《吾国与吾民》书评

it's a beginning

i have got the book today,hoping improving my understanding of English writing culture.wish myself good luck!

批判性思维

首先，林先生是个非常幽默的人。这点非常重要，幽默不等同于滑稽搞笑，后者正常人都可以做到，但是只有1.很有智慧2.很达观 的人才可以对生活有一种幽默的态度。这种态度在他的书里可以清楚的看出来。他的书与鲁迅的很大不同就是，他的书可以边喝茶边读，消遣一下午的光阴，读完之后觉得生活真美好。书的内容挺吸引我的，这本书不仅仅是描述、解释、评论某些现象，还从深层次上探讨了某种心理的由来，伴有丰富的例子，怪不得中国人和老外都觉得吸引人的。当然，林先生也发表了一些自己的看法。且不说这些观点偏颇与否，至少从这里看出林语堂对祖国还是怀有深厚感情的！我看此书，给我最大的一个收获是思维上的。有些习惯和观念真的因为太久根植在我们心中，使得我们只知道碰到这种情况如何去做，而不去想为什么这样做。这种漠不关心让我们知道自己是中国人，但是又不能清楚地说出，除了黄皮肤黑眼睛，我们跟外国人有什么差别。难点在于如何保持一种detachment，这是身在庐山中的痛。艺术源于生活，而又高于生活，如果可以用更高的姿态来审视周围的一切，去观察而不仅仅去感受，去思考而不仅仅去接受，培养批判性思维， 才可能成为林先生希望的理想中的中国读书人。

Chinese can know more about China

Written in 1935 by Dr Lin Yutang, who had been writing English works for over 30 years, My Country and My People struck me at the first sight, as it takes an overall view into China. I must say that it is a must read for both the foreign and the Chinese people who want to know China.　　Lin was a smart, erudite and perceptive writer who was versed in both Western and Eastern cultures, and was very influential on US perceptions of China in the 1930s. Born in Fujian in 1905, Dr Lin graduated from St. John’s University in Shanghai in 1916.Later he went to Harvard and received his Ph. D in Philology from Leipzig University of Germany. Among all his English works, four of which are most brilliant: My Country and My People, The Importance of Living, Moment in Peking, and Six Chapters of a Floating Life. 　　My Country and My People, one of the four most distinguished works, provides an opportunity for foreigners or even us Chinese to know better about China. The book is written in idiomatic English with shining words and polished sentences, and sets an example of how to introduce China to the world in a foreign language. There are a number of Chinese idioms, poems, stories that are elegantly and gracefully translated. 　　In addition to the language, the book itself is worthy of more careful reading and study. Clearly divided into two parts, nine chapters, the book penetrates into all aspects of China, from ideology to daily life, from literature to art. In a sense, thebook is not only useful to foreigners but also helpful to modern Chinese. 　　Actually, the book sees Dr Lin’s care and concern for his motherland in wartime, as he wrote, “and I can lay bare her troubles because I haven’t lost hope.” Also between the lines we see he prided himself on being a Chinese. However, some points in the book maybe right at the writing time seem old-fashoined now that the things have changed considerably. Some views only stand for the author’s own opinions, therefore, one must be independent-minded in reading. For example, Chinese attitudes towards women have changed, and the past biases against novels and dramas have disappeared, and Chinese people have actually accepted western food. 　　But My Country and My People is on the whole a book worth reading, from which foreigners and modern Chinese can know more about China.

只有封面还不算难看

买了得有十年了，买的时候压根是看不懂的，第一页被我至少标了三十个生词，纸品和印刷....只能说不能苛求10年前出版物的品质。删节的事确实是很annoying，恨也没办法！

只給一顆星，評的不是文字

只給一顆星，評的不是文字，而是這個版本的編輯和裝幀。I don't have to mention the frigging repulsive butchering of political censorship. The way such beautiful language is sprinkled on cheap paper in a totally unselttling font type is repellent enough to keep a genuine reader away. Okay, granted that this edition is meant to make the best of human wisdom more affordable, can't one just have a simple but neatly printed edition like the Penguin paperbacks - - inexpensive but not cheap?

