审美：必然性的愉快 Aesthetic Judgment: Necessary Delight

这是个不容易理解的概念。
美对愉快感具有必然性的关系。但是这种必然性不是理论性和客观性的。这种必然性是特别的，只能称为例证式的。简言之，我的判断只是审美普世规律中的一个例子。
如果我们不能以理性或认知来表示美的原理，那我们又怎能向别人传达审美的必然构成呢？以康德之见，那要看判断的必然性的依据是什么。就是说，我们对审美者的期待是什么？
康德把这个依据称为‘共通感’- 这是我们对美的感觉，也就是我们审美力的先验才能。换句话说，我们要假设每一个人都有‘共通感’，就是这个‘共通感’使我们可以传达主观的审美。这并不说每个人会同意我的判断，而是每个人理当赞同我的判断。
我们都知二加二等于四。我们假设当我们传达时这个信息时，其他人都明白或者说理当明白这个普世真理。相同的，我们也可以假设每人都有‘共通感’来接受我们传达主观的审美。
因此，康德说：‘撇开概念，美可以被认为是对审美对象的必然性的愉快的认知。’
注：共通感，英语common sense，就是常识。可是康德这里并不是指常识，而是说经验之外的知识。
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This is a difficult subject.
There is something about the beautiful that leads to a necessary reference on its part to delight, pleasure. The necessity which combines the judgment of the beautiful with delight is neither a theoretical nor a practical necessity. It is a necessity of a special kind and can only be termed exemplary. My aesthetic judgment, in short, is an example of a universal rule regarding beauty.
If we cannot formulate the principle of beauty in a rational or cognitive form, how is it possible for us to communicate to others the necessary components of the judgment of the beautiful? According to Kant, it depends on what is it that the necessity of the judgment is grounded upon; that is, what does it say about those who judge?
Kant called the ground 'common sense', by which he meant the a priori principle of our taste, that is, of our feeling for the beautiful. In other words, we must assume that there is a common sense in everyone to which we can communicate the subjective judgment of the beautiful. This does not mean that everyone will agree with my judgment, but rather everyone ought to agree with it.
We all know two plus two equals four. We can assume when we communicate this that other must understand this universal truth. So we also can assume that there is a common sense in everyone to which we can communicate the subjective judgment of the beautiful.
For this reason Kant says that ‘The beautiful is that which, apart from a concept, is cognized as an object of necessary delight.’
Note: 'Common Sense' here does not mean general knowledge about everyday things.

谈天 Tan Tian: Let’s Chat

英文把天译为天堂，是值得澄清的。
天是中国宇宙学里最早用的一个字，也是中国神话，哲学里一个重要概念。据说天最早用于周朝，是指最高的天神。周朝为了说明其篡夺天下的正当性，而提出了天命的政治说辞，是说当一个统治者无道，他就应该被上天所指定的人来取而代之。
我们不难了解帝皇为什么要自称天子，或天神之子了。
孔子和他的弟子把天的概念延伸为人性化的道德之天，天为最高道德标准。中庸里首句‘天命之謂性’就是这个天。
老子则把天放到道之后：‘有物混成，先天地生…….吾不知其名，故强字之曰道。’这就把天还回凡俗，而超自然力量的天神也就从中国文化中被排除了。
中国的天与西方的天堂概念是不同的。天堂为了翻译英文Heaven才有的一个新的中文名词。
天加其他字又有新意，如天空，天性，天体，等等。
中国哲学常把天和互补的地合为天地 – 这就是我们的物质世界和宇宙。
再加上人，就形成了华人宇宙观的三才：天地人。
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The word Tian, which is usually translated as Heaven in English, needs clarification.
The Chinese word Tian is one of the oldest Chinese terms for the cosmos and a key concept in Chinese mythology, philosophy. Apparently Tian was first used during Zhou dynasty to refer to the highest deity. Zhou developed a political theory to justify their usurpation of the emperorship in a doctrine called Tian Ming, or the mandate of the highest deity, which is usually translated as the ‘Mandate of Heaven’ in English.
According to the Mandate of Heaven, whenever a ruler was no longer worthy of his position, he would be deposed and replaced by a ruler more favored by divine powers.
One can understand why emperors in China had decided to call themselves Tianzi, or the son of the highest deity.
Confucius and his disciples extended its meaning to mean an ethical Tian, that is, one having a moral principle and which is the highest principle of the universe. This is the sort of Tian which the book Zhong Yong (Doctrine of the Mean) refers to in its opening sentence when it says: ‘What Tian confers (on man) is called his nature.’
Laozi put Dao before Tian when he said: ‘There was something undifferentiated and all-embracing, which existed before Tian and Di (地 earth)….. I do not know its name, and hence call it Dao.’ With this, Tian is back to the terrestrial world and thus the mighty supernatural god is eliminated from the Chinese cultural context.
The Chinese concept of Tian is therefore different from the concept of the western Heaven. When the original English word Heaven is translated into Chinese, a new Chinese term Tian Tang (堂 hall) is used.
However, when Tian is combined with other Chinese words, the meaning may change accordingly. For example, Tian Kong (空empty, air) means the sky, Tian Xin(性 nature), inborn nature, Tian Ti (体 form, system), celestial phenomena, etc.
In Chinese philosophy, the term Tian is usually mentioned in relationship to its complementary aspect of Di (地), which is most often translated as "Earth". Put these two words together, the term Tian-Di actually means the terrestrial world, the universe. Together with Humanity (ren 人), the Chinese have therefore conceived a three-tier universe – tian, di (earth) and ren (humanity).

