中国古代的生态平衡和生态循环思想英文.docx

中国古代的生态平衡和生态循环思想英文.docx

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中国古代的生态平衡和生态循环思想英文

PeirenShao:

TheChineseTraditionalAcceptanceofInPerspectiveofContemporaryCommunicationStudy（中国古代的生态平衡和生态循环思想）,ChinaMediaResearch.January2014/Vo1.10.No.1.p47-58.TranslatedbyGuoXiaochun.

TheThoughtsofEcologicalBalanceandEcologicalCyclesinAncientChina

ShaoPeiren

（CommunicationStudiesInstitute,ZhejiangUniversity,Hangzhou310028,China）

TranslatedbyGuoXiaochun

Abstract:

Ecology,asabranchofsciencesoriginatedfromtheWesternworld;however,richeranddeeperecologicalthoughtsandecologicalconceptsthanthoseintheWestcanbefoundinthelongandprofoundtraditionalChineseculture.Fromtheperspectiveofecologicalbalanceandecologicalrecycle,thispaperdepictsfourthoughtsandconceptsinancientChina,namely,a）CoexistenceofHeavenandHumansinTheirOwnNiches；b）HarmonyastheSourceofCreativity，HomogeneityastheRootofStagnancy；c）BalancedPresenceofYinandYangineverything;GiveandTakeBetweenSturdinessandSoftness；Andd）LeavingExtremesfortheMeanandBalance.Intheecologicalturnofcontemporarysociallife,suchecologicalconceptsinancientChinacanprovidefoodforthoughtinmodernacademicstudiesandbecometheinexhaustiblesourceandpowerforthesustainabledevelopmentofeconomyandsociety,takinggreenecologyastheultimategoalofbothmaterialandspiritualcivilization.

Keywords:

traditionalChineseculture,ecologicalbalance,ecologicalcycles,harmonyasthesourceofcreativity,balancedpresenceofyinandyangineverything,anthropocosmicvision

ThefirstsentenceBrainBaxterwroteinhisecologicalpoliticalworkgoesthat“Intheskyofideology,ecologismisanewstar.”Ecologicalstudieshavebecomeanewdirectioninthehumanitiesandsocialscienceresearch,andmanyscholars,athomeandabroad,haveredirectedtheirattentiontothiscomparativelynewrealm.Contemporaryecologicalstudieshavealmostpenetratedintoallaspectsofthehumanitiesandsocialscienceresearch,likephilosophy,sociology,communicationstudies,politics,management,etc.Contemporaryecology,therefore,notonlyprovidesthehumanitiesandsocialscienceresearchwithanoverallbrand-newresearchmethodologyandperspective,butalsowithinspirationandcreativeresultsineachspecificfield.

Whenitcomestoecology,itisusuallyattributedtoErnstHaeckel,theGermanzoologistwhofirstproposedtheword"ecology"（OikologieinGerman）in1866anddefinedecologyas“thescience oftherelationshipbetweenorganismsandtheirenvironment.”EcologicalstudiesareawashwithWesterntheoriesandviewsofvariouskinds.Asamatteroffact,inthelongandprofoundtraditionalChineseculture.TherearethericherandthemorevariedecologicalthoughtsandecologicalconceptsthanthosefoundintheWest.Eveninasense,Chinesecultureisanecologicalculture.ThispointofviewIwillillustratefromtheperspectiveofecologicalbalanceandecologicalcycles,listingfourconceptions.

.CoexistenceofHeavenandHumansinTheirOwnNiche

Heaven,earthandhumanscoexist,eachhavingitsownecologicalniche.ProfessorShaLianxiangsays,“ChinesecultureisrootedinthehumanworldwhichliveswithHeavenandEarth,heavenonthetopandearthunderthefoot,thehumanworldwherethetrioofMan,HeavenandEarthcoexist.”TheDoctrineoftheMean（ZhongYong中庸）says,

“Onlythosewhoareabsolutelysincerecanfullydeveloptheirnature.Iftheycanfullydeveloptheirnature,theycanfullydevelopthenatureofothers.Iftheycanfullydevelopthenatureofothers,theycanfullydevelopthenatureofthings.Iftheycanfullydevelopthenatureofthings,theycanassistinthetransformingandnourishingprocessofHeavenandEarth.IftheycanassistinthetransformingandnourishingprocessofHeavenandEarth,theycanthusformatrinitywithHeavenandEarth.”[chapter22]

（weitianxiazhicheng,weinengjinqixing;nengjinqixing,zenengjinrenzhixing;nengjinrenzhixing,zenengjinwuzhixing;nengjinwuzhixing,zekeyizantiandizhihuayu;keyizantiandizhihuayu,zekeyiyutiandisanyi唯天下至诚，为能尽其性；能尽其性，则能尽人之性；能尽人之性，则能尽物之性；能尽物之性，则可以赞天地之化育；可以赞天地之化育，则可以与天地参矣。

）

ToformatrinitywithHeavenandEarthmeansthatsidebysidewithHeavenandEarth,mancancoexistwithHeavenandEarth.“Heavenhasitsseasons,Earthhasitsresources,manhashisculture,”andmandoes“notcompeteforthefunctionswithHeaven.”（Xunzi,Book17:

“Tianlun”天论（DiscourseonNature））“HeavenandEarthandIcameintoexistencetogether,andallthingswithmeareone（tiandiyuwoweibingsheng,erwanwuyuwoweiyi天地与我并生，而万物与我为一）.”（Zhuangzi,chapter3:

