CHINESE AND WESTERN CIVILIZATION CONTRASTED 罗素

CHINESE AND WESTERN CIVILIZA TION CONTRASTED

Bertrand Russell

Russell, Bertrand Arthur William (1872-1970)

Bertrand Russell was born at Trelleck on

May 18, 1872, the second son of Viscount

Amberley. His grandfather was Lord John

Russell, Liberal Prime Minister and a follower

of John Stuart Mill. Left an orphan at the age

of three, he was brought up by his

grandmother. Taught by governesses and

tutors, he acquired a perfect knowledge of

French and German,and laid the foundation

for a lucid prose style. At Trinity College, Cambridge, he obtained a First Class in Mathematics and Moral Sciences. At the Mathematical Congress in Paris in 1900 Russell became interested in the Italian mathematician Peano, and after a study of his works wrote The Principles of Mathematics. With Dr. A. N. Whitehead, he developed the mathematical logic of Peano and Frere, and jointly they wrote Principia Mathematica. In 1910 he was appointed lecturer at Trinity College, Cambridge. He made frequent trips to the Continent and occasionally abandoned philosophy for politics. When World War I broke out he took an active part in the No Conscription Fellowship and was fined one hundred pounds for issuing a pamphlet on conscientious objection. His library was seized in payment of the fine. Trinity College cancelled his lectureship. In 1918 he was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for his pacifist views expressed in the Tribunal. He wrote his Introduction to Mathematical Philosophy in prison. In 1920 he came to China to lecture on philosophy at Peking University. In 1927 Russell and his second wife, Dora Winifred Black, started a famous nursery school, which was closed in 1931 for financial difficulties. He led a busy and adventurous life. His A History of Western Philosophy was published in 1945

There is at present in China, as we have seen in previous chapters, a close contact between our civilization and that which is native to the Celestial Empire. It is still a doubtful question whether this contact will breed a new civilization better than either of its parents, or whether it will merely destroy the native culture and replace it by that of America. Contacts between different civilizations have often in the past proved to be landmarks in human progress. Greece learnt from Egypt, Rome from Greece, the Arabs from the Roman Empire, medi?val Europe from the Arabs, and Renaissance Europe from the Byzantines. In many of these cases, ..////the pupils proved better than their masters. In the case of China, if we regard the Chinese as the pupils, this may be the case again. In fact, we have quite as much to learn from them as they from us, but

there is far less chance of our learning it. If I treat the Chinese as our pupils, rather than vice versa, it is only because I fear we are unteachable.

I propose in this chapter to deal with the purely cultural aspects of the questions raised by the contact of China with the West. In the three following chapters, I shall deal with questions concerning the internal condition of China, returning finally, in a concluding chapter, to the hopes for the future which are permissible in the present difficult situation.

With the exception of Spain and America in the sixteenth century, I cannot think of any instance of two civilizations coming into contact after such a long period of separate development as has marked those of China and Europe. Considering this extraordinary separateness, it is surprising that mutual understanding between Europeans and Chinese is not more difficult. In order to make this point clear, it will be worth while to dwell for a moment on the historical origins of the two civilizations.

Western Europe and America have a practically homogeneous mental life, which I should trace to three sources: (1) Greek culture; (2) Jewish religion and ethics; (3) modern industrialism, which itself is an outcome of modern science. We may take Plato, the Old Testament, and Galileo as representing these three elements, which have remained singularly separable down to the present day. From the Greeks we derive literature and the arts, philosophy and pure mathematics; also the more urbane portions of our social outlook. From the Jews we derive fanatical belief, which its friends call “faith"; moral fervour, with the conception of sin; religious intolerance, and some part of our nationalism. From science, as applied in industrialism, we derive power and the sense of power, the belief that we are as gods, and may justly be, the arbiters of life and death for unscientific races. We derive also the empirical method, by which almost all real knowledge has been acquired. These three elements, I think, account for most of our mentality.

