蔡元培: 以美育代宗教 Cai Yuanpei: Replacing Religion With Art Education

二十世纪初，随着西方思潮的进入，中国对本身传统文化的幻灭，我们看到了一个新文化运动。
新文化运动的发展触发了对中国千年文化的质疑和重新检讨。学者呼吁以世界和西方准则来重建新中国文化。就是说，孔子教义和古代经典都要以现代内容及批评方法来重新检验。
蔡元培(1868-1940)，一个二十世纪初卓越的开放的教育者，就以他在改革传统教育和综合中西方教育思想所做的努力而著名。他的教育方针是“五育”并行 ：军国民教育（体育）、实利主义教育（智育）、公民道德教育（德育）、世界观教育（哲学观念教育）、美感教育（美育）。
西方美育的概念由王国维(1877 - 1927)，一个在哲学、文学批评、中国历史等领域的先驱人物，最先介绍到中国来。但是，蔡元培却是比较有效的推行者。他们两位都确信衰退中的古老中国制度能以现代教育来重建和更生。
蔡元培靠着他的前线行政员和著名教育家的地位，带领北京大学行政改革来展开他的信念。他的‘以美育代宗教’口号特别有名。这事实上是宗教教育在中国终止的信号，而自1949年以来，宗教教育被禁，只能在特别批准的神学院中传授。
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Around the turn of the twentieth century that featured the influx of western ideas, China witnessed a new cultural movement sprang from the disillusionment with traditional Chinese culture.
The development of the New Culture Movement promoted the questioning and re-appraisal of millennia-old Chinese values. The scholars called for the creation of a new Chinese culture based on global and western standards, especially democracy and science. That also meant there was a need for re-examination of Confucian texts and ancient classics using modern textual and critical methods.
Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940), the leading liberal educator of early twentieth-century China, was noted for his pioneering work in reforming the system of traditional education and for his efforts to synthesize Chinese and Western educational ideas. His educational policy was characterized by the unity of five types of education: military/citizenship, utilitarian, moral, a world view, and aesthetic education.

The Western notion of aesthetic education was first introduced to China by Wang Guowei (1877 - 1927), a pioneering scholar in fields as diverse as philosophy, aesthetics, literary criticism, Chinese history. However, it was more effectively promoted by Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940). Both were convinced that the declining institutions of old China could be reconstructed and revived by means of modern education.

Cai Yuanpei took advantage of his role as a front-line administrator and renowned educator who led the administrative renovation of Peking University to spread his ideas. He was especially known for his slogan of “replacing religion with aesthetic education”. This actually signals the end of religious education in China and since 1949, formal religious education is banned except in licensed schools of theology, which are usually college-level and above.

白马与桌子White Horse and Table

白马与桌子有何关联？
在中国古代，听说有一天公孙龙要出关，被关隘守卫阻挡：‘马不可过关。’公孙龙回答：‘我的马是白色的，白马非马。’他和白马都过关了。
公孙的观点是马是的绝对和永恒的名字/概念，当然和白马不同。
在西方，柏拉图以桌子来说明他著名的理念说。理念说是他最重要的哲学贡献。如果一组物体具有相同名字，那组东西就有了个理念。
所以一组物体如果都可称为桌子，那就有了桌子理念。桌子理念是永恒、不灭、普世的概念。相对来说，世间所见的桌子是可灭的，它们只不过是桌子理念的复本。
这样，两位伟大的古代哲学家在两千年前都有了理念和永恒性概念的认识，虽然他们各居千里之外。
在逻辑中，认为普遍性概念是永远没有实体的。就是说，桌子和马在世间并没有一个对应物。世间是由方桌、圆桌、白马、黑马这类个体所组成的。
过去两千多年，西方尽全力寻找理念或概念，譬如桌子理念的真意。西方哲学可适当地称为普世性哲学。他们生活在概念世界中。
在中国，学者主要兴趣不在‘马’，而是在‘白马’。中国的哲学可说是个体特殊性哲学。他们生活在万物世界中。这使我想起布莱克的那句诗：一沙见世界。
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What is the connection between a Table and a White-horse?
In ancient China, it was said that one day Gongsun Long was passing a frontier and a frontier guard stopped him and said: ‘Horses are not allowed to pass.’ Gong replied: ‘My horse is white, and white horse is not a horse.’ He was allowed to pass with his white-horse.
Gongsun’s idea is that Horse is a name/concept which is absolute and permanent, and it is obviously different from a White-horse.
In the West, Plato used Table to illustrate his famous Theory of Forms, which is said to be his most significant philosophical contribution. The idea is that if there is a set of things all of which have the same ‘name’, then there is a Form for that set.
Therefore, for any set of things to which we apply the term ‘table’, there is a single Form of table. The form of table is permanent, non-perishable and a universal concept. In contrast, the tables we see in the physical world are perishable and are mere copies of the Form of Table.
So, two great ancient philosophers arrived at almost the same concept of ideas or universality more than two thousand years ago, although they lived thousand miles away from each other.
It is accepted that in Logics, the general can never be an entity. In other words, the words ‘table’ or ‘horse’ cannot each have a single reference in the real world which consists of particular things such as square, round tables, and white, black horses.
For more than two thousand years, the West focus almost all their energy on studying the meaning of general Ideas or Concept, e.g. the Form of Table, and Western philosophy can therefore aptly be termed as the Philosophy of Universality. They live in conceptual world.
In China, the scholars’ main interest is not about the meaning of ‘horse’; rather it is about the ‘white-horse’. The Chinese philosophy is the Philosophy of (Uniqueness of) Particularity. They live in physical world. That reminds me of the line written by Blake: ‘To see a World in a Grain of Sand’.