理性主义： 因果性思维 Rationalism: Causal Thinking

理性主义是指醉心于把推理当做可以作为知识来源，或者以推理来辩解事物。
不同程度上去应用理性方法和理论，会导致不同的理性主义的立场。从温和立场认为推理应该居先于其他获取知识的方法，到急进立场认为推理是唯一的获取知识之道的。
郝大维与安乐哲认为因果思维是理性主义的主要特征，而这种因果思维一直支配着古典西方。因果思维的前提有以下几点：
1。用混乱说来解释万物的起源，就是说万物的起源是虚无，分离或困惑。
2。把宇宙理解为单一秩序的世界。
3。断言静止比变化和运动居先；就是说，崇尚‘存在’而非‘变易’。
4。相信宇宙秩序是由某种中介者策动的结果。这些中介者可能是所谓的第一推动者，上帝的意志，之类。
5。明里暗地主张世界的千变万化，是被这些中介策动者所左右和决定。
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Rationalism is defined as is "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification". Different degrees of emphasis on this method or theory lead to a range of rationalist standpoints, from the moderate position "that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge" to the radical position that reason is "the unique path to knowledge" .
Hall and Ames think that one of the main characteristics of rationalism lies in causal thinking which is the mode which comes to dominate the classical West. Its presuppositions are
(1) The construal of the beginning of things in terms of “chaos” as emptiness, separation, or confusion;
(2) The understanding of “cosmos” as a single-ordered world;
(3) The assertion of the priority of rest over change and motion (alternately expressed as the preference for “being” over “becoming”);
(4) The belief that the order of the cosmos is a consequence of some agency of construal such as the Unmoved Mover, the Will of God, and so on; and, finally,
(5) The tacit or explicit claim that the states of affairs comprising “the world” are grounded in, and ultimately determined by, these agencies of construal.

子曰：六十而耳顺 Confucius Said：At Sixty I was Able to Listen to Everything Without Feeling Unhappy

