帶我認識中國的一本書

The Book that Brought China Closer to Me

書籍是人類思想的寶庫，書籍是屹立在時間長河中的燈塔，對于年輕的國際朋友們來說，究竟是哪一本書，帶領(lǐng)他們真正認識了中國？一千個人眼中有一千個哈姆雷特，第8期“國際朋友說”，5個來自不同國家的朋友各自帶了一本書來到《國際人才交流》編輯部，分享這本讓他們與中國結(jié)緣、揭開中國神秘面紗的書。

People say, books are the source of wisdom. They are like soaring lighthouses in the mighty ocean of time. Speaking about our foreign friends, which book led them to a better understanding of China? There are one thousand different Hamlets in the eyes of one thousand different people. We gathered with five foreign friends from different countries at the editor's department of "International Talent" magazine to talk about how this particular book brought China closer to them, lifted the veil on mysterious China.

主持人(Hosts)：吳星鐸（Wu Xingduo）、 蘇莉（Anastasia Sukhoretskaya）

嘉賓(Guests)：以色列的安天佑（Amit Elazar，Israel）、埃及的沙可云（Reem Saqr，Egypt)、哈薩克斯坦的米沙（Mikhail Chursin，Kazakhstan）、阿富汗的羅明（Mohammad Ramin，Afghanistan)、保加利亞的狄特（Dimitar Vladimirov Yosifov，Bulgaria)

安天佑

安天佑：充滿大智慧的《莊子》

《莊子》是一本充滿大智慧的書。第一次接觸到這本書是在本科的一門課程中，那門課專門討論莊子的哲學思想。

當代漢語中有很多成語就來自《莊子》。比如“游刃有余”來自《莊子》 “庖丁解?！钡墓适隆ｂ叶∈莻€高明的廚師，他在宰牛的時候，不用眼睛看牛，不去與大骨頭硬碰硬，而是用心去領(lǐng)會。這是因為他對牛的脈絡了然于胸，他懂得順著牛骨節(jié)的空隙去宰牛。用古代漢語說就是“以神遇而不以目視，官知止而神欲行”，莊子哲學提倡順應“道”，在中國當代社會則是要求我們順應社會，順勢而為，這是一種大智慧。

有一些成語轉(zhuǎn)化成了另一種意義，比如“朝三暮四”、“相濡以沫”都來源于《莊子》，含義卻已發(fā)生了改變。“朝三暮四”在《莊子》里是關(guān)于猴子的故事，養(yǎng)猴老人給猴子分食物，說早上三顆，晚上四顆，猴子很不高興，但是換一種說法，承諾早上四顆，晚上三顆，猴子們特別開心，意思是實質(zhì)不變，用改換眉目的方法使人接受?，F(xiàn)在這個成語多用于形容辦事反復無常，經(jīng)常變卦。

莊子的智慧有點像我們猶太文化中的一位拉比（智者）——納赫曼，和《莊子》里的故事類似，納赫曼拉比的寓言也用表面上簡單的故事來表達深邃的含義。例如“莊周夢蝶”的故事很像“火雞王子”?！盎痣u王子”講述了一位自認為是火雞的王子與一位前來治療的智者的故事，智者也假裝是一只火雞，并且說“為什么火雞不能穿衣服？不可以坐在凳子上？不可以吃人吃的東西？”最后王子被完全治愈了。我覺得這個故事和“莊周夢蝶”有異曲同工之處，就像電影《盜夢空間》和《黑客帝國》，他們都將虛幻和現(xiàn)實聯(lián)系在一起。

《莊子》中我最難忘的一句話是“言者所以在意，得意而忘言。吾安得夫忘言之人而與之言哉?！边@句話的意思是，“言詞是表達意思的，既然已經(jīng)知道了意思，就不再需要語言。我在哪里可以找到忘記語言的人，我要和他交流?！蹦憧矗f子這么早就提出了跨語言、跨文化的交流了。

Amit: Zhuangzi, a book of wisdom

Zhuangzi is a book full of wisdom. The fi rst time I came across this book was at the class of philosophy of Zhuangzi in college . The modern Chinese language is fi lled with idioms taken from the Zhuangzi book. For example, “handle a butcher’s cleaver skillfully” was borrowed from the story “Butcher Ding Dismembering Ox” in Zhuangzi. Butcher Ding was a shrewd chef, when dismembering the ox, he never looked at it with his eyes, but treated it by heart. That was because he was familiar with the cow’s structure and dismembered it through the spare space between its joints. In the ancient Chinese they say “see with the heart and not with eyes, feel with soul and not senses”. Zhuangzi promoted “Tao” philosophy, in modern China people act as the society tells and take advantage of things. That is a big wisdom.