康德：形式主义的始创者？ Kant: Founder of Formalism?

我们谈过康德美感判断的四个契机。
第一，美感是无功利的。就是说我们要先觉得一样东西美丽才产生愉快，而不是有了愉快感才认为它美丽。第二和第三，美感判断具有普遍性和必然性的。普遍性和必然性是人脑想象的产物（康德把这个想象成为‘共通感’），一件物品的漂亮并没有客观特征。第四，在美感判断中，美丽东西的本身才是决定性，并应无目的的。
他也坚持审美不涉及概念。所以说花朵，天然图形，线条植物叶群中无拘束的纠缠在一起，不象征什么，也不靠什么既定概念，可也很美。
我们可以由此得出结论：在康德美的观念中，形式至关重要。事实上，这正是康德的意思。他说：适当来讲，美的判断只关形式。就是说，当我们看到一件艺术品，一个天然物品或景物，认为它美丽的话，是基于他的形式品质，而不是感悟到的内容。
就这样，康德成为现代美学哲学里所有形式主义的创始者。
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We have noted that Kant’s aesthetic judgments have four key distinguishing features.
First, they are disinterested, meaning that we take pleasure in something because we judge it beautiful, rather than judging it beautiful because we find it pleasurable. Second and third, such judgments are both universal and necessary. Both universality and necessity are a product of features of the human mind (Kant calls these features 'common sense'), and that there is no objective property of a thing that makes it beautiful. Fourth, through aesthetic judgments, beautiful objects appear to be final without end or purpose.
He also insists that judgments of beauty do not involve concepts. It is said that flowers, free designs, lines aimlessly intertwined in each other under the name of foliage, signify nothing, do not depend on any determinate concept, and yet please.
One can therefore conclude that form seems to be of primary importance for Kant with respect to beauty. In fact, this is exactly what Kant has in mind when he says that judgment of beauty ‘should properly concern merely form.’ That is to say, when we come across a work of art, a natural object or scene and experience it to be aesthetically beautiful, this is owing to the formal qualities, not sensible content of the object.
Kant is thus the founder of all formalism in aesthetics in modern philosophy.

中庸 ：天命之謂性 Zhong Yong: What Tian Confers (on man) is called his (Human) Nature

我们说儒家把天人性化为道德的天。子思所写的‘中庸’把这个天和道联系起来：
天命之謂性，率性之謂道，修道之謂教。
第一句里的‘命’当动词解为‘给’。天所给我们的就叫性。
英语把性和自然都译为‘nature’，可是中文里这两个词在语意是没有关联的。英语 nature在西方思维里包含了中国古代所没有的超越现实。一般上，性可译为human nature。
什么叫‘率直之性’？儒家有另一个说法叫‘赤子之心’。一般观察小孩出生百日后才开始说话。在这之前，他的心是率直、纯净、清洁、无压力、自然的。这时的心就可以形容为率性。赤子之心就是道。我们要注意的是这个道为人道。人道又是一个重要的华人概念。
小孩开始说话后，他就被周围的环境和人所影响，所以孔子说：‘性相近也，习相远也。’故人需要教化以回到赤子之心的道。儒家传统，教化的过程就是修道。
道家的修道意思又不大相同，指顺其自然之道以达长生不老。
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We have said that the Confucians have extended the meaning of the Chinese word Tian to mean an ethical Tian. In Zhong Yong (The Doctrine of Mean), a book written by Zisi, Tian is linked to Dao:
What Tian confers (on man) is called his (human) nature;

Following our straightforward nature is called the Dao;

Cultivating the Dao is called education.
One should note that the word Ming (命) in the first sentence is a verb that means ‘confers’. So Tian Ming here is not to be interpreted as the Decree of Heaven.
The word Xing (性) needs clarification. Xing, ziran (自然) are both commonly translated into English as ‘nature’, but the two terms have no semantic relationship to each other in Chinese. The translation ‘nature’ has implications from Western conceptual scheme of a transcendent reality that was nonexistent in ancient China. Xing is conventionally interpreted as ‘human nature’.
What then is ‘straightforward nature’? The Confucians have another term for it called ‘The bare mind’ (赤子之心 also translated as The Pure Heart）。It is observed that a child starts to speak only about one hundred days after his birth. Before this, his mind is straightforward, pure, clear, without stress, and is as natural as it is. His mind during this period is termed a Bare Mind and it is this stage of mind that is known as Dao. One must take note that this Dao refers to the Dao of Humanity – which is another important Chinese concept.
After a child starts to talk, his mind will be influenced by his natural environment, people surrounding him, as Confucius observed: 'men are close in human nature but far apart in practice’. (The Analects, 17.2) Therefore there is a need to cultivate it back to the bare mind again.
In the Confucian tradition, the process of cultivation is known as Education ‘xiudao修道’.
The term ‘xiudao修道’ is used by the Doaists rather differently to mean the cultivation of Dao to attain immortality.

