Chinese Thought and Culture

ɡānchénɡ 干城 Shield and Fortress / Dukes and Princes 本指盾与城，后用来比喻诸侯，以及国家政权、理论主张等的捍卫者。“干”即盾，是古代的一种防御性武器；“城”即城墙或城郭，是具有防御功能的建筑设施。用“干城”比喻诸侯，与“崇城”（比喻天子）相对。称天子为“崇城”，表明天子地位之崇高、优越；称诸侯为“干城”，表示诸侯的职责是拱卫天子，必须服从天子号令。后泛指忠实得力的保卫者——不仅指地位低的人保卫地位高的人，有时也指地位高的人保卫地位低的人。 The term originally referred to shield and fortress, but was later used to mean dukes and princes, and then defenders of a regime, theory or proposition. Gan (干) means shield, a defensive weapon in old days, while cheng (城) means inner and outer city walls or a […]

fēiɡōnɡ 非攻 Denouncing Unjust Wars 反对、禁止不义的战争。“非攻”是墨家的基本主张之一。墨家认为，违反道义的攻伐战争有着严重危害。不仅被攻伐的国家遭到极大破坏，发动战争的国家也会因战争造成大量的人民伤亡及财产损失，因此应该禁止不义的战争。墨家也通过实际的行动反对并阻止国家间的相互攻伐，并研究了用以防御攻伐的战术、器具。 Opposition to unjust warfare is one of the basic concepts in the Mohist School of thought. It regards immoral and aggressive wars as acutely harmful to society. Not only does the country being attacked suffer great damage, the people of the country that starts the war also suffer serious

fǎ bù ē ɡuì 法不阿贵 The Law Does Not Favor the Rich and Powerful. 法律对一切人平等，对权贵也绝不徇情偏袒。古代法家主张，治理国家应该不分贵贱亲疏，一切依据法律规定而予以奖惩。其主旨强调公正执法，法律面前，人人平等。这一主张为历代推崇，是“依法治国”思想的重要来源之一。 The law treats everybody equally, not favoring the rich and powerful. The Legalists in ancient China argued that there should be no distinction between noble and poor or close and distant people; punishment or reward should be meted out strictly

dúhuà 独化 Self-driven Development 指天地万物不假外力，自己独立生成、变化。由郭象在《庄子注》中提出。具体而言，“独化”包含三重含义：其一，天地万物的生成和变化都是自然而然的。其二，天地万物的生成和变化都是各自独立的。其三，天地万物的生成和变化都是突然发生的，是没有原因和目的的。“独化”观念否定了造物主的存在，同时也否定了一物构成另一物发生与存在的原因。但就世界整体而言，“独化”而成的万物又处于某种和谐的关系之中。 The term indicates that all things in heaven and on earth do not depend on external forces. Rather, they take shape and change by themselves independently. It was put forward by Guo Xiang in his Annotations on Zhuangzi. Specifically, the term contains three meanings. Firstly, all things in heaven and on

dū 都 Metropolis 国都，国君处理政事及所居的城邑。“都”与“邑”的区别是：有宗庙（陈列祖先和前代君主牌位）的城叫做“都”；没有宗庙的叫做“邑”。宗庙是大夫以上贵族统治者祭祀祖先的庙宇，是祖先崇拜的产物、宗法制度的体现，也是“都”的根本标志。周朝时，各诸侯国的政治中心都叫做“都”；秦汉以后，统指国都、帝王的治所。后规模大、人口多的城邑都可称为“都”。 The term refers to the city in which a state ruler resided and conducted government affairs. The difference between a du (都) and a yi (邑) was that the former had an ancestral temple to enshrine the memorial tablets of ancestors and previous rulers while the latter did not. An ancestral temple used