Some of the idioms changed their initial meanings. For example, “change one’s mind frequently”, “mutual help and relief in time of poverty” were also taken from Zhuangzi, only that their meanings altered. The idiom “change one’s mind frequently”originated from the Zhuangzi book’s story about a monkey. When its owner was feeding the monkey, he said to bring three acorns in the morning and four in the evening. The monkey was not happy hearing his words. Then, the man promised to bring four in the morning and three in the evening instead, and the monkey became satisfi ed with this. Actually, the man didn’t change the amount of food for the monkey, only how he said it, and therefore tricked the monkey. Nowadays the idiom means to change one’s mind often, don’t keep one’s word.

The philosophy of Zhuangzi resembles the one of Rabbi Nachman in our Jewish culture. Rabbi Nachman also used allegorical and simple language to convey the profound meaning of his stories. For example, the story “Zhuangzhou Dreamt of Butterfl y” is quite similar to “Turkey Prince”. “Turkey Prince”story is about a prince who considered himself to be a turkey and a wise man who came to treat his illness . The wise man pretended he was a turkey too and questioned the prince: “Why can’t the turkey wear people’s clothes? Why can’t the turkey sit on the bench? Why can’t the turkey eat people’s food?” At last, the man fully recovered. I think it has many similarities with “Zhuangzhou Dreamt of Butterfl y” and also with the movies “Inception” and “Matrix” where the fantasy and reality are mixed together.

My favorite quote from Zhuangzi is that “the words are to express the meaning, but the one who already knows the meaning, doesn’t need the words to pronounce it. If I fi nd a man who forgot his language, I will still be able to talk with him”. As you see, long ago Zhuangzi already promoted cross-cultural communication and trans-language.

沙可云

沙可云：豪邁又浪漫的《毛主席詩詞》

我是一個富有詩意的人，今天要說的是《毛主席詩詞》。第一次接觸到這本書是在高中畢業(yè)時。我的父親是一位大學文學系教授，他建議我在讀大學之前先廣泛涉獵各類文學書籍，他送了一本阿拉伯語版的《毛主席詩詞》給了熱愛詩歌的我。

毛主席不僅是一個很棒的領(lǐng)導人，也是一個非常優(yōu)秀的文學家和詩人。閱讀《毛主席詩詞》培養(yǎng)了我對中文詩歌的興趣，我開始參加一些詩歌比賽。我覺得，不能說《毛主席詩詞》影響了我對中國的看法，但是它為我注入一股新鮮血液，為我開啟了一扇通往中國詩歌的大門。

我想起了海子的一句話：詩人是一切時代的智慧之標志。毛主席在詩歌中表達了他最偉大的靈魂和內(nèi)心。毛主席在詩中有一種對天下大勢盡在掌握的豪情。“北國風光，千里冰封，萬里雪飄。望長城內(nèi)外，惟余莽莽；大河上下，頓失滔滔。山舞銀蛇，原馳蠟象，欲與天公試比高。”來中國之后，我更是對毛主席多了一份敬仰之情。

Reem Saqr: Heroic and yet romantic Chairman Mao’s Poetry

I am so fond of poetry, so today I will introduce Chairman Mao’s Poetry book. The first time I held this book was when I graduated from the middle school. My father is a professor at the department of literature, he suggested me before starting my university studies, looked through different sorts of books; so he presented me an Arabic version of the book Chairman Mao’s Poetry. Chairman Mao was not just an outstanding leader but also a prominent litterateur and poet. His poems are mysterious powerful, heroic and very romantic. Chairman Mao’s Poetry aroused my interest in the Chinese poetry and I started to take part in various poetry contests. Chairman Mao’s Poetry was some sort of fresh blood, which opened a door to the world of the Chinese poetry for me.