布莱克: 一沙见世界 Blake : To see a World in a Grain of Sand

‘天真的预言’是英国诗人、画家、制版者布莱克(1757 – 1827)的一首诗。据说写于1803年，可是直到1863年才发表。这首出自英国诗人之手的诗很不寻常，因为它与佛教思想颇多暗合之处，所有有人怀疑布莱克看到过或研读过译为英文的佛教经典。
这首诗有132行，充满了谬论，把纯真和邪恶、腐败相提并论。可是它的首四句却相当叙事和‘有趣’。事实上，可以说布莱克只选了这四句不含谬论和矛盾。
华人对这四句很入迷，所以有不少翻译，这里选了佚名和宗白华的翻译。
一沙见世界，一花窥天堂。

手心握无限，须臾纳永恒。
——译者不详
一沙一世界，一花一天国，

君掌盛无边，刹那含永劫。
——宗白华.
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The poem ‘Auguries of Innocence’ was written by William Blake (1757 – 1827), an English poet, painter, and printmaker. It is assumed to have been written in 1803, but was not published until 1863. This poem is unusual to be written by an English poet as it seems to resonate with Buddhist thought and world views. It is therefore suspected that Blake might have studied Buddhist scripts and was influenced by Buddhist philosophy.
The poem is 132 lines which contain a series of paradoxes which speak of innocence juxtaposed with evil and corruption. However, the first stanza of four lines is very descriptive and "pretty". In fact, one could say that they are the only lines that Blake chose to leave free of paradox and conflict.
The four lines were translated beautifully into Chinese style poem and the lines are well liked by the Chinese. Here are the first four lines of the poem:
To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

书法的意义 The Meaning of Chinese Calligraphy

中国书法是中国过去四千年以来重要与特殊的中国文化特色。它是中华四艺之一。四艺就是琴棋书画。
书法被认为是最崇高的中华文化。但是什么使它成为艺术？
英语Calligraphy 意为好的书写。但中国书法不能只当做写汉字，或当作是使汉字变得好看的一种途径。
作为一门学问，它的内容丰富，包括了字体发展，技巧法则，书法历史，书家及他们的书法遗产，书法鉴赏。这门学问范围广泛。当然，在书法学习上，重点是放在线条、笔画的节奏和速度、及体势上。
中文由线条所组成。最简单的线就是点或横画：所谓一画。随着笔画增加和更多字的发明，书法可以进一步以书写方向、起笔和落笔方式、线条外形来表达。笔画的流动要达成平衡，以令人对字有平衡状态的感觉。
虽然有无限的可能性，一切皆起于一画。这就反映了中国人几千年来所形成的中心思想：宇宙始于太一。
所以书法并不只是书学中文的技巧，也是表达感情的艺术，它包含了书家的思想与感情。在华人的脑海里，写字与宇宙的生成平行，是左右生命原理的具体化。在这个思想体系里，就如宇宙太一从混沌中一蹴而成，整个天地人亦可以一画来象征。
书法亦如绘画。这里书家以中国文字来沟通精神世界。正如千人有千面，千人亦有千种书写法。通过形式媒介，用笔之法、表象、风格皆可把书家之完整伦理、性格、情感、审美感觉和文化修养，以书法来传达给读者，并以其震撼力和美之愉悦来感染他们。
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Chinese Calligraphy has been an important and unique feature of the Chinese culture for the past 4000 years. It is one of the four critical standards for Chinese literati. The four skills are: calligraphy (shu), painting (hua), playing on a stringed musical instrument (Qin) and a strategic board game (Qi).
It is regarded as the most sublime form of art in the Chinese culture. But what makes it an art?
Calligraphy literally means “good writing”. However, Chinese calligraphy cannot be defined as just “writing” Chinese characters. Neither can it be described as a way of making Chinese characters look “more beautiful”.
As a branch of learning it is rich in content, including the evolution of writing styles, development and rules of technique, history of calligraphy, calligraphers and their inheritance in art, and evaluation of calligraphy as a work of art. This branch of learning is wide ranging. However, in learning the skills, much attention has been given to line, rhythm and speed of stroke and aggressiveness in styles.
Chinese characters are made up of strokes. The simplest stroke is a dot “Dian 點” or a horizontal stroke Yi ‘一’ which means “one.” As the number of strokes increased in each character, the possibilities began to expand and numerous characters were invented, it can be further described by the direction in which they are written, their beginning and ending characteristics and their contour. The flow of the strokes should move in such a way that they achieve balance giving the characters the impression of a temporary equilibrium.
The possibilities are endless; nevertheless, they all start from the Oneness. This reflects the concept that the universe was created from an original ‘oneness’ – a central idea in Chinese thought as it developed over the centuries.
Calligraphy is therefore not only a practical technique for writing Chinese characters, but also an emotional form of art, as it carries the thoughts and feelings of the artist. In Chinese thought, the act of writing a character is seen as parallel to the universal process of creation, and an embodiment of the principles that govern all life. In this system of beliefs, just as the universe was created from primeval form in one single stroke, so it can be expressed in one stroke that signifies the whole of nature and humanity.
It is very much like painting. It uses Chinese characters to communicate the spiritual world of the artist. Just as one thousand persons will have as many faces, one thousand persons will have as many differences in handwriting. Through the medium of form, way of handling the brush, presentation, and style, calligraphy as a work of art conveys the moral integrity, character, emotions, aesthetic feelings and culture of the artist to readers affecting them by the power of appeal and the joy of beauty.

