海选: 中国特色的选举 Haixuan: Election, the Chinese Style

在西方，人们一直猜想中国会不会成为一个民主选举的国家，敌对的政党在投票箱上决胜负。中国的立场看来是，中国并不需要模仿西方的体系，或者引进多个政党轮流执政的做法。

中国自古并没有政党概念。统治者就是政党。如果需要一个选举系统的话，那个系统一定要反映中国的国情。

二十世纪八十年代初期，中国政府就已经静悄悄地通过组织村民委员会的直选来推行这个可能是世界最大的民间基层组织的民主教育工作。他们有一个特别的名词：海选。

这个方法是吉林省梨树村的农人所构思出来的，其方式有如初选，很快的流行起来。每一个选民都有权提议他心目中的候选人来担任公职。候选人有竞选发言与回答问题的机会。拿到最高票的两个或三个候选人进入最后选举。

‘海选’生动地反映了从人海中选出人选的意愿。它也表示没有固定的候选人，每个人都可以选他所中意的候选人。

这个方法在1998年《中华人民共和国村民委员会组织法》第14条规定选举村民委员会应由本村有选举权的村民直接提名候选人后，成为官方接受的正式选举法。

这就难怪‘海选’成为一个新的流行语，现在几乎什么都用海选，包括‘超女’海选，书法海选。

.

.

In the West, people always wonder whether China will ever become an electoral democracy - with rival parties fighting for power at the ballot box. The Chinese leaders’ position seem to be that China would never simply copy the system of Western countries or introduce a system of multiple parties holding office in rotation.

China does not need the concept of a party system and so if they need an election system, the system should reflect the Chinese situations and circumstances.

Since the early 1980s, the Chinese government has been quietly promoting, through the establishment of directly elected villager committees, what may be the world's largest grassroots democratic education process. And they have a special term for it: Haixuan (literally sea election, or competitive election).

Conceived by farmers in Lishu County, Jilin Province, a method which operates like an open primary has gain widespread popularity. Every voter has the right to nominate candidates for all open offices, candidates are often permitted to make campaign speeches and answer questions from the villagers, and the top two to three vote-getters then go on to compete in the final election.

The Chinese term ‘Sea Election’ vividly reflect the intention of the election is a selection from a sea of candidates. It also means that there is no fixed candidate and anyone can vote for his or her favourite candidate.

The method of election was formalised on 4 Nov 1998 when the 1998 Organic Law on Villager Committees (VC Law) requires that villager committees (VCs) be elected directly by the qualified villages and Haixuan has become the official method of election.

It is no wonder that Haixuan has become the buzz word in China and it is now used in almost all types of competitions or contests, such as the Super Girl Contest - the Chinese version of the American Idol, and even the Chinese calligraphy competitions.

杜甫：《观公孙大娘弟子舞剑器行》 Du Fu: Watching Sword Dance Performance by Gongsun Daniang's Disciple

杜甫（712-770）是中国唐朝诗人。与李白齐名，普遍被认为是中国最伟大的诗人。它最大的愿望就是要做个成功的官僚，可是使非所愿。他的生活，就好像整个国家一样，为安禄山之乱所破坏了，而他生命的最后15年，一直在动乱中过着。

唐代玄宗时期，艺术成就与奢侈皆为典范。杜甫为据说为公孙大娘之弟子李十二娘的剑舞所惊叹，而写了《观公孙大娘弟子舞剑器行》诗并序。公孙大娘是玄宗宫中的一个女剑舞者，她的剑舞可说无敌。据说著名书法家张旭为其《剑器》舞而得灵感，并把其优美舞姿融入其书法中。她的有名的剑舞有：(1) 《西河剑器》 ，(2) 《浑脱剑器》 ，(3) 《裴将军满堂势》，(4) 《邻里曲》。
以下就是序文与诗：

大历二年十月十九日夔府别驾元持宅见临颍李十二 娘舞剑器，壮其蔚跂。问其所师，曰：余公孙大娘弟子也。
开元三载，余尚童稚，记于郾城观公孙氏 舞剑器浑脱。浏漓顿挫，独出冠时。自高头宜春梨园二伎坊内人，洎外供奉，晓是舞者，圣文神武皇帝初，公孙一人而已。玉貌锦衣，况余白首！今兹弟子亦匪盛颜。既辨其由来，知波澜莫二。抚事慷慨，聊为剑器行。
昔者吴人张旭善草书书帖，数尝 于邺县见公孙大娘舞西河剑器，自此草书长进，豪荡感激。即公孙可知矣！

