《中国人的精神》(英文版)].doc

中国人的精神 辜鸿铭 INTRODUCTION The Religion of Good-citizenship Sage, thun ivir nicht rechtl Wir mussen den Pobel betrugen, Scih nur, ivie ungeschickt, sich nur ivie wild er sich zeigt\ Ungeschick und wild sind alle rohen Betrogenen ; Seid nur redlich und fiihrt ihn zum Menschlichen an. Goethe THE great war at the present moment is absorbing all the attention of the world exclusive of everything else. But then I think this war itself must make serious thinking people turn their attention to the great problem of civilisation. All civilisation begins by the conquest of Nature, i.e. by subduing and controlling the terrific physical forces in Nature so that they can do no harm to men. The modern civilisation of Europe to-day has succeeded in the conquest of Nature with a success, it must be admitted, hitherto not attained by any other civilisation. But there is in this world a force more terrible even than the terrific physical forces in Nature and that is the passions in the heart of man. The harm which the physical forces of Nature can do to mankind, is nothing compared with the harm which human passions can do. Until therefore this terrible force,_the human passions_is properly regulated and controlled, there can be, it is evident, not only no civilisation, but even no life possible for human beings. In the first early and rude stage of society, mankind had to use _ Arent we just doing the right thing? the mob we must befool them; See, now, how shiftless! and look now how wild! {or such is the mob-Shiftless and wild all sons of Adam are when you befool them; Be but honest and true, and thus make human, them all. physical force to subdue and subjugate human passions. Thus hordes of savages had to be subjugated by sheer physical force. But as civilisation advances, mankind discovers a force more potent and more effective for subduing and controlling human passions than physical force and this force is called moral force. The moral force which in the past has been effective in