Chinese Thought and Culture

jiànlì-sīyì 见利思义 Think of Righteousness in the Face of Gain 在面对利益之时，首先思考、分辨利益的获取是否符合道义。是儒家用以处理义利关系的准则。对利益的追求与对道义的坚守之间常存在冲突。人们往往会因为贪图私利而忽视道义，行背德违法之事。针对这种情况，孔子提出了“见利思义”的主张，倡导人们应该在道义的原则之下谋求利益。知晓道义的是君子，一味追求利益的是小人。 When faced with gain one should first consider and distinguish whether the obtainment of gain is in accord with morality. This is a Confucian criterion for dealing with the relation between righteousness and gain. Between the pursuit of gain and the upholding of morality […]

jìtuō 寄托 Entrusting 指诗歌作品通过形象化而寄寓作者的主观认识或感受，并能激发读者的联想。“寄”是寄寓一定的思想内容和个人情志，“托”是托物兴咏。是清代常州词派提出的一个文学术语。张惠言主张词要继承《诗经》的比兴、讽喻传统。周济进而认为，初学写词应力求有寄托，以提升作品意蕴、激发读者的思考和艺术想象；待入门后，则不能拘于寄托，而要言意浑融，无迹可寻。这一主张实质是反对观念先行，强调文学自身的特性，对于当时的文学创作有积极的导向作用。 The term refers to the entrusting of the poet’s subjective understanding or sentiments to imagery in poetic works. It can also stir responsive appreciation of the reader. Ji (寄) means having a specific thought or individual feelings, and tuo (托) means giving expression to such thought or feelings through the channel of an

hàoránzhīqì 浩然之气 Noble Spirit 盛大而充盈于生命之中的正直之气。孟子认为“浩然之气”是与道义相匹配的，由内而生，非得自于外。个人能够坚守善道，反省自身行事能无愧于心，“浩然之气”就会自然发生并逐渐充盈。一旦养成“浩然之气”，行正义之事便能果决勇敢而无所疑虑。 Noble spirit is a powerful source of cultivating integrity in one’s life. In Mencius’ view, it goes hand in hand with morality and justice and originates from within rather than from without. If one lives an ethical life and regularly conducts soul searching, he will be imbued with noble spirit

ɡōnɡ shēnɡ mínɡ，lián shēnɡ wēi 公生明，廉生威 Fairness Fosters Discernment and Integrity Creates Authority. 处事公正才能明察是非，做人廉洁才能树立威望。这是明清两代一些正直廉洁的官吏用以自戒的座右铭。“公”即公正无私；“明”即明察是非，有很强的分辨力和判断力；“廉”即廉洁；“威”即威望，有令人信服的公信力。时至今日，它仍是执政者应当遵循的最重要的为官准则：执政当公平公正，在国家法律和规定程序的框架内进行；官员当以身作则，廉洁自律，克己奉公，不可以权谋私。 Only by being fair can one distinguish between right and wrong; only with moral conduct can one establish authority. These mottoes were used as reminders by upright officials of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Gong (公) means fairness and opposing pursuit of

ɡéɡù-dǐnɡxīn 革故鼎新 Do Away with the Old and Set Up the New 革除旧事物、创建新事物。“革”与“鼎”是《周易》中的两卦。在《易传》的解释中，革卦下卦象征火，上卦象征泽。火与泽因对立冲突不能维持原有的平衡状态，必然发生变化。因此革卦意指变革某种不合的旧状态。鼎卦下卦象征木，上卦象征火。以木柴投入火中，是以鼎烹饪制作新的食物。因此鼎卦象征创造新事物。后人承《易传》之说，将二者合在一起，代表一种主张变化的世界观。 Do away with the old and set up the new. Ge (革) and ding (鼎) are two trigrams in The Book of Changes. In Commentary on The Book of Changes, it is explained that the lower ge trigram symbolizes fire and the upper ge