No one of these three elements has had any appreciable part in the development of China, except that Greece indirectly influenced Chinese painting, sculpture, and music.[93] China belongs, in the dawn of its history, to the great river empires, of which Egypt and Babylonia contributed to our origins, by the influence which they had upon the Greeks and Jews. Just as these civilizations were rendered possible by the rich alluvial soil of the Nile, the Euphrates, and the Tigris, so the original civilization of China was rendered possible by the Y ellow River. Even in the time of Confucius, the Chinese Empire did not stretch far either to south or north of the Y ellow River. But in spite of this similarity in physical and economic circumstances, there was very little in common between the mental outlook of the Chinese and that of the Egyptians and Babylonians. Lao-Tze[94] and Confucius, who both belong to the sixth century B.C., have already the characteristics which we should regard as distinctive of the modern Chinese. People who attribute everything to economic causes would be hard put to it to account for the differences between the ancient

Chinese and the ancient Egyptians and Babylonians. For my part, I have no alternative theory to offer. I do not think science can, at present, account wholly for national character. Climate and economic circumstances account for part, but not the whole. Probably a great deal depends upon the character of dominant individuals who happen to emerge at a formative period, such as Moses, Mahomet, and Confucius.

The oldest known Chinese sage is Lao-Tze, the founder of Taoism. “Lao Tze” is not really a proper name, bu t means merely “the old philosopher.” He was (according to tradition) an older contemporary of Confucius, and his philosophy is to my mind far more interesting. He held that every person, every animal, and every thing has a certain way or manner of behaving which is natural to him, or her, or it, and that we ought to conform to this way ourselves and encourage others to conform to it. “Tao” means “way,” but used in a more or less mystical sense, as in the text: “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” I t hink he fancied that death was due to departing from the “way,” and that if we all lived strictly according to nature we should be immortal, like the heavenly bodies. In later times Taoism(道家) degenerated into mere magic, and was largely concerned with the search for the elixir of life. But I think the hope of escaping from death was an element（元素）in Taoist philosophy from the first.

Lao-Tze’s book, or rather the book attributed to him, is very short, but his ideas were developed by his disciple Chuang-Tze（庄子）, who is more interesting than his master. The philosophy which both advocated was one of freedom. They thought ill of government, and of all interferences with Nature. They complained of the hurry of modern life, which they contrasted with the calm existence of those whom they called “the pure men of old.” There is a flavour of mysticism in the doctrine of the Tao, because in spite of the multiplicity of living things the Tao is in some sense one, so that if all live according to it there will be no strife in the world. But both sages have already the Chinese characteristics of humour, restraint, and under-statement. Their humour is illustrated by Chuang-Tze’s account of Po-Lo who “unde rstood the management of horses,” and trained them till five out of every ten died.[95] Their restraint and under-statement are evident when they are compared with Western mystics. Both characteristics belong to all Chinese literature and art, and to the conversation of cultivated Chinese in the present day. All classes in China are fond of laughter, and never miss a chance of a joke. In the educated classes, the humour is sly and delicate, so that Europeans often fail to see it, which adds to the enjoyment of the Chinese. Their habit of under-statement is remarkable. I met one day in Peking a middle-aged man who told me he was academically interested in the theory of politics; being new to the country, I took his statement at its face value, but I afterwards discovered that he had been governor of a province, and had been for many years a very prominent politician. In Chinese poetry there is an apparent absence of passion which is due to the same practice of under-statement. They consider that a wise man should always remain calm, and though they have their passionate moments (being in fact a very excitable race), they do not wish to perpetuate them in art, because they think ill of them. Our romantic movement, which led people to like vehemence, has,

so far as I know, no analogue in their literature. Their old music, some of which is very beautiful, makes so little noise that one can only just hear it. In art they aim at being exquisite, and in life at being reasonable. There is no admiration for the ruthless strong man, or for the unrestrained expression of passion. After the more blatant life of the West, one misses at first all the effects at which they are aiming; but gradually the beauty and dignity of their existence become visible, so that the foreigners who have lived longest in China are those who love the Chinese best.