昔有佳人公孙氏， 一舞剑器动四方。
观者如山色沮丧， 天地为之久低昂。
霍如羿射九日落， 矫如群帝骖龙翔，
来如雷霆收震怒， 罢如江海凝清光。
绛唇珠袖两寂寞， 晚有弟子传芬芳。
临颍美人在白帝， 妙舞此曲神扬扬。
与余问答既有以， 感时抚事增惋伤。
先帝侍女八千人， 公孙剑器初第一。
五十年间似反掌， 风尘澒洞昏王室。
梨园子弟散如烟， 女乐余姿映寒日。
金粟堆前木已拱， 瞿塘石城草萧瑟。
玳筵急管曲复终， 乐极哀来月东出。
老夫不知其所往？ 足茧荒山转愁疾。
.

.

Du Fu (712–770) was a prominent Chinese poet of the Tang Dynsaty. Along with Li Bai, he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like the whole country, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.

The Tang Dynasty during Xuan Zong's reign was probably the epitome of artistic achievements as well as indulgence. Du Fu was awed by the performance of a sword dancer Twelfth Lady Li who claimed to have been the disciple of Gongsun Da Niang, and he wrote a poem after watching her sword dance. The term Da Niang can be translated to First Lady or an honorary term for a mistress (master). Gongsun Daniang was a female sword dancer in the court of Emperor Xuan Zong who was probably the greatest in her field. It is said that famous calligrapher Zhang Xu was so inspired by her sword dance that he incorporated the beautiful dance movements into his calligraphy. Her famous dance repertoire included, (1) West River Jianqi (sword dance), (2) Dashing Demeanours Jianqi (sword dance), (3) General Pei's Grand Performance, probably named after General Pei Min (裴旻), (4) Neighbourhood Symphony.

Before writing the poem, Du Fu explained the background of his writing:

On the 19th of the tenth-month in the second year of Dali (15 Nov 767), I saw, in the house of the Kueifu official Yuanchi, a girl named Li from Lingying dancing with a sword. I admired her skill and asked who her teacher was. She replied, ‘I am a pupil of Gongsun.’
I remembered that in the third year of Kaiyuan (717) at Yancheng, when I was a little boy, I saw Lady Gongsun dance jianqi and huntuo. For purity of technique and self-confident attack she was unrivalled in her day. From the ‘royal command performers’ to the ‘insiders’ of the Spring Garden and Pear Garden schools in the palace down to the ‘official call’ dancers, there was no one during the early years of His Sagely Pacific and Divinely Martial Majesty who understood this dance as she did. Where now is that lovely figure in its gorgeous costume? Now even I am an old, white-haired man, and this pupil of hers is well passed the prime. Having found out about the pupil’s antecedents, I now realised that what I had been watching was a faithful reproduction of the great dancer’s interpretation. The train of reflections set off by this discovery so moved that I felt inspired to compose a ballad of the jianqi.
Some years ago, Zhang Xu, the great master of the cursive style of calligraphy, had several times seen Gongsun dance the West River Jianqi (sword dance) at Ye district. He discovered later, to his immense gratification, that his calligraphy had greatly improved. This gives one some idea of the sort of person Gongsun was.

There lived years ago the beautiful Gongsun,
Who, dancing with her dagger, drew from all four quarters,
An audience like mountains lost among themselves.
Heaven and earth moved back and forth, following her motions,
Which were bright as when the Archer shot the nine suns down the sky,
And rapid as angels before the wings of dragons.
She began like a thunderbolt, venting its anger,
And ended like the shining calm of rivers and the sea....
But vanished are those red lips and those pearly sleeves;
And none but this one pupil bears the perfume of her fame,
This beauty from Lingying, at the Town of the White God,
Dancing still and singing in the old blithe way.
And while we reply to each other's questions,
We sigh together, saddened by changes that have come.
There were eight thousand ladies in the late Emperor's court,
But none could dance the dagger-dance like Lady Gongsun.
...Fifty years have passed, like the turning of a palm;
Wind and dust, filling the world, obscure the Imperial House.
Instead of the Pear-Garden Players, who have blown by like a mist,
There are one or two girl-musicians now-trying to charm the cold Sun.
There are man-size trees by the Emperor's Golden Tomb
I seem to hear dead grasses rattling on the cliffs of Qutang.
...The song is done, the slow string and quick pipe have ceased.
At the height of joy, sorrow comes with the eastern moon rising.
And I, a poor old man, not knowing where to go,
Must harden my feet on the lone hills, toward sickness and despair.

