Tsoi Dug Blog 才德博客

Why are Chinese people nowadays, even highly educated ones, so superstitious about getting lucky to get rich?  8, 8, 8, everywhere, on phone numbers, car license numbers, etc., you see people sporting at least one number 8. And that’s all because in Chinese 8 sounds a bit like the first sound in “getting rich”. Also, nowadays the Chinese New Year’s greeting is “gong hay faht tsoy” (Cantonese pronunciation), which translates into “Happy Wishes for Getting Rich”. Why is getting rich apparently the only thing on Chinese minds?

为什么现在华人们，连受过高等教育的华人们，这么迷信发财运气呢？八、八、八、现在到处都是八字，电话号码、车牌都最少有一个八字，而这只是因为八字读起来有点像发财的发字。另外，现在农历新年流行的贺词是“恭喜发财”。为什么好像发财是华人头脑里唯一的东西呢？

It hasn’t always been so.

并非一向都是这样的。

The number 8 hasn’t always been so popular. When I was a kid in Hong Kong during the early sixties, 8 was not always a good word. In Cantonese colloquialism back then, 8 was often used to mean “being gossipy” or invading other people’s privacy, as in “why are you so baht (8), that you want to know even such and such?” In fact, it came from a negative attitude towards the baht guah (八卦), the hexagram from the I Jing (or I-Ching), which was used for divination. During days past Cantonese, or at least educated Cantonese, had looked down upon fortune-telling using the hexagram and upon the occult in general.  It has only been a recent phenomenon in Chinese superstition of the last twenty or thirty years, a phenomenon which started in Hong Kong, to make 8 equal to getting rich and for 8 to be so fervently sought after.

以前八字并非这么流行。六十年代初我在香港做小孩子时，“八”并非一定是个好字。那个时候广州话俗语里的八，是指说别人闲话或多管闲事，好像“为什么你这样八，连这些东西你也要知道？”其实，这样对待“八”，源于对八卦占卜的负态度，因为广东人，最少有教育的广东人，以前鄙视占卜和鬼神之事。把八当为发财的发，同时对八字狂热地追求，只是近二三十年来在香港开始的华人迷信现象。

As for the Chinese New Year’s greeting, when I was a kid in Hong Kong during the early sixties, the standard greeting was “gong hay teem ding faht tsoy”, which meant “Happy Wishes for Getting Another Boy and Getting Rich”, and “gong hoh sun hay”, which meant “Best Wishes for the New Year”. I don’t remember hearing just “gong hay faht tsoy” or “Happy Wishes for Getting Rich” – so bourgeois! Please note that, true to Confucian tradition, “Getting Another Boy” came before “Getting Rich” – the traditional family came before getting rich, and getting rich was for the family, not a selfish hedonistic pursuit for the individual himself or herself. Having moved away during the sixties from a society dominated by Chinese culture, after all these years it was at first and still is jarring for me to hear “gong hay faht tsoy” without the “teem ding (getting another boy)” in front of “faht tsoy (getting rich)”.

至于用“恭喜发财”作为农历新年的祝贺词，我六十年代初在香港做小孩子时，通常的新年祝贺词是“恭喜添丁发财”，多了“添丁”这两个字。也说“恭贺新禧”，但是我记忆中就没有听过“恭喜发财”－太市侩了！请注意，添丁发财是符合孔教传统的，把添丁放在发财前面，显示了传统的家庭为先，钱财为后，而要追求钱财，只不过是为了家庭，不是为了自私的个人享乐。我在六十年代就离开了以华人文化为主流的社会，这么多年后，听到没有把添丁放在发财前面的“恭喜发财”，第一次就觉得有点刺耳，现在仍然不惯。

I believe it is wrong to think that Chinese have always been as superstitious and as anxious about good luck and getting rich as Chinese people seem to be nowadays.  Back during the old days we had the intellectual and moral compass and framework of Confucianism.  Thanks to that framework, we knew how to act and what to do in life; we knew what things to pursue, what things to reject, and how to pursue and reject them. So we were secure, smart and brave; we weren’t so obsessed with good luck and getting rich. Even as recently as during the early 1960’s we didn’t use to be obsessed with all this stuff; we used to be brave and secure back then thanks to Confucianism.

我认为，华人并不是向来就好像今日的华人那样，对发财和运气这么迷信，这么紧张。旧时我们拥有孔教这个思维上和道德上的指南和框架。有了这个框架，我们就知道人要怎样做、人生要怎样过，我们就知道什么要追求、什么要拒绝和怎样追求、怎样拒绝，我们就有了安全感，我们就聪明、勇敢。我们那时不对运气和发财这么痴迷。六十年代初这么近期，也没有对这些东西痴迷，因为我们那时还有孔教，还有安全感和勇气。

But now we Chinese have turned our backs on Confucianism and so we don’t have anything.  Intellectually and morally we have no compass or framework and so we are insecure. A lot of the time we don’t know what we do that will bring us good things and what we do that will bring us bad things. Often we are so ignorant that we don’t even know what is good and what is bad; we can’t tell good from bad.  That’s why we grasp at straws; we grasp at superstitions for somehow avoiding the bad and getting the good.  That’s why 8 is now a “lucky number” seen everywhere and why 4, which sounds like “death”, is now an “unlucky number” and not seen anywhere.