dào fǎ zìrán 道法自然 Dao Operates Naturally. “道”效法、顺应万物的自然状态。这一命题出自《老子》。“自然”指事物自主、自在的状态。“道”创造、生养万物，但“道”不会对万物发号施令，而是效法、顺应万物之“自然”。“道”与万物的关系，在政治哲学中表现为统治者与百姓的关系。统治者应遵循“道”的要求，节制自己的权力，以无为的方式效法、顺应百姓的自然状态。 Dao operates in accordance with natural conditions of all things. This idea first appeared in the book Laozi, according to which “natural” means the natural state of things. Dao creates and nurtures everything, yet it does not command anything. In political philosophy, the relationship between Dao and

cídá 辞达 Expressiveness 说话、写文章要能简明扼要地表达内心的意思。孔子反对过度追求辞藻华丽，强调文辞只要能确切而简洁地传达出思想感情即可，并倡导“文质彬彬”的审美观念。这一术语后来经过刘勰、韩愈、苏轼等人不断继承与发展，形成了中国文学追求语言自然凝练、反对过分雕琢的美学旨趣与风格。 The term means to put forth one’s thoughts in a clear and concise way when speaking and writing. Confucius opposed excessive efforts in pursuit of extravagant writing styles. He stressed that writings need only to express one’s ideas and feelings clearly and precisely, and he advocated a concept of aesthetics that

chúnwánɡ-chǐhán 唇亡齿寒 Once the Lips Are Gone, the Teeth Will Feel Cold. 嘴唇没有了，牙齿就会感到寒冷。比喻相互间关系密切，相互依存，有共同的利害关系。据《左传·僖公五年》载，晋国向虞国借道，以便攻打虞国的邻国虢国。虞国的大夫宫之奇向国君进谏说：虢是虞的屏障，虢亡，虞必随之而亡，虞和虢是唇亡齿寒的关系。这实际反映华夏民族自古以来重视邻国关系和与邻友善、务实的地缘政治思想。 When two things are interdependent, the fall of one will endanger the other. According to the early chronicle Zuo’s Commentary on The Spring and Autumn Annals, when the State of Jin wanted to march through the State of Yu in order to

chǔcí 楚辞 Chuci (Ode of Chu) 楚辞是由屈原创作的一种诗体，后来又成为代表中国古代南方文化的第一部诗歌总集，楚辞运用楚地（今湖南、湖北一带）的文学体式、方言声韵，叙写楚地的山川人物、历史风情，具有浓厚的地域特色，因而得名。“楚辞”之名，西汉初期已有之，后刘向辑录成集，收战国时期楚国人屈原、宋玉以及汉代淮南小山、东方朔、严忌、王褒、刘向等人作品共16篇，后来王逸作《楚辞章句》时增加了自己的一篇，共17篇。楚辞通过独特的文体与文化内涵，反映出南方楚国文化的特点，抒情色彩浓厚，想象丰富，保存了上古许多神话故事，彰显出不同于《诗经》传统的一种全新的文学精神与文学体式，成为与《诗经》并驾齐驱的文学形态，后世称这种文体为“楚辞体”或“骚体”，称研究《楚辞》的学问为“楚辞学”。 Chuci (楚辞) was a poetic genre first attributed to Qu Yuan. It later became the title for the first anthology of poetry depicting the culture in south China. Chuci was so named because it made use of Chu (now Hunan and Hubei provinces) dialect, accent, and local special

chénɡ 城 Fortress / City 四周由城墙环绕的城邑。“城”本指城墙、城郭，是筑土而成的、具有军事防御及防洪功能的设施，城外一般挖有护城河。古代王朝国都、诸侯封地、卿及大夫的封邑，都以筑有城墙的聚落为中心，所以称为“城”。“城”音“盛（chénɡ）”，意思是“容纳民众”。其根本功能为保护民众，是“民惟邦本”这一政治理念的具体体现。 Cheng (城) is a city with walls surrounding it. The Chinese character for cheng originally referred to inner and outer city walls built of earth, with military defense and flood control functions. Usually, it was surrounded by a moat. In ancient times, the state capital of a monarch, the fief of