书法是音乐与舞蹈 Chinese calligraphy: It is Music and Dance

好的书法要有节奏、情感、美感、优美、神韵，更重要的是要体现书家个性。书法作品以线条的不同形态与形式，通过运动与排列组合，来表现不同美的元素，平衡、均匀、多样、一致、对照、运动、变化与和谐。所以说，中国书法是‘无象之画、无声之乐、无演员之演出与无原料组合之建筑物’。

犹如音乐，书法的重要元素是节奏。那些浓淡的点划与方折形状明显的表现了节奏感，与无限变化及流动的音乐节奏一样，表现了书法家与音乐家起伏思潮与情感。

相同的，音乐也可以说是舞剑于纸上。

唐代（618-907）著名的书法家张旭以草书而闻名。草书与其它书体不同，看似容易，其实写起来很难。他的草书成就是他登上了‘草圣’的宝座。

张旭与著名剑舞家公孙大娘是同时代的人。公孙大娘舞剑时大胆跳跃、优美转换、精确冲刺，在张旭的眼中，就如文字点划的书写一样。他从公孙大娘的舞剑中得到灵感，把他所见到的紧张刺激的舞姿融入书法里。所以，我们看到他的书法时，还会感觉到毛笔在纸上移动时的势态与优美动作。

.

.

Good calligraphy possesses rhythm, emotion, aesthetic, beauty, spirituality and, perhaps most importantly, the character of the calligrapher. Calligraphic works express various essential factors of beauty - balance, proportion, variety, continuity, contrast, movement, change and harmony - through the different shapes and forms of the lines, their combinations and ways of movement. Chinese calligraphy is therefore said to be the ‘painting without images, a piece of music without sounds, a stage without actors and actresses and a building without components and materials.’

Like music, calligraphy has rhythm as its main element. The dots and strokes in thick and light ink or in round or square shapes demonstrate obvious rhythms, like changing and moving musical rhythms, expressing the surging thoughts and emotions of the calligrapher and musician alike.

Similarly, one may say calligraphy is swordplay on paper.

Zhang Xu, a famous calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) particularly excelled at the caoshu (cursive) style of calligraphy. Cursive script differs from other styles of calligraphy in appearing deceptively simple when it is actually very difficult to execute. His calligraphic artistry resulted in his epithet as ‘sage of cursive script.’

Zhang Xu and expert swordplay dancer Madame Gongsun were contemporaries. The attitudes struck by Madame Gongsun in her dance sequences of bold leaps, graceful swoops and deadly accurate lunges were, in Zhang Xu’s eyes, unusually defined outlines of Chinese characters. He drew inspiration from Madame Gongsun’s swordplay and incorporated everything he found thrilling about her performances into his distinctive style of calligraphy.

Hence, when reading his calligraphy work, one can feel the momentum and gracious movements of his brush moving on the paper.

中国艺术的表演性 The Performative Aspects of Chinese Arts

大多数的中国艺术是一门功夫。就是说，几乎毫无例外的，中国艺术是以持久与长时间的锻炼来达到高度完美的。著名的例子有武术，剑舞。可以说，中国的绘画与书法也包括在内。

以前在中国，据说在所谓的雅集时，常见的情景是，几杯酒入肚后，在众人的羡慕眼光下，知识丰富的学者拿出毛笔，以优美创新的书法形式书写诗词或名言。事实上，在雅集挥毫的习惯至今还是十分流行于华人社会。

中国艺术适合于表演，是有其原因的。以书法为例，它除了是一门功夫外，还有其他因素促成它的表演性质：

1． 书写书法时要注重笔顺，所以，它具有一种过程的性质，这就使它适合于表演。

2． 书法的书写是不允许修改的。如果书家对某些线条不满意，他通常会把整幅作品抛弃。所以，书写书法时，与表演艺术一样，需要全神贯注。

3． 书法所强调的线条也有关联于笔力、笔势等概念，因为这些因素决定了线条的节奏流畅与质量。无可否认，力与势都是表演艺术的中心元素。

4． 中国书法的最高素质就是气韵的追求，而气韵一向被认为与艺术家本身的个性有明确的关系。气韵可从艺术家的功力与精神现象中体验，尤其是在表演时更能体会。

在中国美学中，并不缺乏有关中国艺术表演性的书写。我们将在适当的时候谈谈他们。

.

