作者：张慈贇
出版社：上海译文出版社
格式: AZW3, DOCX, EPUB, MOBI, PDF, TXT
中国历史人物(英文)试读：
Introduction
To understand a country is to understand its people.And to understand China, you have to look at its history,a huge and daunting topic. Thousands of years, dynasty after dynasty, hundreds of emperors and politicians … In this series, we will take you on a tour through the long history of China to discover the movers and shakers — from ancient emperors who may just be legend to the men and women who penned poems thousands of years ago that are still recited by children today, from the Buddhist monk who provided the inspiration to the epic novel “Journey to the West” to the persons who shaped China’s modern education system. Written by Zhang Ciyun, the founding Editor-in-Chief of Shanghai Daily, this series recalls the life story of 88 important figures, who left their personal marks in philosophy, art and literature,religion, science and technology and political movements.
老子 (Lǎo Zǐ circa 580 – 470 BC) A legendary philosopher
Lao Zi’s surname was Li and his given name was Er. Lao Zi is an honorific title. It is widely acknowledged that Lao Zi is one of the most revered philosophers in Chinese history. There are numerous legends about his birth, career, teaching and philosophical ideas.
According to one popular legend, Lao Zi was conceived when his mother saw a star falling into her lap and he stayed in the womb for 80 years. When he was born, he was already a grown man with gray beard and long earlobes, a symbol of good fortune and longevity.
He once kept the royal court archives for Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century-256 BC). But he later resigned and went westward to propagate his ideas and philosophy.
One day while riding an ox he approached the Hangu Pass and was stopped by Yinxi, a sentinel who manned the pass. As a faithful follower of Lao Zi’s philosophy, the officer immediately recognized the great master.
But, in order to ask Lao Zi to teach him something of his philosophy, the officer demanded the old man produce an official permit to leave the country.
Lao Zi had no document, so he agreed to write a 5,000-word essay about his philosophy in exchange for passage to the West. That essay turned out to be the famous “Daodejing” (also “Tao Te Ching”), or the “Book of Virtue.”
Today scholars worldwide are still debating whether the book was actually written by Lao Zi or compiled by his students and disciples.
However, they all agree that the book reflects Lao Zi’s thinking.
In the book, Lao Zi used the concept of Dao (Tao) to explain all changes in the universe. Dao, also translated as “Way” or “Great Integrity,” is deemed the mysterious source or ideal of all existences.
He also put forward many dialectical ideas such as “Dao gives rise to one, one gives rise to two, two gives rise to three and three gives rise to all other things.” He said in “Daodejing”: “Great talents mature slowly, great sounds are silent. Great forms look shapeless, transcendent squareness has no corners.”
Other famous quotations of Lao Zi include: “All things under Heaven came from something which in turn came from nothing,” “By the side of misery lies happiness, and beneath the happiness lurks the misery” and “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”
One day, a man came to see Lao Zi and asked for his secret of longevity. Lao Zi, then a nonagenarian, opened his mouth and asked: “Can you see any teeth there?” The man answered: “No, not a single tooth there.” Lao Zi then asked: “Can you see my tongue there?” “Yes,” the man answered.
“All the hard teeth are long gone, but the soft tongue remains. Don’t you understand now?” Lao Zi smiled.
Today, Lao Zi’s thinking still has a great influence in Chinese culture. Almost all young students can recite his famous words: “Dao that can be told is not the universal Dao; The name that can be named is not the universal name.”
孔子 (Kǒng Zǐ 551 – 479 BC) The greatest thinker
Also known as Kong Zi or Kong Qiu in Chinese, the great thinker Confucius was born to a warrior’s family during the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). He lost his father when he was only three and lived in poverty with his mother who died when he was 17 years old.
When he was young, Confucius was a diligent student with a strong interest in a wide range of subjects. When visiting a temple, he would try to learn the art of moderating rituals. During the day, he would learn accounting and at night, he would practice playing musical instruments. When helping others herd sheep, he would ask to learn archery. Once, he even went to meet Lao Zi, the great philosopher, to ask for advice on conducting rituals.
When he was 30, he began to open schools and enrolled some 3,000 students. Among them, 72 were noted scholars who later helped to compile ancient books and put Confucius’ thinking into the book titled The Analects.
