中国人的精神书评
The author , Tomson , whose dictionary never has such word as pronoun , versed in both Chinese and Western learning ,is one of the most outstanding scholars in modern history of China.
In his book , the author tried his best to illustrate the spirit and show the value of the Chinese civilization to the west as well as reveal the malpractice of western culture.
In the first part, the defeats of the German, British, and American are listed, cuz Americans are not deep enough, Englishman are not broad enough, Germans are not simple enough, to truly understand the Chinese civilization. So, by the study of the it, it will be of great benefit to them all.
In the second part, moral force, which is used be Christianity, can’t subdue or control human passions any more. A new, effective way must be found immediately to replace militarism, which on the one hand subjugates and restrains the human passions, but on the other hand draws the Europe in a totally chaos. So here comes the effective way—— the Chinese civilization. A man in China does not feel the need of physical force to protect himself cuz he’s sure about that right and justice is well recognized by everybody in China as a force superior to a physical one. And if foreigners want to have a good command of the two things above, it is his priority to keep it in mind that man’s nature is good. It is the wrong conception that human is evil in nature that determines European be governed by physical force or—— the policeman and soldiers. However, the Chinese civilization is disappearing since the westerns were destroying it. Till now, we Chinese have modernized, and the old religion of good citizenship is nowhere to be seen.
In the third part, the author mentions the old type of Chinese humanity, where nothing wild, savage, or ferocious lies. In other words, Chinese are gentle, quiet, sober. Sometimes he may be coarse, vulgar, and stupid, but there lies no grossness, aggressiveness or absurdity in him. Sympathy and intelligence account for Chinaman's gentleness. Then, the author explains why Chinese people have good memory. Chinese live a life with heart rather than intelligence, whose lives tend to be easier than the western. And it is this lifestyle that makes the Chinese polite, exact and rational. The state “religion” or family “religion” ——Confucianism, a system of philosophy and ethics, teaches the Chinese how to be a gentleman. Due to its high acceptance in ordinary people, we Chinese don’t feel the need of a religion. Large quantities of custom could date back to the Spring and Autumn Period, respect for the dead, for instance, is highly admired by Confucius.
There is one thing I don’t agree with the author that he maintained the life of heart on the other hand cause the arrested development of Chinese science and logic. However, in the ancient China, when people also live a life of heart, made remarkable achievements. For instance, the four great inventions of China.
As for the forth part, the Four Virtues is still of great realistic and referential value in today’s china. It not only draws a picture of feminine ideal (Personally speaking, it has great benefit to men, too.), but also notes how to achieve it. However, the Three Obedience, which is just a bondage for female, is nonsense. Moreover, the concubinage, which was a byproduct of the Three Obedience, is ridiculous, either. The Chinese language, a language without many rules, in colloquial or written pattern, is hard for the foreigners who try to use his intelligence to obtain it. A language of heart can’t be easily grasped by brain.
In the last chapters, the author criticized those so-called Chinese scholars, for their misunderstood about Chinese language and culture. Then he point out an effective way to help the European rulers and statesman—— protect the rulers, soldiers, and diplomats from the plain men and women, who are selfish and coward when in a group.
So, after reading this book, what is the spirit of Chinese?
In my point of view, the true spirit of Chinese, is a balanced mixture of soul and intellect, a serene and blessed mood.
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