中国人的冷漠（翻译）

作者：林语堂 译者：songtao如果说中国人的耐心是举世无双的话，那他们则更是出了名地冷漠。我认为这同样是社会环境的产物。这里有个再明显不过的例子作为对照。英国名著《汤姆求学记》中有这样一个场景，汤姆·布朗临行前，母亲嘱咐他“要抬头挺胸，直截了当地回答别人的问题”，然而中国母亲对儿子的临别嘱咐却往往是“少管闲事”。出现这种现象，是因为身处一个法律不保障个人权益的社会，不关心公共事务总是比较保险，对中国人来说这是冷漠吸引人的一面，西方人则难以认同。但我觉得这种差异并非与生俱来，而是与中华文化相适应的产物，是在特定的社会环境下产生并遗留下来的，而后人则接受着这种旧观念的熏陶。Taine（美国自然主义文学的代表作家之一，译者注）曾说过恶行和美德好比硫酸和砂糖。若非持有这种绝对的观点，我们仍会认同多数人的看法，即认为任何美德都是“好的”，值得受到整个社会的广泛推崇，并极有可能将它作为生活中的一般准则。中国人固守的冷漠态度就像是英国人随身携带的雨伞一样，因为风云多变的政治气候总是暗藏危机，这对于那些管得太多的人来说终归是一种潜在的威胁，换言之，中国青年和外国青年一样都热心公益，中国和其他国家一样，也有热血志士，他们也热衷于“参与公共事务”。但等这些年轻人到了25~30岁之间的某个时候，大家全都变聪明了（中国人叫做“学乖了”），变冷漠了，而冷漠是判断一个人是否老练和有教养的重要标准。有的人自然而然就学会了冷漠，有的人则是在手指被灼伤一两次后才习的的。所有的老人都行事谨慎，因为所有曾经行为不羁的老家伙都已经受益于冷漠，他们要在这个个人权益不受保障的社会里生存下去，在这样的社会里，把手指头烫伤一次已经是足够倒霉了。因此，在个人权益得不到保障的情况下，冷漠也就获得了自己的“生存价值”。一个人太热衷于公共事务（或者中国人所谓的“闲事”）是非常危险的。邵飘萍和林白水这两位中国最勇敢的记者在1926年被东北军阀（张作霖，译者注）枪毙，甚至都没经过任何审判，其他记者自然会从中学会冷漠，开始“变聪明。”在中国，所谓的最成功的记者，是那些对生活，特别是对当下最迫切的社会问题没有任何自己看法的记者。他们又能做些什么呢？人们只有在个人权益得到保护的情况下才会热心公益，这时，大家只需注意诽谤法（国外把保护名誉的法律通称为“诽谤法”，译者注）。但当公民权益都得不到保护时，人们自我保护的本能便会告诉自己，莫谈国事才是对自己人身自由的最好保护。换言之，冷漠并非一种高尚的美德，而只是一种社会态度，人们因为得不到法律保护而把它当作必需。冷漠是一种自我保护的表现，如同乌龟进化出龟壳。中国人的漠视眼神举世闻名，但这只是出于自我保护的需要，在很大程度上这要归咎于中国的文化和中国人的自我约束。中国的强盗和土匪就是这一论断的事实依据，强盗和土匪无需仰仗法律的庇护，因而没有进化出冷漠的外壳，他们是中国社会中最具侠义心肠和公益精神的一个群体。这种有中国特色的骑士精神，以“豪侠”为名义，与白话小说《水浒》有着必然的联系。读者通过阅读小说，感受着这些好汉的生活与冒险，通过小说间接得到快感。这就像Elinor Glyn（英国小说家，性爱小说的先锋，译者注）受到追捧是因为她背后有大量美国老处女作为她的拥趸一样。因此，强者是这些富有公益精神的人，因为他们敢承担管闲事的后果，而弱者自然是剩下的大多数，他们出于自我保护的需要，不搀和时事。回顾中国历史，我们也能惊奇地找到佐证。中国的魏晋时期，文人因不关心国家事务而受推崇，结果使国力渐衰，导致中国北部被北方蛮族征服。魏晋时期的文人热衷于饮酒和聚众“清谈”，沉迷于道教的神话，梦想找到吃了能长生不老的仙丹。这一时期是自周朝和汉朝以来，中华民族在政治上的最低点，也代表了一个时代衰退的终结，此后中华民族在历史上第一次被蛮族统治。中国人这种对国事不闻不问的冷漠态度算正常吗？如果不正常，那是什么原因造成了现在这种局面？历史给了我们答案。直到东汉末年，中国的文人才开始摒弃这种冷漠的态度。事实上，在这个阶段的政治批评达到了高潮。一些主要的文人和“太学生”都积极参与有关时政问题的讨论（一般叫聚众清议，译者注），参与讨论的人有三万多，他们对朝廷政策和任人唯亲的选材手段进行大胆批评，这是要冒着惹恼宦官和皇帝的风险的。然而，由于没有相关法律的保护，这场清议运动在宦官的强势镇压下结束了。有些文人连同他们的整个家族被杀害，有的被流放或锒铛入狱。这一事件发生在公元166-199年，被叫作“党锢”。党锢之祸的影响程度之深，范围之大，以至于整个清议运动从此以后戛然而止, 之后党锢之祸的消极影响一直持续了一百多年。党锢之祸随之而来的是文人们对国家事务的漠不关心，这些人开始沉迷于美酒、女色、诗词和道教。有些文人隐居山林，自己动手修建没有门的泥砖房，从窗口拿别人送来的食物，就这样一直到最后老死。还有些文人化装成樵夫，并恳求亲戚们不要登门拜访，以免自己被人认出来。随后又出现了七个诗人，或曰“竹林七贤”。其中一个伟大的诗人叫刘伶，他嗜酒如命，常常好几个月都是一副醉醺醺的状态。刘伶乘鹿车时，手里常抱着一壶酒，拿着一把锹，随身跟着一个掘墓人，上路之前就对他说：“我什么时候要是死了就随便找个地方把我埋了”。但大家都尊敬他，都说他“聪明”。其他文人有的隐居田园，有的声色犬马，有的放浪形骸。另一个叫阮咸的大诗人与家里的女仆关系暧昧。有一回他在外听人说自己的妻子把女仆打发走了，他立马就从朋友那儿借了匹马，快马加鞭赶上了女仆，当众将她抱上马背。这些人因他们的聪明而受人尊敬。人们对这些人的景仰，犹如小龟羡慕老龟的厚龟壳一样。我们似乎已经找到了中国人态度冷漠的病灶，同时也了解了产生这种冷漠的根源，众所周知，这种冷漠使中国人不能有效地组织起来。而解决问题的办法似乎也很简单，即制定法律，保护民权。但好像没有人有足够的远见能看到这么做的长远影响。没人要求这样。也没人真的想这样。

