Chinese Thought and Culture

zhèng zhě zhèng yě 政者正也 Governance Means Rectitude. “政”就是“正”的意思。“政”即政治、治理国家；“正”即坚持原则，端正品行，处事公正。“政者正也”有两层意思：一是强调为政者在施政层面应坚持原则、端正品行、处事公正；二是在道德层面强调为政者应严格要求自己，通过自身的示范作用，影响下属和民众一起循行正道、遵守社会规范。它是古代“人治”、“德政”思想的具体体现。 Zheng (政), or governance, refers to policy and managing the country, while zheng (正), or rectitude, refers to adherence to principle, decent behavior, and handling matters with fairness. This term has two meanings. First, it emphasizes that those who govern should adhere to principle, behave correctly, and handle […]

zhènɡxīn 正心 Rectify One’s Heart / Mind 使心归之于正以践行日用伦常之道。“正心”出自《大学》，与格物、致知、诚意、修身、齐家、治国、平天下并称“八条目”，是儒家所倡导的道德修养的一个重要环节。“正心”以“诚意”为前提。在真诚践行日用伦常之道的过程中，人心不可避免地会因愤怒、恐惧、欢乐、忧患等情感而有所偏邪。因此需要时常修正自己的心意，使之不受干扰，始终保持对实现日用伦常之道的追求。 This term means to rectify our mind so as to follow moral principles in daily life. Rectifying one’s heart or mind is one of the eight notions from the philosophical text The Great Learning, the other seven being “studying things,” “acquiring knowledge,” “being sincere in thought,” “cultivating

zhènɡmínɡ 正名 Rectification of Names 修正或端正事物的指称、名号，使名实相符。“名”是对事物的指称，规定着事物的属性及其与他者的关系。“实”是名所指称的事物、实体。名的规定应与其所指之实相符。但在现实中，名实往往不能相合。针对这种情况，就要求事物所用之名不能超过事物自身的属性，名所指之实也不能超出名所规定的范围。“正名”是维护名所构建的社会秩序的重要方法。各家都认同“正名”的主张，但其所修正的“名”的具体内容则有所不同。 This refers to the rectification of what things are called so that name and reality correspond. A name is what is used to refer to a thing, which determines the attributes of the thing and its relations with other things. “Reality” refers to a thing or an entity that

zàizhōu-fùzhōu 载舟覆舟 Carry or Overturn the Boat / Make or Break 水既能载船航行，也能使船倾覆。水比喻百姓，舟比喻统治者。“载舟覆舟”所昭示的是民心向背的重要性：人民才是决定政权存亡、国家兴衰的根本力量。这与“民惟邦本”“顺天应人”的政治思想是相通的。自古以来它对执政者有积极的警示作用，提醒他们尊重民情民意，执政为民，居安思危。 Water can carry a boat, but can also overturn it. Here, water is compared to the people, while the boat is compared to the ruler. The phrase, “carry or overturn the boat,” reveals the importance of popular support: people are the critical force

yǔmín-gēngshǐ 与民更始 Make a Fresh Start with the People 和民众一起革新政治。更始：重新开始。原指帝王即位改元或采取某些重大措施，后指执政者与民众一起变革现状，开创新局面。其中蕴含着悠远深厚的民本思想和君民一体、上下一心、共同革故鼎新的精神。 The term means to make political reform together with the people. Gengshi (更始) means to make a fresh start. The term used to refer to a new emperor ascending the throne, taking a new reign title or implementing a series of new policies. Later, it came

yǒuróng-nǎidà 有容乃大 A Broad Mind Achieves Greatness. 有度量，才能有大成就。“有容”即容量大，能包容；“大”指气魄、事业伟大。“有容”是一种道德修养，更是一种生存智慧。它是在承认并尊重个体及社会差异基础上调处自我与他人关系、寻求社会和谐的一种道德自觉，但又不是故意纵容或作无原则的妥协。“有容乃大”提醒人们立身行事尤其是为官理政，要心胸开阔，善于听取各种意见，宽和对待不同事物，就像大海接纳无数江河细流一样，这样才能养成伟大的品格，成就伟大的事业。其义与“厚德载物”相通。 A broad mind achieves greatness. Yourong (有容) means that one has the capacity to accommodate others. Da (大) refers to great courage and an important cause. Yourong is a moral standard, and more importantly, contains wisdom for survival. It is a conscious act of morality in pursuit of social harmony