He spent more than 10 years touring various states with his students and disciples to advocate his ideas on correct conduct and the best government. According to Confucius, the best government is one that rules through rites and people’s natural morality, not through bribery and coercion.
He explained that if a ruler led his people by morality, he was like the North Star, which would be surrounded by countless other stars. But if he used administrative orders and severe punishment to constrain his people, he could probably force them to refrain from committing crimes, but they would not understand that it’s shameful to commit crimes. And only when they had acquired the “sense of shame” would they become good.
Confucius was also thought to be the editor and author of the Five Classics, namely, “Shi” (诗 Book of Songs), “Shu” (书 Book of History), “Li” (礼 Book of Rites), “Yi” (易 Book of Change) and “Chunqiu” (春秋 Spring and Autumn Annals). He also advocated familial loyalty, ancestor worship, respect of elders by their pious children and subjects’ loyalty to their ruler.
As a result, Confucius’ ideology was deemed as dominating force in the feudal society that lasted for more than 2,000 years in China. His thinking also became an important guiding ideology in many countries in East and Southeast Asia.
His famous quotations include:
“Study and review what you have learned every day, isn’t it joyful? With friends coming from afar, isn’t it delightful? One doesn’t frown on other’s misunderstanding, isn’t he a respectable man?”
“To acknowledge one’s fault and be willing to change it is the greatest virtue.”
“If you know, to recognize that you know, If you don’t know, to realize that you don’t know: That is knowledge.”
Once, Zi Gong, one of Confucius’ disciples, asked the philosopher: “Is there any one word that can guide one throughout his life?” Confucius answered: “Maybe it’s magnanimity! What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.”
That’s perhaps one of the earliest versions of the Golden Rule.
墨子 (Mò Zǐ 468 – 376 BC) Pacifist thinker and inventor
Born in the State of Lu (in today’s Shandong Province), Mo Zi was a thinker, political activist, educator and scientist during the early Warring States Period (476-221 BC).
He studied Confucianism when he was young, but later he rebelled against the philosophy for its excessive emphasis on elaborate celebrations and funerals. So, before he reached the age of 30, he began to form the school of Mohism to strongly argue against Confucianism and Taoism.
Mo Zi managed to attract a large following with his ideas such as “impartial love” and “non-attack” elaborated in his 10 core theses. He and his followers also formulated China’s first explicit ethical and political theories and advocated meritocracy and the public good.
But Mo Zi first began his career as a carpenter and he was known for his exceptional skills. He had invented many farming machines and military contraptions.
He even designed a wooden eagle that, it is said, could really fly. People still believe that if Mo Zi hadn’t later switched to study and dissemination of his philosophical ideas, he could have been remembered today as a legendary carpenter like his contemporary, master carpenter and artisan Lu Ban.
In order to pursue his pacifism, he traveled to many states and tried to dissuade rulers from their plans of conquest and to persuade them of his concept of “impartial love.”
In the State of Chu, the well-known artisan Lu Ban had invented a wheeled, mobile “cloud ladder” that could be used to attack towns fortified with tall walls.
The king of Chu planned to use this siege engine to launch an attack against the State of Song.
Learning the news, Mo Zi walked 10 days and nights, rushing to the State of Chu to meet the artisan. He told him that the planned war would cost many lives and should be called off. Meanwhile, he said the new war machine was not invincible.
Lu Ban didn’t believe Mo Zi, so Mo challenged him to a war game in front of the king — the “cloud ladder” would be used in the attack on a town and Mo Zi would defend it with his own devices and strategies.
After several rounds, the famed artisan failed to break through Mo Zi’s defenses. Then, he said: “I have one more arrangement that can definitely conquer any town.”
Mo Zi replied: “I know what’s on your mind. You want to kill me. You believe that once I am dead, there will be no one to defend the State of Song.
“But, you are wrong. I have already sent a dozen of my best students to the State of Song to teach them how to strengthen their defenses and use my stratagems.”
Seeing that he would fail, the king of Chu reluctantly called off the planned attack.
But Mohism received a fatal blow during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) when the ruler adopted legalist theories and tried to eliminate all other doctrines with a “burning of books and burying of scholars” campaign.
Later, Mohism faded into oblivion when Confucianism became the dominant school of thought during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD).
