功夫：中国艺术之要素 Gongfu: The Essence of Chinese Arts

自康德以来，西方美学极力强调创意。相比之下，中国美学较强调以适应过去模式与自然浑成之熟练或完美。这种强调在中文就叫‘功夫’。

华人书法可以说是一门功夫，意思是长时间在体力与精神上训练来完成高度完美。就此而言，与其他属于功夫类的艺术如武功与剑舞没有两样。功夫的概念包含了一个很重要的信息，那就是高水平及神似的艺术只有通过长时间的训练才能达到的。

华人书法的功夫是勤勉地临摹与书写历史上大书法家的著名法书而达成的。可是，要真正精通书法这门艺术，临摹要超越模仿。好的书家要掌握笔法、了解每个字的空间逻辑、明白通篇章法原理、与知晓各个书体变化。

无可否认，英语中以‘复制’来指中文字‘摹’、‘临’与‘仿’所指的过程，实在是粗俗。实际上，临摹法书，就是以徒手临摹来感受字体、结字、章法，这样才能为个人领悟这门艺术铺平道路。

在临摹法书时，我们我们应该避免盲目重复，而要找个方法来把它们据为己有。不然，坚持以临摹来达到完美会因太过依赖过去的模式而导致停滞不前。

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In western aesthetics, since Kant, there has been a strong emphasis on originality. In contrast, Chinese aesthetics places more emphasis on mastery or perfection, both through orientation on past models and natural creativity. The Chinese term for such emphasis is known as gongfu.

The Chinese calligraphy can therefore be said to be a form of gongfu, which means that it aims at high perfection through long time physical and spiritual training. In this regard, it is often compared to other Chinese arts that the category gongfu also applies, such as martial arts, sword dance, etc. The concept of gongfu also contains an important message that high and spiritual level of the art can only be achieved after long training.

In Chinese calligraphy, the gongfu is achieved through the diligent copying and writing of famous calligraphic works of great masters in history. However, copying must move beyond imitation if the art of calligraphy is to be truly mastered. Good calligraphers must master brushwork, understand the spatial logic of individual characters, understand the principles of composition, and must be aware of stylistic variations.

Admittedly, ‘copying’ is a clumsy English word for processes that are subtly different in Chinese terminology: mo, to trace, lin, to copy freehand, and fang, to imitate in a freer manner. Indeed, the process of tracing great works, copying them freehand, and imitating them in a freer manner by experimenting script, size, and overall composition paves the way for the personal appropriation of the art.

In ‘copying’ the calligraphic works, one must therefore avoid blind repetition and find a way to make them one’s own. Otherwise, the insistence on achieving perfection through copying would lead to too much orientation on past models and therefore stagnation.

正义：法律面前，人人平等 Justice: Equality Before the Law

法律面前，人人平等，当然是启蒙时代的伟大价值。它的原理是，在相同法律之下，每个人都要遵守，没有个人及团体拥有特别权利。

虽然平等的概念含糊及理论性强，它有用于提醒人们他们的共同人性，虽然人有不同。而平等就代表正义。

西方正义的概念来自罗马希腊与基督教义的哲学传统。在罗马希腊传统中就有古老传言，‘诚实过活，不愧于人，一视同仁。’在古代希腊，他们相信正义来自社会秩序，好社会促进正义，正义促进好社会。

在政治与正义的思想上，亚里士多德与洛克是两个影响西方社会最大的学者。

根据亚里士多德(公元前384-322)，正义是自愿的。每当一个人的行为是自发自愿时，他的所做可以是公正的，也可以是不公正的。他解释说，在合法的与公正的法律下，一个人享受他所拥有的一切，那才是正义之道；而不是合法地盗用或重新分配某些人的财产于另一些人。自然与普世正义应高于或成为法律的依据。这种的正义优越于国家为政府特定的及限于需求而指定的正义。在亚里士多德的传统中，正义因人而异，对公平应公平，对不公可不公。

对洛克 (1632-1704)而言，通过自然权力，自然正义为公民正义设下了极限与方向。个人权力固然不可剥夺，可是它们却是为自然规律所限制。依洛克之见，没有个人財产，正义是不能想象的。没有个人财产，就没有正义。个人拥有是一种权利，洛克正义的要点是以自然规律为基础来保证这种权利。

作为界定美国人正义概念的美国宪法，它受到洛克的影响很大。这个宪法中一些主要的假设包括：1。每一个人都有自由与追求自己快乐的自然权力；2。政府是公民间的契约合同；3。法律依赖于公民的赞同；4。获得公民支持的政府最有可能实现正义；5。代议制政府是正义的必要的条件；6。个人必得到保护以防止政府潜在权力。

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Equality before the law was, of course, the great value of the Enlightenment. It is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws, with no individual or group having special legal privileges.

