俭 – Chinese philosophy and culture

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jiǎn 俭

Thriftiness

俭朴,古人倡导的一种美德。在不同学派的思想中,“俭”的含义会有所区别。在儒家看来,“俭”是对奢侈浪费的克服。儒家认为,行礼、行事应避免奢侈。奢侈会带来对物质财富的浪费,同时也会使人们竞逐于物质的富足,从而丧失行礼、行事的初衷与本质。在道家看来,“俭”特指统治者的俭朴。统治者不应为了满足自己的欲求而耗费民财,应以俭朴的行事避免对百姓生活的干扰。

Thriftiness is a virtue espoused by ancient Chinese. However, its meaning varies somewhat among different schools of thought. According to the Confucian school, thriftiness meant rejecting extravagance and waste. One should practice no extravagance in holding a ceremony or in daily life. Extravagance causes waste of things. Moreover, it would lead people to indulge in the pursuit of wealth and thus deviate from the goal of the ceremony or action. To the Daoist school, thriftiness only referred to thriftiness expected of a ruler. The ruler should not satisfy his own desire by extracting wealth from the people and wasting it. Instead, he should practice thriftiness so as not to impose undue burden on people’s lives.

引例 Citations:

◎林放问礼之本。子曰:“大哉问!礼,与其奢也,宁俭;丧,与其易也,宁戚。”(《论语·八佾》)

(林放请教礼的根本。孔子说:“你问的是个重大的问题!礼,与其奢侈操办,宁可节俭而行。丧礼,与其仪节周备,宁可哀戚过度。”)

Lin Fang asked Confucius about the essential meaning of ritual ceremonies. Confucius replied, “What you ask is a big question. For rites, it is always desirable to be simple rather than excessive. In the case of mourning, such rites should be determined by degree of grief rather than by overconsideration of rituals.” (The Analects)

◎我有三宝,持而保之。一曰慈,二曰俭,三曰不敢为天下先。(《老子·六十七章》)

(我有三种宝物,持有并保全它。第一种是慈爱,第二种是俭朴,第三种是不敢做天下人都没有做的事。)

There are three things I keep and treasure. The first is kindness; the second is thriftiness; and the third is not venturing anything no others have done. (Laozi)

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