The Gay Genius Chapter9&10

I.  The central question

Q: How to evaluate Wang Anshih and his reform in chapter 9?

A: The tragedy of Wang Anshih's politic life and reform was resulted by the surroundings. It was not the good time for him to carried out the reform, his policies were inconsistent with the reality and also lost the support of other people. Just like an Chinese old saying, "right time, right place, right people". Apparently, Wang Anshih didn't have non of these three things. However, when we critic Wang Anshih, we should know that he is not evil, unlike his two followings (at last turned into his enemies). He stirred the party strife, but he was also the victim. 

Q: Why did Lin Yutang mentioned the different character between Su Tungpo and Tseyu?

A: The different character determined their different lives. Lin Yutang described the physical features of two brothers, because Chinese people believed that appearance can reflect the soul. Su Tungpo's bold, straigtforward and great talent doomed his life was full of ups and downs. While Tseyu is a more rational type, I suppose, his biography maybe less dramatic than his borther.   

II.  The sentence 

1. There was peace at the court now, the peace of death.

这一句的译文显然没有深入理解“the peace of death”所蕴含的深层次内涵。林语堂先生在这句中表达了十分丰富的含义，王安石被罢相，许多人被贬官，看起来似乎是政党纷争告一段落，但朝中无人，同时也是宋朝由盛转衰的开始。

2. There is no question that the desire to overthrow someone in power brings out some of the best instincts in human nature and the power to rule others brings out the worst.

十分有哲理的句子，当想要推翻专制时，人性中好的一面就会显露出来，而想要控制他人时，人性中恶的一面就会浮出水面，人性的复杂恰在于两面性。

3. What distinguished greater personalities from lesser people was often the difference in the energy, drive, dash, and vivacity of such men.

林语堂在这里提到了“气”的概念，其实关于“气”的问题在文学史上十分常见，比如《孟子》的“吾善养吾浩然正气”，曹丕《典论论文》中“虽在父兄，不能移子弟”，“气”等同与气质，气质可以涵养，但特征千差万别，以此说明苏轼与苏辙个性不同的原因。