子曰：六十而耳顺。
耳顺是指知天命后，个人的修行成熟，没有不顺耳之事。南怀瑾说，耳顺就是心里平静，明确是非善恶。
于丹解释说：人到了六十岁，能理解任何一件事情存在的道理，能虚心倾听各种声音。一个人要想做到耳顺，就要使自己无比辽阔，可以遇合不同高度，并以自己恒定的标准坚守在某一个高度。
另一个说法，‘耳’乃‘尔’也。顺就是“顺天命”，因先有“五十而知天命”，才能有“顺天命”。“知天命”的对于事物的处理一般是“接受结果”，还不是主动地按事物的规律性的谋取。“顺天命”当是有主动谋取的行为，但不意味着不犯错误，因为后有“七十从心所欲不逾矩”，才是不犯错误的年龄段。犯了错误而随时改正错误才可以说是“化”了，能“化解错误”，也就是“顺天命”了。
所以这句话，还是不好解。
我向往达到南怀瑾大师的心里平静境界。
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Confucius Said：At Sixty I was Able to Listen to Everything Without Feeling Unhappy
The original Chinese words used are ‘Er Shun’. Er means Ear, and Shun means Follow, Obey or Smooth, etc. So, literally, the phrase may mean follow your ear, obey your ear, etc.
I have found at least 6 ways of translating this phrase:
1. (James Legge)： At sixty, my ear was an obedient organ for the reception of truth.
2. (Arthur Waley)： At sixty, I heard them with docile ear.
3. At sixty, the heavenly principles were not offensive to my ears.
4. Since 60, I have been able to distinguish right and wrong on other people's words.
5. At sixty I was already obedient to the decree of heaven.
6. At sixty I listened to everything without feeling unhappy.

I prefer Master Nan Huai Jin(Nan Huai-Chin)’s view that when one is able to know clearly the difference between good and bad, one’s mind becomes calm, thus one is able to listen to everything without feeling unhappy.

审美不预先假设目的 Aesthetic Judgments Do Not Presuppose an End or Purpose

美有两种：自由美和依存美。自由美对物体没有假设任何的概念，而依存美则已经假设该物体应为何物的概念，并以这些概念帮我们决定该物体美不美。
审美讲的是自由美。我们只要看了花朵一眼，就能知道花儿美不美丽，而不需要借助其他和花有关的知识。这就是这花朵实质的自由美，因为不需要引进其他概念，比如花的目的，来帮我们决定它是不是漂亮。
就是说，花朵呈现给我们的是它的最后形态，而我们就依据这个最后形态来决定它美不美。就算植物学家对这朵花有很多东西要说，可是他们对花的概念和我们决定花漂不漂亮完全扯不上关系。
另一方面，如果我们说一座建筑物漂亮，因为它完美地符合了建造该建筑物的目的，这就是依存美而不是纯粹审美判断。审美判断是要基于感觉的。
所以康德说：‘美就是物体的最后形态，只要我们不以其目的来理解它。’

注：Finality, 英文亦作 purposiveness 就是合目的性。说美要无目的而合目的性，是很难理解的。
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There are two types of beauty: free beauty and dependent beauty. Free beauty presupposes no concept of what the object should be and dependent beauty presupposes a concept of what that object should be, and that concept makes it possible for us to determine whether that object is beautiful or not.
Aesthetic judgment is concerned with free beauty. We can tell whether a flower is beautiful or not just by looking at it, without a need to have further knowledge about it. We say that the flower is a free beauty of matter, as there is no other concept connected with the flower, such as its purpose, that could help to determine whether it is beautiful.
In other words, the manner in which the flower presents itself to us is final and this finality provides the basis for judgment of its beauty. That is to say, even botanists may have many things to say about the flower, their concepts have no bearing on our judgment whether the flower is beautiful.
On the other hand, when we say a building is beautiful because it meets perfectly the purpose for which it is built, we do not have a pure aesthetic judgment based solely on feeling. This is dependent beauty.

Accordingly, Kant said: ‘Beauty is the form of finality in an object, so far as perceived in it apart from the representation of an end (or purpose).’

Note: Finality is also translated as Purposiveness. However, it is difficult to understand how a thing can be purposive, yet without having a definite purpose.