但是，现在华人背弃了孔教，所以我们什么都没有，我们没有了思维上和道德上的指南和框架，我们便没有了安全感。我们很多时不知道怎样做才得到好的东西，怎样做就会得到坏的东西，我们常常愚昧到甚至不知道什么是好、什么是坏，我们好坏不分。所以我们急不暇择，我们“依靠抓住草杆”（依靠胡乱随手抓到的、尽管是靠不住的东西），我们求助于迷信，希望不知怎样地会侥幸得到好东西，避免坏东西。所以现在八是个“吉祥”的数字，到处都看到，而四（跟死声音相近）是个“不吉”的数字，到处都看不见。

I think that what we Chinese need to do is to rediscover and regain the good stuff we used to all possess, integrate it with the modern stuff that is good, i.e. science and the free market, and create a new intellectual and moral framework, where we can be secure, smart and brave again.

我认为，现在我们华人所需要做的，就是重新发现和取回我们曾经拥有过的好东西，结合现代的好东西即科学和自由市场，创造一个新的思维和道德的框架，让我们可以再重新拥有安全感，再重新聪明、勇敢。

Feng Xin-ming冯欣明

Sigh! The ignorance and arrogance of Westerners for things Chinese! This is what I found posted on Jan. 26, 2009 on Chem-PM Chinese Business Magazine, written by “admin”:

唉！西方人对中华事物真是又无知又傲慢！我找到这篇文章，刊登在2009年一月26日的 Chem-PM Chinese Business Magazine 网页上，笔者是“管理”：

Whilst the fallout from the Mattel recall still reverberates it is worth reminding ourselves about the endemic culture of corruption that pervades Chinese business… in many senses this is cultural and one should not expect Western values to be so quickly absorbed into mainstream business. With Confucianism putting loyalty to friends first t is no surprise to see an element of “capture” taking place within firms. It is fascinating to read how businesses are being advised to hire geographically dispersed workers to prevent such behavior…

美泰儿玩具的收回仍然在耳边回响时，我们应该提醒自己，中国商界充满了贪污文化… 在很多方面来说这是文化性的；不能以为西方价值可以这么快就被主流商界吸收。孔教是把忠于朋友放在首位的，所以见到企业里发生一种“擒获”，不应该觉得出乎意料之外。 很有趣，阅读到人们对各企业建议，要防止这种行为，就得聘请来自散布于各地区的工人…

 

…Ιt іs еven harder to dеal wіth lowеr-lеvel shadiness, ѕuch аs a secretary booking a flight for hеr boѕs аnd thеn getting a payment from thе travel аgent, or a receptionist getting pаid to rеfer nеw enquiries to a rіval fіrm.

…处理底层的不轨行为，例如秘书为上司订了飞机票，旅行社就送钱给她，或接待员受赂，把询问者介绍去竞争对手公司等，就更加困难。

I wrote the following comment:

I strongly disagree with your assertion that Confucianism means loyalty to family and friends first, and obeying the law is optional. Of the five traditional Confucian Cardinal Relations (wu lun), that between the government and the citizen comes first, before any other. So treating compliance with the law as optional is not an example of how China operates according to Confucianism, but is instead an example of how far modern China has strayed from Confucianism. As for the secretary taking a kickback from the travel agency she books with, graft is graft and embezzlement is embezzlement, Chinese or not. Again, Confucianism is quite clear on this: honesty and trustworthiness ranks extremely high on Confucian tenets, and again the prevalence of graft is just another example of how far modern China has strayed from Confucianism.

我写下这个评语：

我强烈反对你的断言，说孔教就是首先忠于家庭和朋友，而遵守法律是可以任意选择的。传统孔教的五个基本关系（五伦）中的第一个，就是政府与公民（君臣）的关系，比其他关系都排先。把遵守法律看作是可以任意选择的，不是中国沿着孔教运行的例子，而是现代中国脱离了孔教多么遥远的例子。至于秘书从订飞机票的旅行社拿到回扣，贿赂就是贿赂，盗窃就是盗窃，中国与否都一样。孔教对此很清楚，诚实和守信在孔教信条中地位非常崇高，而贿赂的风行只不过证明了现代的中国是多么严重地脱离了孔教。

Go here for more exposition of the true Confucian position on honesty and trustworthiness.

请到这里观看孔教对诚实和守信的立场。

Feng Xin-ming 冯欣明

Ha, it has finally happened: a Christian told me the other day that just because Christianity values love above all doesn’t mean that love doesn’t come with obligations, and she quoted me First Corinthians Chapter 13:

哈，事情终于发生了，前几天一位基督徒告诉我，虽然基督教把爱视为至上，但是这个爱并不是没有义务和责任的。接着她就引述圣经的哥林多前书第十三章：

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

愛是恆久忍耐，又有恩慈；愛是不嫉妒；愛是不自誇，不張狂，不作害羞的事，不求自己的益處，不輕易發怒，不計算人的惡，不喜歡不義，只喜歡真理；凡事包容，凡事相信，凡事盼望，凡事忍耐。

Well, that’s great: in orthodox Christianity, unlike what we often see nowadays in Western society, love also implies obligations. That’s really good. So, as I’ve said before, the precepts in Di Zi Gui and Confucius’s teachings are not tied to any one religion and are compatible with any religion.

