Writing Worth Reading
Writing Worth Reading
He wrote this during the 1930s after China’s Opium Wars. A lot of people were trying to understand what was going on in China so Yutang wrote the book to explain. For many people it became the standard text to read on the subject if you wanted to understand the key characteristics of Chinese people and China’s history.
林语堂的这本书写于上世纪30年代，主要关注鸦片战争之后中国的变革。对于很多人而言，这本书是理解中国人与中国历史之关键特征的重要文本。他试图解释为什么中国人在失去了帝王这一中国式上帝后陷入了迷失。他认为失去了上帝之后我们除了期待一个新的上帝之后别无所求——这就是为什么当末代皇帝在20世纪退位时出现了立新君的动荡。我80年代在大学里读到此书，我惊喜地看到了他用英文向西方人描绘的中国人。
How does Lin Yutang’s My Country and My People continue your theme of better understanding China’s culture?
He wrote it during the 1930s, although he is looking at what happened in China after the Opium Wars of the 19th century. A lot of people were trying to understand what was going on in China so Yutang wrote the book to explain. For many people it became the standard text to read on the subject if you wanted to understand the key characteristics of Chinese people and China’s history. He wanted to explain why Chinese people are lost without the Imperial Emperor who is like our god. He suggested that without a god we had nothing to fight for except a new god; that is why when the last Emperor fell in the early 20th century there was such turmoil as Chinese people fought to find the new Emperor or god.
This was something I read in the 1980s at university and I was very surprised to see this portrayal of Chinese people to the Western world, because Yutang wrote it in English for foreigners. You have to understand that China has a long history without religion and even though Western people might say they are not religious your country is so deeply embedded in religious history it permeates your culture and your way of life. You have Christmas and Easter, you can walk down a street in London and see St Paul’s Cathedral and hear church bells. When you pray for something it is to do with the afterlife and your spiritual wellbeing. Your daily life is watered and weathered by religion. For Chinese people it is all about the here and now. If they adopt a religion and pray it will be for money or good luck or good health or good exam results.
My second book was all about the roots of the Chinese. With this one Lin Yutang is explaining Chinese people’s daily life which is like the branches and leaves on the tree.
Read full interview
Xinran is a Chinese writer, broadcaster and founder of The Mother’s Bridge of Love, an organisation reaching out to adopted Chinese children all over the world. She chooses five books on Chinese history and culture and says the birth of a donkey is more likely to be celebrated in rural China than that of a baby girl.
那么林语堂的《吾国与吾民》是如何延续您“更好地理解中国文化”的主题的？
林语堂的这本书写于上世纪30年代，主要关注鸦片战争之后中国的变革。对于很多人而言，这本书是理解中国人与中国历史之关键特征的重要文本。他试图解释为什么中国人在失去了帝王这一中国式上帝后陷入了迷失。他认为失去了上帝之后我们除了期待一个新的上帝之后别无所求——这就是为什么当末代皇帝在20世纪退位时出现了立新君的动荡。我80年代在大学里读到此书，我惊喜地看到了他用英文向西方人描绘的中国人。你需要理解中国漫长的没有宗教的历史，而西方人虽然也会宣称他们不信仰宗教，但不可否认的是宗教的历史深刻地渗透进了西方人的生活和文化之中。西方人有圣诞节和复活节，人们可以在伦敦的街头见到圣保罗大教堂并且听到教堂的钟声。人们也会为来生以及精神上的满足来祈祷。西方人的日常生活深刻地浸润在宗教当中。至于中国人，一切仅仅和周遭万物相关。如果他们皈依了宗教并进行祷告，多半是为了金钱、好运、健康或是考试通过。我推荐地第二本书就是关于中国文化的这些渊源。林语堂在这本书中揭示了中国人如同树木的枝叶一般的日常生活。
Read full interview
Xinran is a Chinese writer, broadcaster and founder of The Mother’s Bridge of Love, an organisation reaching out to adopted Chinese children all over the world. She chooses five books on Chinese history and culture and says the birth of a donkey is more likely to be celebrated in rural China than that of a baby girl.