程颢：闲来无事不从容 Chenghao：He Simply Enjoys What He Himself Is

这是宋朝程颢的「秋日偶成」。
闲来无事不从容，睡觉东窗日已红。

万物静观皆自得，四时佳兴与人同。

道通天地有形外，思入风云变态中。

富贵不淫贫贱乐，男儿到此是豪雄。
程颢兄弟是宋朝新儒家-理学重要人物。他们所写有关宇宙论，哲学，修身，论理，礼仪，及古典学说，影响了东亚几个世纪。
程颢乐以助人，常令人有如沐春风之感。他本人则以寻快乐为人生目标之一。他说：‘昔受学于周茂叔，每令寻求仲尼，颜子乐处，所乐何事。’他认为，圣人的快乐是内心的自然反映，所谓‘廓然而大公，物来而顺应’。所以他以己为乐。
这首「秋日偶成」正反映他的以己为乐。
一个恬淡而与世无争的人，做起任何事来都是从容不迫的。在一夜好睡之后，醒来看见天已经透亮了。
第三句里最关键的是这个「静」字。一般的人随便能够静得下来吗？在一个与世无争，心思清静的人，遇到任何变化，都能够心领神会，怡然自得。
真正宇宙的法理，是超乎天地之外，从上到下每个层次，一体贯穿，而且是无所不在的。而我们的思维，从宏观到微观，就像是风云一般，随时都有著千变万化的体悟。
第七句里的「淫」指的是动摇、改变。自己虽然身处贫贱，仍然怡然自得，不会被外界的富贵所迷惑。而人生在世，能够无欲无求，静观自得，道通天地，思入风云，又岂止是一个「豪雄」而已呢？
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Chenghao (1032–1085) and his younger brother Chengyi were two of the most important neo-Confucian thinkers of Song dynasty China, and their writings in such fields as cosmology, philosophy, self-cultivation, ethics, ritual, and classical studies influenced the course of East Asian thought for centuries.
Chenghao had a strong desire to help others and bring comfort to the common people. As for himself, searching for happiness is one of his professed aims in life. He said: ‘When we studied under Zhou Dunyi, he always asked us to find out wherein lay the happiness of Kong (Confucius) and Yanzi and what they found enjoy.’ To him, the happiness of the sage is a natural outcome of his state of mind, for which he described as ‘impersonal, impartial, and responding to things spontaneously.’ He simply enjoys what he himself is.
This poem reflects how he enjoys what he himself is in the ‘Autumn Days’.
In these late years there is nothing that comes
That is not easy and simple;
Each morning through my window shines the sun,
As I awake.
All creatures run their course in the true content,
As I calmly observe.
The pleasure of each season through the year,
I enjoy with others.
Beyond Heaven and Earth and all that has shape,
The Dao is there.
The winds and clouds above me shift and change,
My thought is there.
By riches and high estate, I am not to be polluted;
Neither poverty nor low rank can affect my happiness.
A man like this is a hero indeed.

道德就是天神 China: From Divination to Dao & Virtue

在原始社会，人们为了生存，必须永无止境地对来自大自然，疾病，死亡，和无处不在并含有恶意和魔力的精灵的威胁，进行持续挣扎。为了对付这些威胁，古人想尽法宝。这些法宝中，很多是和原始宗教、精灵、巫术有关。在中国，到了西周末期，隐含在中国人的巫术态度和习俗已经形成。‘易经’就是一本巫术之书。
有人说，老子所说的道其实源自天道和天命，这两个观念原本都和原始巫术有关联。老子以‘道’取代了中国古人所崇拜的超自然存在者。
亦有人说，孔子把‘易经’的巫术内容传变为哲学名作，而作为儒学的导创者，他把原始文化，礼仪和音乐带入了理性实践。在这个过程中，伦理之善与行为取代了至上力量，人的德行和努力取代了个人力量。换句话说，道德就是天神。
所以，孔子把原本用来服侍天神的礼节转换为服侍人类。
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People in primal societies frequently view as an unending series of terrifying encounters on a constant struggle for survival against threats from nature, diseases, death, and above all else, malicious or demonic spirits that pervade everything. To overcome these threats, ancient people developed a wide range of strategies. Most of these strategies were closely associated with primal religions, animism and shamanism. In China, towards the end of the Western Zhou period, ideas implicit in the Chinese attitudes and practices of Shamanism were articulated. Yijing is one of those classical books on Chinese divination.
It is said that Laozi’s notion of Dao may have been derived from two pre-existing terms known as tiandao (the Way of Heaven) and tianming (the Decree of Heaven), which seem to be associated with primitive shamanism. Laozi’s concept of the Dao may have been a substitution for a supernatural being worshiped by the ancient Chinese.
It is also said that Confucius transformed the Yijing from a divination text into a philosophical masterpiece, and as a progenitor of Confucianism, he redefined primitive culture, rites and music by bringing them into the domain of ‘practical rationality’. In doing so, the supreme power was replaced with the notion of moral good and deeds, the personal power was supplanted by human virtue and human effort, and moral was the god in another sense.
Thus, Confucius turned the rites, which formally served and were subordinate to gods, to the service of human being.

