Chinese Thought and Culture

rénwén-huàchéng 人文化成 Ren Wen Hua Cheng 根据社会文明的进展程度与实际状况，用合于“人文”的基本精神和原则教化民众，引导民心向善，最终实现有差等又有调和的社会秩序。“人文”指的是诗书、礼乐、法度等精神文明的创造；“化”是教化、教导（民众）并使之改变，“成”指社会文治昌明的实现。“人文化成”的核心在于强调文治，实际上是中华“文明”理想的又一表达形式。 The term is used to describe efforts to teach people essential ideals and principles of ren wen (人文) and guide them to embrace goodness with the aim of building a harmonious – albeit hierarchical – social order, according to the level of development of a civilization and the specifics […]

qù 趣 Qu 指文学艺术作品中所表现的作者的志趣、情趣、意趣等。作者的“趣”决定他们对自然、人生的独特体验和理解，以及对作品主题的选择和作品的表现风格。“趣”是作品中无形的精神韵味，通过审美活动而体现出它的价值与品位高下。 Qu is the aspirations, emotions, and interests expressed in the work of a writer or artist. His pursuit of qu determines his unique perception and comprehension of nature and life. It also determines what theme he chooses for his work and how he gives expression to it. Qu is invisible but manifests its

qíngjǐng 情景 Sentiment and Scenery 指文学作品中摹写景物与抒发情感的相互依存和有机融合。“情”指作者内心的情感，“景”为外界景物。情景理论强调二者的交融，情无景不立，景无情不美。是宋代以后出现的文学术语，相对于早期的情物观念，情景理论更加重视景物摹写与情感抒发、创作与鉴赏过程的互相依赖与融为一体。 This term refers to the mutual dependence and integration of an author’s description of scenery and objects, and his expression of feelings in his literary creation. Qing (情) is an author’s inner feelings, and jing (景) refers to external scenery or an object. The theory of sentiment and scenery

qíng 情 Qing “情”有三种不同含义：其一，泛指人的情感、欲望。“情”受外物感动而发，是人的自然本能，不是后天习得的。其二，特指人的某些情感、欲望，通常被规定为好、恶、喜、怒、哀、乐等六者，或喜、怒、哀、惧、爱、恶、欲等七者。前者也被称作“六志”或“六情”，后者被称作“七情”。其三，指情实或实情。对于前两个意义上的“情”，历代学者持有不同态度，或主张抑制“情”，或承认“情”的合理性而加以引导和安处。 The term has three different meanings. First, it means human emotions and desires, referring to the natural and instinctive reaction to external circumstances, not a learned response. Second, it refers to specific human emotions and desires, commonly known as the six human emotions: love, hatred, happiness, anger, sadness, and joy, or

qì 气 Qi (Vital Force) 独立于主观意识之外的物质实体，是构成一切有形之物的原始物质材料，同时也是生命和精神得以发生和存在的基础。此外，某些思想家还为“气”赋予了道德属性。“气”没有具体的形状，永远处于运动变化之中。“气”的凝聚意味着事物的生成，“气”的消散意味着事物的消亡。“气”贯通于所有有形之物的内外。哲学意义上的“气”与常识性的“气体”概念不同，“气体”指各种非液体、非固体的存在；而从哲学层面来看，液体、固体既是有形之物，其生成、存在也是“气”凝聚的结果。 Qi (vital force) has a material existence independent of subjective consciousness and is the basic element of all physical beings. It is also the basis for the birth and existence of life and spirit. In addition, some thinkers have given a moral attribute to qi. Qi is in constant motion and

mín wéi bāng běn 民惟邦本 People Being the Foundation of the State 指民众是国家的根本或基础。只有百姓安居乐业、生活稳定，国家才能安定。最早见于伪《古文尚书》所载大禹的训示。这与战国时代孟子提出的“民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻”，荀子提出的“水能载舟，亦能覆舟”的思想一脉相承，并由此形成儒家所推崇的“民本”思想。 This term means that the people are the essence of the state or the foundation upon which it stands. Only when people live and work in peace and contentment can the state be peaceful and stable. This saying, which first appeared in

měicì 美刺 Extolment and Satirical Criticism 赞美与讽刺批评。用于文学艺术领域，主要指用诗歌对统治者的品德、政令和作为进行赞美或讽刺批评。孔子最早指出“诗可以怨”，强调《诗经》具有抒发不满情绪的功用，确定了诗歌创作的基本功能。汉代的诗学则迎合统治者的需要，突出诗歌歌功颂德的功能。汉代诗学作品《毛诗序》和郑玄《诗谱序》将“美刺”确立为诗歌批评的基本原则之一，使之成为后世诗人和作家的自觉追求，是他们参与政治、干预社会生活的一种方式，从而构成中国文学的基本功用与重要特色。 This literary term is used in poetry to comment on a ruler’s moral character, policies, decrees, and performance, either in praise or criticism. Confucius was the first to point out that poetry could be used to vent resentment and thus established a basic function of poetry writing by

liùyì 六义 The Six Basic Elements 汉代学者从治理国家与社会教化角度总结《诗经》所具有的六方面意义：风是用来阐发圣贤思想对民风的教化作用；赋是直陈时政善恶；比是以类比方式委婉批评时政的不足；兴是借助其他美好事物来鼓励善行；雅是宣扬正道并作为后世的准则；颂是歌颂和推广美德。“六义”原本是儒家用来阐述《诗经》创作手法的术语，后来也用它来说明一切诗歌的创作方式以及文学批评的基本原则。 The six basic elements were drawn from The Book of Songs by scholars of the Han Dynasty to promote the state’s governance, social enlightenment, and education. The six are: feng (ballad), which offers an insight into the influence of a sage’s thinking on ordinary folk customs; fu (narrative), which directly states

liù jīng jiē shǐ 六经皆史 The Six Confucian Classics Are All About History. 这是古代学者提出的一个重要的学术思想命题，认为“六经”（《易》《书》《诗》《礼》《乐》《春秋》）反映的是夏、商、周三代社会、政治等现实情况的历史文本，而不是圣人刻意留下的义理说教。系统阐发这一命题的代表人物是清代学者章学诚。这一命题动摇了儒家经典的神圣地位，标志着中国史学趋向自觉与独立。 The Six Confucian Classics are The Book of Changes, The Book of History, The Book of Songs, The Book of Rites, The Book of Music, and The Spring and Autumn Annals. An important proposition put forward by scholars of late imperial China was that those are all

liángzhī 良知 Liangzhi (Conscience) 人天生所具有的道德本性与道德上的认识和实践能力。“良知”一词最初由孟子提出，认为人不加思虑便能知道的便是“良知”。“良知”的具体内容包括亲爱其父母、尊敬其兄长。而亲爱父母是仁，尊敬兄长是义。“良知”说是孟子性善论的重要内容。明代的王守仁提出“致良知”，进一步发展了孟子的“良知”说。他认为，“良知”就是天理，一切事物及其规律都包含在“良知”之中。将“良知”扩充到底，即能达到对一切道德真理的认识和实践。 Humans are born with innate conscience and the ability to know and act upon it. The term liangzhi (良知) was first used by Mencius, who believed that what man knew by instinct was liangzhi (knowledge of goodness). The term includes ren (仁), i.e. love for one’s parents and yi (义), i.e. respect for one’s