The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy

The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy

中国哲学的精神

The place which philosophy has occupied in Chinese civilization has been comparable to that of religion in other civilizations. 

哲学在中国文化中的地位，历来可以和宗教在其他文化中所占的地位比拟。

In China, philosophy has been every educated person's concern. 

在中国，哲学是每个受过教育的人都关心的话题。

In the old days, if a man were educated at all, the first education he received was in philosophy. 

在古代，受教育的人，哪怕受过一丁点教育，接受的第一个教育就是哲学。

When children went to school, the Four Books, which consist of the Confucian Analects, the Book of Mencius, the Great Learning, and the Doctrine of the Mean, were the first ones they were taught to read. 

儿童开蒙之时，首先要读的就是四书，包括《论语》、《孟子》、《大学》、《中庸》。

宋明理学推荐阅读次序：

the Great Learning，大学，先读大学，以定其规模

 the Confucian Analects，《论语》，次读论语，以定期根本

the Book of Mencius，孟子，在读孟子，以观其发越

the Doctrine of the Mean，中庸，以求古人之微妙处

Analect，说话的语录

The Four Books were the most important texts of Neo-Confucianist philosophy. 

四书是新儒家哲学当中最重要的内容。

Neo-Confucianist ，新儒家，即宋明理学，朱熹，二程等

Sometimes when the children were just beginning to learn the characters, they were given a sort of textbook to read. 

有些时候，孩子们刚开始识字时，他们会背诵一些课文。

This was known as the Three Characters Classic, and was so called because each sentence in the book consisted of three characters arranged so that when recited they produced a rhythmic effect, and thus helped the children to memorize them more easily. 

比较著名的是《三字经》，之所以这么叫，是因为书中每句话都由三个字组成，这样排列，背诵时会产生有节奏的韵律美，所以可以帮助孩子们更好的记忆。

This book was in reality a primer and the very first statement in it is that "the nature of man is originally good." This is one of the fundamental ideas of Mencius' philosophy.

这本书实际上是启蒙读本，书中第一句话是“人之初，性本善。”这是孟子哲学体系当中的基础理念之一。

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From YLYK《中国哲学的故事》专辑S01E01