Chinese Thought and Culture

chénɡyì 诚意 Be Sincere in Thought 使追求日用伦常之道的意愿真实无妄。“诚意”出自《大学》，与格物、致知、正心、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。“诚意”以“致知”为前提。在知晓日用伦常之道的基础上，确立起内心对此道的认同与追求。内心的真实意愿会自然地表现于言行之中。个人的道德行为应出于真实的意愿，而不应在没有真实意愿的情况下仅仅使外在的言行符合道德规范。 The pursuit of moral principles in daily life should be true and sincere.”Being sincere in thought” is one of the “eight essential principles” from the philosophical text The Great Learning, the other seven being “studying things,””acquiring knowledge,” “rectifying one’s mind,” “cultivating oneself,” “regulating one’s family well,” “governing the state […]

chényù 沉郁 Melancholy 指诗歌作品中所表现出的情志含蓄深沉、意蕴丰富深厚的艺术风格。以杜甫为代表的古代诗人，关注国家大事，忧心民生艰难，苦思国家兴衰存亡之理而难通，求索安邦济民之策而不得，反映在作品中就表现为情志含蓄深沉、思想丰富深厚。其作品常常一唱三叹，结构、节奏、音调等抑扬起伏，给予读者以特有的“顿挫”美感，读后产生回味无穷的感受。 Melancholy refers to an artistic style in poetic works in which sentiment expressed is subtle and the message is profound. Ancient Chinese poets represented by Du Fu, keenly concerned about state affairs and people’s hardships, tried hard to understand what caused the rise and fall of a nation and sought ways

biànhuà 变化 Change 事物存在的基本状态。“变”与“化”既可合而言之，也可以分别而论。在区别的意义上，“变”指显著的变化，“化”指隐微、逐渐的变化。一般认为，天地万物包括人与社会，都处于“变化”之中。只有不断“变化”，才能长久地存在和发展。“变化”的原因在于人和事物所具有的对立属性之间不断碰撞、交合。有人认为“变化”遵循着恒常的法则，是可以认识和把握的；但也有人主张“变化”是无常的，难以把握。而佛教则认为万物的“变化”都是虚假的，万物是寂静不迁的。 The term refers to the fundamental state of the existence of things. Bian (变) and hua (化) may be used as one word or separately. Specifically, bian means manifest change, while hua indicates subtle and gradual change. Ancient Chinese thinkers generally held that all things under heaven and on earth, including humans and society, are

báimiáo 白描 Plain Line Drawing 中国画的表现手法之一。用墨线勾勒描摹物象的轮廓，不设颜色。白描多用于画人物、花卉，着墨不多，气韵生动。白描源于古代的“白画”。一般运用同一墨色，通过线条的长短、粗细、轻重、转折等表现物象的质感和动势。白描流行于晋唐时期，宋代以后自成一格。晋代顾恺之、北宋李公麟、元代赵孟頫等擅长铁线描，唐代吴道子、南宋马和之等擅长兰叶描。白描也是文学创作中非常重要的表现手法，主要指用朴素简练的笔墨，不加烘托渲染，描绘出鲜明生动的形象。古典小说《水浒传》《三国演义》等多有高超的白描手法。 Plain line drawing is one of the traditional Chinese styles of artistic presentation. It features the contours of images sketched in black ink lines. This style of painting is mostly used in painting human figures and flowers. Although not much ink is applied, this technique can achieve a very

zǒngjí 总集 General Collection / Anthology 汇集多人诗文作品的集子（与汇集某一作家诗文作品的“别集”相对）。今天所传最早的总集是汉代王逸编辑的《楚辞章句》。总集的体例，从内容角度看，有“全集式”总集与“选集式”总集；按照收录时代范围，可分为通代总集和断代总集；按所收录作品的文体，可分为专辑同一文体的总集和汇集各种文体作品的总集。总集中最有代表性的为梁代昭明太子萧统及文士共同编选的《文选》。《文选》选录先秦至梁初各类文体700余篇文学作品，以内容与文采并茂为收录标准，不收经、史、子类文章（仅收史传中的少量序、论、赞），反映出当时人们的文学观念，对于后世文学发展影响深远。 Zongji (总集) is a collection of various authors’ poems and proses (distinct from bieji〔别集〕, a collection of a particular author’s literary works). The earliest anthology we find nowadays is Verses from the Odes of Chu, compiled and edited by Wang Yi in the Han Dynasty. In terms of content,