阉割版

出版说明里竟明目张胆地说，林氏的某些观点是与马克思主义相违背的，故有删节。删的部分是该书的第十章a personal story of the Sino-Japanese War此外，书的质感不好～～

It's just my country, after all

Many years have passed since Lin wrote euthaisitically about his conception of what China is really about: not the fancy of Shangrila or dreaded people who fight with modernity. That's a time of change: the intellectual and the average are willing to embrace all kinds of remedies to reglorify their beloved homeland.It is shocking yet sorrowful to know that in these days, with so facilitated communication system, we and the western have still so much confused and misunderstood as it won't change anything at all during the past agony of China.Guess what would happen if Lin were to come to present day China? He probaly can't recognize it in first instant. However with keeping a more close eye on what the people live, talk and love, he would defintely smeil. The essentials are unchanged, for they are unseen, disguise in mask of skycrapper and automobile so that only a intelligent mind like that of Lin can tell of the true prediction or the inheritance of Chinese mind and China's spirit into the new generation of Super Girls or Rave Part.

喜欢林语堂

我读的原著英文版，文字极其优美，简直作为范文差点儿把其中的段落背下来。******************************************************************凑字数凑字数凑字数凑字数凑字数凑字数凑字数凑字数

An introduction

It's just an introduction or overview to Chinese culture.If you need more insightful analysis or more detailed information about Chinese history,put it off.Anyway,it's literally well produced,and not bad for killing time.More preferable is his literature masterpiece.

站在偶像面前

书的内容就不多说了，光是introduction就有够吸引人的了。我看的是网上下载的英文原版，国内买不到，只好收藏这本。。。一直喜欢林语堂的淡定与率真，从他身上看到真正的自由和内心的强大。如此的人格魅力让人强烈地想要领略原著的风采，为了自信地站在偶像面前与之对话，努力攻克英文！

读到一半

林语堂的英文作品值得一看。之前是只看英文版的，后来偶尔陪着翻译版看。书中对于中国社会及中国人的特点描述的很认真，虽然某些观点或者困惑、或者不解、有冲突，这才是好事。不知道又多少Foreigner读过此书，不过曾经听一些说过他们读过lin的《京华烟云》。