形而上道有时间性吗？Is the Ontological Dao Before Physical Form?

我们注意到‘道’是中文里最难理解的其中的一个字。但是它是一个很重要的概念，值得经常探讨。
‘易经’里‘形而上者谓之道’可以在英文翻译为‘What is above-form is called the Dao’。问题是在英语里‘形之上’Above-form 不易理解。
另一个翻译是：What exists before physical form is called the Way.
这里Way 字没问题，因为一般对中国哲学有了解西方读者都知道这个字指‘道’。
问题是这个before 字不好理解。
一种解释是把before 解为‘无’。就是说，道是‘无形状’的。可是，这不尽然。虽然本体道不可名，可是它能变形，而且充满万物中的。
Before 也可以表示时空的次序。
在西方，时空一直是个争论性的议题。从知识论来说，时空是相对的。从本体论来说，时空是绝对的。宇宙是无限时间世界，就是说过去、现在和未来永恒存在。
中国古文没有西方时间相对应的字。‘时’多指‘时机’或‘周期性’。
把‘道’联系到时间，看来是不合理的。
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We have noted that the word Dao is one of the most difficult words to understand in the Chinese literature. But it is such an important concept that we need to re-visit it many times.
The phrase ‘形而上者谓之道’ in Yijing can be translated as ‘What is above-form is called the Dao’. The problem here is the meaning of ‘Above-form’ in English.
Here is another translation of this phrase: What exists before physical form is called the Way.
There is no problem with the word Way – as it is commonly accepted by the Western readers who are familiar with Chinese philosophy that the word Way refers to Dao.
The problem here is how to understand the word ‘before’. One interpretation is that ‘before’ can be used here to mean ‘without it’. In other words, Dao exists without physical form. But, this may not be the case. While the ontological Dao is said to be unnamable, it is also accepted that Dao is flexible and is full of everything.
The word ‘before’ may also imply the sequence in time and space.
In the West, views on space and time have been the subject of controversy. It is said that from the epistemology angle, time and space are relative. From the ontology angle, time and space are absolute and the universe is a timeless world, which means that all the past, the present and the future exist eternally.
There is no Classical Chinese word equivalent in meaning to the English word time. The term shi in Chinese used very often to mean ‘timeliness’ or ‘seasonality’.
It would therefore seem to be absurd to associate the Dao with time.

子曰：七十而从心所欲，不逾矩Confucius Said: At Seventy, I could Follow the Desires of my Mind…..

孔子的晚年心境应该是相当痛苦的。56岁后，孔子离开鲁国周游列国，希望再次找到伸展政治抱负的机会。但是，他碰到的是冷漠对待，有时还陷入困境和遇到危险。
孔子69岁回到了鲁国。回来不久，他最亲近的人连续死亡。首先，他的儿子去世，接着是得意弟子颜回。公元前481年，司马牛悲惨死去，子路亦于公元前480年死于卫国的内乱。
但孔子对自己的死亡似乎平静以待。有一次，他病得很严重，子路问可不可以为他祈祷。孔子回答：‘我自己已经祈祷很久了。’意思是说不必祈祷了，他平时的所作所为就是对天的一种祷告了。
孔子晚年主要的工作就是教书，把他的思想和智慧传授给与日俱增的学生，并通过五经（包括易经）来传递他的思想。孔子和这些述作的联系，使到这些经书成为‘儒学经典’，而孔子本身也被敬为教师、历史学者、伦理哲学家、文学学者，和其他无数在中国文化史上著名人物的精神导师。
孔子应该最清楚什么是‘不逾矩’，因为他就是道德标准的述作者。难怪他会说：‘七十而从心所欲，不逾矩’。
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The last couple of years of Confucius' life must have been bitter ones for him. At the age of 56, he left the state of Lu to travel to other states in order to see if he could advise other rulers to put his principles into practice. However, he met instead with indifference and, occasionally, severe hardship and danger.
He returned to Lu at the age of 69. Shortly after his return, he met with a number of deaths among his close associates. First his son died, and then his favourite disciple Yen Hui. Sima Niu, had a tragic death in 481 BC, and Zilu was killed in the civil war of Wei in 480 BC.
However, Confucius seemed to face his own death calmly. Once when he was very ill, Zilu asked if he could pray for him. The master responded, "My praying has been for a long time." What he meant was that the deeds of his life had been his prayer to Heaven, there was no need to pray for him.
Confucius spent the last years of his life teaching, spreading his thoughts and wisdom to his growing number of disciples and transmitting his words through a set of books called Five Classics, which include Yijing, the Book of Changes. Confucius' traditional association with these works led them and related texts to be revered as the “Confucian Classics” and made Confucius himself the spiritual ancestor of later teachers, historians, moral philosophers, literary scholars, and countless others whose lives and works figure prominently in Chinese intellectual history.
Confucius must have known clearly the boundaries of what is right since the moral standards were interpreted and set by him. No wonder he said, ‘At seventy I could follow the desires of my mind without overstepping the boundaries of what is right.’