zìqiánɡ-bùxī 自强不息 Striving Continuously to Strengthen Oneself 自己努力向上，强大自己，永不懈怠停息。古人认为，天体出于自身的本性而运行，刚健有力，周而复始，一往无前永不停息。君子取法于“天”，也应发挥自己的能动性、主动性，勤勉不懈，奋发进取。这是中国人参照天体运行状态树立的执政理念和自身理想。它和“厚德载物”一起构成了中华民族精神的基本品格。 The term means that one should strive continuously to strengthen himself. Ancient Chinese believed that heavenly bodies move in accordance with their own nature in a vigorous and forever forward-going cycle. A man of virtue, who follows the law of heaven, should be fully motivated and work

zhǐɡēwéiwǔ 止戈为武 Stopping War Is a True Craft of War. 能制止战争、平息战乱才是真正的武功。这是春秋时代楚庄王根据“武”字的字形提出的著名的军事思想。“止”即止息；“戈”即武器，借指战争。将“武”释为止战，既符合以形表意的汉字文化特质，也表现了中国人以武禁暴的军事政治观及崇尚和平、反对战争的文明精神。 To be able to stop war is a true craft of war. This famous military view was first raised by King Zhuang of Chu in the Spring and Autumn Period, on the basis of the structure of the Chinese character wu (武). Wu is composed of

zhīxínɡ 知行 Knowledge and Application “知”指对人伦日用之道的认知和体察，“行”指践行人伦日用之道。中国古代所讨论的“知行”，并不是一般意义上的对外物的认知以及利用和改造外物的行为，而是针对人伦日用之道的体认与践行。人通过目见耳闻或心思感悟等不同方式实现“知”。对于“知”“行”的难易，或认为知难行易，或认为知易行难，或认为知难行亦难。而在“知”“行”关系上，有人主张知行合一，也有人认为知行有别。这些对“知行”的理解决定了不同的道德养成及人伦教化方式。 “Knowledge” refers to awareness and examination of the principles underlying human relations in everyday life, and “application” refers to the implementation of these principles in everyday life. “Knowledge and application,” used in ancient China, were not in the general sense of having knowledge of external objects, or taking action

zhènɡzhì 政治 Decree and Governance / Politics 主要有两种用法：其一，指治理国家所施行的一切措施。“政”指统治者规定的法令、制度、秩序；“治”指对百姓的管理、治理，是“政”的具体实施。其二，指国家治理达到稳定良好的状态，即政治清明、经济繁荣、天下太平。近代以降，“政治”转指政府、政党、社会团体或个人在国内、国际事务中采取的政策、措施和行为等。 The term has two meanings. First, it refers to all measures for governing a country. Zheng (政) stands for decrees, rules, and ordinances, and zhi (治) refers to their implementation, that is, the way in which the people are governed. Second, it refers to a state of stable and

yuán 元 Yuan (Origin) 事物发生的端始。“元”在天地万物之先，包括人在内的天地万物都始于“元”。“元”有多种具体的表现形式。汉代的人将“元”理解为“元气”，也即是产生和构成万物的某种原始物质材料。《周易·彖上》以“乾元”“坤元”作为万物生成的端始。《春秋》纪年以“元年”为“第一年”。“元年”标志着一个新的历史时期的开始，是万物终始交替的法则在人事上的一种体现。 The term means the primal source from which all things originate, both animate and inanimate, including human beings. Yuan (元) manifests itself in different forms. In the Han Dynasty, it was considered a kind of primal physical material that both produced and made up the myriad things of the world.