真好，正统基督教跟现代西方社会的普遍情况不同，正统基督教里爱跟义务是连在一起的。很好呵。所以，正如我已经说过一样，《弟子规》和孔子的教导不是附属某一个宗教的，可以跟任何宗教相容。

Of course, Confucius spends a lot more time and present in much greater detail the mutual obligations for the different parties than the Christian Bible does. For example, the Christian Bible doesn’t have a formal analysis on the Five Cardinal Relations of government-subject, parents-offspring, husband-wife, among siblings, and between friends. A short paragraph in First Corinthians is nothing compared to the volumes about obligations in the ancient Confucian texts. That’s why not just Chinese but everyone the world over, even Christians, need to study these precepts from the Chinese tradition.

当然，孔子比基督教的圣经花多了很多时间，把关系里的双方所互相欠下的义务解说得详细得多。例如，圣经没有正式分析政府和公民、父母和子女、丈夫和妻子、兄弟之间和朋友之间的五种“五伦”关系。哥林多前书几句话不能比得上古代孔教的许多本关于义务和责任的经典书。所以，不仅是华人而是全世界的所有人，包括了基督徒，都需要学习这些中国传统的教导。

Of course, in the modern world, the Confucian tradition cannot stand alone by itself, unchanged; it needs some adaptation and supplementation. For example, I think the Five Cardinal Relations should become the Six Cardinal Relations: we need to add that between the buyer and the seller.

当然，在现代世界里，孔教的传统不能够一成不变，孤独地站立，因为它需要一些适应和补充。例如，我认为五伦就应该变为六伦：需要加上买者和卖者的关系。

And the Confucian tradition has never pretended to address the hereafter, and so societies that practiced the Confucian tradition have long supplemented the tradition with religions like Buddhism. Though I am not knowledgeable about the practices of Chinese Muslims, I do know that they’ve been well integrated into mainstream society for centuries in Imperial China. Likewise the Chinese Jews like the Kaifeng Jews. So I don’t see why there should be any problem with compatibility and mutual supplementation with Christianity or any other major religion.

而且，孔教传统从来没有装作过可以解说来世，所以奉行孔教的社会都用例如佛教等宗教来补充孔教。我不知道中国回民风俗的详细情况，但是我知道他们在中国帝王时代好几个世纪都融入了主流社会。中国优太族好像开封犹太人等，情况也是一样。所以我认为，孔教跟基督教或其他大宗教相容和互相补充，应该没有问题。

Feng Xin-ming <冯欣明

Who says Chinese people are not capable of returning to being The Land of Courtesy and Integrity? Hong Kong is proof that Chinese people can.

谁说华人不可以再构成礼义之邦？香港就证明华人可以。

Twenty-four years ago, in 1984, when I went back to Hong Kong for the first time in twenty years, it was truly shocking. The place was completely unlike what I remember as a child.

二十四年前，1984年我二十年第一次回到香港，令我非常惊讶：跟我童年记忆中的香港完全不同了。

Back then, in the late fifties and early sixties, the Hong Kong of my childhood was a place of at least courtesy, if not integrity. My mother would take me to market with her and would teach me that one must address the vendors on the street politely as Lao Ban (“boss”) and the workers in the shops as Shi Fu (“master”). In turn they would always address her politely as Shi Nai (“respected madam”) or Xiao Jie (“miss”). In the shops people were always polite and friendly. In school we were taught li rang: to be courteous, considerate, and to let others go first. When the teacher entered the classroom we stood up as a class, bowed and said in unison, “Good afternoon, teacher.” When we met a teacher on the street we bowed and said the same thing. It was considered shameful beyond imagination for siblings to argue, let alone fight, in front of anyone other than the immediate family. We were taught by our elders and by the popular culture surrounding us to be polite and respectful, to be kind to others, and to never speak ill of others. The movies we saw extolled courtesy, integrity, loyalty to country, and of course, being good to parents (xiao).

那时，五十年代尾、六十年代头，我童年时代的香港就算不是礼义之邦也是礼貌之邦。妈妈带我去市场时就教我，街上的小贩们就要有礼貌地称呼做“老板”，商店里面的工人们就称呼做“师傅”。他们也有礼貌地称呼妈妈做“师奶”或“小姐”。商店里的人们都有礼貌和友善。学校教我们要“礼让”：对人礼貌，为他人着想，让人家先行。老师进入课室时我们整斑起立、鞠躬，然后同声说，“老师午安”。街上遇到老师时我们也鞠躬问好。如果兄弟们在人家面前有一点争执，那是再羞耻不过的了，在公众场所兄弟们互相打骂就没人敢想像了。长辈们和周围的大众文化教育我们要尊敬有礼，对人善良，不要说人家坏话。看的电影都歌颂礼、义、忠、孝。