西方：中国礼节大争论 The Great Chinese Rites Controversy

我们注意到中国人基本上是非宗教的。我相信利玛窦神父在1581年抵达中国后就持有这个想法。
西方传教士主要目的是传教，但他们有个难题。中国中坚分子都属于儒家，一种源自孔子学说的实践哲学。而礼节是儒家的重心。
利玛窦很快就认定儒家不是宗教，而是为了社会之好而有的哲学。他观察到人们并没有以祷告来祭拜孔子，也没有向他要求什么。中国的礼节是社会礼节而不是宗教仪式，故入教者应该可以继续参与这些仪式。
十七世纪初，利玛窦的政策遇到了反对意见。St Marie 就是其中著名的反对者。他于1633年抵达中国，只住了三年。他要求所有入教者都应该放弃本身‘异教’思想信仰。St Marie 以他们在美洲成功的改变了美洲文化来证明他们的方法正确。
1707 年，Maigrot，一个极力反对中国礼节和对中国文化与语文了解不深的大主教在与康熙皇帝见面时，质疑康熙对中国词语的知识。康熙大为厌恶，明确地表明孔子的学说就是中华帝国的教义，如果传道者要留在中国，是不能被改变它的。
西方反对中国礼节的浪潮，在1715年达到了一个高点。那年教会禁止所有基督教徒实行中国礼节。到了1742年，基督教在中国被禁，西方人被驱逐，中西交流几乎停顿，直到1940年代。
2001年，教宗保罗二世承认天主教会过去在与中国交往上犯了错误，并形容利玛窦神父为中西，欧洲复兴文艺与中国文化，优秀的古中国文明与欧洲之间的珍贵的链节。
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We have noted that the Chinese people are basically non-religious. I suppose this was also what Father Matteo Ricci had in mind after he arrived in China in 1581.
The primary goal of the Jesuits was to spread Catholicism, but here they had a problem. The Chinese elite were attached to Confucianism, a practical philosophy derived from the teachings of Confucius. And ritual is central to Confucianism.
Ricci quickly determined that Confucianism was not a religion, but more like a philosophy which existed for the good of society. He observed that Confucius was not worshipped as the Chinese did not recite any prayers nor ask for any favour from him. The Chinese rites were social, not religious, ceremonies, and that converts should be allowed to continue to participate.
The opposition of Ricci’s policies started to appear in early 17th century. One of the prominent opponents was St Marie, who arrived in 1633 and spent only three years in China. He demanded total renunciation of native ‘pagan’ beliefs by all converts. St Marie pointed to their success in the Americans in the conversion of whole cultures as proof of their method.
In 1707, Bishop Charles Maigrot, who was deadly against Chinese rites and who knew very little about the Chinese culture and their language, challenged the emperor Kangxi’s knowledge of the meaning of Chinese terms in his meeting with the emperor. The emperor was disgusted, and made clear that the Doctrine of Confucius was the teaching of the Chinese empire, and it could not be touched if one wished that the missionaries remain in China.
The wave of anti-Chinese rites reached its high point in 1715 when the Church forbade Christians to practice Chinese rites. By 1742, Christianity was banned in China, Westerners expelled, and exchanges between China and the West virtually stopped until the 1940s.
In 2001, Pope John Paul II acknowledged the past errors of the Catholic Church in its relations with China and described Father Ricci as ‘a precious connecting link between West and East, between European Renaissance culture and Chinese culture, and between the ancient and magnificent Chinese civilization and the world of Europe.’

中国无哲学：都是中国文字的错 The Unphilisophical Language of the Chinese Writing System

德国哲学家莱布尼兹 (1646 – 1716) 曾经称呼中国人为另一个星球的人：‘他们的语文和文字，生活方式，艺术才干，制品，甚至他们的游戏都和我们不同，好像他们来自另一个星球。他们的习规，就算是单纯而详尽的叙述，比起许多学者紧抱着的希腊罗马礼节和激励的知识，都可能给我们有实质和有用的察悟。’他认为中国文字本身已类似思维分析。
但是，中国的魅力在西方只维持了两个世纪。到了十八世纪末，中国形象完全改变。法国大革命 (1789–1799) 后，中国思想已完全被视为负面。
中国语文被认为是‘非哲学’的，因为它缺乏文法。黑格尔 (1770 - 1831) 就明确的说拼音文字系统是比较聪明的书写形式。因此他批评莱布尼兹，说比起拼音书写，象形文字的短处是它被‘感官-实形’所困，只有拼音文字才能捕捉抽象和形式。
就算近代文字的比较研究，西方结论也认为中国文字书写的图像痕迹把思维困于俗世之中，而拼音书写系统的表象可构成‘超越’，而超越正是西方哲学中最主要的本体论概念。

正如尼采所说：这就是所谓的西方的偏见。
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Leibniz (1646 – 1716), the Germen philosopher had labelled the Chinese as “people of another globe”: “Their language and their character, their way of life, their artistry and their manufactures, and even their games are so different from ours that it seems as if they were people from another globe; it may very well be possible that even a simple, yet detailed description of their practices will give us more substantial and useful insights than the knowledge of the rites and incitements of the Greeks and Romans, to which so many scholars cling.” And he thought that the Chinese script is “comparable to the analysis of thought”.
However, the West’s fascination with China lasted in Europe only for two centuries, and by early 18th century, the image of China had changed completely. By the end of the French Revolution (1789–1799), the Chinese thought per se were perceived in a thoroughly negative way.
And the Chinese language is said to be an “unphilosophical” language due to its lack of grammar. Hegel (1770 - 1831) explicitly argued that ‘the alphabetical writing system is in and of itself the more intelligent form of writing.’ He therefore criticized Leibniz, saying the main disadvantage of pictography – in comparison to alphabetical writing – was that the essence of the former is bound to the “sensuous-concrete”, while only the latter manages to capture the abstract and the formal.
Even modern comparative studies of language conclude that the pictorial traces of Chinese writing keep the thought in the realm of “worldliness” while it is the very lack of pictorial representation within the alphabetic writing system that constitutes “transcendence”， which is the most important ontological concept in the Western philosophy.