Haizi,a Chinese poet, said that the poets were the symbols of the epoch. Chairman Mao expressed his great soul and heart in his poems. He also expressed his confi dence in historic trends through his words.

“North country scene, A hundred leagues locked in ice, A thousand leagues of whirling snow.

Both sides of the Great Wall, One single white immensity; The Yellow river’s swift current, Is stilled from end to end.

The mountains dance like silver snakes, And the highlands charge like wax-hued elephants, Vying with heaven in stature.”

After I came to China, I admired Chairman Mao even more.

If asked what poet had written poems in a somewhat similar style in Arabic language, I would name Mahmoud Darwish, he was the most infl uential Palestinian and Arabic poet. His writing style is also very confident and brave. His poems reveal determination and strength. His poems about homesickness are especially touching, they are about his mother and motherland. I also admire the image of bird in his works. “Having reached the last frontier, where should we be heading to? Having reached the last layer of the sky, where should the bird be flying to?” His Langauge is very simple, but to express the most profound feelings.

“The strong pass of the enemy is like the wall of iron, yet, with fi rm strides, we are conquering its summits”is my favorite quote from Chairman Mao’s Poetry.

在阿拉伯語詩人里如果找一位風格可以類比的詩人，那我會說我非常喜歡一位詩人，叫穆罕默德·達維希，他被稱作是巴勒斯坦乃至是阿拉伯世界最有影響力、最偉大的詩人。他的風格也是非常自信和豪邁。他的詩歌透露著一種決心，一種力量。他的表達鄉(xiāng)愁的詩歌特別動人，這類詩充滿了對母親，對家鄉(xiāng)的思念。我很欣賞他的詩中“鳥”的意象?！霸谧詈蟮膰持?，我們應當去往哪里？在最后的天空之后，鳥兒應當飛向何方？”他的語言非常簡單，但是卻總能表達出最深刻的感情。

“雄關(guān)漫道真如鐵，而今邁步從頭越”是《毛主席詩詞》中我最難忘的一句詩。

米沙

米沙：充滿瑰麗想象的《中國傳統(tǒng)神話》

在我七八歲的時候，爸爸媽媽送給我一本俄語版的《全世界傳說與神話》，里面有古希臘和埃及的故事，也介紹中國文明。我對中國文明的部分愛不釋手。從那時就開始對中國神話和中國哲學感興趣。后來我開始去找像《道德經(jīng)》或者儒家四書之類的，可以讓我了解中國的書籍。直到有一天我在書店里找到了《中國傳統(tǒng)神話》，這本充滿瑰麗想象的書。

《中國傳統(tǒng)神話》最精彩的部分在于各種各樣的神話故事，比如盤古開天地、女媧造人、后羿射日、夸父逐日、嫦娥奔月等等。在我讀這本書之前，我從來沒有想過月亮上可以有一個美女和一只兔子，直到我后來讀到嫦娥奔月的故事。所以小時候當我凝視著圓圓的月亮，我仿佛就能看到嫦娥抱著兔子在對我微笑。應用到生活上，我就知道為什么中國首顆繞月人造衛(wèi)星叫“嫦娥一號”了。還有盤古開天辟地的故事也對我很有啟發(fā)性。就像道家所說，道生一，一生二，二生三，三生萬物。他們都從不同的角度闡釋了世界的起源。

在《中國傳統(tǒng)神話》的前言里有一句話，讓我最難忘。那句話是“不要用傳統(tǒng)的想法去了解其他的國家”。確實，我從這本書中了解到了一個不一樣的中國，一個神秘而古老的國度。