物极必反 No Extreme will Hold Long

华人看世界，‘变动’是个重要的观念。所以，华人哲学习惯于万物‘变易’的观念，而西方则一直为‘存在’这个概念所牵制。
万物变动的最基本规律就是‘物极必反’的观念。
易经中对自然现象变动的观察就隐含了物极必反的观念：“日往则月来，月往则日来，日月相推而明生焉。寒往则暑来，暑往则寒来，寒暑相推而岁成焉。”
易经乾卦上九所说‘亢龙有悔’就是警告个人自我膨胀到极点，会险峻摔倒。就是说，人要知道自己的极限。
老子在‘道德经’说：‘反者道之动’和‘大曰逝，逝曰远，远曰反’，都是表示东西发展到极点，它不可避免的会回头走。
这个观念对华人影响重大，所谓居安思危，天无绝人之路。它也为儒家一个重要观念‘中庸之道’提供了依据。
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The notion of change is at the very heart of the Chinese world-view. As such, Chinese philosophy is always more comfortable with the notion of ‘becoming’ than is its Western counterpart, which frequently finds itself bogged down in the problems associated with ‘being’.
The most fundamental law that governs the change of things is the notion of wu ji bi fan (物极必反) which can be translated as ‘When a thing reaches its extreme or limit, it reverses its course’ or ‘No extreme will hold long’.
The concept had its root in Yijing when the following observation of change in nature was made: ‘The sun goes and the moon comes; the moon goes and the sun comes; the sun and moon thus take the place each of the other and their shining is the result. The cold goes and the heat comes; the heat goes and the cold comes; it is by this mutual succession of the cold and heat that the year is completed.’
This was further elaborated when Yijing said ‘Nine at the top of Qian hexagram means arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.’ This line warns against titanic aspirations that exceed one's power. A precipitous fall would follow. That means one must always observe one’s limit.
Laozi said in Dao De Jing that ‘Reversal is the movement of Dao’ (chapter 40) and that ‘To go further and further means to revert again’ or ‘Great, it passes on (in constant flow). Passing on, it becomes remote. Having become remote, it returns.’ (chapter 25). That means if something develops certain extreme qualities, these qualities invariably revert to become their opposites.
This notion has great effect on the Chinese people so that they will always remain cautious even in time of prosperity, and hopeful in time of extreme difficulty. It also provides the basis for the argument of doctrine of the golden Mean, which is advocated by Confucianists.