However, more than 2,000 years after his death, people have again begun to study and follow some of the key principles of the great thinker. Particularly, his thoughts of “universal love,” his promotion of a simple life and his trenchant condemnation of “offensive war” have been revived.
孟子 (Mèng Zǐ 372 – 289 BC) Principal interpreter of Confucianism
For more than 2,000 years, Mencius (also known by his birth name Meng Ke) has been widely regarded as a principal interpreter of Confucianism and arguably the most famous Confucian after Confucius himself. He was also a great thinker and educator in his own right, in the middle years of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). His eponymous book, Mencius, is one of the four classics of the Confucian school.
In contrast to the sayings of Confucius, which are often short and self-contained, the seven chapters of “Mencius” contain long dialogues, usually between Mencius and rulers of various states he had visited as an itinerant philosopher.
However, as he interpreted Confucius, Mencius also gave Confucian ideas his own distinctive philosophical stamp.
Ever since their introduction, Mencius’ doctrines of innate human goodness, the malleability of human nature, benevolent government, and the people’s right to revolution have greatly influenced the politics, ideology, culture and ethics of Chinese society as well as the evolution of the Chinese nation.
First and foremost, Mencius believed that all human beings share an innate goodness that can be cultivated through education and self-discipline.
But, he also stressed: “Slight is the difference between man and the beast. The common man loses this difference, while the gentleman retains it.”
He also developed Confucian thinking on benevolence into the doctrine of the “benevolent government.” He introduced the “people first” concept by saying “The people are to be valued most, the altars of the grain and the land next, the ruler least. Hence, in winning the favor of the common people, you become emperor.”
But Mencius also endorsed the “right of revolution.” He said that if a ruler became a ruthless tyrant like King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), the people should have the right to kill him and that killing should not be deemed “regicide.”
Many people believe that Mencius’ mother was instrumental in bringing forth a great philosopher. In order to provide her son a proper environment during his childhood, she moved their household three times.
According to legend, his father died when Mencius was still very young. First, he and his mother lived near a cemetery. One day, his mother found him imitating the wailing of the paid mourners and playing with other kids building mud tombs. She thought this was not the proper place to rear her son.
So she moved near a marketplace. But soon, her son began to imitate the hawking of the vendors, who were usually despised in ancient China. Mencius’ mother decided to move again.
Finally, they moved near a school. Inspired by what he saw and heard, Mencius started to imitate the courteous behavior and study habits of the students. Observing the change in Mencius, his mother decided not to move again and settled down there.
Today, Chinese people may not all be faithful followers of Mencian doctrines, but they all know the story of Mencius’ mother, who moved three times in the interest of her son.
庄子 (Zhuāng Zǐ circa 369 – 286 BC) Freewheeling Taoist
Zhuang Zi was a principal Taoist philosopher in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). His birthplace was only 50 kilometers from the birthplace of Lao Zi, the founder of Taoism. And they were later deemed the two most important representatives of the “Lao Zhuang School” of Taoism.
Zhuang Zi, with a given name of Zhou, served as a minor official in the State of Song for a short period of time. Soon, he quit and began to concentrate on writing books.
Many people believe that Zhuang Zi was the author of the book of the same name, “Zhuang Zi” (“Zhuang-tzu”).
Unlike the famous 5,000-word “Daodejing” (“Tao Te Ching”), or the “Book of Virtue,” written by Lao Zi, “Zhuang Zi” is a 33-chapter text of more than 100,000 words.
In the book, Zhuang uses multiple and often divergent styles in making his points.
To explain an idea or a concept, he may use parables, dialogues, paradoxes and even jokes to impart his unique philosophical perspectives.
To explain Dao (also known as Way or Great Integrity), the essential concept of Taoism, Zhuang Zi points out that Dao is the source of creation, the process of constant change of the world, and the path of human action that can align individuals with this all-embracing cosmic process.
He also stressed that names and labels are all-too-human attempts to categorize the world, which could only end in failure.
He says: “Monkeys pair with monkeys, deer go with deer, and fish play with other fish.
“Men claim that Maoqiang and Lady Li were beautiful, but if fish saw them they would dive to the bottom of the stream, if birds saw them they would fly away, and if deer saw them they would break into a run. Of these four, which knows how to fix the standard of beauty for the world?