羅明：《毛澤東與近代中國》，帶我認識現(xiàn)在的中國

《毛澤東與近代中國》讓我對中國有了一種全新的認識，這是2009年來中國學中文的時候，我接觸到的書。

Mikhail: Charming fantasy of Legends of China

At the age of seven, my parents gave me a Russian version of myths and Legends of the World. This book contained legends of Ancient Greece and Egypt, and also the stories about the Chinese civilization. I was so fond of this book. From then on I grew interest in China’s legends and philosophy. I started looking for books like Tao Te Ching or the Four books in Confucianism, something where I can learn about China. And once I found out Legends of China, a book full of charming fantasy. The core part of the book was its various legends and takes, for example. “Pan Gu Created Heaven and Earth”, “Nv Wa Created Men”, “The Archer and the Suns”, “Kua Fu Runs After the Sun”, “The Goddess Chang’s Fly to the Moon” etc. Before the book, I never thought that it was possible to see the image of a beautiful woman and a rabbit on the moon, until I came across the story about Goddess Chang. That’s why when I was little I liked staring at the round moon and look for a woman and a rabbit on it. I actually could observe Goddess Chang holding a rabbit and smiling at me. Applying it to life, now I know why the fi rst lunar satellite of China was named “ Chang’e-1 “. The legend of how Pan Gu created the Earth is also very meaningful. It is like Taoism: “The Dao is the underlying principle behind the creation of the myriad things. The order of the process giving rise to the myriad things began with the Dao producing a kind of generative force”. They all describe from different angles how the world emerged.

There is a quote from the book that I like most: “Don’t applythe traditional way of thinking to understand other countries”. Actually, from that book, I learnt a different China, a mysterious and ancient country.

羅明

雖然中國與阿富汗相鄰，地理距離近，但由于文化的隔閡，我以前總覺得中國很遙遠。小時候?qū)χ袊挠∠髞碜哉n本，后來對中國的印象來自電影，比如李小龍、成龍的電影等，導致我以為所有中國人都會功夫。所以我們阿富汗學生在和中國學生踢足球的時候，就會非常注意不要和中國學生產(chǎn)生矛盾。好像我對中國的印象一直停留在比較刻板的階段，直到我看了《毛澤東與近代中國》這本書后，我才對中國的近代、當代有了清晰的認識。

通過閱讀《毛澤東與近代中國》這本書，我認識到，毛主席在中國是一個舉足輕重的人物，我在閱讀這本書的過程中，慢慢地了解毛澤東，了解馬克思主義，了解馬克思主義的中國化，才明白原來現(xiàn)代中國是這樣一步一步走過來的。

在阿富汗也有非常杰出的政治家，比如1919年國王阿曼努拉汗帶領(lǐng)阿富汗取得獨立，我們稱他為國父。還有一位年輕人更熟悉的人物是馬蘇德。他是阿富汗抵抗運動軍事領(lǐng)導人，被譽為“潘杰希爾雄獅”。但是很不幸的是，他在49歲時被暗殺。即使到現(xiàn)在，我們?nèi)匀汇懹浿@位英雄。

《毛澤東和近代中國》這本書中，我印象最深的話是書的引論中，何炳棣先生所說：“雖然五四運動以后，由于幾億中國人民的覺醒和要求，中國向進步的方向演變是必然的趨勢，但是中國如果沒有產(chǎn)生毛澤東，我們很懷疑中國的革命和建國會如此迅速、全面、成功。”

Mohammad:Mao Zedong and Modern China helped me with understanding modern China

The book Mao Zedong and Modern China let me have a fresh look on China. The fi rst time I came across it was in 2009 when I was studying Chinese here.

Even though Afghanistan and China’s territories are quite close, I think, they are still far away from each other in culture . In my childhood I learnt about China from books, then from the movies with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. At that time I thought all Chinese people were skillful at martial arts. That’s why when students from Afghanistan were playing football with the Chinese students, we tried not to get into trouble with the Chinese. It seemed like my perception of Chinese was just stereotypes, until I found out the book Mao Zedong and Modern China which gave me the correct vision of modern China.

Through this book, I learnt that Mao Zedong was an essential fi gure in Chinese modern history. I also learnt step by step about Mao Zedong, Marxism and its development in China. Only then I understood how contemporary China was built up gradually.

In Afghanistan we also have some outstanding politicians. In 1919 the Afghanistan governor Amamullah Khan led the country get independence, so we call him Father of the Nation. Another historical figure, more familiar to young people, is Ahmad Shah Massoud. He was the leader of the military resistance movement, and we call him the Great Lion of Panjshir. But unfortunately, he was assassinated at the age of 49. And up to now he lives in the memory of people.

