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1、THESPIRITOFCHINESEPHILOSOPHYTheplacewhichphilosophyhasoccupiedinChinesecivilizationhasbeencomparabletothatofreligioninothercivilizations.InChina,philosophyhasbeeneveryeducatedperson'sconcern.Intheolddays,ifamanwereeducatedatall,thefirsteducationhereceivedwasinphilosophy.Whenchildr
2、enwenttoschool,theFourBooks,whichconsistoftheConfucianAnalects,theBookofMencius,theGreatLearning,andtheDoctrineoftheMean,werethefirstonestheyweretaughttoread.TheFourBookswerethemostimportanttextsofNeo-Confucianistphilosophy.Sometimeswhenthechildrenwerejustbeginningtolearnthecharac
3、ters,theyweregivenasortoftextbooktoread.ThiswasknownastheThreeCharactersClassic,andwassocalledbecauseeachsentenceinthebookconsistedofthreecharactersarrangedsothatwhenrecitedtheyproducedarhythmiceffect,andthushelpedthechildrentomemorizethemmoreeasily.Thisbookwasinrealityaprimer,and
4、theveryfirststatementinitisthat"thenatureofmanisoriginallygood."ThisisoneofthefundamentalideasofMencius'philosophy.PlaceofPhilosophyinChineseCivilizationTotheWesterner,whoseesthatthelifeoftheChinesepeopleispermeatedwithConfucianism,itappearsthatConfucianismisareligion.Asamatteroff
5、act,however,Confucianismisnomoreareligionthan,say,PlatonismorAristotelianism.ItistruethattheFourBookshavebeentheBibleoftheChinesepeople,butintheFourBooksthereisnostoryofcreation,andnomentionofaheavenorhell.Ofcourse,thetermsphilosophyandreligionarebothambiguous,Philosophyandreligio
6、nmayhaveentirelydifferentmeaningsfordifferentpeople.Whenmentalkaboutphilosophyorreligion,theymayhavequitedifferentideasintheirmindsconcerningthem.Formypart,whatIcallphilosophyissystematic,reflectivethinkingonlife.Everyman,whohasnotyetdied,isinlife.Buttherearenotmanywhothinkreflect
7、ivelyonlife,andstillfewerwhosereflectivethinkingissystematic.Aphilosophermustphilosophize;thatistosay,hemustthinkreflectivelyonlife,andthenexpresshisthoughtssystematically.Thiskindofthinkingiscalledreflectivebecauseittakeslifeasitsobject.Thetheoryoflife,thetheoryoftheuniverse,andt
8、hetheoryofknowledgeallemergefromt
