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

liángshǐ 良史 Trustworthy Historian / Factual History 好的史家或史书，即能根据史实，客观记载书写，无所隐讳，信而有征。无论是史家，还是史书，判断其好坏的标准都在于记载历史是否客观真实。这是科学史学的首要条件。 This refers to historians or history books that record historical facts in an objective and truthful way based on evidences without covering up anything. Objectivity is the ultimate criterion for judging historians or history books in historiography. 引例 Citations： ◎然自刘向、扬雄博极群书，皆称迁有良史之材……其文直，其事核，不虚美，不隐恶。（《汉书·司马迁传赞》） （可是自从刘向、扬雄博览群书之后，都称赞司马迁具备优秀史家的资质……他行文正直合理，叙事翔实正确，不虚假赞美，不掩盖恶行。） However, after reading a huge number

lìyòng-hòushēng 利用厚生 Make Full Use of Resources to Enrich the People 充分发挥物力的效用，使民众生活富裕。古人认为，良好的政治在于“养民”，让民众生活富足。“利用”讲的是统治者应当节俭而不奢靡浪费，使物尽其用；“厚生”讲的是减轻徭役赋税，使民众生活安宁、富裕、幸福。它是中国近代民生主义、社会主义的思想渊源之一。 The ancient Chinese believed that good governance allowed people to lead a life of plenty. The ruler should be frugal, not extravagant or wasteful. He should make good use of the country’s material resources, reduce the corvée and tax burdens on the people

lǐ 理 Li 本义指玉石的纹理，引申而有三重含义：其一，指具体事物的样式或性质，如短长、大小、方圆、坚脆、轻重、白黑等物理属性；其二，指万事万物所遵循的普遍法则；其三，指事物的本原或本体。后两种含义与“道”相近。宋明时期的学者特别注重对“理”的阐发，以“理”为最高范畴，因此宋明时期占主导地位的学术体系被称为“理学”。 The original meaning of li (理) was the texture of jade; later it was extended to contain three meanings: 1) the physical forms or proprieties of things, such as length, size, shape, tensile strength, weight, and color; 2) the universal laws followed by all things and beings; and 3) the original

lè ér bù yín, āi ér bù shāng 乐而不淫，哀而不伤 Express Enjoyment Without Indulgence and Express Grief Without Excessive Distress 快乐而不放纵，悲哀而不伤身。原是孔子对于《诗经·周南·关雎》中有关青年男女爱情描写的评语，后世儒家将其作为倡导诗歌及其他文学作品中正平和、情理谐和之美的基本规范与评价标准。这一术语与儒家提倡的中庸思想相一致。近现代以来，其思想内涵也因受到时代潮流冲击而不断更新。 This is what Confucius said of the description of love between young men and women in the poem entitled “Guan Ju” in “Ballads of Zhounan,” The Book of Songs. Later Confucian scholars regarded this as

lài yǔ Xīshī, dào tōng wéi yī 厉与西施，道通为一 A Scabby Person and the Beautiful Lady Xishi Are the Same in the Eyes of Dao. 身长癞疮的人与美丽的西施，从道的角度看都可相通为一。厉，通“癞”，指长有癞疮的人。这是庄子关于审美相对性的著名论述。原意指身长癞疮的人与著名的美女没有区别，因为她们都是“道”的产物及体现。美丑的判断只是人们主观上的感觉而已，而且美丑之间还可相互转化。庄子的这一思想，强调从造物的本原看，美丑都符合道，都具有内在的同一性。这个思想启发后世的文艺评论家从相反相成的维度去看待自然万物与文学创作。 This is a famous statement made by Zhuangzi on how beauty is relative. Originally it meant there was no difference between a beauty and an ugly person, because they both