The part I remember most was in the comments to Mao Zedong and Modern China, from Mr. He Bingdi: “Although after the May Fourth Movement, people of China woke up, and the China’s modernization tendency became a fi rm trend, however, if China had never had Mao Zedong, we would not have been able to conduct the revolution and build the republic at the same fast speed, at such a scale and with such great success.”

Dimitar: Insights into Chinese culture showed me a splendid China

The book Insights into Chinese culture was published

狄特

狄特：《中國文化讀本》，展示燦爛的中國

這本《中國文化讀本》是為了北京奧運會專門編纂的書。我與這本書的緣分源于我的中文啟蒙老師——張老師。2008年，我在保加利亞念高中，而她正好在我就讀的高中做志愿者。她在離開之前把英文版的《中國文化讀本》送給了我，因為張老師，因為這本書，我才堅定了來中國的決心。2016年，我在北京大學校園里一個書攤上與這本書的中文版又不期而遇。

《中國文化讀本》里包含了中國文化的精髓，讓我對中國有了豐富飽滿的印象。比如雖然瓷器在中國歷史上占有很重要的地位，但是我通過這本書認識到了青銅器。這本書還向讀者介紹孔子的思想，老子的哲學，孫子的兵法等。還有景泰藍、年畫、剪紙、中醫(yī)和禪宗，都是我通過這本書才初步知曉并深入了解的。

我認為禪宗是這本書最精彩的部分。書里有一句話是“如人飲水，冷暖自知”，這是我最難忘的一句話。我覺得它闡釋的道理和禪宗有很大的關(guān)系。它的意思是一定要自己體驗，才知道事物的正確與否。正如禪宗反對想得太多，注重個人體驗，強調(diào)通過體驗去頓悟。舉個例子，一個人想知道蘋果是什么味道，那么他去采摘蘋果，品嘗蘋果是一種體驗。發(fā)現(xiàn)味道和想象不一樣，是一種頓悟，因為只有嘗試了，才能知道味道鮮美與否。據(jù)我所知，唐朝的大詩人王維就是一位受禪宗影響很大的詩人，他被稱為“詩佛”。

通過《中國文化讀本》，我了解到中國多姿多彩的燦爛文化，要說最喜歡書中的一句話，當然還是那句：“如人飲水，冷暖自知。”

（中文整理：吳星鐸、周京錦，英文整理：蘇莉）

specially for the Beijing Olympics. I had a chance to have this book thanks to my lovely teacher of Chinese, Madam Zhang. In 2008 I was studying in the middle school in Bulgaria, and luckily she was a volunteer in our school at that time. Before leaving, she gave me a book named Insights into Chinese culture, the English version of it. And because of that book and my teacher, I made decision to come to China. In 2016 by chance, I discovered the Chinese version of the book in Peking University, where I am studying teaching Chinese as a foreign language major.

The book Insights into Chinese culture has the quintessence of Chinese culture, widening my knowledge about China. For example, I knew that porcelain production had always taken an important place in the Chinese history, but through the book I also learnt about bronze ware. This book also introduces the study of Confucius, the philosophy of Laozi, Master Sun’s art of war as well as cloisonné, Spring Festival paintings, traditional paper-cut and Chinese medicine; all of these I gradually learnt from the book.

I believe the part about Zen is the best one in the book. There is a saying “By drinking water, people learn hot and cold” which I like most. I think its interpretation is tightly related to Zen. It means we always need to experience something ourselves, only then we can tell its nature. The study of Zen doesn’t approve of doing too much thinking, and it focuses on personal experience and insight. For example, someone wants to know the taste of apple. He gets the experience when he picks and tries the apple. Discovering the taste is different from what we imagined is the sudden enlightment, because only through trying it out one gets to know if the taste is good. As far as I know, the great poet of Tang Dynasty Wang Wei was greatly infl uenced by Zen philosophy, so he was named poet buddhist.

Through the book Insights into Chinese culture I discovered many sides of splendid Chinese cultural heritage. If you ask me to choose a saying from the book that I like most, then it would be “By drinking water, people learn hot and cold”.

(Chinese version: Wu Xingduo, Zhou Jingjin; English version: Anastasia Sukhoretskaya)