Introductory Note 恢复不等于照旧，恢复应当是在新的历史条件下对旧的道德观念进行现代关照与诠释，赋予时代气息。以 ‘忠孝’ 而言，这是五四及其以后最受人们责难的价值观念。但平心而论，我们既然不能提倡 ‘不忠不孝’ 的反命题，何不对 ‘忠孝’ 观念进行现代诠释，以确立和完善现代国人的价值体系？而且， ‘忠’ 的对象在中国古代固然包括君主，但忠于君主并不是忠的全部内容。何况中国古人在践履 ‘忠’ 的观念时，并没有忘记 ‘民为贵，社稷次之，君为轻’ （《孟子：尽心下》）的原则呢？因此，中国旧道德的忠的观念与现代社会并不冲突，只是忠的对象在撇开了君主个人之后更加单一，那就是忠于国家，忠于人民。如果我们人民政权中的所有公仆都能做到这些，那么人民的情绪怎能还会不舒畅呢？哪里还要什么 ‘活血化瘀’ 呢？ — ‘前言’，中外名人研究中心 编 《中国精神》，北京：红旗出版社，1991，第三页。… Read

The world’s ways change; everything is altered;
I alone am pure and will not submit.
Bo Yi starved himself on Shou-yang Mountain;
Shu Qi’s name endures in ever-growing glory.[1] 世俗更而變化兮，
伯夷餓於首陽。
獨廉潔而不容兮，
叔齊久而逾明。 These lines are from ‘Drowning in the River’ 沈江, the second of the poems known as the ‘Seven Remonstrances’ 七諫 in The Songs of the South 楚辭, a collection of poems from the fourth-century BCE long associated with the name Qu Yuan 屈原, China’s ‘Archpoet’.[2]… Read

In the ‘Autumn Waters’ chapter of Zhuangzi, that fame of Boyi is put into context. The time of the autumn floods came and the hundred streams poured into the Yellow River.… Read

In his ‘Biography of Boyi’ Sima Qian is befuddled as to why even the most vile people, the notorious Robber Zhi for example, can enjoy happy and prosperous lives. Fame in posterity and through the praise of notable figures at least assures the virtuous a reputation for the ages.… Read

Although in the world of learning there exist a large number and variety of books and records, their reliability must always be examined in the light of the Six Classics. In spite of deficiencies in the Odes and Documents, we can nevertheless know something about the culture of the times of Emperor Shun and the Hsia dynasty.… Read