yǐzhí-bàoyuàn 以直报怨 Repaying a Grudge with Rectitude 以正直之道对待怨恨的人。“以直报怨”是孔子提出的一种报答仇怨的原则。对待怨恨的人，孔子认为“以怨报怨”“以德报怨”这两种处理方式都不正确。孔子主张，不可因一时的愤恨情绪而肆意施加报复，也不可隐匿仇怨报答以恩惠友善，而应该分辨造成仇怨之事的是非曲直，以正直的原则做出回应。 Treat a person you hold a grudge against with upright behavior. “Repaying a grudge with rectitude” was a principle proposed by Confucius for dealing with grudges. He felt that both “repaying a grudge with a grudge” and “repaying a grudge with kindness” were incorrect. Confucius argued that

yǐwú-wéiběn 以无为本 Wu Is the Origin. 将“无”作为世界的本体或本原。老子曾提出“有生于无”。魏晋时期的何晏、王弼等人进一步发挥这一思想，主张天地万物都“以无为本”。他们认为，任何具体的事物都不能作为另外一个具体事物的本体或本原，更不能成为整个世界的本体或本原。天地万物的发生与存在都依赖于一个更根本的、超越于有形事物之上的“无”。只有无形无名的本体才能使众多的具体事物发挥各自的功用。 Wu (无) is regarded as the original source or ontological existence of the world in classical Chinese thinking. Laozi claimed that “you (有) is born out of wu.” This concept was further developed by He Yan, Wang Bi, and other thinkers of the Wei and Jin dynasties, who maintained that

yīwù-liǎnɡtǐ 一物两体 One Thing in Two Fundamental States 作为统一体的“气”之中包含着对立的两个方面。张载认为，天地万物都是由“气”构成的。“气”是完整的统一体，也即“一物”。同时，“气”又有虚实、动静、聚散、清浊等对立的状态，即是“两体”。没有对立面的相互作用，则没有统一体的存在；没有统一体的存在，则对立的相互作用也会消失。统一体之中的对立，是“气”及其所构成的事物产生变化的根源。 Qi (气), or vital force, consists of two opposing aspects. According to the Song-dynasty philosopher Zhang Zai, everything in the world consists of qi. On the one hand, qi is a whole and one thing; on the other, it consists of pairs of contradictory states, such as the

Yán-Huáng 炎黄 The Fiery Emperor and the Yellow Emperor / Emperor Yan and Emperor Huang 炎帝和黄帝。是历史传说中上古的两个帝王，亦即两个部落首领。炎帝姓姜，号“神农氏”；黄帝姓公孙，号“轩辕氏”。他们居住在中原，与东方部落和南方部落逐渐融合，不断繁衍，形成华夏族主体（汉朝以后称为汉族，唐朝以后又称唐人），因而他们被尊为华夏民族的祖先。他们的部落尤其是黄帝部落，文明程度最高，上古的许多重要的文化、技术发明都是由他们两个部落创造的，因而他们又被视为华夏文明的始祖。近代以后，他们又成为整个中华民族和中华文明的一种象征。至今散居世界各地的华裔也大多认同自己是“炎黄子孙”或“黄帝子孙”。“炎黄”实际上已成为中华民族共同的文化符号。 Emperor Yan (the Fiery Emperor) and Emperor Huang (the Yellow Emperor), legendary Chinese rulers in pre-dynastic times, were actually tribal leaders. Emperor Yan, whose family name was Jiang, was known as Shennongshi while Emperor Huang, whose family name was