Although the concept of equality is vague and theoretical, it serves to remind people of their common humanity, despite various differences. And equality represents justice.

Western concepts of justice are derived from Greco-Roman philosophical traditions and the teachings of Christ. From Greco-Roman traditions comes the ancient maxim, ‘to live honestly, to hurt no one, to give everyone his due.’ In ancient Greece, justice was believed to be derived from the order of society - a good society fostered justice, and justice fostered a good society.

Two scholars have the most influence on the western societies in the thinking of politics and justice: Aristotle and John Locke.

According to Aristotle (384-322 BC), justice is voluntary - a man acts justly or unjustly whenever he performs his acts voluntarily. He explains that justice is the virtue through which each person enjoys his own possessions in accordance with rightful and just laws - not those that legalize theft and redistribute property from some individuals to others. Natural and universal justice should precede and form the basis for law. Such justice is superior to state-dictated justice that is special and limited to the needs of the government. Justice, in the tradition of Aristotle, means treating individuals in accordance with their deserts, treating equals equally, and treating unequals unequally.

For John Locke (1632-1704), natural justice sets the limits and provides the direction for civic justice via the concept of natural rights. Whereas individual rights are inalienable, they are nevertheless based upon, and limited by, the law of nature. According to Locke, justice is inconceivable without personal property - where there is no property, there is no justice. The essence of Lockean justice is the security of each person’s personal possessions as a right based on the law of nature.

The U.S. Constitution, a fundamental document defining the American concept of justice, is strongly influenced by John Locke. Some of the constitution’s major assumptions are: (1) An individual has a natural right to liberty and his own free pursuit of happiness; (2) Government is a contract among the governed; (3) Laws must depend on the consent of the governed; (4) Justice is most likely to be achieved when government is through the consent of the governed; (5) Representative government is necessary for justice; and (6) The individual must be protected against the potential power of government.

子曰：八佾舞於庭 Confucius Said: Having Eight Rows of Dancers to Perform in Courtyard

孔子的礼乐理论强调在扮演教育任务上，礼与乐是不能分开的，音乐与舞蹈对净化人心十分重要。礼节列明不同社会阶层，音乐则是社会不同阶层间的调节者。这种调节可以维持社会安定与达到统治者治好社会的政治目标。

在体现礼节时，我们应该以正确的态度来执行。例如，在祭拜时，我们应该诚心敬畏神灵；服丧时，我们应该真心为死者致哀。相同的，服务诸侯时，士大夫应该谦恭；管理人民时，统治者应该仁慈。如果没有了情感成分在内，礼节就变成了空洞的形式。遵守法规的行为需要以内心为依据。不然，礼节只是管制人们行为的机制而已。

礼节对于产生社会习俗的任务重大，因为它告诉人们他们对他人应有的责任以及合理的期望。形式化的行为渐渐的内化、欲望有所寄托、个人修养就成了正确的社会标志。

由于礼仪是重要的社会法规，人们以它们为准而行事。所以当孔子听到季孙氏违背礼节而以六十四个人在他的庭院中奏乐舞蹈，孔子自然不高兴。在周朝，不同阶级的人在举行祭拜市在庭中舞蹈所能用的舞蹈人数是不同的：天子有八行，每行八人、诸侯六行、大夫四行、一般官员两行。季孙氏为鲁国大夫，用六十四人，可说是粗暴地采用了专属于周王的礼节。

孔子谓季氏，「八佾舞於庭，是可忍也，孰不可忍也？」

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The Confucian theories on music and dance stressed that music and rites were indispensable in performing their education role, and that music and dance were vital in purifying people's mind. Rites set down social class differences, while music was a mediator in the society of all classes. This mediation could maintain the social stability and reach the rulers' political goal to well run the world.