In 1984, however, when I walked into a store the staff just stared at me and didn’t say a word when I said good morning. When I couldn’t find what I wanted the staff yelled at me as I walked out the door, “If you are not going to buy why did you come in?” When I tried to flag down a taxicab I had to flag down five cabs before I could get in: all the four others I flagged down someone appeared out of nowhere and jumped into the very cab in front of me! The only way I could get a cab was to jump in as soon as the cab stopped, before the previous passenger had gotten out, and to sit right next to him as he paid his fare. By the way, I had been warned about this before my trip, that Hong Kong people were so bad they barged into cabs flagged down by returning overseas Chinese, but I had dismissed it as anti-Hong Kong fabrication – no people in the world, I had reasoned, could be that barbaric, let alone Chinese people! And the children, why, the children! The ones I had contact with were very cute and energetic, but when they opened their mouths filth came out! Little five year olds were spouting words of contempt, cynicism and outright insult to strangers, and then looking to their parents for applause! And the parents proudly smiled and said, “So smart, this cunning little kid!” The children fought with their siblings loudly in public, with the parents approvingly looking on! When I turned on the TV, I could see where it all came from. The people on TV lightly and constantly yelled at, insulted, and lashed out at each other; what was in fashion was cynicism and contempt. Quite the opposite of the Land of Courtesy and Integrity. I left Hong Kong saddened and angry.

但是1984年我走进商店，说一声“早晨”时，售货员们只睁大眼睛盯着我，一声也不出。当我找不到要买的东西转身出门的时候，售货员高声骂，“不是买东西的，进来干什么？”当我在街上招计程车的时候，我招停了五架车才上到车，因为头四架都突然有人跑出来，抢在我面前跳进了我招的车子。最后我唯有学他们那样，车子里面的客人还没出来就跳进车子，他还在付钱我就坐在他身旁。其实，去香港前已经有人警告我，说香港人风气很坏，回去的海外华人招计程车会被他们抢坐，但当时我就不信，认为这是歧视香港的谣言，因为这世界没人会这样野蛮的，何况是华人！另外，香港的孩子们，唉！我所接触的孩子都外形活泼可爱，但是张开口时出来的竟然是污垢！小小的五岁小孩子，对陌生人说出藐视、讥诮和侮辱的说话来，就回头望望父母，等待赏励。父母们竟然骄傲地笑着说，“很聪明的，这个蛊惑崽”！孩子们跟兄弟姐妹们在公众场所大声吵骂，父母们却赞同地观看。我打开电视，便知道这些行为从那里来的。电视中的人们轻易地、经常地骂人、侮辱他人、突然攻击他人，流行的是讥诮和鄙視。跟礼义之邦完全相反。我带着悲愤的心情离开了香港。

In 2007, however, when I returned to Hong Kong after twenty-three years, the place had again changed completely. When I walked into a store, the staff were friendly and actually smiled and nodded. When I asked for directions the store people actually spent time to tell me two different ways to get there. When a taxicab stopped and my wife mistakenly thought that it had stopped for her, the person for whom it had actually stopped said that it was all right and waved us to go ahead and get into the cab when we started to apologize and defer the cab to him. The children I saw were actually polite and friendly! And on TV, the people spoke politely and were decent to each other. People told me that the famous Korean series “Da Chang Jin”, which I saw in America and which portrayed a very kind, polite, and idealistic Korean woman doctor, had been all the rage in Hong Kong. Good gracious! The wheel has turned; Hong Kong is back in the folds of civilization! Who says there’s no hope for Chinese people? I left Hong Kong elated.

但是，2007年，二十三年后重回香港时，又再完全变了。我走进商店时，售货员态度友善，又微笑又点头。问路时，店里人员化时间来教我两个不同的路线。至于招计程车，我太太误以为计程车是为她而停的要进去，而发现了车子是为前头一个人停的我们开始退出道歉的时候，他却摇手把车子让给我们。见到的孩子们居然又友善又有礼貌的。电视中的人们说话有礼貌，互相对待也相当好。人们告诉我，描写一位很善良、有礼貌、追求崇高理想的女医生的著名韩剧“大长今”（我在美国也看过），风行香港。天啊！轮子转了，香港重新回到文明了！谁说华人没有希望？我带着欢乐的心情离开了香港。

Was it because I was better dressed last year, compared to 1984? No, not at all, I was still in my usual North American overseas Chinese plain garb. Was it because I was older now and so more respectable? No, because my children report the same thing: people, they say, are nice in Hong Kong.

是不是因为去年我比1984年衣着穿得好点？不，完全不是，我还是穿着北美洲华人的朴素装束。是不是因为我现在老一点了，所以被人尊重多一点？不是，因为我的孩子们也说同样的东西：香港的人们很好。

Of course, these are all things on the surface that I see; deeper down there must be a lot of things not to one’s liking. It is undeniable, however, that customs in Hong Kong have improved.

