Chinese Thought and Culture

wǔyīn 五音 The Five Notes 五声音阶，即宫、商、角、徵、羽等五个音高递增的音符，大致对应于今天简谱中的1、2、3、5、6。在角后、徵前加变徵，在羽后加变宫，即为七声音阶。音阶细分意味着旋律多变，不过基于五声音阶的古典音乐尽管变化相对较少，亦自有一种单纯、质朴、静穆、悠扬的美。因为古代雅乐、民歌多用五声音阶，所以常用“五音”泛指音乐。 The term refers to the five musical notes that rise in pitch, from gong (宫), shang (商), jue (角), zhi (徵), to yu (羽), which correspond roughly to the notes of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 in today’s numbered musical notation. When a zhi minus is placed before zhi and a gong plus after yu, this […]

wǔ háng xiàng shèng 五行相胜 The Five Elements Triumph Over Each Other. 五行循环克胜，也称“五行相克”。“五行”本指五种基本事物，即木、火、土、金、水。世间万物都由这五种事物构成，或具有这五种事物的属性。“五行相胜”之说描述了这五种事物之间所具有的循环克胜关系。水克火，火克金，金克木，木克土，土克水。同时，具有这五种属性的事物之间也遵循这样的克胜关系。比如，以“五行相胜”解释王朝的更替。 This refers to the concept of the five elements sequentially overpowering each other, which is also described as “the five elements, each in turn checking the next.” The term “five elements” refers to five basic material elements, namely: wood, fire, earth, metal,

wǔ háng xiàng shēng 五行相生 The Five Elements, Each in Turn Producing the Next 五行循环生成。“五行”本指五种基本事物，即木、火、土、金、水。世间万物都由这五种事物构成，或具有这五种事物的属性。“五行相生”之说描述了这五种事物之间所具有的循环生成关系。木生火，火生土，土生金，金生水，水生木。同时，具有这五种属性的事物之间也遵循这样的生成关系。 This refers to the concept of the five basic elements, each in turn giving rise to the next. The five basic elements are: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. All things in the world are composed of these five elements

wú dài dānɡ fēnɡ 吴带当风 The Sashes in Wu’s Painting Flutter as if in the Wind. 吴道子（680？—759？）笔势圆转飘逸，所画人物衣带宛如随风飘扬。较之顾恺之（345？—409）的画作笔法细密而宛若真人实景，吴道子作画运笔自如，线条流畅，动感强而传神，呈现全新风格和特殊审美效果，体现了绘画艺术的发展。 Wu Daozi (680?-759?) executed his brushstrokes in a curvy and graceful manner, so that sashes on the people in his paintings seem flutter in the wind. Compared with Gu Kaizhi (345?-409), Wu’s painting is more nuanced and lifelike.

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