As Nietzsche said: This is the bias of the occident.

非常新加坡人，但还保存印度人特色 Fully Singaporean Yet retaining their Indian-ness….

看到海峡时报对‘全球印度人’的报道，令我十分鼓舞。（海峡时报，十月十日）
作者这样说新加坡的印度人：‘成功，活跃于社区，非常新加坡人，但还保存印度人特色。’
为这么这些成功人士会选择新加坡为他们的永久家园？银行家沙马说这是因为‘新加坡是治理、成长和生活方式的好模式。’
舒适生活方式显然很重要。说到生活方式，令我想起囉喏，这是一盘在新加坡常见的水果加蔬菜的菜式。囉喏是马来字指混合物。亦在日常用语中指杂混，又特指新加坡多元文化社会的特性。
我们注意到华人的世界观里偏向独特性多于统一性。就是说不期望组成分子改变本身的生活方式，故其独特性得以保存。这就是独特新加坡的方式：接受多样性，和寻找共同点。
希望可以听到更多人说：‘非常新加坡人，但还保存马来人特色’ ；‘非常新加坡人，但还保存华人特色’。
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I am very encouraged on reading The Straits Times’ report about ‘Global Indians’ in Singapore. (The Straits Times, 10 Oct.) This is what the writer Lee Siew Hua says about Indians in Singapore: ‘Successful, active in the community, fully Singaporean yet retaining their Indian-ness.’
Why do these successful people choose Singapore as their permanent home? Banker Deepak Sharma says this is because ‘Singapore is a great model of Governance, growth and lifestyle. ‘
And, a comfortable lifestyle is obviously important. Talk about lifestyle, it reminds me of Rojak, which is a fruit and vegetable dish commonly found in Singapore. The term Rojak is Malay for mixture, is also used as a colloquial expression for an eclectic mix, and in particular is often used to describe the multi-ethnic character of Singapore society.
We have noted that in the Chinese world view, ‘uniqueness’ is preferred over ‘unity’; which means the constituent components are not expected to change their own way of life and thus could retain their uniqueness. This is exactly the uniquely Singapore way: accept diversity, seek commonalities.
I hope we will hear more people say ‘fully Singaporean yet retaining their Malay-ness….’; ‘fully Singaporean yet retaining their Chinese-ness….’

东西方思维：独特性与统一性 East & West: Uniqueness vs Unity

我们已经注意到华人的思维是联想式的，或者说是审美式的。这种思维方式中，界定世界秩序的组成分子保存其独特性。这是因为在这个秩序里，并没有超越原理可以把这些组成分子统一起来。
而在西方的理性思维中，统一性的概念备受注重。就是说，组成分子失去了其独特性。
所以郝大维与安乐哲在‘期待中国’这本书中说：
在古代西方形而上学中，遇到统一性与独特性的模棱两可情况下，偏向选择统一性。因此，早期对于单一秩序宇宙提出了各种各样的概念的有条理的哲学家，在其任何的概念中，组成世界的众多现象都是按照统一的原理来解释的。这些原理决定了世界事务的本质。
古典时期的中国人对世界秩序的思索中，遇到统一性与独特性的模棱两可情况下，偏向选择独特性。所以无名的道产生了‘一’，由此繁殖。古代中国自然哲学中不要求一个单一秩序的宇宙。
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We have noted that the Chinese way of thinking can be described as correlative, or aesthetic. In this way of thinking, it is said that the particular individuals defining the world order are said to be unique. This is because in this order, there is no transcendent principle by which its constituent particulars can be called to be unified.
On the other hand, the concept of ‘unity’ is emphasised in the Western rational way of thinking. That means the constituent particulars will not retain their uniqueness.
Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall therefore said in the book Anticipating China:
In classical Western metaphysics, the equivocation between ‘unity’ and ‘uniqueness’ is resolved in favour of ‘unity’. Thus in any of the various conceptions of a single-ordered universe assumed by the early systematic philosophers, the many phenomena comprising the world are defined in accordance with unifying principles which determine the essential realty of the things of the world.
In classical Chinese reflections on world order, the equivocation between ‘unity’ and ‘uniqueness’ is resolved in favour of ‘uniqueness’. Hence, the nameless dao engenders an individual ‘one’ which proliferates. The natural philosophy of classical China does not require a single-ordered world.