In performing rites, what must be emphasised is that one has to perform them with the correct attitude. For example, when performing a sacrifice, one has to feel reverence for the spirits; when carrying out the rites of mourning, one has to feel grief for the decreased. Similarly, in serving his lord, a minister was to be respectful; in governing his people, a ruler was to be benevolent. Without this emotional component, ritual becomes a hollow performance. Acting in conformity with the rules of proper conduct requires an inner dimension for its foundation. Otherwise, ritual will only be the mechanism of regulating people’s behaviour.

Rites therefore have prominent role in the creation of social mores, as they inform people about their duties to others and also of their reasonable expectations of them. Formalized behavior becomes progressively internalized, desires are channeled and personal cultivation becomes the mark of social correctness.

Since rites are paramount social law, people have to act according to them. He was therefore very upset when he heard of Jisun family’s violation of rites by getting eight rows of dancers to perform in his courtyard. During Zhou dynasty, different ranks in society were allowed different number of dancers to perform outside the ancestral hall during memorial ceremony: the King could have eight rows of eight dancers, feudal lords six rows, minister four rows, and official two rows. The head of Jisun family officially held only the position of minister, and his use of eight rows of eight dancers thus shown an outrageous usurpation of ritual prerogatives of the Zhou king.

Confucius said of the head of the Ji family, ‘He is having eight rows of dancers to perform in his courtyard. If he can bear to do this, what may he not bear to do?’

乐统同，礼辨异 Ceremony Distinguishes the Things in Which Men Differ

古代中国社会被称为‘礼仪之邦’，因为以仪以礼为基石，就如西方社会以法治国。

中文‘礼’或‘礼仪’在古代有祭祀的意思。儒家的意思中有礼貌、礼节以至个人在社会中地位的意思。在形式上，礼仪用来辨别众人，它的应用使人任何时候都认清谁是长幼、主客等等。从内涵来说，礼仪指示各人各司其职、各安其份。

礼仪可当作把人分类的方法，它以协议及礼节来建筑阶层关系，把人分配在不同社会地位而应遵照适当的言行举止。

在孔子生活中扮演重要角色的音乐则成为例外，它超越礼仪的界线，统一内心。

荀子在《乐记》就详述礼与乐的不同。

乐也者，情之不可变也，礼也者，理之不可易者也。

乐统同，礼辨异，礼乐之说，管乎人情矣。…

天尊地卑，君臣定矣。卑高已陈，贵贱位矣。动静有常，小大殊矣。方以类聚，物以群分，则性命不同矣。在天成象，在地成形；如此，则礼者天地之别也。

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Chinese call their ancient Chinese societies ‘societies of ceremonies’, because they were based on ceremonies or rituals, just as the Western societies are based on laws.

The Chinese term ‘li’ or ‘liyi’ (ceremony, rites or ritual) previously had the meaning of ‘sacrifice’. Its Confucian meaning ranges from politeness and propriety to the understanding of each person's correct place in society. Externally, ritual is used to distinguish between people; their usage allows people to know at all times who is the younger and who the elder, who is the guest and who is the host and so forth. Internally, rites indicate to people their duty amongst others and what to expect from them.

Ritual can be seen as a means to divide people into categories, and builds hierarchical relationships through protocols and ceremonies, assigning everyone a place in society and a proper form of behaviour.

Music, which seems to have played a significant role in Confucius' life, is given as an exception, as it transcends such boundaries and ‘unifies the hearts’.

Xunzi had said in essay ‘Yueji’ (Record of Music):

In music we have the expression of feelings which do not admit of any change; in ceremonies that of principles which do not admit of any alteration.

Music embraces what all equally share; ceremony distinguishes the things in which men differ. Hence the theory of music and ceremonies embraces the whole nature of man …

(The relation) between ruler and minister was determined from a consideration of heaven (conceived of as) honourable, and earth (conceived of as) mean. The positions of noble and mean were fixed with a reference to the heights and depths displayed by the surface (of the earth). The regularity with which movement and repose follow each other (in the course of nature) led to the consideration of affairs as small and great. The different quarters (of the heavens) are grouped together, and the things (of the earth) are distinguished by their separate characteristics; and this gave rise to (the conception of) natures and their attributes and functions. In heaven there are formed its visible signs, and earth produces its (endless variety of) things; and thus it was that ceremonies were framed after the distinction, between heaven and earth.