当然，这都是表面看到的东西，深一层的必然还有很多不如意的事情，但是，无可否认，香港风气确实是进步了。

Yes, Chinese people can improve; it’s entirely possible for Chinese people to return to being The Land of Courtesy and Integrity…

是的，华人可以进步，华人完全能够再构成礼义之邦 …

Feng Xin-ming 冯欣明

Here’s some advice I gave to a young man who’s just moving to the USA from another country: “You can succeed in America if you are hard working, capable, and honest.” He said, “I can understand the hard working and capable, but why honest?” I said, “People here in the USA really hate dishonesty, at least people who are of a higher class. Some lower class people in America, like some lower class people everywhere, may not place much importance on honesty, but most higher-class people in America for sure place great importance on it. If they find out you’ve been dishonest to them, they just won’t deal with you any more. You know, people wonder why they get passed over for promotions, when they’ve been hard-working and capable, but that may be why – they may not have been 100% honest when dealing with other people…”

我对一位即将由另一个国家迁移到美国的青年人说：“如果你勤力、能干、诚实，则可以在美国成功。”他说，“我可以理解勤力和能干，但是为什么诚实呢？”我说，“美国这里，人们很憎恨不诚实，最少高上阶层的人们是这样。有些低下阶层的人们，好像其他地方的有些低下阶层一样，可能不很重视诚实，但美国多数高上阶层的人则非常重视。如果他们发现你曾对他们不诚实，他们会不再跟你交易。有些人不明白为什么勤力能干，仍然得不到升职，这就可能是原因：他们待人接物可能没有百分之百诚实。”

So, to succeed in America, be honest. Don’t exaggerate, don’t misrepresent, don’t bend things. If someone asks you something you don’t want to tell him, just say so, “Sorry, I can’t tell you that” or “Ah, that’s confidential.” People in America will respect you for being a “straight-shooting”, reliable person. Whatever you do, don’t make up something for an answer; don’t lie.

所以，要在美国成功就要诚实。不要夸张，不要误导，不要歪曲。如果人家问你的东西是你不想告诉他的，就坦直地说，“对不起，不能告诉你”或说，“唉，那是秘密啊”。在美国，这样做人家会尊重你的，认为你是个正直可靠的好汉。千万不要伪造些东西回答他，千万不要撒谎。

Why is America like that? That’s because American society has the most free market type of ideology, and free market ideology despises dishonesty. For a free market to be successful, the exchange of goods and services has to be reliable. Fraud, along with stealing and robbery, destroys the reliability of exchange and therefore destroys free exchange and the free market itself. Thus Americans hate dishonesty.

为什么美国这样呢？因为美国社会的意识形态是最崇敬自由市场的，而自由市场思想最厌恶不诚实。自由市场要成功，物品和服务的交换则一定要可靠。欺骗，跟偷和抢劫一样，摧毁交换的可靠性，因而摧毁自由交换和自由市场本身。所以美国人憎恨不诚实。

Feng Xin-ming 冯欣明

I visited Paris and Madrid recently, and after a few museums and historical buildings it looks to me like medieval European culture by the 1100’s was every bit as advanced as Chinese culture of the time if not more advanced! We’ve all been misled by those mistaken comparisons of the primitive castles of the Medieval kings with the grandiose imperial palaces of China of the same era, and come to the erroneous conclusion that culturally the Europeans have been far behind China until the 1700’s. Not so: the grandeur of Medieval Europe is not to be found in the kings’ abodes, but in the cathedrals and religious monuments. The proper comparison should be made between say, the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral, which was at the time “the parish church of Europe’s kings”, and the contemporaneous Song Dynasty imperial palace of the 1100’s. The Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral wins in terms of technology: it’s far taller, and it’s got all those huge, gorgeous stained glass windows!

最近去了巴黎和马德里，看了好几处博物馆和文物建筑，发现到了1100年左右，中世纪的欧洲文化已经跟当时的中国看齐，还可能有过之无不及！不适当的比较误导了我们，把中世纪欧洲国王们原始的城堡跟同时代中国皇帝们的威煌宫殿比较，得到了错误的结论，以为欧洲文化比中国落后很多，一直到了1700年代才追上。其实，中世纪欧洲的辉煌并不在国王的住所，而是在大教堂和宗教建筑物。适当的是，以当时是“欧洲各国国王的御用教堂”即巴黎圣母大教堂，跟同时代即1160年代的宋朝皇宫比较。巴黎圣母大教堂则胜于科技：教堂高度高很多，又有那么多巨大华丽的彩色玻璃窗！

Sigh! So many “China scholars” tell us that Europeans had no culture; they just somehow came into possession of some better ships and some guns some time starting around the 1500’s, and then they conquered the world on that! Not true at all! No, they had a lot more, they had a deep, high culture based on Christianity, just like China used to have a deep, high culture based on Confucianism. The West hasn’t just been advanced for a couple of hundred years; they have been advanced for 1,000 years! The West’s modernity is deeply based on advanced cultural traditions that stretch back 1,000 years.

唉！很多“中国学专家”告诉我们，欧洲人是没有文化的，不过是1500年代开始，不知怎样的，拿到了比人家好的船只和几枝火枪，就征服世界了！但完全不是这样啊！他们还有很多其他的东西，他们有深厚的、高级的、基于基督教的文化，正如中国以前曾经有深厚的、高级的、基于孔教的文化一样。西方不是先进了仅仅那两百多年，他们先进了一千年了！西方的现代化，是深深地基于一套长达一千年的先进文化传统的。

So this proves to me that the thinking that China can disregard and even throw away all that high culture we’ve had for a couple of thousand years back and just somehow modernize, is wrong. The West has built its modernization upon a foundation of a thousand years of Western high culture; can China build its modernization without the foundation of past Chinese high culture? No, for China to modernize, China needs to come to terms with and embrace its past high culture, then add to it where it’s deficient and build on it where it’s advanced or even superior.

