Politicians From China

"春风又绿江南岸，明月何时照我还？"

""A student asked, “What should I do about being confused by different theories when I read?” Zhu Xi answered, “Start with an open mind, then read one theory. Read one view before reading another. After you have read them again and again, what is right and wrong, useful and useless, will become apparent of itself. The process can be compared to trying to discover whether a person is good or bad. You observe him wherever he goes, notice what he says or does, and then know if he is good or bad.” He also said, “You simply must have an open mind,” and “Wash away your old opinions to let new ideas in.” 12:211"

""Zhengchun said, “I’d like to survey a great many books.” “Don’t do that,” Zhu Xi said. “Read one book thoroughly, then read another one. If you confusedly try to advance on several fronts, you will end up with difficulties. It’s like archery. If you are strong enough for a five-pint bow, use a four-pint one. You will be able to draw it all the way and still have strength left over. Students today do not measure their own strength when reading books. I worry that we cannot manage what we already have set ourselves.” 20:464"

""A student asked, “How can a person develop his sincerity and reverence and get rid of his desires?” Zhu Xi responded, “These are the end-points. Sincerity requires getting rid of all sorts of falseness. Reverence requires getting rid of all sorts of laziness. Desires should be blocked.” 13:246"

"Since my childhood I have enjoyed reading Martial Arts fiction. I write it myself first and foremost for my own pleasure, and then for the pleasure of my readers (there is also, of course, the financial reward...). I am just a storyteller, like the professional storytellers of the Song dynasty. I believe Martial Arts fiction is like Peking Opera, or ballad-singing, or dancing, or music—its main function is to give pleasure."

"Love is of source unknown, yet it grows ever deeper. The living may die of it, by its power the dead live again. Love is not love at its fullest if one who lives is unwilling to die for it, or if it cannot restore to life one who has so died. And must the love that comes in dream necessarily be unreal? For there is no lack of dream lovers in this world."

"Kao Ou has been severely criticized on three counts. The first is that he was not telling the truth when he said he did not write but only edited the last forty chapters. This is, however, a question that cannot be categorically answered until new evidence turns up, since there are indications in the Chih Yen Chai comments that there existed at least partially finished chapters beyond the eightieth. The second criticism is that the last forty chapters are poorly written and that they are like "dog's fur sewed unto sable." I am inclined to agree with this judgment, but in fairness to Kao Ou it should be pointed out that for over a hundred years no one saw anything wrong with the sable. The last criticism is that Kao Ou, the chief architect if not the author of the last forty chapters, did not carry out the tragic intent of Tsao Hsueh-chin. He should not have allowed Pao-yu, it is argued, to pass the Provincial Examinations, for a man who achieves the chü-jen degree cannot be said to be a complete failure as the author described himself and as he intended Pao-yu to be. Here again, in fairness to Kao Ou, we must not forget that he lived at a time when a just and happy ending was almost obligatory and that he should be praised for going so far as to let Black Jade die of a broken heart instead of being criticized for not anticipating and conforming to the standard of values which happens to prevail today. All in all, we should be grateful to Kao Ou. Except for him, the Dream would probably not have survived."

"Kao Ngo came from a Han family which served in the Manchu army. After passing the provincial examination in 1788 and the palace examination in 1795, he entered the Hanlin Academy and became a Reader. In 1801 he was made Assistant Examiner of the Metropolitan Examination. He wrote the last forty chapters of the novel in 1791 or thereabouts, before he had passed the final examination. The fact that he was at leisure and slightly bored made him sympathize with Tsao Hsueh-chin's loneliness. However, he had not given up hope, unlike the author of Chapter 1, "beset by poverty and illness in his old age and sinking into decline." So although the sequel breathes an atmosphere of melancholy, the Chia family finally recovers its lost fortune instead of being left with nothing "but the bare naked earth.""

"Just as one cannot cross the same river twice, one cannot repeat the act of literary creation or pass it on to someone else. The creation of Dream of the Red Chamber, an act that resulted from Cao Xueqin's unrepeatable personal and aesthetic experiences, happens only once. Hence, it is, strictly speaking, impossible to write a sequel to Dream of the Red Chamber. As Gao E knowingly tries to perform an impossible task, he shows an admirable spirit. As he works against all odds and completes his sequel on the basis of the predictions provided in the first few chapters of Dream of the Red Chamber, he can be considered a talented sequel writer. However, though he writes many outstanding chapters in his sequel, he also produces quite a few flawed episodes. Among them the most flawed episode is Jia Baoyu's decision to take the civil service examination with Jia Lan and his success as a candidate. It is possible that Jia Baoyu might make some compromises, but for him the compromise described in the sequel is out of character. Gao E, as he imposes an ordinary person's desires on Jia Baoyu and makes Jia Baoyu betray his true self, damages the purity of this innocent character."

"It seems to me ridiculous to try to believe that Gao E sat down and wrote the last 40 chapters [of Dream of the Red Chamber]. I'm sure that's not true. Because you can see the way Gao E works. Gao E is trying I think just to reconcile – he's not altering, I think he doesn't feel he can alter what's been found. I think he tried to alter things occasionally to square one thing with another. If you're just making something up, forging something, you wouldn't be bothered about trying to reconcile inconsistencies. You'd make jolly well sure that they didn't occur."

