Chinese Thought and Culture

zhèng tōng rén hé 政通人和 Good Governance and Harmonious People 政事通达，人民和顺。“政通”即国家政策、法令等能够全面贯彻落实，政治事务运转顺畅有效；“人和”即人人各得其宜，上下一心，团结融洽。作为良好的治理状态，它与“国泰民安”义近，但更强调人的因素，并凸显“政通”与“人和”互为前提或因果的关系。 This refers to efficient governance and harmonious people. Efficient governance means that the policies and decrees of the government are followed in all respects, and political affairs are handled in a smooth and effective way. The term “harmonious people” means that people are happy […]

zhèngshēng 正声 Proper Music / Finest Poetry 原为中国古代音乐概念。主要含义有二：其一，指儒家与官方倡导的典雅、纯正的音乐；有时也指五正声，即宫、商、角、徵、羽五音。其二，因儒家认为《诗经》的音乐体制与思想内容最为纯正典雅，是“正声”的典范，故后世用“正声”转指在内容与意境上纯正典雅、堪为典范的诗歌作品。如明代高棅（bǐnɡ,1350—1423）编选的《唐诗正声》，就是通过精选唐诗各体的代表性作品，试图为后人确立诗歌写作的正宗轨范。 It is originally a term in ancient Chinese music. It has two meanings: 1) The refined and pure music encouraged by Confucian scholars and official circles; sometimes it was also a general term for the five notes of ancient music gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu. 2)

zhàn fǎ bì běn yú zhèng shèng 战法必本于政胜 Methods of Warfare Must Be Based on the Success of Politics. 战争取胜的原则或方法须以政治上的优势或成功为基础，亦即战争的胜败根本上取决于政治的优劣。中国古代兵家、法家从政治角度看待战争，认为战争的本质是政治，战争是政治的派生，政通人和是战争致胜的决定性因素。“战法必本于政胜”一语与德国军事学家克劳塞维茨（1780—1831）“战争无非是政治通过另一种手段的继续”的观点（《战争论》）有异曲同工之妙，但要早两千多年。 The principles or methods to win a war must be based on the success in politics, that is to say, military outcome is determined by the strength of politics. Ancient Chinese strategists and legalists looked

yuànběn 院本 Jin Opera / Scripts Used by Courtesans 有广狭二义：广义指流行于金代的一种戏曲形式，狭义指这种戏曲演唱用的脚本。因多在行院（hánɡyuàn）演出，故称院本。元代初年仍然流行，目前无独立完整的作品传世，其艺术特点可大致归纳为：篇幅较短，结构简单，多调笑语言及滑稽动作表演，主要角色是副净和副末，继承了唐代参军戏、宋代杂剧的戏谑手法。金院本直接影响了元杂剧的演出形式。 In a broad sense, the term means a style of traditional opera popular in the Jin Dynasty. In a narrow sense, it refers to the scores and librettos used in this type of drama, which was performed mainly in hangyuan (行院), or brothels, hence the name.

yuánzájù 元杂剧 Zaju of the Yuan Dynasty 是元代代表性戏剧种类。其前身为宋代北方杂剧，它以北方民间流行的俚俗表演形式为基础，吸收了金代诸宫调、院本的表演特点和舞台经验，经元初关汉卿等戏剧名家完善定型，最终形成了独特的戏剧表演形式。元杂剧通常一本四折，每折由同一宫调的曲子组成套曲，主角正旦或正末主唱。元杂剧剧情完整，在人物形象塑造方面更加生动立体，人物的念白科介等戏曲表现手法更加丰富。元大都经济发达，市井繁荣，文人与艺人联系密切，也助推了元杂剧创作的兴盛。元代末年，元杂剧衰落，至明代，逐渐被其他戏曲形式取代。 Zaju, a unique dramatic genre of the Yuan Dynasty, grew out of the northern zaju of the earlier Song Dynasty. Originally drawing on popular local performing styles of the north, it later absorbed zhugongdiao, a kind of song-speech drama with mixed modes of musical tunes, as well as scores