对我来说，这证明了现在以为中国可以不理会、甚至可以抛弃所有自己曾经拥有过几千年的高文化，也仍然能现代化起来的思想，是错误的。西方的现代化是在自己一千年文化的基础上建筑起来的，中国可以不在自己几千年的文化基础上建筑现代化吗？不可以的。中国要现代化，就一定要包容和接纳自己过去的文化，然后有缺陷的地方就填补，有先进或甚至优越的地方就加强。

Feng Xin-ming 冯欣明

Sigh! I also admire Professor Yu Dan, whose books are wildly popular in China, for promoting Confucius, but in her talk on ideals she really is teaching people the wrong thing; according to her it’s bad to have high ideals, but good to be a hedonist! If you want to reform the country, to bring happiness to the country or peace to the world, then you lack humility. You are not good enough to talk about such things. You are only good enough to have as your ideals “down to earth” things, like going to the countryside in spring, having a party there, singing some songs and relaxing a bit. If this is not keeping the people foolish and enslaved then what is it? This is also putting down those who worry about their country and their people, and praising those hedonists who only think about enjoying themselves! And she talks about it with such conviction and self-righteousness - tsk, tsk!

唉！我也赞赏著书风行中国的于丹教授宣扬孔子，但她关于理想的谈话真是教坏人；依她说，怀抱着高尚的理想是坏的，做享乐主义者是好的！如果你想要改良国家，要治国平天下，那么你就是没有谦虚。你没资格谈这些东西，你的理想就只配是什么脚低下的东西，春天里跟朋友去郊外旅行，开一下party，唱一下歌，轻松一下… 这不是愚民和奴民是什么？同时，这也贬低那些虑国忧民的人，赞扬那些只顾寻求开心的享乐主义者！她还说得这么振振有词，哎呀！

Is everything in the classic Lun Yu always reliable, always correct? To me, this passage in Lun Yu is probably not accurate. Here Confucius is portrayed as a teacher who sneers at but wouldn’t come out and enlighten his student; when a student has high ideals he’s arrogant, yet when a student is more modest then he has denigrated the importance of The Rites. Only when a student obviously of noble birth, haughtily waiting until he has finished playing a lute that only nobles can play so well, give an answer from a hedonistic viewpoint that only a noble can fully appreciate from personal experience, promoting the kind of romantic activity that only a noble accorded a life of leisure can regularly enjoy, only then does Confucius endorse the answer. How could the “Teacher For All Generations” look down upon students of commoner origin and pander to students of noble origin?

《论语》的一切都可靠，都没有错误吗？我看，《论语》里这段，就可能不准确，把孔子描叙为一个嘲笑学生又不明言指点教导学生的老师，学生抱负远大就说他骄傲，学生谦虚一点就说他贬低了礼仪的重要性，唯有那个明明是贵族出身的学生，傲慢地等自己弹完那具只有贵族才会弹得这么好的琴，然后作出只有贵族才体会贴切的享乐主义观点的答案，推崇只有习惯悠逸生活的贵族才会常常欣赏到的风流活动，唯有这个学生孔子才赞同。万世师表，怎会这样藐视平民出身的学生而谄媚贵族出身的学生呢？

He couldn’t. Therefore, Mr. Ma Qian Li, a modern Confucian scholar who has written a whole book to criticize Yu Dan, interprets this passage as the student wanting, not for himself to go play in the countryside during spring, but for everyone in the world to be able to go play in the countryside during spring, to be able to enjoy such leisurely lives, and that Confucius thinks that this is the highest ideal. I think that this interpretation is a bit contrived and does not match the original text, but at least Mr. Ma hasn’t participated in glorifying hedonism, the way that Yu Dan has. I personally think that Lun Yu does have some things that are wrong, some things that cannot be what Confucius would advocate, and this passage is an example. I think that toward things in the Confucian classics, it doesn’t hurt to take an objective attitude - of course we shouldn’t say that everything is wrong, but neither do we need to blindly take everything to be right.

不会的，所以，写了整整一本书来批评于丹的现代儒家学者马千里，就把这篇对话解释为，不是那个学生要自己在春天到郊外玩，而是他的理想是，要天下所有人都能够在春天到郊外玩，享受到这种舒逸生活，同时孔子则认为这个抱负才最高尚。我觉得，这个解释比较勉强，不符合原文，但是最少没有像于丹那样，参加了对享乐主义的歌颂。我本人呢，我就觉得《论语》里面有一些不对的、不应该是孔子所提倡的东西，这段就是例子。我觉得，孔教经典里的东西，我们不妨用客观的眼光来看待，当然不应该全盘否定，但同时也不需要盲目地全盘肯定。