"予聞《紅樓夢》膾炙人口者，幾廿餘年，然無全璧，無定本。向曾從友人借觀，竊以染指嘗鼎為憾。今年春，友人程子小泉過予，以其所購全書見示，且曰：「此僕數年銖積寸累之苦心，將付剞劂，公同好。子閒旦憊矣，盍分任之？」予以是書雖稗官野史之流，然尚不謬於名教，欣然拜諾，正以波斯奴見寶為幸，題襄其役。工既竣，並識端末，以告閱者。"

"Has the world ever seen a woman's love to rival that of Du Liniang? Dreaming of a lover she fell sick; once sick she became ever worse; and finally, after painting her own portrait as a legacy to the world, she died. Dead for three years, still she was able to live again when in the dark underworld her quest for the object of her dream was fulfilled. To be as Du Liniang is truly to have known love."

"身無疑鳳雙飛翼, 心有靈犀一點通。"

"What Li Shangyin's poems are about I cannot determine. I cannot even explain the literal meaning line by line. Yet I feel they are beautiful, and when I read them, they give me a new kind of pleasure in my mind."

"公之斯文若元气， 先时已入人肝脾。"

"君问归期未有期，巴山夜雨涨秋池。 何当共剪西窗烛，却话巴山夜雨时。"

"O Soul go not to the West Where level wastes of sand stretch on and on; And demons rage, swine-headed, hairy-skinned, With bulging eyes; Who in wild laughter gnash projecting fangs. O Soul go not to the West Where many perils wait!"

"Ch'u Yüan (B.C. 343–c. 290) ranks undoubtedly as one of the three or four greatest poets of China characterized by his intensity of feeling, his rich mythological details, and his somber imagination. The Songs of Ch'u belong in an entirely different category from either the poems of Confucian China, or from the later T'ang poems. His poems are at the same time among those most difficult to read in Chinese."

"Am I not the poet of witness?...Am I not a descendent of Qu Yuan, whose lyric intensity caused him to drown himself in the Mi Lo River in protest?"

"乱曰：已矣哉， 国无人莫我知兮，又何怀乎故都？ 既莫足与为美政兮，吾将从彭咸之所居。"

"世溷浊而嫉贤兮，好蔽美而称恶。"

"世溷浊而不分兮，好蔽美而嫉妒。"

"路漫漫其修远兮，吾将上下而求索。"

"余固知謇謇之为患兮。"

"惟夫党人之偷乐兮，路幽昧以险隘。"

"O Soul come back to watch the birds in flight! He who has found such manifold delights Shall feel his cheeks aglow And the blood-spirit dancing through his limbs."

"横看成岭侧成峰，远近高低各不同。 不识庐山真面目，只缘身在此山中。"

"水光潋滟晴方好，山色空蒙雨亦奇。 欲把西湖比西子，淡妆浓抹总相宜。"

"十年生死两茫茫。不思量，自难忘。"

"清夜无尘，月色如银 。 酒斟时须满十分。 浮名浮利，虚苦劳神。 叹隙中驹， 石中火， 梦中身。 虽抱文章，开口谁亲？ 且陶陶乐尽天真。 几时归去，作个闲人， 对一张琴， 一壶酒， 一溪云。"

"Families when a child is born Hope it will turn out intelligent. I, through intelligence Having wrecked my whole life, Only hope that the baby will prove Ignorant and stupid. Then he'll be happy all his days And grow into a cabinet minister."

"What a ruler has to rely upon is only the human heart. Human hearts are to the ruler what roots are to a tree, what oil is to a lamp, water to fish, fields to a farmer, or money to a merchant."

"There had to be one Su Tungpo, but there could not be two."

"The mention of Su Tungpo always elicits an affectionate and warm admiring smile in China."

"少小離家老大回，鄉音無改鬢毛衰。 兒童相見不相識，笑問客從何處來。"

"碧玉妝成一樹高， 萬條垂下綠絲縧。 不知細葉誰裁出， 二月春風似剪刀。"

"In the mountains a night of rain, And above the trees a hundred springs."

"I have just seen you go down the mountain. I close the wicker gate in the setting sun. The grass will be green again in coming spring, But will the wanderer ever return?"

"The cold mountain turns dark green. The autumn stream flows murmuring on. Leaning on my staff beneath the wicket gate, In the rushing wind I hear the cry of the aged cicada."

"君自故鄉來，應知故鄉事。 來日綺窗前，寒梅著花未？"

"卫青不败由天幸， 李广无功缘数奇。"

"一身转战三千里， 一剑曾当百万师。"

"诗中有画，画中有诗。"

"独坐幽篁里，弹琴复长啸。 深林人不知，明月来相照。"

"独在异乡为异客，每逢佳节倍思亲。 遥知兄弟登高处，遍插茱萸少一人。"

"明月松間照，清泉石上流。"

"紅豆生南國，春來發幾枝。 願君多採擷，此物最相思。"

"行到水穷处，坐看云起时。"

"泛舟大河裏，積水窮天涯。 天波忽開拆，郡邑千萬家。 行復見城市，宛然有桑麻。 回瞻舊鄉國，淼漫連雲霞。"

"渭城朝雨浥轻尘，客舍青青柳色新。 劝君更尽一杯酒，西出阳关无故人。"