.

Most of the Chinese arts are a form of gongfu. That means almost without exception, the Chinese arts usually aim at high level of perfection through persistent and long period of training and practice. The famous examples are martial arts, sword dances. One may also say Chinese paintings and calligraphy are a form of gongfu.

In China, it is said in the past, during the so-called elegant gatherings of scholars and after a few cups of wing, it was quite common to have those among the guests who were highly literati often – under the admiring eyes of others – took up the brush, writing poems or famous sayings in beautiful and creative calligraphic forms. In fact, the practice of performing calligraphy at gatherings or even banquets has survived in the Chinese societies until today.

There are good reasons on why Chinese arts are suitable for performing in front of others. Using calligraphy as an example, in additional to its being a gongfu, there are other points that promote its performative qualities:

1. There is an order or sequential movement in calligraphy in which characters have to be written. It therefore has the character of being a process which makes it suitable for performance.

2. There are in touch ups in writing calligraphy. If an artist is not happy with certain strokes, he usually discards the whole piece. Thus, in writing calligraphy, a kind of concentration like in the performing arts is necessary.

3. In calligraphy, emphasis on the line also concerns such notions as strength and well as momentum and gesture of the brushstroke, because these are forces that determine the dynamic flow and the expressive quality of the line. Needless to say, gesture and momentum are also central elements in other performing arts.

4. The highest quality in Chinese calligraphy is ‘spiritual resonance’ which is said to have a definite relationship to the personality of the artist. This may come across as a certain spiritual presence or power of the artists which can be appreciated particularly when performing.

There is no lack of writings in Chinese aesthetic literature in which these performative aspects of Chinese art are highlighted. We shall talk about them at appropriate times.

儒家宇宙起源学：易有太极，是生两仪 The Confucian Cosmogony: Supreme Ultimate Produces Two Forms

宇宙起源学是指有关宇宙如何形成或来源，或现实的形成的学说。当代的看法趋向于认为宇宙有个开始，而这个开始是宇宙演化的一个阶段。在中国，两千年前道家与儒家对宇宙的看法都与当代的观点相似。

可是，从古典经书中，我们却没法看到孔子对这个课题的明确观点。孔子死后，不少儒学者从《易经》的学习而发展出一套儒家的宇宙起源学说。《易经》一直被认为是儒家经典之一。周敦颐（1017-1073）就是其中的一个儒家学者。

《易经》里说，‘易有太极，是生二仪。’周敦颐由此而画出《太极图》并阐述他的宇宙起源《太极图说》：

无极而太极。太极动而生阳，动极而静，静而生阴，静极复动。一动一静，互为其根；分阴分阳，两仪立焉。

阳变阴合，而生水、火、木、金、土，五行顺布，四时行焉。

五行一阴阳也，阴阳一太极也，太极本无极也。五行之生也，各一其性。

无极之真，二五之精，妙合而凝。乾道成男，坤道成女。二气交感，化生万物，万物生生而变化无穷焉。’

.

Cosmogony refers to theory concerning the coming into existence or origin of the universe, or about how reality came to be. Contemporary opinion tends to consider that the universe had a beginning, and that this beginning was a stage in the evolution of the universe. Both Daoism and Confucianism in China seem to propose a similar view of the universe for the past two thousand years.

However, the Confucius position on this matter has never been not clearly articulated in any of the classical texts. It was only after the dearth of Confucius that a number of Confucian scholars studied and developed their cosmogonies based on the Book of Changes (Yijing), which is considered to be one of the classical texts of Confucianism. One of them was Zhou Dunyi (1017 – 1073).

In Yijing, it says, ‘In the Yi there is the Supreme Ultimate, which produces the Two Forms.’ Based on this, Zhou came out with a diagram called ‘Taiji Tu’, or the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate and then he developed the Confucian theory of cosmogony (Taiji Tushuo):

‘The Ultimateless! And yet the Supreme Ultimate! The Supreme Ultimate through Movement produces the Yang. This Movement, having reached its limit, is followed by Quiescence, and by this Quiescence, it produces the Yin. When Quiescence has reached its limit, there is a return to Movement. Thus Movement and Quiescence, in alteration, become each the source of the other. The distinction between the Yin and Yang is determined and the Two Forms (ie Yin and Yang) stand revealed.