yù 欲 Desire 人对外物的欲求。“欲”主要指人为外物所感而产生的欲望，包括对食物、美色等外在事物的欲求。“欲”是人天生所具有的本性，需要获得适当的满足，但同时也要有所节制。如果对外物的欲求超出一定的限度，则会造成对自身生命的伤害，同时也会带来人与人之间的纷争与社会秩序的混乱。“欲”有时也被用来指称对美德的追求，并以此强调对美德的追求是人固有的本性。 This term refers to the yearning for external objects. Yu (欲)is the desire for external things such as food and beauty. This desire is a natural instinct, so it should be satisfied to an appropriate degree and be restrained at the same time. Excessive desire can be harmful to a person, create

yōurén 优人 Entertainers 古代具有说唱、舞蹈、戏谑等表演才能的艺人，宋元以后也指称戏曲演员。又称倡优、俳优、优伶等。最初是宫廷贵族为娱乐目的而供养的小群体，宋元以后随着城市发展而出现专业艺人团队。在重政教、轻审美的古代，优人社会地位低下。司马迁《史记·滑稽列传》肯定优人对君王的劝谏作用，这也成为后世评价名优的一个重要尺度以及艺人的自觉追求。 Entertainers, known as Youren (优人), or Changyou (倡优), Paiyou (俳优), or Youling (优伶), were folk artists who performed story-telling, dancing, acrobatics, and comedy. After the Song and Yuan dynasties, they also performed in operas. Initially formed as small groups of entertainers sponsored by court aristocrats for entertainment, they evolved into professional

yīn 音 Musical Sounds 指音乐，是由心中情感触动而发出的有节奏和韵律的声音。古人常以“音”与“声”相对：凡自然物所发声音叫作“声”，由人的内心情感触动而发出的声音叫作“音”；单一的声响叫作“声”，不同“声”的比配叫作“音”，不同的“音”组成有节奏的曲调叫作“乐”。古人认为，“音”发自人的内心，一国或地区的音乐往往反映该国或地区的民心民意和世风世情，由此儒家提出了文艺反映政治得失及具有社会教化功能的理论主张。 Musical sounds, or simply music, are artistically rhythmical sounds flowing forth from one’s stirring emotions. Ancient Chinese often made a distinction between musical sounds and plain sounds. Sounds created by a natural environment are plain sounds, while those created when emotions well up in one’s heart is music. A single

yìfǎ 义法 Yi Fa / Guidelines for Writing Good Prose 清代方苞（1668—1749）提出的关于文章写作的方法，包括文章的思想内容及形式结构、剪裁取舍等方面的规范要求。源于《春秋》《史记》等史传文章的结撰方法，是将这些经典的写作方式推广为文章写作的典范。“义”指文章的意蕴和事理，重在“言有物”，即文章的思想内容要充实、有意义；“法”指文章的组织结构和写作技法，重在“言有序”，即语言得当、有条理次序。“义”为根本，“法”随“义”而变化，根据“义”的表达需要而选择灵活多样的写作技法，在叙事之中寓褒贬论断。义法论是清代桐城派古文理论的起点和基础。 Yi fa refers to the guidelines and criteria for prose writing advocated by Fang Bao (1668-1749) of the Qing Dynasty, which concerns content, structure, and editing. He held up the structural composition of the historical texts The Spring and Autumn Annals and Records of the

yǐ xínɡ xiě shén 以形写神 Capture the Spirit Beyond Form 画家通过刻画外形来表现其内在精神。东晋画家顾恺之强调形与神的对应关系，他既重视外形的刻画，同时倡导由外形进而表现对象内在的精神气质，认为表现精神气质是绘画创作的最高要求。同时要求画者捕捉到最能代表对象内在精神的外形特征。这一见解对后世文艺创作影响很大。 Painters depict physical appearances to reveal the essence. Gu Kaizhi, a painter of the Eastern Jin dynasty, lays great emphasis on the correspondence between the essence and physical forms: He depicts the appearance of objects in great detail, which embodies their spiritual disposition. He