By the way, I think that the kind of thinking that Professor Yu Dan promotes belongs to the school of Confucian philosophical idealism, and follows the same lines as people such as Zhu Xi, which I don’t completely agree with. Moreover, I think their method of thinking is dangerous, and can lead to absolutes, excesses, arbitrariness, cultism and other bad things, of which this extolling of hedonism is just an example. At the same time, however, she is still promoting Confucius, courtesy and integrity and she is making people interested in Confucius and the Chinese intellectual heritage, so all that should be affirmed. I don’t agree with “The Ten PhD’s” who rudely attack Yu Dan，saying that she has no right to interpret Confucius in her own way, and saying that in carrying Yu Dan’s talks the media lacks a conscience and is endangering Chinese culture. If Chinese culture is so weak that it collapses when a professor popularizes it a bit, when ordinary people get to know it a bit, and that it has to be kept hidden in the hot houses of some elite school PhD’s, why do we need this kind of culture? Perhaps The Ten PhD’s are a bit lacking in respect for the Chinese intellectual heritage?

再说，我觉得于丹教授提倡的思想，是儒家的唯心学派别，是步朱熹等人后尘的思想，我并不完全同意，而且还觉得这是一种危险的思想方式，可以导致绝对、过分、专横、过分崇拜等弊端，这里推崇享乐主义便是例子。但是，她总算是提倡孔子，提倡礼义，引发人们对孔子、对中华思维传统的兴趣，这个是必须肯定的。所以，我不同意“十博士”等人那样对于丹作出无礼的评击，说她没权对孔子作出自己的解释，说传媒没良心，刊载于丹就是危害中华文化。如果中华文化这么脆弱，一旦被一位教授普及一下，让普通群众们认识一下，就会崩溃，而只能永远躲在高校博士们的温室里，这种文化要它来做什么？十博士们不会是对中华思维传统缺乏了一点尊敬吧？

The Chinese Cultural Renaissance has begun; no doubt a hundred flowers will bloom and a hundred schools will contend.

中华文化复兴开始了，必将是百花齐放、百家争鸣。

Feng Xin-ming 冯欣明

It’s so nice to see a Mom discover Di Zi Gui for herself and her children! Back in the ’80’s I discovered the same thing: I read Di Zi Gui and I went, “Wow! This is exactly what my kids need! This is what I’ve gotta teach them!” They were newborn, 5 and 7 then.

真开心，看到一位母亲为自己和孩子们发现了《弟子规》！八十年代时，我也发现了同样的东西：我看了《弟子规》后说，“哗！这正是我孩子们所需的东西！这正是我须要教他们的东西！”当时他们是：刚出生、五岁、和七岁。

Back then, to teach my North American-born kids I had to translate the work myself, write the Cantonese pronunciation in English next to the Chinese words so my kids can recite the Chinese, and with scissors and much photocopying create my own bilingual textbooks.

当年，为了教我北美洲出生的孩子们，我要自己把文章翻译， 为了让他们能够把原文诵读，要在汉字旁写上广州话的英语字母拼音，又要用剪刀和复印机来创造我自己的双语教材书。

My 4 little ones have all been good as children, they have grown up to be pretty nice people, and, I risk sounding like a cocky parent but I have to put this in: they all got into good colleges - McGill, Harvard, and 2 in Stanford.

四个孩子，小时候都是好孩子，长大了都相当善良，同时，虽然不想做个夸耀自己孩子的家长，但还是要说，他们都进了不错的大学：麦克吉尔、哈佛、两个入斯坦福。

And I credit a lot of it to Di Zi Gui. I think studying Di Zi Gui has not only given them a moral mooring, but has also given them a sense of pride and identity in their Chinese heritage, a quiet self esteem and self confidence that drives them to always do their best, and an inner strength that helps them overcome setbacks and adversity.

这一切我认为《弟子规》功劳很大。学习《弟子规》，不但给了他们道德的指南，也给了他们对自己中华血统的自豪感和认同感，使他们有自尊心和自信心，因而凡事都尽力而为，还使他们有内在的力量，来克服挫折和艰难。

Since then I’ve taught some of my Mandarin-speaking friends’ teenage kids, requiring me to also write in the Mandarin Pronunciation, and now I’ve been teaching it to teenagers. Also I’ve put my bilingual texts online so other people can take advantage of the wonderful Chinese intellectual heritage. Here’s the link: www.tsoidug.org/dizigui.php

之后，我教过几位说普通话的朋友们的十几岁儿女，就把普通话拼音符号也写上了，现在则教其他十几岁的少年。同时，我把我的双语教材放在网上，让其他人都可以享受这个优良的中华思维传统。网址是： www.tsoidug.org/dizigui.php

Feng Xin-ming 冯欣明

Some people ask me why I translate xiao into English as “being good to parents” rather than the prevalent translation of “filial piety”.  That’s because “filial piety” is open to cultish interpretation.

有人问我，为什么把“孝”用英语翻译为“对父母好“而不是通行的“子女的虔诚”呢？因为“子女的虔诚”一词，有时会令人用过度崇拜的角度来解释孝。

What cultish interpretation?  Well, around 1000 C.E., an intellectual movement came into dominance in China, and some people in that intellectual movement added some tendencies toward absolutes, excesses, metaphysics and cultish thinking onto Confucianism, originally a set of reasonable and practical tenets.