By the transformations of the Yang and the union therewith of the Yin, Water, Fire, Wood and Metal and Earth are produced. These Five Elements (wuxing) become diffused in harmonious order, and the four sessions produced in their course.

The Five Elements and the one Yin and Yang, the Yin and Yang are the one Supreme Ultimate, and the Supreme Ultimate is fundamentally the Ultuimateless. The Five Elements came into being each having its own particular nature.

The true substance of the Ultimateless and the essence of the Two (Forms) and Five (Elements), unite in mysterious union, so that that consolidation ensures. The principle of Qian (the trigram symbolising Yang) becomes the male element, and the principle of Kun (the trigram symbolising Yin) becomes female elements. The Two Forms (ethers, the Yin and Yang) by their interaction operate to produce all things, and these in their turn produce and reproduce, so that transformation and change continue without end.’

老子：有生于无 Lao Zi: Being is Born of Nothing

道家认为以宇宙的演化是根据本身的法则，而不是由神灵来创造的。反而，宇宙是在‘道’控制下，自然演化的产物。老子在《道德经》中形容道是一种宇宙的力量，这种力量创造与持续宇宙。他在第四十章中说：‘天下万物生于有，有生于无。’无就是‘无名’，指道。

老子认为天与地不是无限存在。道先于天与地。道以下面的方式产生天与地：‘道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。’（《道德经》第四十二章）

换句话说，道产生或演变最初的统一体，这统一体分裂为二种力量，相交而产生万物。这两种力量就是老子所说的‘二’，也就是一般所指的天与地。

什么是道？‘有物混成，先天地生。寂兮寥兮，独立而不改，周行而不殆，可以为天地母。吾不知其名，强字之曰：道，强为之名曰：大。’（《道德经》第二十五章）

《道德经》第十一章所说的‘无’是有关道与空间：‘三十辐，共一毂，当其无，有车之用。埏埴以为器，当其无，有器之用。凿户牖以为室，当其无，有室之用。故有之以为利，无之以为用。’

但是老子并没有告诉我们道如何产生统一的世界。对道家而言，宇宙之开始不可知，也没有可识之终结。他们并不尝试去书写不可能书写的宇宙之创造，或‘世界之终结’的意义。道家所关心的是在这个永远变动周期中寻找方向，还有，在我们一生中，如何在没有一套固定法则可应用于所有情况之下做出正确的行动。

.

Daoism considers that universal evolution follows its own laws and is not the product of divine creation. Rather, it is the product of spontaneous evolution under the control of the Dao. Lao Zi in Daodejing describes the Dao is as a cosmological force involved in creating and sustaining the universe. He says in Chapter 40, ‘The things of the world are born from being, and being is born of nothing.’ The term ‘wu’ (nothing or nothingness) in Chinese refers to ‘wuming’ (unnameable), which represents Dao.

Laozi considers that Heaven and Earth have not existed indefinitely. Dao preceded the formation of Heaven and Earth. The process of the generation of Heaven and Earth by Dao is resumed in the following formula, ‘Dao generates One, One generates Two, Two generates Three, Three generates the Myriad Beings. (Chapter 42).

In other words, Dao generated or evolved the primeval unified whole, which divided into two opposing forces, whose interpenetration generated all beings. The two forces referred to by Laozi as the 'Two' are commonly considered to be designate Heaven and Earth.

But what is Dao then? ‘There is a thing formed from confusion and born before heaven and earth. It is silent, solitary, independent and unchanging. It revolves everywhere and is never in danger. It can be the mother of all under heaven. I do not know its name, but I style it the Dao. If forced to give it a name, I call it the Great.’ (Chapter 25)

Dao is related to space (nothingness) in chapter 11:

'Thirty spokes share a single hub; grasp the nothingness at its centre to get the use of the wheel. Clay is fashioned to make a vessel; grasp the nothingness at the centre to get the use of the vessel. Bore windows and doors to create a room; grasp the nothingness of the interior to get the use of the room. That which is constitutes what is valuable, but that which is not constitutes what is of use. '

But Loazi does not tell us how Dao generates the unified world. For the Daoist, the beginning of the universe is unknowable and there is no discernable end. There is no attempt to write a record of a creation that cannot be recorded. There is no attempt to log a prediction of what ‘the end of the world’ would be like, or even what ‘the end of the world’ might mean. The Daoist is concerned about finding his bearings in a world of constantly changing cycles and about doing the right thing in a life where no static set of rules applies in every situation.