gē 歌 Song 一种篇幅短小、可以吟唱的韵文作品，是集文学、音乐甚至是舞蹈于一体的可以歌唱的文学艺术创作形式。在中国古代，歌与诗的区别是：“歌”能入乐歌唱，“诗”通常不入乐歌唱。广义的歌包括了童谣、民谣；狭义的歌与谣有所区别：有固定曲调和音乐伴奏的是歌，没有固定曲调的清唱为谣。歌大多为民间创作的民歌，如汉乐府《长歌行》、北朝民歌《敕勒歌》等；也有小部分是由文士等个人创作的作品，如刘邦的《大风歌》、李白的《子夜吴歌》等。“歌”属于中国古代诗歌艺术的早期形态，古人一般将其归入乐府诗，现在则与诗合称“诗歌”。 Songs are a kind of short, rhyming composition. It is a form of artistic creation combining literature, music, and even dance which can be sung. The difference between songs and poems in ancient China is that the former could be made into music and sung, whereas the latter could not. In

gāngróu-xiāngjì 刚柔相济 Combine Toughness with Softness 刚与柔两种手段互相调剂、配合。“刚”与“柔”是指人和事物的两种相反的属性。就执政理事而言，“刚”指强硬、严厉，“柔”指温柔、宽宥，“刚柔相济”相当于“恩威并施”。“刚柔”被认为是“阴阳”的具体表现。“刚”与“柔”之间的对立与调和是促成事物运动变化的根本原因。具体到政策、法令的制定与实施及社会或企业的管理，刚与柔需保持某种均衡状态。 Gang (刚) and rou (柔) are two mutually complementary measures. They refer to two opposite properties or qualities that objects and human beings possess. In the realm of governance, gang means being tough and stern, while rou means being soft and lenient, and the term means to combine tough management with gentle

fúróng-chūshuǐ 芙蓉出水 Lotus Rising Out of Water 美丽的荷花从水中生长出来。形容清新、淡雅、自然之美，与“错彩镂金”的修饰之美构成对比。魏晋六朝时崇尚自然，与这种审美理想一致，在艺术创作方面，人们欣赏像“芙蓉出水”一般的天然清新的风格，注重主观意趣的自然呈现，反对过分雕琢修饰。 The term of lotus rising out of water describes a scene of freshness, quiet refinement and natural beauty, in contrast to “gilded and colored” embellishments. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, people valued nature and favored this aesthetic view. In their artistic creations, they pursued the natural

fēngjiào 风教 Moral Cultivation 原义为教育感化，后侧重指风俗教化，即文学艺术作品对改变世情民风所起的教育感化作用。源于《毛诗序》，是儒家关于艺术功能论的重要范畴之一。“风教”强调诗歌、音乐对于人的思想感情的教育引导作用，认为统治者能够用诗歌、音乐为工具，自上而下地传达某种理念、教育感化民众，收到移风易俗的功效。“风教”观念影响深远，从先秦时代的诗歌、音乐到近代的文学艺术作品，大多遵循这一思想，是儒家伦理教育观念的具体体现，也是文学家、艺术家社会责任感的体现。但如果艺术作品过于强调风教，会造成理念先行、理念大过形象，损害艺术作品的审美价值。最好的方式是寓教于乐，让文艺作品在潜移默化中影响人心。 Originally, this term meant to educate and influence people. Later, it came to refer to the function of shaping customary social practices, namely, the educational role of literary and artistic works in changing social behaviors and popular culture. Originating from “Preface to Mao’s Version of The Book of Songs,” the

fēnggǔ 风骨 Fenggu 指作品中由纯正的思想感情和严密的条理结构所形成的刚健劲拔、具强大艺术表现力与感染力的神韵风貌。其准确含义学界争议较大，但大致可描述为风神清朗，骨力劲拔。“风”侧重指思想情感的表达，要求作品思想纯正，气韵生动，富有情感；“骨”侧重指作品的骨架、结构及词句安排，要求作品刚健遒劲、蕴含丰富但文辞精炼。如果堆砌辞藻，过于雕章琢句，虽然词句丰富繁多但内容很少，则是没有“骨”；如果表达艰涩，缺乏情感和生机，则是没有“风”。风骨并不排斥文采，而是要和文采配合，才能成为好作品。风骨的高下主要取决于创作者的精神风貌、品格气质。刘勰《文心雕龙》专门列有《风骨》一篇，它是我国古代文学批评史上首篇论述文学风格的文章。 This term refers to powerful expressiveness and artistic impact that come from a literary work’s purity of thoughts and emotions, as well as from its meticulously crafted structure. Despite some difference in interpreting the term, people tend to agree that fenggu (风骨) can be understood as being lucid and fresh in language