and keywords or phrases the Chinese people have created or come to use that
are fundamentally pertinent to Chinese philosophy, humanistic spirit, way
of thinking, and values. They represent the Chinese people's exploration of
and rational thinking about nature and society over thousands of years. These
concepts and expressions reflect the Chinese people's wisdom, their profound
spiritual pursuit, as well as the depth and width of their thinking. Their
way of thinking, values, and philosophy embodied in these concepts have
become a kind of "life gene" in Chinese culture, and have long crystallized
into common personality and beliefs of the Chinese nation. For the Chinese
people today, they serve as a key to a better understanding of the evolutions
of their ancient philosophy, humanistic spirit, way of thinking, and values as
well as the development of Chinese literature, art, and history. For people in
other countries, these concepts open the door to understanding the spiritual
world of contemporary China and the Chinese people, including those
living overseas.
In the era of cultural diversity and multipolar discourse today, cultures
of different countries and civilizations of different peoples are integrating
faster, in greater depth, and on a greater scope than ever before. All countries
and peoples have their own systems of thought, culture, and discourse, which
should all have their place in the civilization and discourse systems of the
world. They all deserve due respect. The concepts in thought and culture of a
country and its people are naturally the most essential part of their discourse.
They constitute the marrow of a nation's thought, the root of its culture, the
soul of its spirit, and the core of its scholarship. More and more people of
vision have come to recognize the inspirations Chinese thought and culture
might offer to help resolve many difficult problems faced by mankind. The
Chinese hold that "A man of virtue accumulates his virtue and embraces all
things of creation," "Dao takes naturalness as its law," "Man is an integral part
of nature," "Man of virtue seeks harmony but not uniformity," "People are
the foundation of the state," and "Ancient classics should be used critically
to serve present needs." The Chinese ideals such as "coexistence of all in
harmony," "all the people under heaven are one family," and a world of
"universal harmony" are drawing increasing attention among the international
community. More and more international scholars and friends have become
interested in learning and better understanding Chinese thought and culture in
general, and the relevant concepts in particular.
In selecting, explaining, translating, and sharing concepts in Chinese
thought and culture, we have adopted a comprehensive and systematic
approach. Most of them not only reflect the characteristics of Chinese
philosophy, humanistic spirit, way of thinking, values, and culture, but
also have significance and/or implications that transcend time and national
boundaries, and that still fascinate present-day readers and offer them food for
thought. It is hoped that the translation of these concepts into English and other
languages will help people in other countries to gain a more objective and
more rounded understanding of China, of its people, of its past and present,
and of the spiritual world of contemporary Chinese. Such understanding
should be conducive to promoting equal dialogue between China and other
countries and exchanges between different civilizations.
The selection, explanation, and translation of these concepts have been
made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Education, China
International Publishing Group, the Central Compilation and Translation
Bureau, Peking University, Renmin University of China, Wuhan University,
and Beijing Foreign Studies University, as well as the support of renowned
scholars in China and abroad, including Florence Chia-ying Yeh, Li Xueqin,
Zhang Qizhi, and Lin Wusun.
The idea of compiling key concepts in Chinese thought and culture
represents an innovation and the project calls much research and effort both in
connotation and denotation. Furthermore, an endeavor like this has not been
previously attempted on such a large scale. Lack of precedents means there
must remain much room for improvement. Therefore, we welcome comments
from all readers in the hope of better fulfilling this task.
April 11, 2015