西方的创世纪理念 The Western idea of World Creation

把西方思想定型的古希腊哲学，一开始就注重理性与探索的任务。他们对宇宙的本质提出了很多问题。它是如何来的？它是被创造的吗？还是一直就已经存在？他们相信我们所看到的之所以会成为这样，一定是经过一些流程。如果我们能够知道这些流程，那我们就可以了解世界本质。

古代的人对事物的来源与本质有很多的学说。其中的一个学说就在《圣经》的第一章《创世纪》中。这个说法是说上帝以六天的时间把这个世界从无到有创造了出来。

事实上是大哲学家柏拉图引进创造代理人的这个概念的。对柏拉图而言，我们以感官所看到、接触到与经验到的世界并不是真实的，而是世界的复制。在我们能找到真正与真实的东西的世界，他称作‘理念’或‘形式’世界。这些‘理念’或‘形式’并不是被创造出来的，它们在开始时就完美地在哪里，它们会以这种状态一直存在着。

这个复制的感性世界是如何被创造的？柏拉图说原本有一个‘建筑师’，也就是那个‘造物主’把理念世界与物质放在一起，就好像雕刻家把他的理念与大理石放在一起来雕出一个塑像一样。这个‘造物主’拥有所有东西的完美理念，它也有大量的物质。可是，柏拉图并没有告诉我们这个‘造物主’与物质是如何产生的。它们原本就在哪里。

此后，很多宗教思想家尝试把宗教信仰与希腊哲学融合起来。那些把基督教义与希腊哲学融合的人就被称为‘护教论者’。对他们而言，柏拉图的‘理念’就成为上帝。上帝本身就是永恒与应遵法则，永不变的永恒的模型。他是所有理念的统一。他从无中创造了物质并用来铸造这个世界。这个世界的模型在他的理念中。

.

.

The ancient Greek philosophy that shaped the entire Western thought since its inception focused on the role of reason and inquiry. They asked many question on the nature of the universe. How did it come about? Was it created, or has it existed forever? They believed that all that we see around us must have become what it is by some process. If we know of this process, we would understand the nature of the universe.

The ancient people have had many theories of the beginning and nature of things. In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, is one of these theories. Here we are told that God created the world out of nothing in six days.

In fact, it was Plato, the great philosopher who planted the idea of agent of creation of the world. For Plato, the world which we see, touch, and experience through our senses is not real, but a copy of the world. The real world in which we find true and real things is known by him as the world of ‘ideas’ or ‘forms’. These ‘ideas’ of ‘forms’ were never created, but have existed from the very beginning in just the perfect state in which they will always exist.

How was the world of our senses created? Plato said that there was an ‘architect’, the ‘Demiurge’, who brought the ideal world and matter together just as a sculptor might bring his idea and marble together to produce a statute. This ‘Demiurge’ had perfect ideas of everything, and had a great mass of matter. However, Plato did not tell us where either ‘Demiurge’ or matter came from originally. They were just there when things began.

Since then, there were many religious-minded thinkers attempted to reconcile the religious beliefs with Greek philosophy. Those men who sought to reconcile Christianity with Greek philosophy were known as Apologists. For them the ‘ideas’ of Plato became God. God is the eternal and abiding principle in all change, the eternal pattern that never changes. He is the unity of all ideas and forms. He fashioned the world from matter which He created out of nothing. The pattern of the world is in His mind.

华人：宇宙天人合一而生 The Chinese Anthropocosmic Vision on Creativity

天人合一的观点是有关人类与环境的关系的观点。这句话包含了‘天’与‘人’。华人的传统观念中，天地之大德曰生，而生态观念就是天地人互动的天人合一的观念。生在英语就是创造。在这个观念下，超越的神灵理则与人间世界的区别是不大的。人类被理解为包含于自然，而不是在自然之上。自然界里的每一件东西都是互相依赖、互相联系、又动力与在转变中的。

一方面，由于人类概念化、解释与想象的结果，而认识到上天不可避免地是人类的。可是，另一方面，生成动力创造了存在的各种模态，上天不可能是只限于人类为中心的宇宙。

在华人的传统观念里，上天与土地关系密切，所谓天地。土地是所有生物的栖息地，土地就是它们适当的家。充足丰富的土地就是上天创造（生）的最伟大表明。在永不停息的演变中，所有存在者的各种模态都是相互联系的。

