Chinese Thought and Culture

dànbó 淡泊 Quiet Living with No Worldly Desire 恬淡宁静。最初指清心寡欲、平和恬淡的一种人生态度。道家主张“淡”，认为淡而无味才是至味，这种思想对于“淡泊”审美观念的形成有较大影响。从魏晋时代开始，淡泊被运用于审美领域，指平和清淡的艺术美感与风格，与浓艳富丽相对。淡泊不是淡而无味，是指经过了提纯、熔炼，宁静而空灵，平淡而有深远的韵味。 This term was first used to mean to lead a quiet, peaceful life with few worldly desires. Daoism advocates blandness, believing that lack of flavor is the best possible flavor. It was highly influential in the creation of the aesthetic concept of blandness and quiet living. […]

dānqīng 丹青 Painting in Colors 丹和青是中国古代绘画常用的两种颜色，早期中国画常用丹砂、青雘（huò）一类矿物颜料“勾线填色”，因而用“丹青”代指绘画。代表性的丹青作品有西汉马王堆一号墓帛画，北魏、隋唐时期的敦煌壁画等。后丹青逐渐为水墨所代替。由于丹青颜色鲜艳绚丽，且不易褪色，古代用丹册纪勋、青史纪事。史家多以丹青比喻一个人功勋卓著，永载史册，不会磨灭。 Dan (丹 cinnabar) and qing (青 cyan) were two colors frequently applied in traditional Chinese painting. Cinnabar is red and cyan is bluish green. In early times, Chinese paintings often used minerals such as cinnabar and cyan to draw lines or fill in colors. Hence the term danqing (丹青) made from the

dàyòng 大用 Maximal Functioning 最大的运用，本义指道在外部世界的各种呈现即是道之最大的显现和运用。道家认为内在的道是主宰外部世界变化的根本，客观世界的各种形态都由作为内在本质的道所造成，是体用统一的结果。唐代司空图《二十四诗品》将这一术语引入文学评论，目的是强调诗歌意象丰富多彩的美实际上是作品内在精神与外在形态的统一。人们进行诗歌创作与鉴赏时必须领略现象与本质之美的和谐一致。 Maximal functioning means that all kinds of appearances of Dao in the external world are the greatest manifestation and functioning of Dao. Daoist scholars believe that the internal Dao determines the basis for changes in the external world, and that all kinds of forms in the objective world derive from

dàtǐ，xiǎotǐ 大体、小体 The Major Organ and the Minor Organs 孟子对心与感觉器官的称谓，用于对大人与小人的区分。耳、目等感觉器官为“小体”，耳目之官不具备思考与辨别的能力，因此在与外物的接触中易受外物牵引。人如果仅仅依循于“小体”，则会陷于物欲，是为小人。心为“大体”，心天生具有思考与辨别的能力。人如果能够确立“大体”的主导性，则可以通过心的作用，发现并不断扩充心中固有的善端，不为物欲所蒙蔽，是为大人。 Referring to the heart and the sensory organs, this term was used by Mencius to differentiate between men of virtue and petty men. Sensory organs such as the ears and eyes are called “minor organs” because they lack a capacity for thought and for cognition,

dàqiǎo-ruòzhuō 大巧若拙 Exquisite Skill Looks Simple and Clumsy. 极致的灵巧、技巧看上去就像质朴拙笨一样。最杰出的灵巧一定是浑然天成而非人工刻意雕琢的。出自《老子》。老子提倡纯任自然、无为才能无不为，反对一切形式的卖弄。后用来指文艺创作中的最高技巧与境界。在文艺理论中，大巧若拙并不是“以拙为巧”或完全排斥工巧，而是摒弃过分修饰和刻意追求工巧，提倡朴素自然的浑融之美。它代表了艺术美和艺术技巧的最高境界。大巧若拙是中国古代书法、绘画、园林等艺术形式的共同追求。 The term means that ingenuity and skill at their best look simple and clumsy. The greatest ingenuity should be something completely natural and that it has not been painstakingly worked on. The term comes from the book Laozi. Laozi the philosopher believed that everything should be