华人的联想思维 The Chinese Correlative Thinking

郝大维与安乐哲解释联想思维的意思：
华人思考时，惯用一种类比形式，我们可称之为联想思维。联想思维在中国古典宇宙学（易经，道家，阴阳家）和古典希腊都可找到；在希腊，这种思维是次要的，用在联系图像或者一组概念时，宁做有意义处置而不考虑实体因果。
联想思维是一种自发思维，基于非正式和特定类比程序，并以联系和区别为前提。这个思维模式的调整元素是文化与传统的共构，而不是因果必然性中的一般假设。
联想思维相对的不注重逻辑分析，就意味着能够把影像及隐喻关联的含糊性，暧昧性和不连贯性带进正式思维的成分中。事实上，这些混乱因素对正在决定中的联想秩序有正面价值，那就是提供拟人化和自我复现的机会。
理性思维注重用字明确，不含二意。与此相比，联想思维则把重点联系到那些已被认为不能再分成更小的元素有意义合成的影像组合。…..
….. 老师老子比他年轻的学生聪明，所以在这方面把学生比下去了。老子是阳，学生是阴。可是学生的体格比老师强壮，所以体力健壮的学生是阳，而老子是阴。当这些用来界定关系的各种强点和弱点可以平衡到适当点时，人际关系达到最有效，最和谐的状态。
从这个说明可以看出，阴和阳不能被理解为宇宙原理或者是根源于事物本质的本体对照物。反之，它们是启发性的，可以帮我们理解和记述世界的特征，并以不同方式来具体的体验它。
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Roger T. Ames and David L. Hall explain the meaning of correlative thinking:
Chinese thinking depends upon a species of analogy which may be called ‘correlative thinking’. Correlative thinking, as it is found both in classical Chinese ‘cosmologies’ (the Yijing - Book of Changes, Daoism, the Yin–Yang school) and, less importantly, among the classical Greeks involves the association of image or concept-clusters related by meaningful disposition rather than physical causation. Correlative thinking is a species of spontaneous thinking grounded in informal and ad hoc analogical procedures presupposing both association and differentiation. The regulative element in this modality of thinking is shared patterns of culture and tradition rather than common assumptions about causal necessity.
The relative indifference of correlative thinking to logical analysis means that the ambiguity, vagueness and incoherence associable with images and metaphors are carried over into the more formal elements of thought. In fact, the chaotic factor in the underdetermined correlative order has a positive value as an opportunity for personalization and self-construal.
In contradistinction to the rational mode of thinking which privileges univocity, correlative thinking involves the association of significances into clustered images which are treated as meaning complexes ultimately unanalyzable into any more basic components …..
….. The old teacher, Laozi, is wiser than his young student and hence ‘overshadows’ him in this respect. Laozi is yang and the student is yin. The student, however, is stronger physically than the old master, and hence in physical prowess the student is yang to Laozi’s yin. When these various strengths and weaknesses defining the relationship can be balanced to maximum effect, the relationship is most productive and harmonious.
It is clear from this illustration that yang and yin are by no means to be understood as ‘cosmic principles’ or ontological contrasts rooted in the very nature of things. Rather, they are heuristics helpful in reading and characterizing the world as concretely experienced in a variety of ways.

蔡文姬: 胡笳十八拍 Cai Wenji: Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute

蔡文姬(177-?) 是东漢代文學家和书法家蔡邕(AD 133-192)的女儿，博学有才，通音律和书法。
蔡文姬一生坎坷。汉末，兵荒马乱，蔡被胡兵所俘，在胡境住了十二年，嫁给匈奴左賢王，生二子。
因为蔡父蔡邕年老孤独，汉丞相曹操以重金给左賢王，将她赎还。回乡后，对还留在胡境内的二子思念不断，加上怀念儿时无忧无虑的生活，只有以诗来抒情。她的诗悲憤哀伤，反映她悲苦的一生。
今传她遗留诗三首。《悲愤诗》二篇，描述游牧生活。另一篇《胡笳十八拍》，反映痛苦一生和思子之情，虽然学者对这首诗是不是出自蔡之笔，还有争论。
这首诗直接和热情的反映了一个妇女的心声，这样的古诗是很不寻常的。直到现在，这首著名的曲调还是古琴演奏会中的名曲之一。
胡笳十八拍的第一拍：
我生之初尚无为，我生之后汉祚衰。
天不仁兮降乱离，地不仁兮使我逢此时。
干戈日寻兮道路危，民卒流亡兮共哀悲。
烟尘蔽野兮胡虏盛，志意乖兮节义亏。
对殊俗兮非我宜，遭恶辱兮当告谁？
笳一会兮琴一拍，心愤怨兮无人知。
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Cai Wenji (AD 177 - ?) was the daughter of Cai Yong (AD 133-192), a famous scholar and calligrapher of Eastern Han. She was a learned scholar, also proficient in music and calligraphy.
Cai Wenji had led a turbulent life. Towards the end of the Han era, the country was thrown into turmoil. Cai Wenji was captured by Hu troops and carried off to their city. She lived in the Hu territory for twelve years as the concubine of a Xiongnu prince, named Zuoxian and bore him two sons.
Sensing Cai Yong's loneliness, the Prime Minister Cao Cao sent precious gifts to Prince Zuoxian in exchange for Cai Wenji. However, she constantly longed for the two sons she left behind in the Hu region after returning to her homeland. She was also haunted by thoughts of her carefree childhood. Poetry was her consolation and her poems were noted for their sorrowful tone, parallel to her hard life.
Three poems are said to be written by her. Two named ‘Poem of Sorrow and Anger’ (悲憤詩) are narrative poems describing her life with the nomads. The third and most influential is the one that is known as ‘Eighteen Songs of a Nomad Flute’ (胡笳十八拍). The poem is a perfect reflection of her rough life and her deep yearning for her children, although its authorship is a perennial issue for scholarly debate.
The poem is unusual for early poetry because of its direct, passionately expressed identity of the woman’s voice. Until now, this famous melody is still one of the repertoires of Guqin concerts.
The first song:
"At the time of my birth, the land was at peace,

But later, the Han Dynasty fell into decline.

