华人的一个世界的世界观 The Chinese One-World Worldview

我们已经注意到华人世界观的基本假设是只有一个连续的、具体的世界，这个世界是我们所有经验的来源与所在地。作为一个最古老的活文明，中国继续运用这个整体得、有机的世界观。它不但渗透它的历史，也渗透它的文化本质、社会与社会关系。

一个世界的世界观意味着，由于只有一个世界，创造之能源就在这个世界本身中，这个世界的秩序与规则的依据并不来自或为某些独立的活跃的力量所施给，而是存在于这个世界，并成为其重新建构的来源。变化与连续性同样是真实的。这个世界就是它自己的动力因。

在缺乏外来作用的原创行动下，没有统领宇宙变化的最后目的的这种假设。由于我们不能置身于作这个世界之外，每一种东西（人与事物）都置于某一位置而被观视，所以，与其置身的位置连续的每一件东西都相互关联，并互为界定。在这种情况下，没有两样东西是相同的，有些安置会比另一些安置来的更有创意性。每一种东西都是独特的。

所以，对生命与宇宙的了解形成一个单一连续体，包含了一切，从宇宙的结构，到季节变化，到人与人之间关系的运作。用《大学》的话，就是：‘物有本末，事有终始，知所先后，则近道矣。’

自然与人为条件是没有明显分别的，它们全部都能自由地栽培、连贯与操纵。人生经验的目的就是要协调那些组成一个人在此时此地的世界的元素，并从中取得最有效的和谐。

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We have noted that the basic assumption of the Chinese worldview is that there is only one continuous, concrete world that is the source and locus of all our experience. As the oldest living civilization, China continues to operate from this wholistic, organic worldview. Not only does this view permeate their history, it permeates the very nature of their culture, society, and social relations.

This one-world worldview also means that, since there is only one world, the energy of creativity resides in the world itself, and that the order and regularity this world evidences are not derived from or imposed upon by some independent, activating power, but inhere on the world as a source of reconstrual. Change and continuity are equally real. The world is the efficient cause of itself.

In the absence of an initial creative act by an external agent, there is no assumed final purpose of goal that governs changes in the universe. Since we cannot get outside of this world, each and every thing (person or event) is perceived from some position or another, and hence is continuous with the position that entertains it, each thing is related to and a defining condition of every other. In such a situation, no two things are the same, and some dispositions are more fruitfully creative than others. All things are unique.

Therefore, the understanding of life and the universe forms a singular continuity embracing everything from the structure of the universe to the changing of the seasons to the workings of human relations. To borrow a passage from the Great Learning, ‘Things have their root and their branches. Affairs have their end and their beginning. To know what is first and what is last will lead us near to what is known as Dao (the Way).’

There is no firm distinction made between natural and man-made conditions – they are all open to cultivation, articulation and manipulation. The purpose of human experience is to coordinate the various ingredients that constitute one’s particular world here and now, and to negotiate the most productive harmony out of them.