some interesting phrases

My Country and My People"Only with that detachment and that simplicity of mind can one understand a foreign nation."PROLOGUE"Only through the sorrows of men and the weeping of women can we truly understand a nation."PROLOGUEThe real question of physicl and moral health in man as well as in animals is how well he is able to do his work and enjoy his life, and how fit he is yet to survive. ii. DEGENERATION, CHAPTER ONEChinese family system, complete absence of established classes, the opportunity open for all to rise in the social scale through the imperial examination system, the pursuit of simplicity, that together serve as cultural forces making for social stability.iv. CULTRUAL STABILITY, CHAPTER ONEThat process of trying to rise higher teaches him some memorable lessons of life and human nature, and if he escapes all that experience and remains a round-eyed, innocent, hot-headed young man at thirty, still enthusiastic for progress and reform, he is either an inspired idiot or a confounded genius.i. MELLOWNESS, CHAPTER TWOOnce the emperor, T'ang Kaochung, asked him the secret of his success, and the minister asked for a brush and paper, on which he wrote a hundred times the character "patience"or "endurance."ii. PATIENCE, CHAPTER TWOThe Chinese people take to indifference as Englishmen take to umbrellas, because the political weather always looks a little ominous for the individual who ventures a little too far out alone, in other words, indifference has a distinct "survival-value" in China.One can be public-spirited when there is a guarantee for personal rights, and one's only look-out is the libel law. When these rights are not protected, however, our instinct of self-preservation tells us that indifference is our best constitutional guarantee for personal liberty.iii.PATIENCE, CHAPTER TWOTaoism, in theory and practice, means a certain roguish nonchalance, a confounded and devastating skepticism, a mocking laughter at the futility of all human interference and the failure of all human institutions, laws, government and marriage, and a certain disbelief in idealism, not so much because of lack of energy as because of a lack of faith. It is a philosophy which counteracts the positivism of Confucius, and serves as a safety-valve for the imperfections of a Confucian society.The Chinese are by nature greater Taoists than they are by culture Confucianists. As a people, we are great enough to draw up an imperial code, based on the conception of essential justice, but we are also great enough to distrust lawyers and courts. Ninety-five per cent of legal troubles are settled out of court. We are great enough to make elaborate rules of ceremony, but we are also great enough to treat them as part of the great joke of life, which explains the great feasting and merry-making at Chinese funerals. We are greta enough to denounce vice, but we are also great enough not to be surprised or disturbed by it. We are great enough to start successive waves of revolutions, but we are also great enough to compromise and go back to the previous patterns of government. We are great enough to elaborate a perfect system of official impeachment and civil service and traffic regulations and library reading-room rules, but we are also play with them, and become superior to them. We do not teach our young in the colleges a course of political science, showing how a government is supposed to be run, but we teach them by daily example how our municipal, provincial and central governments are actually run. We have no use for impracticable idealism, as we have no patience for doctrinaire theology. We do not teach them to behave like the sons of God, but we teach them to behave like sane, normal human beings. iv. OLD ROGUERY, CHAPTER TWOEven if a cataclysmic upheaval like a communistic regime should come, the old tradition of individuality, toleration, moderation and common sense will break Communism and change it beyond recognition, rather than Communism with its socialistic, impersonal and rigoristic outlook break the old tradition. It must be so.viii. CONSERVATISM, CHAPTER TWOTranslation from English into Chinese is hardest in scientific treatises, while translation from Chinese into English is hardest in poetry and decortive prose, where every word contains an image.ii. FEMININITY, CHAPTER THREEThe true end, the Chinese have decided in a singularly clear manner, lies in the enjoyment of a simple life, especially the family life, and in harmonious social relationships.If one cannot believe in the life hereafter as the consummation of the present life, one is forced to make the most of this life before the farce is over.i. CHINESE HUMUNISM, CHAPTER FOUREvery Chinese is a Confucianist when he is successful and a Taoist when he is a failure.iv.TAOISM, CHAPTER FOURIn theory at least, Confucius did not mean family consciousness to degenerate into