跨文化译解困难重重

最近对东西思维(thinking)有兴趣，所以就读了些中西文化比较的书。文化思维的传递，以语文为主。我们的老祖宗很早就知道言不尽意，所以就有了“易经”来设象（现象，非文字也）以尽意。

译解不同文化的困难就更不用说了。佛教在汉末传来中国，当时就大量借用道家的词语来翻译佛经。这就叫做‘格义’。格义不但没有解决翻译的问题，反而把佛学融入了中华文化。古代交通不方便，国与国之间人们不相来往，用中国人的思维来译解佛学，印度人可没有机会来纠正。佛学融入中华文化，对他们来说，大概也无可奈何吧。

今日中西文化面对面，情况可就不同了。鸡同鸭讲，不加纠正，误会加深，文明冲突的机会大大增加，那可就不妙了。

我们可以维特根斯坦的鸭兔图来说明跨文化译解的困难。中国人画了个鸭，西方人却看见了只兔。

Wittgenstein discussed figures which can be seen and understood in two different ways. Often one can see something in a straightforward way — seeing that it is a rabbit, perhaps. But, at other times, one notices a particular aspect — seeing it as something.

An example Wittgenstein uses is the "duckrabbit", a picture that can be seen as either a duck or a rabbit. When one looks at the duck-rabbit and sees a rabbit, one is not interpreting the picture as a rabbit, but rather reporting what one sees. One just sees the picture as a rabbit. But what occurs when one sees it first as a duck, then as a rabbit? Wittgenstein isn't sure. However, he is sure that it could not be the case that the external world stays the same while an 'internal' cognitive change takes place.

语文是过滤器，把不同的思维方式变成过滤者本身耳熟能详的东西。

天就是Heaven吗？中文字典对天的解释是：天空，天然，自然，造化。读了一点中国哲学的人自然就想到天地人的天。天堂是西方人的思维。Heaven 在字典中是说：Home of God and saints; place, state, of supreme happiness. 华人可没有Heaven的观念。 中文也没有 God 的相应词。天主是天的主人；上帝为上尊老爷。这样就把华人家庭谱系的思维悄悄地引进来了。

太多的例子可举了，就说到这里吧。