“The way I see it, the rules of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of right and wrong are hopelessly snarled and jumbled.”
Meanwhile, Zhuang advocates living one’s life as naturally as possible. He says a man should accept his inclinations and aptitudes as they are, instead of gauging them in response to social pressures and criticism. He best illustrates his perspective in a dialogue with philosopher Hui Zi.
Hui Zi said to Zhuang Zi, “I have a big tree called a shu. Its trunk is too gnarled and bumpy to apply a measuring line to, its branches too bent and twisty to match up to a compass or square. You could stand it by the road and no carpenter would look at it twice ...”
Zhuang Zi said, “Now you have this big tree and you’re distressed because it’s useless.
“Why not plant it in...[the Dao], relax and do nothing by its side, or lie down for a free and easy sleep under it? Axes will never shorten its life, nothing can ever harm it. If there’s no use for it, how can it come to grief or pain?”
Relying solely on writing books, Zhuang could hardly make ends meet. But when the king of the State of Chu offered him a thousand taels of gold and the position of prime minister, he declined.
Zhuang said that he’d rather “wallow happily in the muddy water like a turtle” than slave away at the behest of a ruler.
荀子 (Xún Zǐ circa 313 – 238 BC) ‘All humans are born evil’
Xun Zi was born in the State of Zhao during the late years of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). His original name was Xun Kuang.
Xun became known as a learned scholar and educator after he came to the State of Qi to study and teach at the prestigious Jixia Academy when he was already a quinquagenarian. Little was known about his earlier life.
In more than 2,000 years in the Chinese intellectual history, Xun was regarded as one of the most important Confucian philosophers. But unlike Mencius, another great Confucian philosopher, who advocated “idealistic” Confucianism, Xun promoted a much more pragmatic approach.
Xun believed that rituals alone would not be enough to build an orderly and harmonious society. So, it was necessary to introduce punitive laws. And because of this concept, Xun has been widely deemed as a philosopher who combines Confucianism and Legalism.
No wonder, two of his most famous students, namely, Han Fei Zi and Li Si, later became the most prominent representatives of the School of Legalism. Li was the influential prime minister of the State of Qin and later served China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).
Xun left behind a book bearing his name. In the 32-chapter “Xun Zi,” the philosopher discussed philosophy, logics, politics, social ethics and many other aspects of human society.
Contrary to Mencius’ belief that people are innately good, Xun believed that human nature is naturally evil, which must be contained through education and by following the rituals. He also argued that it was necessary to have the guidance of exemplary teachers and to introduce punitive laws in order to prevent human societies from devolving into anarchy.
Xun’s ideas about the attitudes toward and methods of study have great influence among the Chinese. Even today, many of his famous maxims and sayings are still on the lips of almost every Chinese speaker.
He upheld the idea of combining general knowledge with special knowledge in specific fields. He said that study must have a purpose and study requires concentration and wholeheartedness.
One of his most famous sayings is: “Carve but give up half way, even a decayed piece of wood will not break; carve without stop, even metal and stone can be engraved.”
Xun emphasized the key role played by teachers in the course of study. He said that a teacher is not just a source of information; he is a model for the student to look up to.
But he also said: “The dye extracted from the indigo is bluer than the plant, so is the ice colder than the water.” Xun used this phrase to encourage young students to study hard and to make greater achievements than their teachers. Today, the phrase “indigo dye bluer than the plant” is often used to praise young people who have already made some successes in a context where their teachers are mentioned.
Naturally, Xun’s essay, “Exhortations on Study,” always appears in the textbook for Chinese middle school students.
Xun served as an official in the State of Qi and then moved south to the State of Chu, where the Prime Minister Lord Chunshen offered him the position of the magistrate of Lanling.
After the lord was later assassinated by a court rival, Xun left his office, but stayed in Lanling for the rest of his life.
韩非 (Hán Fēi circa 280 – 233 BC) Sage of ‘rule by fear’
Han Fei was born into an aristocratic family in the State of Han during the late years of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC). He is considered one of the greatest Legalist philosophers in Chinese history and his thinking greatly influenced Qin Shi Huang, the king of the State of Qin who became the first emperor of China.
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