中文的提示性 The Suggestiveness of Chinese Language

中文是一种提示性的语言和文字。中国的哲学自然也就是用提示性的方式来说和写的。这个形而上学里的许多概念如道，德，自然，阴阳，气，都是提示性的字词。
可以这么说，提示，而不是明述，向来是中国哲学，诗歌，绘画，等等的典型表述。
提示就是有非直觉和示意的意思，所谓字简意深。提示性的文字和叙述不容易被翻译成另一种文字。在翻译的过程中，提示性的部分不可避免的会被遗漏。翻译只能表达一个观念或想法；可是，原本叙述和书写可能包含的其他意思和想法。
西方老子道德经有不少翻译版本，可是每个版本都有不足之处。因为这本书原本句子的提示太多，要以明述来了解它的意思，实难胜任，翻译就更不用说了。原书字句简练，学者对它们的注解已经意见分歧，要翻译，自然问题多多。
要了解原书的风貌，需要把所有译本，加上将来的各种译本一齐读才可。如果不会中文，西方读者要进一步了解中国哲学和艺术，简直是件不可能的事。
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It is well recognised that the Chinese language is suggestive and it is therefore expected that many Chinese philosophical writings follow the grammar of suggestiveness. For instance the whole idea of metaphysical conception of Chinese philosophy dao(道)，de(德)，ziran(自然），yin-yang（阴阳）, qi（气）all stands for some suggestive meanings.
It can be said that suggestiveness, not articulateness, is the ideal of all Chinese writings, whether it be philosophy, poetry, painting, or anything else.
Suggestiveness means to show something by indirectly hinting in it. The suggestiveness of the writings and sayings of the Chinese philosophers is something that can hardly be translated into other languages. The translation would inevitably miss the suggestiveness which can mean a great deal in the original writings. Translation usually conveys only one idea, one interpretation, while the original saying or writing may contain many other meanings and ideas besides the one given by the translator.
There have been many translations of Laozi’s Dao De Jing, but each is only partially successful. This is because many of its sentences are so suggestive that definitive interpretation, much less translation, has been proved unattainable. Translating into another language a work that says so much in so few words, and about whose meanings scholars differ greatly, can only be problematic.
It needs a combination of all the translations already made and many others not yet made, to reveal the richness of the Chinese classics in their original form. This makes it almost impossible for Western readers who do not read Chinese, to have a better understanding of Chinese philosophy and arts.

华人重伦理而淡宗教 Generally Speaking, Chinese People are Not Religious

中文宗教一词，由‘宗’与‘教’二字组成。宗有‘祖宗和宗派’的意思。教有‘教化，从学入道’的意思。所以宗教较有祖宗和宗派教义的意味。而儒释道三教的三教应该是指这三流派的教义多过把它们当作宗教来看待。
中国本身思想文化传统中，没有‘宗教’。佛教传入，成为佛教用语，指的是佛陀及其弟子的教诲。其中‘宗’为佛陀弟子所传，‘教’为佛陀所说，‘宗’是‘教’的分派，共合为佛教的教理。
把‘宗教’与西方宗教概念联系起来，是基督教传入中国后的事。
很多西方人其实已经注意到华人对宗教并不注重。法国汉学家Granet观察透彻：‘以中国人的智慧，他们无须上帝的概念。’
美国著名的汉学家和中国历史家Derk Bodde (1909 - 2003)在1942年说：‘宗教理念和活动，并不是中国人生活中最重要和最令他们注目的部分。中国本身并没有产生过可以被称为宗教领袖的人物。中国文明中提供给他们精神主要粮食 的是伦理（尤其是儒家伦理），而不是宗教，至少不是那些正规，有组织的宗教。’
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Religion is known as zongjiao in Chinese. It is a compound term consists of zong, which is derived from a pictogram of an ancestral altar and most commonly denotes a "sect," and jiao, meaning "teaching." Zongjiao thus carries the connotation of "ancestral" or sectarian teachings. The term sanjiao that refers to Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism, should be interpreted as ‘Three Teachings’ rather than ‘Three Religions’.
Before the late 19th Centry, Zongjiao was used as Chinese Buddhist term to mean simply the teachings of Buddha and his disciples. After the arrival of Christianity in China, the word Zongjiao was used in late 19th-century to mean Religion.
Many Westerners in fact have noticed that the Chinese people have been less concerned with religion. French sinologist Marcel Granet observed rather starkly that ‘Chinese wisdom has no need of the idea of God’.
Derk Bodde (1909 - 2003), a prominent American Sinologist and historian of China, wrote in his article ‘Dominant Ideas in the Formation of Chinese Culture’ in 1942 that the Chinese people ‘are not a people from whom religious ideas and activities constitute an all-important and absorbing part of life….China itself produced no thinker…. who could be classified as a religious leader. It is ethics (especially Confucian ethics), and not religion (at least not religion of a formal, organized type), that provided the spiritual basis in Chinese Civilization.’