The Taoists, though they survive as magicians, were entirely ousted from the favour of the educated classes by Confucianism. I must confess that I am unable to appreciate the merits of Confucius. His writings are largely occupied with trivial points of etiquette, and his main concern is to teach people how to behave correctly on various occasions. When one compares him, however, with the traditional religious teachers of some other ages and races, one must admit that he has great merits, even if they are mainly negative. His system, as developed by his followers, is one of pure ethics, without religious dogma; it has not given rise to a powerful priesthood, and it has not led to persecution. It certainly has succeeded in producing a whole nation possessed of exquisite manners and perfect courtesy. Nor is Chinese courtesy merely conventional; it is quite as reliable in situations for which no precedent has been provided. And it is not confined to one class; it exists even in the humblest coolie. It is humiliating to watch the brutal insolence of white men received by the Chinese with a quiet dignity which cannot demean itself to answer rudeness with rudeness. Europeans often regard this as weakness, but it is really strength, the strength by which the Chinese have hitherto conquered all their conquerors.

There is one, and only one, important foreign element in the traditional civilization of China, and that is Buddhism（佛）. Buddhism came to China from India in the early centuries of the Christian era, and acquired a definite place in the religion of the country. We, with the intolerant outlook which we have taken over from the Jews, imagine that if a man adopts one religion he cannot adopt another. The dogmas of Christianity and Mohammedanism, in their orthodox forms, are so framed that no man can accept both. But in China this incompatibility does not exist; a man may be both a Buddhist and a Confucian, because nothing in either is incompatib le with the other. In Japan, similarly, most people are both Buddhists and Shintoists. Nevertheless there is a temperamental difference between Buddhism and Confucianism, which will cause any individual to lay stress on one or other even if he accepts both. Buddhism is a religion in the sense in which we understand the word. It has mystic doctrines and a way of salvation and a future life. It has a message to the world intended to cure the despair which it regards as natural to those who have no religious faith. It assumes an instinctive pessimism only to be cured by some gospel. Confucianism has nothing of all this. It assumes people fundamentally at peace with the world, wanting only instruction as to how to live, not encouragement to live at all. And its ethical instruction is not based upon any metaphysical or religious dogma; it is purely mundane. The result of the co-existence of these two religions in China has been that

the more religious and contemplative natures turned to Buddhism, while the active administrative type was content with Confucianism, which was always the official teaching, in which candidates for the civil service were examined. The result is that for many ages the Government of China has been in the hands of literary sceptics, whose administration has been lacking in those qualities of energy and destructiveness which Western nations demand of their rulers. In fact, they have conformed very closely to the maxims of Chuang-Tze. The result has been that the population has been happy except where civil war brought misery; that subject nations have been allowed autonomy; and that foreign nations have had no need to fear China, in spite of its immense population and resources.

Comparing the civilization of China with that of Europe, one finds in China most of what was to be found in Greece, but nothing of the other two elements of our civilization, namely Judaism and science. China is practically destitute of religion, not only in the upper classes, but throughout the population. There is a very definite ethical code, but it is not fierce or persecuting, and does not contain the notion “sin.” Except quite recently, through European influence, there has been no science and no industrialism.

What will be the outcome of the contact of this ancient civilization with the West?

I am not thinking of the political or economic outcome, but of the effect on the Chinese mental outlook. It is difficult to dissociate the two questions altogether, because of course the cultural contact with the West must be affected by the nature of the political and economic contact. Nevertheless, I wish to consider the cultural question as far as I can in isolation.

There is, in China, a great eagerness to acquire Western learning, not simply in order to acquire national strength and be able to resist Western aggression, but because a very large number of people consider learning a good thing in itself. It is traditional in China to place a high value on knowledge, but in old days the knowledge sought was only of the classical literature. Nowadays it is generally realized that Western knowledge is more useful. Many students go every year to universities in Europe, and still more to America, to learn science or economics or law or political theory. These men, when they return to China, mostly become teachers or civil servants or journalists or politicians. They are rapidly modernizing the Chinese outlook, especially in the educated classes.