a form of magnigied selfishness at the cost of social integrity. He did, in his moral system, also allow for a certain amount of ultra-domestic kindness.ii,THE FAMILY SYSTEM, CHAPTER SIXIn Chinese towns there was always a male Triad: the magistrate, the gentry and the local rich, (and bandit) besides the female Triad of Face, Fate and Favor.vi. THE MALE TRIAD, CHAPTER SIXBook of Rites: "Courtesy is not extended to the commoners, and punishment is not served up to the lords."Practically, this turn-about-face has been noticed in every modern successful Chinese revolutionist. He clamps down his iron heel on the freedom of the press more energetically than the militarist he denounced while in his revolutionary apprenticeship.It seems that while it is impossible to define face, it is nevertheless certain that until everybody loses his face in this country, China will not become a truly democratic country. The question is , when will the officials be willing to lose theirs?vii. THE FEMALE TRIAD, CHAPTER SIXThe so-called village or town local government is invisible. It has no visible body of authority like the mayor or councilors. It is governed really morally by the elders by virtue of their great age, and by the gentry by virtue of their knowledge of law and history.vii. THE VILLAGE SYSTEM, CHAPTER SIXAccording to Hanfeitse, the beginning of political wisdom lies in rejecting all moral platitudes and in shunning all efforts at moral reforms. I believe the sooner we stop talking about moral reforms of the people, the sooner shall we be able to give China a clean government.It is still true today that we have too few public citizens and too many private individuals and the reason is to be found in the lack of adequate legal protection. It has nothing to do with morals. The evil lies in the system. When it is too dangerous for a man to be too public-spirited, it is natural that he should take an apathetic attitude toward national affairs, and when there is no punishment for greedy and corrupt offcials, it is too much to ask of human nature that they should not be corrupt.But until that change is complete, the Chinese government will always be like an unbusinesslike company, always profitable for the manager and staff, but disheartening for the stockholders who are the common people.ix. GOVERNMENT BY GENTILMEN, CHAPTER SIXChinese art shows a taste and finesse and understanding of tone and harmony that distinguish the best products of the human spirit.i. THE ARTIST, CHAPTER EIGHTChinese painting is closely related, in spirit and technique, to Chinese calligraphy and Chinese poetry.Calligraphy gave it its technique, the initial twist which determined its future development, and Chinese poetry lent it its spirit.iii. PAINTING, CHAPTER EIGHTThe important thing about women's dress is not fineness of material but neatness, not gorgeous beauty but elegance, not that it agrees with her family standing but that it agrees with her face.i. THE PLEASURES OF LIFE, CHAPTER NINEHarmony, irregularity, surprise, concealment and suggestion-- these are some of the principles of Chinese garden-planting, as they are of other forms of chinese art.ii. HOUSE AND GARDEN, CHAPTER NINEIn China the spiritual values have not been separated from the material values, but rather help man in a keener enjoyment of life as it falls to our lot.I like spring, but it is too young. I like summer, but it is too proud. So I like best of all autumn, because its leaves are a little yellow, its tone mellower, its colors richer, and it is tinged a little with sorrow and a premonition of death. Its golden richness speaks not of the innocence of spring, nor of the power of summer, but of the mellowness and kindly wisdom of approaching age. It knows the limitations of life and is content. From a knowledge of those limitations and its richness of experience emerges a symphony of colors, richer than all, its green speaking of life and strength, its orange speaking of golden content and is purple of resignation and death. And the moon shines over it, and its brow seems white with reflection, but when the setting sun touches it with an evening glow, it can still laugh cheerily. An early mountain breeze brushes by and sends its shivering leaves dancing gayly to the ground, and you do not know whether the song of the falling leaves is the song of laughter or of parting tears. For it is the Song of the Spirit of Early Autumn, the spirit of calm and wisdom and maturity, which smiles at sorrow itself and praises the exhilarating, keen, cool air--the Spirit of Autumn so well expressed by Hsin Ch'ichi:In my young days,i had tasted only gladness,But loved to mount the top floor,But loved to mount the top floor,To write a song pretending sadness.And now I've tastedSorrow's flavors, bitter and sour,And can't find a word,And can't find a word,But merely say, "What a golden autumn hour!"end of the book