Heaven is unkind, allowing wars, suffering, separation;

Earth is unkind, that I should have to live at such a time.

Weapons of war are everywhere, making the roads perilous.

Soldiers and people fleeing to exile, suffering together.

The land, billowing clouds of smoke and dust, is a prisoner of the Hu.

Integrity and willpower have disappeared.

I cannot accept the vulgar barbarous customs,

Humiliated and abused, to whom can I turn?

I sing to my hujia and qin,

But no one knows my anger and my grief."

易经：六爻之动，三极之道也 Yijing: The Six Lines and Three Powers

易经说：六爻之动，三极之道也 。
什么是三极呢？三极就是天，地和人，而天地人正是华人的宇宙观。
天地有没有缺陷呢？当然有，不然我们就不会受苦受难了。所以人要为生存而奋斗。天地有缺陷，所以人生才有价值。
人生的价值就是要‘叁赞天地之化育’。叁赞就是弥补的意思，弥补天地的化育之不足。
再谈六爻。
我们都知道，易经讲的是阴阳之道，这就是庄子所说的：‘易以道阴阳’。
对华人来说，阴阳是重要的，老子说过：‘万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和。’
易经里，线代表阴阳爻。实线代表阳，虚线代表阴。上曰天，下曰地，中间就是人，各据二位置，共为六爻。所以天地人一动，就是六爻。六爻互动，这就是天地人之道了。
那个推行罢黜百家，独尊儒术的汉代儒者董仲舒总结说：天生之，地养之，人成之。
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Yijing says: The movements which take place in the six lines (six places of the hexagram) show the course of the three powers in their perfect operations.
What are the three powers? They are Tian (heaven), Di (earth) and Ren (humanity), which we have noted that they form the Chinese view of a three-tier universe.
Is the universe (tian-di) perfect? Obviously, it is not and that is why we suffer so much in life. We also have to fight constantly for our survival.
Now, this is where the Chinese see the value in life, which is to be able to ‘assist the transforming and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth.’ Our life becomes meaningful only because the world is imperfect.
What are the six lines of the hexagram in the Yijing?
As Zhuanzi said, ‘Yijing is to show the action of the Yin and Yang.’
The Chinese always view the Yin and Yang seriously. Laozi said: ‘The myriad things contain Yin and Yang as vital forces, which achieve harmony through their interactions.’
In Yijing, the solid line of the hexagram represents yang and the broken line Yin. Tian is at the top, Di at the bottom and Ren in the middle and each occupies two positions. When any or all of the six lines move and interact, the world and people must act and interact accordingly, and that is the Way of Tian, Di and Ren.
The Confucian scholar Dong Zhongshu who was responsible for establishing Confucianism as the theoretical foundation of the imperial state during the Han dynasty (206 BC - 221 AD) summarised: ‘Heaven gives birth to things and instils people with moral inclinations; Earth nourishes things and provides for their material needs; and Humanity completes or perfects all things by maintaining proper patterning (i.e., through rites and music).’

一个假设的代价 The Price of An Assumption

王赓武教授在一篇题为‘一个假设的代价’的文章里说：（海峡时报，10 月1 日）
很明显的，美国财经界需要多些法规。中国的制造业界也肯定需要多些谨慎法规。看来是时候停止把世界划分为自由和非自由，视一为好而另一为坏了。大家所面对的问题是如何建立一个更有效的法规机制.....
壮丽的北京奥运结束不久，中国就面对毒奶丑闻与其食品的国际市场受到威胁。差不多同时，美国财经界魔咒般威胁严峻经济不景气的到来.....
几个星期以来，这两个国家共占新闻头条的事实，应令我们停下并问，是不是看起来像完全相反的意识观点都已经让位给与日俱增的含糊妥协了.....
中国和美国都认为删除法规体制是经济成长的秘密武器。他们都为这个假设付出了昂贵的代价.....
..... 如果活性法规是两国所需要的，正是时候问一问：对法规情况而言，资本主义者和社会主义者有无不同.....
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Extracted from Prof Wang Gunwu’s article entitled ‘The Price of An Assumption’:
(The Straits Times, 1 Oct 2008)
‘The need for more regulation in American financial services is obvious. More careful regulation is also certainly needed for Chinese manufacturing sector. The time may have come to stop dividing the world into free and unfree, painting one as good and the other as bad. The problem for everyone is how to build a more effective regulatory system……….
Soon after the end of the splendid Beijing Olympics, China faced the scandal of contaminated milk and the international market for its food products was threatened. About the same time, the US financial system conjured up threats of a severe recession……….
….. the fact that the two have shared news headlines for several weeks now should make us pause, if only to ask seemingly diametrically opposed ideological positions are not giving ways to increasingly blurred compromises…….
China and the US both believed that removing regulatory regimes was the secret of economic growth. Both are paying a very high price for that assumption…..
….. if it is active regulation that both needed, it is time to ask if capitalists and socialists are different where regulatory conditions are concerned……..’