The traditional civilization of China had become unprogressive, and had ceased to produce much of value in the way of art and literature. This was not due, I think, to any decadence in the race, but merely to lack of new material. The influx of Western knowledge provides just the stimulus that was needed. Chinese students are able and extraordinarily keen. Higher education suffers from lack of funds and absence of libraries, but does not suffer from any lack of the finest human material. Although Chinese civilization has hitherto been deficient in science, it never contained anything

hostile to science, and therefore the spread of scientific knowledge encounters no such obstacles as the Church put in its way in Europe. I have no doubt that if the Chinese could get a stable government and sufficient funds, they would, within the next thirty years, begin to produce remarkable work in science. It is quite likely that they might outstrip us, because they come with fresh zest and with all the ardour of a renaissance. In fact, the enthusiasm for learning in Y oung China reminds one constantly of the renaissance spirit in fifteenth-century Italy.

It is very remarkable, as distinguishing the Chinese from the Japanese, that the things they wish to learn from us are not those that bring wealth or military strength, but rather those that have either an ethical and social value, or a purely intellectual interest. They are not by any means uncritical of our civilization. Some of them told me that they were less critical before 1914, but that the war made them think there must be imperfections in the Western manner of life. The habit of looking to the West for wisdom was, however, very strong, and some of the younger ones thought that Bolshevism could give what they were looking for. That hope also must be suffering disappointment, and before long they will realize that they must work out their own salvation by means of a new synthesis. The Japanese adopted our faults and kept their own, but it is possible to hope that the Chinese will make the opposite selection, keeping their own merits and adopting ours.

The distinctive merit of our civilization, I should say, is the scientific method; the distinctive merit of the Chinese is a just conception of the ends of life. It is these two that one must hope to see gradually uniting.

Lao-Tze describes the operation of Tao as “production without possession, action without self-assertion, development without domination.” I think one could derive from these words a conception of the ends of life as reflective Chinese see them, and it must be admitted that they are very different from the ends which most white men set before themselves. Possession, self-assertion, domination, are eagerly sought, both nationally and individually. They have been erected into a philosophy by Nietzsche, and Nietzsche’s disciples are not confi ned to Germany.

But, it will be said, you have been comparing Western practice with Chinese theory; if you had compared Western theory with Chinese practice, the balance would have come out quite differently. There is, of course, a great deal of truth in this. Possession, which is one of the three things that Lao-Tze wishes us to forego, is certainly dear to the heart of the average Chinaman. As a race, they are tenacious of money—not perhaps more so than the French, but certainly more than the English or the Americans. Their politics are corrupt, and their powerful men make money in disgraceful ways. All this it is impossible to deny.

Nevertheless, as regards the other two evils, self-assertion and domination, I notice a definite superiority to ourselves in Chinese practice. There is much less desire

than among the white races to tyrannize over other people. The weakness of China internationally is quite as much due to this virtue as to the vices of corruption and so on which are usually assigned as the sole reason. If any nation in the world could ever be “too proud to fight,” that nation would be China. The natural Chinese attitude is one of tolerance and friendliness, showing courtesy and expecting it in return. If the Chinese chose, they could be the most powerful nation in the world. But they only desire freedom, not domination. It is not improbable that other nations may compel them to fight for their freedom, and if so, they may lose their virtues and acquire a taste for empire. But at present, though they have been an imperial race for 2,000 years, their love of empire is extraordinarily slight.

