中國文化核心詞 KEY CHINESE C0NCEPTS

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中國文化核心詞 KEY CHINESE C0NCEPTS

太極

/tàijí/

The Supreme Ultimate

“太極”有三種不同的含義：其一，指世界的本原。但古人對“太極”的世界本原之義又有不同理解：或以“太極”為混沌未分的“氣”或“元氣”；或以之為世界的普遍法則，即“道”或“理”；或以之為“無”。其二，占筮術(shù)語，指奇（-）偶（--）兩畫尚未推演確定或蓍草混一未分的狀態(tài)，是卦象的根源。其三，指空間的最高極限。

Taiji （the supreme ultimate） has three different meanings. First， it refers to the origin of the world. The ancient Chinese saw it either as the qi （vital force） or yuanqi （primordial vital force） that permeates the chaotic world， or as a universal principle， i.e. Dao or li （理）， or as wu （無）. Second， it is used as a term of divination， referring to the initial state before divinatory numbers， when the odd number one （written as -） and the even number two （written as -- ）， are applied， or before the yarrow stems are divided. Divination is conducted on the basis of taiji. Third， it stands for the highest point or boundary of space.

引例 Citations:

易始于太極，太極分而為二，故生天地。（《易緯·乾鑿度》）

（易起始于太極，太極一分為二，因此生成了天地。）

Changes evolve from taiji， which gives rise to two primal forces of yin and yang. They in turn give birth to heaven and earth. （An Alternative Explanation of The Book of Changes）

總天地萬物之理，便是太極。（《朱子語類》卷九十四）

（總合天地萬物的理，便是太極。）

Taiji is the overriding law of all things， as well as heaven and earth. （Classified Conversations of Master Zhu Xi）

仁

/rén/

Benevolence

“仁”的基本含義是愛人，進(jìn)而達(dá)到人與人之間、天地萬物之間一體的狀態(tài)。“仁”既是道德行為的基礎(chǔ)和依據(jù)，又是一種內(nèi)在的與道德行為相應(yīng)的心理意識。大體來說，“仁”有如下三重含義：其一，指惻隱之心或良心；其二，指根源于父子兄弟關(guān)系基礎(chǔ)上的親親之德；其三，指天地萬物一體的狀態(tài)和境界。儒家將其作為最高的道德準(zhǔn)則，并將“仁”理解為有差等的愛，即愛人以孝父母敬兄長為先，進(jìn)而關(guān)愛其他家族成員，最終擴大為對天下之人的博愛。

The basic meaning of the term is love for others. Its extended meaning refers to the state of harmony among people， and the unity of all things under heaven. Ren （仁）constitutes the foundation and basis for moral behavior. It is also a consciousness that corresponds to the norms of moral behavior. Roughly put， ren has the following three implications: 1） Compassion or conscience； 2） The virtue of respect built upon the relationship between fathers and sons and among brothers； and 3） The unity of all things under heaven. Confucianism holds ren as the highest moral principle. Ren is taken as love， in the order of first showing filial piety to one’s parents and elder brothers， and then extending love and care to other members of the family，and eventually to everyone else under heaven.

引例 Citations:

克己復(fù)禮為仁。（《論語·顏淵》）

（約束自己使言語行為都合于禮，就是仁。）

Ren means to restrain one’s self and follow social norms. （The Analects）

仁者，愛之理，心之德也。（朱熹《論語集注》）

（仁，是愛的道理，心的德性。）

Ren is the principle of love and the moral nature of the human mind. （Zhu Xi: The Analects Variorum）

Selected from Key Concepts in Chinese Thought and Culture published by Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press.