什么过度崇拜？就是公元一千年左右，有一股思潮在中国上升为主流，而这思潮中的一些人，对本来是一套合理实用原则的孔教，加上了一些绝对、过分、形而上学、过度崇拜等倾向 。

When it came to xiao some people with this mode of thinking advocated a sort of god-like worship of one’s living parents, a self-deprecating all-pervasive guilt feeling, constant self-punishment as a form of “offering” and piety, excessive emphasis on obedience and prostration, excessive grieving to the point of quitting all duty and staying night and day next to the parent’s grave for a full three years, and so forth and so on.

说到孝时，那思潮中的一些人提倡，好像对神那样崇拜还活着的父母，对父母怀着一种贬责自己、渗透一切言行的内疚，用不断的自我惩罚来作为“奉献”和“虔诚”，过分强调服从和俯拜，过分哀悼父母乃至丢掉所有职责、在墓旁日夜守整三年等等。

It was precisely when this mode of thinking was at its zenith, during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), that Jesuit missionaries working at the Emperor’s court coined “filial piety” as the term for xiao.

正是当这思潮处于巅峰时，即明朝时（1368－1644），在朝廷工作的耶稣会传教士把孝翻译为“子女的虔诚”。

I think xiao should mostly be a normal day-to-day activity of being good to parents and acting in their fundamental interests.  No god-like worship of one’s living parents is needed, no self-deprecating all-pervasive guilt feeling is called for, and no extraordinarily painful, self-punishing, excruciating exertion or sacrifice need be involved, except under certain special circumstances.  Instead of a subjective state of mind, i.e. a “piety”, I think xiao is more of an objective state, i.e. a way of conduct, indeed, as Confucius and Zeng Zi have said in Xiao Jing (The Classic of Xiao), a whole way of living one’s life.

我认为孝主要是日常行为对父母好，为父母的根本利益行事。不需要对还活着的父母好像神那样崇拜，不需要那种贬责自己、渗透一切言行的内疚，同时，除非特殊情况之下，也不需要异常痛苦的、自我惩罚性的、不必要的辛劳和牺牲。我认为孝的主要成分，并非是主观的一种心态或“虔诚”，而是一个客观的状态，是一种行为，事实上，好像孔子和曾子在《孝经》所提出一样，是一整套生活方式。

Thus I think it is more accurate to translate xiao as “being good to parents” than as “filial piety”.

所以，我认为把孝翻译为“对父母好”比“子女的虔诚”更为正确。

Feng Xin-ming  冯欣明

July 6, 2008 edited July 11, 2008

People ask me why I translate xiao as being good to parents and not being dutiful to parents or being dutiful as a son or daughter. It’s because xiao is more than just duty; it is a whole way of living one’s life. Xiao Jing, the first and most authoritative Confucian work on xiao, says that the xiao of people occupying various positions in society, such as emperors, ministers, officers, commoners, and so forth, is to be good at their callings. Xiao Jing also says that to be xiao, one must not only serve and provide for one’s parents well, but must also engage in good conduct both inside and outside the family.

有人问我，为什么把孝翻译为“对父母好”而不是“对父母尽义务”或“执行子女的义务”呢？这是因为孝不单是义务，孝是整个生活的方式。《孝经》是孔教解说孝的最早和最具权威性的经典；它说，社会不同地位的人，例如天子、大臣、吏士、庶人等，他们的孝，都是要把自己的职责做好。《孝经》又说，要孝就不光只是供养侍奉父母好，还须要家庭内外的行为都好。

Also, being dutiful often conjures up grim-faced carrying out of some painful task or of some sort of sacrifice, but xiao also includes the normal day-to-day life, the normal day-to-day interactions with parents, some of which may be joyful, like playing and not drudgery. One example is keeping parents up-to-date on one’s activities and situation, which is one of the demands of xiao (see verse 12, p.7 Xiao Jing : often truly xiao offspring have such a good relationship with the parents that updating them means enjoyable and relaxing conversation that all parties look forward to. Another example is respectfully listening when parents teach: offspring should have a relation with parents healthy enough that offspring realize the teaching from parents are greatly beneficial and something to look forward to. Teaching by parents can be fun and enjoyable: I remember well myself looking forward to and greatly enjoying the Sunday afternoon teaching of Chinese classics by my father to my brothers and me as young children.

另外，“尽义务”令人联想起辛苦的事务或某样的牺牲，但孝也包括普通的日常生活，跟父母普通的日常相处。这些都不一定是劳工，亦有愉快、好像是玩游戏的。例如孝要求子女对父母报道活动和情况：很多时候真正孝的子女跟父母关系很好，报道就是个很开心、很轻松、双方都盼望的会话。另一个例子就是孝要求，父母教导时要恭敬会心地听。子女跟父母的健康关系应该达到这个程度：子女们知道父母教导是非常有益的、应该欢迎的，而父母的教导，是可以有乐趣的，令人愉快的。我记得小孩子时，爸爸每星期日教我和我哥哥学古文，我那时觉得这教导多么好玩、多么令人盼望。

Therefore, I feel xiao is better translated as “being good to parents”.

所以，我觉得把孝翻译为“对父母好”比较适合一些。

Feng Xin-ming
冯欣明