Although there have been many wars in China, the natural outlook of the Chinese is very pacifistic. I do not know of any other country where a poet would have chosen, as Po-Chui did in one of the poems translated by Mr. Waley, called by him The Old Man with the Broken Arm, to make a hero of a recruit who maimed himself to escape military service. Their pacifism is rooted in their contemplative outlook, and in the fact that they do not desire to change whatever they see. They take a pleasure—as their pictures show—in observing characteristic manifestations of different kinds of life, and they have no wish to reduce everything to a preconceived pattern. They have not the ideal of progress which dominates the Western nations, and affords a rationalization of our active impulses. Progress is, of course, a very modern ideal even with us; it is part of what we owe to science and industrialism. The cultivated conservative Chinese of the present day talk exactly as their earliest sages write. If one points out to them that this shows how little progress there has been, they will say: “Why seek progress when you already enjoy what is excellent?” At first, this point of vi ew seems to a European unduly indolent; but gradually doubts as to one’s own wisdom grow up, and one begins to think that much of what we call progress is only restless change, bringing us no nearer to any desirable goal.

It is interesting to contrast what the Chinese have sought in the West with what the West has sought in China. The Chinese in the West seek knowledge, in the hope—which I fear is usually vain—that knowledge may prove a gateway to wisdom. White men have gone to China with three motives: to fight, to make money, and to convert the Chinese to our religion. The last of these motives has the merit of being idealistic, and has inspired many heroic lives. But the soldier, the merchant, and the missionary are alike concerned to stamp our civilization upon the world; they are all three, in a certain sense, pugnacious. The Chinese have no wish to convert us to Confucianism; they say “religions are many, but reason is one,” and with that they are content to let us go our way. They are good merchants, but their methods are quite different from those of European merchants in China, who are perpetually seeking concessions, monopolies, railways, and mines, and endeavouring to get their claims supported by gunboats. The Chinese are not, as a rule, good soldiers, because the causes for which they are asked to fight are not worth fighting for, and they know it. But that is only a proof of their reasonableness.

I think the tolerance of the Chinese is in excess of anything that Europeans can imagine from their experience at home. We imagine ourselves tolerant, because we are more so than our ancestors. But we still practise political and social persecution, and what is more, we are firmly persuaded that our civilization and our way of life are immeasurably better than any other, so that when we come across a nation like the Chinese, we are convinced that the kindest thing we can do to them is to make them like ourselves. I believe this to be a profound mistake.It seemed to me that the average Chinaman, even if he is miserably poor, is happier than the average Englishman, and is happier because the nation is built upon a more humane and civilized outlook than our own. Restlessness and pugnacity not only cause obvious evils, but fill our lives with discontent, incapacitate us for the enjoyment of beauty, and make us almost incapable of the contemplative virtues. In this respect we have grown rapidly worse during the last hundred years. I do not deny that the Chinese go too far in the other direction; but for that very reason I think contact between East and West is likely to be fruitful to both parties. They may learn from us the indispensable minimum of practical efficiency, and we may learn from them something of that contemplative wisdom which has enabled them to persist while all the other nations of antiquity have perished.

When I went to China, I went to teach; but every day that I stayed I thought less of what I had to teach them and more of what I had to learn from them. Among Europeans who had lived a long time in China, I found this attitude not uncommon; but among those whose stay is short, or who go only to make money, it is sadly rare. It is rare because the Chinese do not excel in the things we really value—military prowess and industrial enterprise. But those who value wisdom or beauty, or even the simple enjoyment of life, will find more of these things in China than in the distracted and turbulent West, and will be happy to live where such things are valued. I wish I could hope that China, in return for our scientific knowledge, may give us something of her large tolerance and contemplative peace of mind.

