2006年10月17日晚，浙江省人民大會(huì)堂燈光璀璨，高朋滿座，浙江省友協(xié)成立50周年慶典在此舉行。當(dāng)外賓代表講話時(shí)，只見(jiàn)一位身材高大、滿頭銀發(fā)、具有學(xué)者風(fēng)度的外賓走上臺(tái)來(lái)，熱情地說(shuō)：人在地球各處的存在這個(gè)事實(shí)告訴我們，應(yīng)該加強(qiáng)友好交流。這位外賓代表就是德國(guó)東方文化研究所負(fù)責(zé)人、德中友好協(xié)會(huì)會(huì)長(zhǎng)波爾教授。

次日，記者在林木蓊郁的花家山賓館采訪波爾會(huì)長(zhǎng)。握手后我第一句話便是“波爾會(huì)長(zhǎng)昨天的講話很精彩”。他一笑，機(jī)敏地回答：“我把講話的時(shí)間縮短，把讀書的時(shí)間增加。”這一開(kāi)場(chǎng)白使得采訪的氣氛輕松而融洽。當(dāng)問(wèn)及他與東方文化的結(jié)緣時(shí)，波爾手捧他著的《孔子》一書，侃侃而談：“我曾在德國(guó)大學(xué)學(xué)哲學(xué)，也學(xué)數(shù)學(xué)和文學(xué)，當(dāng)時(shí)我想到世界各地人民碰到的問(wèn)題有共同點(diǎn)，從此我就在關(guān)注西方的同時(shí)把研究的目光轉(zhuǎn)向東方，研究東方人民是怎樣提升自己的方法論和中國(guó)人的方法論有什么先進(jìn)性?！?/p>

說(shuō)到這里，我請(qǐng)他談?wù)勅绾窝芯恐袊?guó)文化。他不假思索地說(shuō)：“在德國(guó)大學(xué)哲學(xué)系是沒(méi)有東方文化專業(yè)的，我是靠自學(xué)的。我有一個(gè)私人圖書館，里面有我搜集來(lái)的多種中國(guó)書籍，我每天在自己的圖書館里學(xué)東方文化，研究孔孟思想。”說(shuō)著，他手指《孔子》一書封面上的孔子像說(shuō)：“孔孟思想對(duì)日本有很大影響，這張孔子像是中國(guó)贈(zèng)給日本一所大學(xué)的，我將它搜集來(lái)做封面。這本書由德中友好協(xié)會(huì)出版，沒(méi)有偏見(jiàn)地介紹儒家思想，傳遞東方信息，啟迪歐洲人對(duì)東方文化的興趣。這本書出版后銷售一空，說(shuō)明東方文化在歐洲頗受歡迎?！?/p>

說(shuō)起德中友好協(xié)會(huì)舉辦的文化交流活動(dòng)，波爾會(huì)長(zhǎng)娓娓而談：“除了出版，德中友好協(xié)會(huì)還搞論壇和講座，曾舉辦過(guò)中日關(guān)系、中國(guó)婦女問(wèn)題等講座，在去年舉行的中國(guó)教育推介會(huì)上，還請(qǐng)中國(guó)駐德大使講話。有時(shí)講座也講些德國(guó)聽(tīng)眾感興趣的話題，如《西游記》。有的德國(guó)企業(yè)要求組織觀看中國(guó)武術(shù)和舞龍，這樣的活動(dòng)德中友好協(xié)會(huì)也搞，但我以為搞講座和論壇信息量更大。”

從1985年起，波爾每年都來(lái)中國(guó)一次，對(duì)中國(guó)情有獨(dú)鐘，他說(shuō)每次來(lái)都感到中國(guó)變化大，發(fā)展速度快。這次在浙江杭州，他先后去了南宋皇城遺址公園和中國(guó)絲綢博物館，還沿著西湖仔細(xì)觀賞一番，整個(gè)心靈完全被吸引住了。他說(shuō)太美了，這是“一種有靈魂的美”。許多景觀的建筑物都是新的，景點(diǎn)是美的，這些建筑物和景點(diǎn)都有歷史文化的靈魂，杭州把美景和歷史信息一并展現(xiàn)給中外游客，杭州做得真好。

Gregot Paul: German Scholar of Confucianism

By Zhao Zheng， our staff reporter

On the evening of October 17， 2006， a grand banquet was held at the Great Hall of the People of Zhejiang Province in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Zhejiang People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Professor Gregot Paul， director of the German Oriental Cultures Research Institute and president of the Germany-China Friendship Association， spoke on behalf of the foreign guests present at the banquet. “The fact that all the people share the whole earth tells us that we should strengthen friendly exchanges，” he remarked.

I met with the professor the next day at Huajiashan Hotel on the West Lake. I began by commenting on his brilliant speech at the banquet the night before and he said he had deliberately made the speech short so that he could find more time to read. We smiled and the conversation became free and harmonious. When asked how he began to study the oriental cultures， he explained that he studied philosophy in a French university and then studied mathematics and literature. The studies enabled him to see the similarities shared by West and East. He began to learn how the peoples in the East enhanced their methodological theories and how advanced， in particular， the Chinese methodology was. Now， the professor loves oriental classics.

I asked him to comment on his Chinese studies. The professor observed that philosophy departments in German universities did not offer studies of the oriental cultures. He is a self-made Orientalist. Now he has built a private library with a collection of books on China， where he carries out his daily studies on Confucius and Mencius.

Professor Gregot Paul proceeded to explain the book he had written， a copy of which was in his hand when we talked. The book has a Confucius portrait as the frontpiece in the title page. Published by the German-China Friendship Association， it introduces Confucianism without bias and imparts oriental messages to the Europeans. This book was a best seller.

When talking about cultural exchange activities between Germany and China， the president said that， in addition to publications， the association also holds forums and lectures at regular intervals. For example， the association has held forums on the Sino-Japan relations and the issues of Chinese women. Some forums were organized to offer insight into the special aspects of the Chinese culture that interest the German people. For example， a forum was held on the Journey to the West， a classic Chinese novel. On a few occasions， the association had organized martial arts and lion dancing shows. The president said: “I personally prefer forums to other activities， because they offer more detailed and concrete information on China.”

Since 1985， Professor Gregot Paul has been able to pay an annual visit to China. He has witnessed the fast development and tremendous changes in the great oriental country. During this latest visit， he had visited the Southern Song Dynasty Palace Site Park and the China Silk Museum in Hangzhou and took a tour around the West Lake. He expressed his total fascination for the beautiful scenery and new architecture around the lake. He commented: “This beauty comes from the soul， from which one can look into the history and culture of the ancient city Hangzhou.”

(Translated by David)