上天是属于所有物体的。它看来并没有为人类提供特别设计。严格来说，没有迹象显示上天有什么特别目的。

人的出现就有所异了。‘天人合一’思维处理上天创造（表现于宇宙流程）与人类创造（包含于上天的生命生成的转变）之间的相互作用。人类并不单单是一种生物，他们是宇宙的共同创造者。作为共同的创造者，人类以相连关系与天地一起创造和谐社会。

用《易经》的说法，宇宙从来就不是静止的，而是生生不息的过程。在不停的展开中，创造性地秩序当前的秩序，产生新的现实，并于充满不一致之中进入不断创新和谐的过程。

其含义就是，精神修行的修身养性就是模仿上天的创造。

.

.

An anthropocosmic vision is a vision of human relationship to the environment. The term anthropocosmic is a combination of ‘anthropological’ and ‘cosmic.’ The Chinese tradition emphasis the supreme virtue of heaven and earth is creativity and their idea of ecology is a kind of anthropocosmic vision of the dynamic interaction of heaven, earth and human. In this view, there is no radical split between the transcendent divine principle and the world of human. Human being is understood to be embedded in nature not dominant over nature. Everything in nature is interdependent, interrelated, dynamic and transformational.

It is, on one hand, recognition that heaven, as the result of human conceptualisation, interpretation, and imagination, is inescapably anthropological. Yet, on the other hand, as the generative force that has created all modalities of being, heaven cannot be confined to an anthropocentric picture of the universe.

In the Chinese tradition, heaven is intimately related to the story of earth. The earth, as the habitat of all known creatures, is the proper home for them. A great manifestation of heaven’s creativity is the plenitude of the earth. The sky, earth, mountains, and rivers are vital energies displaying the stupendous power of heaven’s life-generating process. All modalities of being are interconnected in this ceaseless evolution.

Heaven is for all beings. It does not seem to have a particular design for the human. Strictly speaking, there is no indication that heaven has a particular purpose in mind.

The advent of human being does make a difference. The anthropocosmic idea addresses the interplay between heaven’s creativity as expressed in the cosmological process and human’s creativity as embodied in heaven’s life-generating transformation. Human beings are not merely creatures, but co-creators of the cosmic process. As co-creators, human beings work with heaven and earth in correlative relationship to create harmonious societies.

In the language of the Book of Changes, the cosmos is never a static structure but rather a dynamic process. In its constant unfolding, it always generates new realities by creatively transforming the existing order, laden with inconsistencies, into an ever-innovating congruent process.

By implication, self-cultivation, a form of spiritual exercise, emulates heaven’s creativity.

创造神话:中西不同 Ancient West Did Not Meet East: Creation Myths

神话是人类对其所处的世界的关系所持有的最初的看法。大多的神话讲述的是人格神与女神控制人类与自然界。

对古代希腊人来说，大地母亲生产了神灵与人类。而神灵转过来控制人类与所有自然事务，包括水灾与饥荒。有了更高力量的控制，西方的世界观明显的把神灵界与人类世界分开，并产生了心灵二元的思维。

古代希腊哲学家亚里士多德把心物二元的观念深根蒂固地注入西方的思维内。他强调在学习自然世界时把个别物理元素分开来，而这个强调就把人类放在我们所处的环境的观察者的地位上，而不是世界的一部分。

但是，华人没有创造神话 - 中文里本来也没有这个词语。中国人的世界是造化，造而化之；造与化是一枚硬币的两面。

古代中国人认为人与世界不是被创造出来的，在以它们为主要构成特征的自发的、持续自我造化的宇宙并没有创造者、上帝、最终原因、或外在意志。其最高力量并不是分开的或高高在上的天上的统治者，而一切都包含在众生与万物之中。

对华人来说，并没有一个最高存在者在改变世界，改变本身是‘存在’的自然的、给定的条件，是创造的运作。神灵与人类或人类与自然界之间没有分别。它们是不可分辨的一个整体。

就是这些基本概念使到东亚人的世界观不同于西方。

.

.

Creation myths are the first real glimpses into how humanity first viewed itself in relation to the world around us. Most of these myths tell of an anthropomorphic god, goddess, or gods and goddesses that ruled over humanity and all of nature.

