Chinese Thought and Culture

tàixū 太虚 Taixu (Great Void) 虚空的境地或事物虚空的状态。张载对“太虚”的含义进行了深入的阐发。他认为，天地万物都是由“气”构成的。而“太虚”是“气”的一种无形而虚静的状态。这一状态是“气”的本然状态。“太虚”凝聚而为“气”，“气”消散而复归于“太虚”。“太虚”只是无法被人感知，并不是绝对的空虚无有。“太虚”的属性通过“气”而赋予天地万物。 Taixu (太虚) refers to a state of void in both space and things. Zhang Zai, a thinker in the Song Dynasty, elaborated on the meaning of taixu, or great void. He believed that all things in heaven and on earth were made up of qi (气), and that taixu was its natural state, […]

sì hǎi zhī nèi jiē xiōnɡ dì 四海之内皆兄弟 All the People Within the Four Seas Are Brothers. 全天下的人都亲如兄弟。也说“四海皆兄弟”。“四海”即东海、西海、南海、北海。古人认为天圆地方，中国居陆地中间，陆地四周由四海环绕。“四海之内”指当时已知的人类生活空间，犹言“天下”，意指全国或全世界。它昭示了中国人兼济天下的博大胸怀、仁爱友善的人文精神。 This saying means that all the people in the world are as close as brothers. The Four Seas are the East, West, South, and North seas. The ancient Chinese believed that heaven was round and the earth

shù 恕 Being Considerate / Forgiveness “恕”的基本含义是推己及人、将心比心。人可以根据自身对于厌恶之事的感受去理解、体贴他人的意愿。基于这种对他人的理解，人应避免将自己厌恶之事强加于他人，这即是“恕”。在执法者或受伤害者面对有过之人的情境中，“恕”被引申为宽恕、赦免之义。 The basic meaning of the term is to put oneself in another person’s position and have empathy, and to reflect what one would do in the same kind of situation. Starting out from their own likes and dislikes, people can understand and show considerations for the wishes of

shòurényǐyú 授人以渔 Teaching How to Fish 把捕鱼的方法传授给别人。“授”：给予，传授。“渔”：捕鱼。原话是“授人以鱼，不如授人以渔”，意思是，把鱼给予别人，不如把捕鱼的方法传授给他。其喻义为：与其直接给人某种东西，不如教人学会如何获得它的方法，使他能够通过自身的努力获得这种东西。其蕴含的道理主要有：其一，在目标已定的情况下，达到目标的方法更重要；其二，帮助他人及管理他人的长远有效的方法是使人自立。 This term expresses the idea that giving away a fish is not as good as teaching one how to fish. The meaning is that rather than giving something away it is better to teach the method of obtaining it so that people can get what they need through

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

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

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

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

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

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