness, rites and social norms, and wisdom. These are virtues conferred

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