For the ancient Greeks, Mother Earth was the primal force giving birth to deities and human alike. These deities, in turn, ruled over the realm of humanity controlling all natural events from flood to famine. With higher powers in charge, the Western view of the world was distinctly split between the realm of the divine and the realm of humanity, with created a dualism of thoughts as well.

It was the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle who firmly entrenched this dualism of mind and matter into Western thought. He emphasised the study of the natural world into its individual physical components, and this emphasis placed humanity in the role of observer of the world around it and not necessarily as a participant of that world.

However, Chinese do not have creation myths – and there is no Chinese term for it. The Chinese world is known as Zaohua, i.e. create (zao) it and change (hua) it, creation and change are two sides of a coin.

The ancient Chinese have regarded the world and man as uncreated, as constituting the central features a spontaneously self-generating cosmos having no creator, god, ultimate cause, or will external to it. Thus, the natural world and humans are one and only part of a larger, ever-flowing continuum of creation. The supreme force was not separate and above them, as a ruling deity in heaven, but was within and without them, all encompassing and all-inclusive.

For Chinese, there was not ultimate Being bringing about change in the world, it was simply a given and natural condition of existence, the workings of creation. There was also not clear distinction between the divine and humanity or humanity and nature. They were the inseparable part of a whole.

It is this fundamental conception that sets the Chinese world view apart from that of the West.

三喜临门 Triple Blessings

新加坡的第一个赌场于这个星期天（2月14日）农历最吉祥的新年当天开幕。这是新加坡为了增加旅游收入、讨好富有旅客的重要努力。圣淘沙名胜世界在农历新年第一天吉时12时18分迎接了第一个中年妇女赌客。

以广东话来念1218，有‘易发’之意，会带来好运。第一个赌徒之后有两百多人，开幕几小时之后，有好几百人已经在外排队。开幕的第二天，在几个小时后，12时30分的时候，人潮多到当局还不得不关闭进口二个半小时。

据报道，那些已进入赌场的人，也难找到下赌注的机会，或找不到赌桌边空座，或没老虎机可玩。外面的排队人被告知要耐心等待进场，而有些在赌场内的人却不急着出去。

估计有三万五千人在开幕的头两天的乘农历新年周末假期到赌场去试他们的运气。访客中，以外国游客占大多数；新加坡公民与永久居民进场有诸多限制，包括要缴交一百新元的入场日票，或两千新元的一年通行证。

新加坡当局透露，开幕第一天到傍晚7时30分为止，已有3，248名新加坡公民与永久居民付出入场日票与122人购买了一年的通行证。就是说，在七个小时内，所得到的税收已达新币$572,000。

这个赌场的开幕是新加坡计划到2017年能吸引一千七百万旅客到访的另一个重要步骤。我们希望在农历新年与情人节的开幕是新加坡三喜临门的好预兆，并希望以后会有更多的好年头。

.

.

Singapore’s first casino, a key part of a drive to boost tourism revenue and please wealthy visitors, opened its doors on Sunday, Lunar New Year (14 Feb) - the most auspicious day of the Chinese calendar. The casino at Resorts World Sentosa welcomed its first punter - a middle aged Singaporean woman - at the auspicious time of 12:18 pm on the first day of the Lunar New Year.

When pronounced in the Cantonese dialect, 12:18 sounds like ‘striking prosperity’, which would bring good luck. The first bettor was followed by an initial crowd of about 200 enthusiastic gamblers and within hours of the opening, hundreds more were queuing up outside. On the second day of its opening, it was so packed within hours of opening that it had to shut its doors for 2.5 hours at 13.30 am.

It was reported that those already inside were having trouble placing a bit or just finding a seat at the gambling tables and slot machines. While people outside were asked to wait, some of those who were inside were in no hurry to leave.

It was estimated that more than 35,000 punters took advantage of the Chinese New Year holiday weekend to try their luck on the first two days at the casino. There were far more foreign visitors than Singaporeans and Permanent Residents (PRs), who were subject to a number of restrictions, including having to pay a one-day entry levy of $100, or $2,000 for annual pass.

The Singapore authority disclosed that as of 7.30 on the first day of its opening, 3,248 Singaporeans and PRs had forked out for the entry levy, and another 122 had purchased the annual pass. The means in seven hours, the revenue collected had reached $572,000.

The opening of the casino is another major step to realise Singapore’s grant plan to bring in 17 million tourists by 2015. We hope the opening on the Lunar New Year and valentine time day is indeed a good sign of triple blessings for Singapore and all of us have many good years ahead.