I have begun to like it before i start it

the reason why i want to read it is that a text in our book comes from this book. there is hardly people who can express the spirit of China in English. exactly lin yutang is such a man . he could and have done it

当一个中国人还是挺好的

历经一年多的时间，终于把林语堂的《吾国与吾民（My Country and My People）》给读完了。当初买这本书是为了练英语。因为我不想彻底扔下英语，又不想太辛苦，所以决定买本好看的英文书慢慢读。对于我这种对西方文化很不感冒的人来说，这本由精通英语的中国人用英文写的关于中国的书，是最好的选择。恐怕也只有这样的英文书，我才能保持兴趣把它读完。在网上找到了一个不知道谁翻译的中文版，然后发现这个中文版比英文难懂多了，用的净是文言，还净是乱码。而且，不知道是翻译者偷懒还是别的原因，好多地方给跳过去没有翻译。所以，还是得靠自己。书里的生单词特别多。是刚开始读的时候，就算有金山词霸帮忙，也可能一个小时读不了两页。后来好多了，有些单词见多了就记住了，加上后面的内容也比较轻松，一次可以多读几页。说实话，以我的水平，字面意思好多都弄不明白，文字背后的深刻思想更是领会甚少。不过，单就我读到的这一层皮毛而言，林语堂先生已经让我服得五体投地了。佩服他的英语。要把中国东西说得让外国人能明白，多难啊，他居然能把“平仄”这种概念用生动的英语写出来。佩服他对中国的琢磨。他讲的那些关于中国的东西，慢说外国人，就是中国估计也没几个人能想得出来，只有当别人一说时，才会反应：“哦，对对，还真是这么回事。”佩服他看待中国的态度，仿佛既置身于其中，又能跳出来。不管是赞美还是批评，都说的很有道理，而且语气都很温和，与那个时代那些喜欢怒骂的作家迥异。还感觉这本书是先抑后扬。前面写了很多中国、中国人的特点，像是在批评，但是读到后面又觉得这些特点又都有存在的合理性，最后觉得当一个中国人还是挺好的。