Reflections on A SHORT HISTORY OF CHINESE PHILOSOPHY

【Abstract】Author begins with his complaint about his English homework. His sorrow turns to joy when he find an English book called a short history of Chinese philosophy. This article shows the detail of reading process and writer records his reflections of this book.

【Key words】holiday； history； philosophy； fate

This winter holiday， I had so many happy moments with my families， relatives and old friends that I didnt want to come back to school at all. Imagination is beautiful， while reality is always cruel. In spite of those happy times， I felt blue the moment I thought of my English homework.

After a long hesitation， I choose the book A Short History of Chinese philosophy written by FUNG YU-LAN to read. On one hand， it is associated with my major， sports humanistic sociology. On the other hand， it was written in English originally by a Chinese philosopher. Besides， I show equal interest in both Chinese culture and the spread of it in the world. The English version of this book consists of four parts：editors instruction （which we cannot see in Chinese version）， authors preface， the bibliography and index and of course， main contents. From the editors （Derk Bodde） instruction， we know the choice of subject matter， treatment and actual writing of the book is almost the work of Dr. Fung. The editors contribution was primarily that of editing manuscript so that English can be correct and readable for the Westerners. The bibliography and index have been compiled by the editor， too. From the authors preface， we learn that this book was finished almost when Dr. Fung was a Visiting Professor of the University of Pennsylvania in the autumn of 1946. He recommended that this book can be seen an introduction to the study of Chinese philosophy. To know more about Chinese philosophy， we have to refer to his larger work， A History of Chinese Philosophy. According to Chinese historiography， a good historian must have a wide scholarship in order to master all his materials， sound judgement to make proper selection of them， and literary talent in order to tell his story in an interesting way. In FUNGs opinion， when writing a short history for a general public， the author has less chance to display his scholarship， but he needs more selective judgment and literary talent than he would for writing a longer and strictly scholarly work. And I think this short history was just completed on this specific principle.

Traditionally， the history begins with a series of sage-kings. However， this book is， in my opinion， mainly in chronological order by topic. It lists different philosophers in different times such as：Confucius， Mo Tzu， Yang Chu， Mencius， Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. It is also involved with world politics， world philosophy， Western philosophy and modern philosophy. From this book， I not only acquired some knowledge of Chinese philosophy， but also learned some translation skills. Though it is hard to understand the real essence of Chinese philosophy and English at that time is a little bit different. I felt motivated by the literal skills of Dr. Fung and his broad horizon. Being abroad and living well is not easy at any times. He lived well in Pennsylvania and even introduced Chinese philosophy to the west. Without a mission in mind， he can never achieve that.endprint

Take the first chapter of this book as an example. I learn the translation of the Four Books in china：the Confucian Analects， the Book of Mencius， the Great Learning and the Doctrine of the Mean. The Four Books has been the Bible of the Chinese people， but unlike the bible in the west， there is no story of creation， and no mention of a heaven or hell in it. In Ancient China or even today， children are taught to learn the Three Characters Classic when they begin to learn the characters. The Three Characters Classic is so called because each sentence in the book consisted of three characters which will produce a rhythmic effect when recited， and thus helped the children to memorize. This book was indeed a primer in ancient china， and the very first statement is “the nature of man is originally good.” which is also one of the fundamental ideas of Mencius philosophy.

It also talks about place of Philosophy in Chinese Civilization and the difference between religion and philosophy. To the westerners， they see that the life of the Chinese people is deeply associated with Confucianism， thus believe that Confucianism is a religion. As a matter of fact， Confucianism is no more a religion than， Platonism or Aristotelianism. Philosophy and religion may have entirely different meanings for different people. Using Dr. Fungs words， philosophy is a systematic， reflective thinking on life. Religion is also associated with life. It is believed that in the heart of every great religion， there is a philosophy. In fact， every great religion is a philosophy with a certain amount of superstructure， which consists of superstitions， dogmas， rituals， and institutions. In my opinion， we everyone can be a philosopher as long as we always reflect our life systematically. For example， if a farmer always reflect on how to grow crops well and lead a peaceful life， he can be seen as a philosopher to some extent.

It was never easy to read the electronic English version of this book at home. Terminology， complex grammar structure plus the lack of professional philosophy knowledge always push me to turn to a Chinese version. Luckily， i experienced all of the bad times and good times and i felt both motivated and inspired by this book. What strikes me most is the last sentence of the book：One must speak very much before one keeps silent. That is just like saying：One must read a lot before one simplifies Art. Art here means philosophy， everyone can say something about his life and come to a conclusion. However， only those standing on the shoulders of a giant and connecting ones own fate with history can be a master of fate. Hoping everyone of you guys can be his own philosopher.

References：

[1]Yu-lan Fung.a short history of Chinese philosophy[M].New York：Free Press，1966.

作者簡介：梁術榮（1992-），男，江蘇泗陽人，在讀碩士，研究方向：體育社會學理論與方法。endprint