dàdào-zhìjiǎn 大道至简 Great Truth in Simple Words 越普遍、越根本的道理、原则或方法其实越是浅易简便。“大道”指的是自然、社会的普遍法则以及人们对待自然、治理社会的根本原则，“简”即浅易、简明、简便。它用于治国理政及社会管理等方面，主要有两层含义：其一，越普遍、越根本的道理就应该越简明浅易，便于人们掌握并付诸实施；其二，“大道”并不是远离人世的某种高高在上的原理，它的道理、功用就蕴含在人们的伦常日用之中。只要透过纷繁的表层现象，寻流讨源，就可以抓住事物的本质和规律，以简驭繁。 The most popular and most fundamental truths, principles, and methodologies tend to be expressed in simple words and are easy to understand. Dadao (大道) means great truth, or universally applicable laws governing nature and society, or the fundamental principles for people to follow in treating nature and governing

cuòcǎi-lòujīn 错彩镂金 Gilded and Colored, Elegant and Refined 涂饰彩色，雕镂金银。形容艺术作品雕饰华美。用于文学作品，主要指诗歌辞藻华丽，讲究技巧。在审美境界上，“错彩镂金”不如“芙蓉出水”高妙：“错彩镂金”注重外在形态，处于审美表象阶段；而“芙蓉出水”超越表象，直达本体，是审美意趣的自然呈现。 The term is used to describe an excessively exquisite artistic work as if it were an object painted in bright colors and inlaid with gold and silver. In the literary context, it refers to poems written in a highly rhetorical style. Aesthetically, what is “gilded and

cíqǔ 词曲 Ci (Lyric) and Qu (Melody) 词（可以配乐歌唱的长短句诗体）和曲（可以配乐歌唱的韵文体）两种文学体式的并称，在《四库全书》列于集部最末（曲更是有类无目），这是因为在古人的文学观念中，以诗文为正统，认为诗文可以表现较为正式的内容，而词曲则仅被看作展示个人才情的末技。此外，“词曲”并称有时还用来指戏曲和说唱。 Ci (词 a form of poetry with long or short verses which can be set to music and sung) and qu (曲 a form of rhyming compositions which can be set to music and sung) are a combined appellation for two kinds of literary styles. In the Complete Library of the

cí 词 Ci (Lyric) 起源于唐五代、发展成熟于宋代的一种新的文学体式，也称“曲子词”、“乐府”、“长短句”等。由诗发展演变而来，其主要特点是配乐歌唱。每首词都有一个调名，称“词牌”。不同的词牌在句数及每句的字数、平仄、押韵上都有严格的规定。从篇幅看，词可分为小令、中调、长调；从音乐体制看，词一般分上下两段（古人称为“阕”或“片”），也有分成三四段或仅有一段的，因之音乐也有演奏一遍和多遍的区别；从风格看，词基本分为婉约和豪放两大派，婉约派风格婉转含蓄，多写儿女情长；豪放派则摄取人生情怀及家国大事入词，境界宏大。宋代许多文人学者喜好填词作曲，对推动词的发展起了重要作用。后世的词一般不再配乐歌唱，基本成为按谱填词的一种文学形式。 Ci (词) originated in the Tang and the Five Dynasties, and developed to maturity as a new literary form in the Song Dynasty. Also known as “lyric with a melody,” “yuefu (乐府) poetry” or “long and short verses,” ci developed from poetry. Its main feature is that it is set to music and sung.

chūnqiū 春秋 The Spring and Autumn Annals / The Spring and Autumn Period 儒家经典之一。相传由孔子根据鲁国编年史编订加工而成，记载了鲁隐公元年（公元前722年）至鲁哀公十四年（公元前481年）间计242年的历史。《春秋》是编年体史书的始祖，故而亦作为编年体史书的通称。《春秋》纪事简短，文字凝练，后世儒者认为它含有“微言大义”，将这种委婉曲折而寓褒贬的写作手法称为“春秋笔法”。解释《春秋》的有《左传》《公羊传》《穀梁传》，合称“《春秋》三传”（其中，《公羊传》和《穀梁传》主要解释《春秋》义理，而《左传》记载这一时期的史实，与解经没有关系）。“春秋”也用来指“春秋时代”（因《春秋》得名），其起讫年代，有两种说法：一指《春秋》所记载的历史时期，一指自公元前770年周平王东迁至公元前476年这一时期。 The Spring and Autumn Annals is one of the Confucian classics, believed to have been compiled by Confucius based on the chronicles of the State of Lu. The book covers a period of 242 years from the first year of the reign of