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1、THESPIRITOFCHINESEPHILOSOPHYTheplacewhichphilosophyhasoccupiedinChinesecivilizationhasbeencomparabletothatofreligioninothercivilizations.InChina,philosophyhasbeeneveryeducatedperson'sconcern.Intheolddays,ifamanwereeducatedatall,thefirsteducationhereceivedwasinphilosophy.Whenchildren
2、wenttoschool,theFourBooks,whichconsistoftheConfucianAnalects,theBookofMencius,theGreatLearning,andtheDoctrineoftheMean,werethefirstonestheyweretaughttoread.TheFourBookswerethemostimportanttextsofNeo-Confucianistphilosophy.Sometimeswhenthechildrenwerejustbeginningtolearnthecharacters
3、,theyweregivenasortoftextbooktoread.ThiswasknownastheThreeCharactersClassic,andwassocalledbecauseeachsentenceinthebookconsistedofthreecharactersarrangedsothatwhenrecitedtheyproducedarhythmiceffect,andthushelpedthechildrentomemorizethemmoreeasily.Thisbookwasinrealityaprimer,andthever
4、yfirststatementinitisthat"thenatureofmanisoriginallygood."ThisisoneofthefundamentalideasofMencius'philosophy.PlaceofPhilosophyinChineseCivilizationTotheWesterner,whoseesthatthelifeoftheChinesepeopleispermeatedwithConfucianism,itappearsthatConfucianismisareligion.Asamatteroffact,howe
5、ver,Confucianismisnomoreareligionthan,say,PlatonismorAristotelianism.ItistruethattheFourBookshavebeentheBibleoftheChinesepeople,butintheFourBooksthereisnostoryofcreation,andnomentionofaheavenorhell.Ofcourse,thetermsphilosophyandreligionarebothambiguous,Philosophyandreligionmayhaveen
6、tirelydifferentmeaningsfordifferentpeople.Whenmentalkaboutphilosophyorreligion,theymayhavequitedifferentideasintheirmindsconcerningthem.Formypart,whatIcallphilosophyissystematic,reflectivethinkingonlife.Everyman,whohasnotyetdied,isinlife.Buttherearenotmanywhothinkreflectivelyonlife,
7、andstillfewerwhosereflectivethinkingissystematic.Aphilosophermustphilosophize;thatistosay,hemustthinkreflectivelyonlife,andthenexpresshisthoughtssystematically.Thiskindofthinkingiscalledreflectivebecauseittakeslifeasitsobject.Thetheoryoflife,thetheoryoftheuniverse,andthetheoryofknow
8、ledgeallemergefromt