“QiWuLun”齐物论（OntheUniformityofAllThings））The“Appendices”oftheBookofChangeintegratesman,HeavenandEarthastheinteractionbetweenyinandyangorbetweensturdinessandsoftness.TheDoctrineoftheMeansays,“Inahighposition,he[aprofoundman]doesnottreathisinferiorswithcontempt,andinalowpositionhedoesnotcourtthefavorofhissuperiors（zaishangweibulingxia,zaixiaweibuyuanshang在上位不凌下，在下位不援上）.”Everybodyactsinhisorherownstatusandreceiveswhattheydeserve.Inotherwords,heaven,earthandman,eachoccupiestheirownstatusornicheinrelationtotheothers,dependentonandcomplementarytoeachother;withoutviolatingtheothers’niches,man.HeavenandEarthevolvetogetherandinteractwitheachother,hencethe“mutualityofheavenandman（tianrenxiangying天人相应）”andthe“harmonyofmanandheaven.”InZhuangZi’sword,“manandHeavenareone,”“MencameintoexistencebecauseoftheTaooftheheaven;theheavenlikewisecameintoexistencebecauseoftheTaooftheheaven.MencannotembodytheTaooftheheavenbecauseoftheirinbornnature.”Heavenisthatofnatureandsociety,manisthedescendantofnatureandsociety;“mutuality”and“harmony”indicatethat“man”and“heaven”canreachcommunicationontheonehand,andthat“heaven”and“man”areintimateandintegrativeontheother.

Then,whyisitthatthoughhecan,mandoesnotnecessarilyformatrinitywithHeavenandEarth?

Thereasonliesinthefactthatalwaysthinkingofhimselfasmasteroftheworldorthewisestofallcreatures,mandidwhatevertheywantedagainstecologicallaws.SinceheoriginatedfromHeavenandEarth,manshouldreturntoHeavenandEarth;sincehereceivedfavorfromHeavenandEarth,manshouldrepaythemforthehospitality.AsheneedthecarefromHeavenandEarth,manshouldalsotreatHeavenandEarthtender.

.“HarmonyastheSourceofCreativity,homogeneityastherootofstagnancy”

Theecologicalconceptionandidealof“harmonyastheSourceofCreativity,homogeneityastherootofstagnancy（heshishengwu,tongzebuji和实生物，同则不继）”wasfirstputforwardbyShibo,ahistory-scriberinlastyears ofthe WesternZhoudynasty（1046BCE-771BCE）,signifyingasimpledialecticalideaontheoriginoftheworld.Hesaid：

“Whenthingsinoppositebalancetheotherwithwhatitdoesnothave,harmonyoccursandthereforetheotherbasksinabundanceforlong;whenthingsofthesamecharacteraregivenandaddedrepeatedly,theywillfinallyrejected.”

（yitapingtaweizhihegunengfengzhangerwuguizhiruoyitongbitongjinnaijueyi以他平他谓之和，故能丰长而物归之。

若以同裨同，尽乃弃矣。

）

By“balancingtheotherwithwhatitdoesnothave（yitapingta以他平他）”,thingsinoppositearelikelytoprogresswellprovidedtheyarecooperative,butwhenthingsofthesamecharacteristicscongregate,“supplementingtheotherwithwhatitalreadyhas（yitongbitong以同裨同）”,theywilldieoflackofcompetition.Intheecologicalsense,theWesternZhoudynastyperished,fortheveryreasonthattheKingYouofZhouadoptedthepolicyof“eliminatingharmonytopursuesameness”.

InChineseculture,theharmoniouscoexistenceofthetwooppositethingsofadichotomyaregenerallyseenasasourceandmotivationofsustainabledevelopmentofthem.Zhuangzisays:

“IsticktoTaoandliveinharmony（woshouqiyiyichuqihe我守其一，以处其和）”（chapter11:

“LetBeandLetAlone”（Zhuangzizaiyou庄子·在宥））.TheSpringandAutumnofLüBuweisays:

“HeavenandEarthcooperatewitheachother,thusvariousthingsoftheworldarecreated（tiandiheheshengzhidajingye天地合和，生之大经也）.”（see“Lüshichunqiuyoushi”吕氏春秋·有始（“ViewsontheBeginningoftheWorld”ofTheSpringandAutumnofLüBuwei））Xunzi（Book19:

DiscourseinRitualPrinciples（“Lilun”礼论））says,“WhenHeavenandEarthconjoin,themyriadthingsarebegot;whentheYinandYangprinciplescombine,transformationsandtransmutationsareproduced.”Itissaidinthechapter“AigongAsks（“Aigongwen”哀公问”oftheancientbookElderDai’sBookofRites（“DaDailij”大戴礼记）that“Whenthereisincongruity betweenyinandyang, allthings will notgrow（tiandibuhezewanwubusheng天地不合，则万物不生）”.HuaiNanZisays:

“YinandYangareinharmony,thenthemyriadthingscanbegenerated”（Yinyanghe,zewanwushengyi阴阳和，则万物生矣）.Namely,whenYininosculatesYang,themyriadthingstakeshape.From“Xicizhuangshang”系辞上传（AppendedStatements）,Zhouyi周易（BookofChanges）itreadsthat“ThattheYinandtheYanginthecontradictorydichotomyareinterchangeableistheTao（Yiyinyiyangzhiweidao一阴一阳之谓道）”,“TheSturdyyangandthesoftyinintheguà卦（“hexagrams”inEnglish）wrestlewitheachotherandgenerateinfinitechanges（Gangrouxiangtuiershengbianhua刚柔相推而生变化）.”“Taigua·tuanci泰卦·彖辞（IntroductiontotheTaihexagrams）”intheBookofChangessays,“IntheprocessofintercoursebetweentheYinandtheYang,allthingsintheworldareproduced（Tiandijiaoerwanwutongye天地交而万物通也）.”Thatis,everythingintheworldgoesrepeatedly according to certain rules,andisdestinedto