正确认识-文明与物质文明、精神文明的关系

正确认识*文明与物质文明、精神文明的关系 正确认识*文明与物质文明、精神文明的关系党的十六大报告从社会主义现代化建设的战略全局，把社会主义*文明同物质文明、精神文明一道，作为现代化建设的基本目标明确提了出来。这是十六大报告的一具重要思想，别仅丰富了社会主义*建设的内涵，也丰富和进展了社会主义现代化建设的理论。正确认识和把握“三个文明”的本质关系，关于进展社会主义市场经济、社会主义民主*和社会主义先进文化，别断促进物质文明、*文明和精神文明的协调进展，具有十分重要的意义。人类社会是经济、*和文化形态的有机统一体，人类文明也是由物质文明、*文明和精神文明有机构成的统一体。物质文明、*文明与精神文明基本上人类社会实践的伟大成果。人们在改造客观世界的实践中，主观世界也得到了改造；别但制造出日益增多的物质财宝，也别断提高认识世界的能力，推动*日子的进步，促进科学、艺术和人们思想道德水平的提高，推进*文明和精神文明的进展。人们在改造客观世界的实践活动中形成的有益成果，表现为物质生产方式和经济日子的进步即物质文明；在*实践活动中形成的有益成果，表现为*日子的进步即*文明；在改造客观世界的并且改造主观世界中形成的有益成果，表现为精神日子的进步即精神文明。一方面，在人类社会进展进程中，“三个文明”从来是互为条件、互为目的、互相促进的，这是整个人类社会文明进展的普遍规律；另一方面，*文明和精神文明一旦形成，便具有相对独立性和历史继承性，有其自身进展的特殊性。所以，别能简单地把*文明和精神文明看作是物质文明的派生物或附属品，而应探求和遵循*文明与精神文明自身的进展规律，自觉推进*文明和精神文明建设。社会主义物质文明、*文明和精神文明是一具密切联系的整体，统一于社会主义现代化建设的实践。社会主义社会是一具物质文明、*文明和精神文明全面进展的社会。社会主义现代化建设的伟大实践，归根到底是推进社会主义经济、*、文化建设，进展社会主义市场经济、社会主义民主*和社会主义先进文化，别断促进社会主义物质文明、*文明和精神文明协调进展的伟大实践。全面建设小康社会，也是一具经济、*、文化全面进展的目标。在*方面，算是要使“社会主义民主更加完善，社会主义法制更加完备，依法治国基本方略得到全面降实，人民的*、经济和文化权益得到切实尊重和保障。基层民主更加健全，社会秩序良好，人民安居乐业。”实现这一目标，别仅是进展社会主义民主*、建设社会主义*文明的需要，也是实现全面建设小康社会各项奋斗目标的重要保证，关系到我国社会主义现代化建设的战略全局。在社会主义现代化建设的全过程，我们必须坚持全面的进展观，“三个文明”一起抓。物质文明处于基础和中心的地位。“三个文明”一起抓，最全然的是坚持以经济建设为中心，别断解放和进展生产力。*文明和精神文明的进展，归根到底要受到物质文明进展水平的制约。离开了经济建设那个中心，物质文明上别去，*文明和精神文明建设就有失去基础的惊险。社会主义*文明的核心是人民当家作主，包括人民当家作主的*制度、*体制、*思想文化等内容。*文明的进展受一定的经济文化进展的制约和妨碍，并且又反作用于一定的物质文明和精神文明。它别仅是促进先进生产力进展的有力杠杆，而且决定着先进文化的前进方向。社会主义精神文明为物质文明和*文明建设提供思想保证和智力支持。建设社会主义精神文明，别仅是满脚和提高 小康社会人民群众精神文化日子水平的客观要求，而且构成一具国家综合国力的重要组成部分。在推进经济、*建设的并且，能否促进精神文明建设，促进人的全面进展，别仅直接关系到社会的协调、和谐与稳定，而且关系到能否为现代化建设提供持久的精神动力和智力支持，关系到经济、*进展能否获得持续的后劲和扩张力。正如十六大报告指出的，当今世界，文化与经济和*相互交融，在综合国力竞争中的地位和作用越来越突出。文化的力量，深深熔铸在民族的生命力、制造力和凝结力之中。

The ancient Greek civilization(古希腊文明)

The ancient Greek civilization(古希腊文明) 古希腊位于地中海东北部。历史表明，克里特的征服者、特洛伊城的毁灭者——迈锡尼人，是希腊最早的居民之一。但是古希腊文明的源头是爱琴文明,多年后爱琴人有了辉煌的米诺斯与迈锡尼文化。随后便产生了璀璨的希腊文明。 Ancient Greece is located in the northeastern Mediterranean. History shows that, the conqueror of Crete, the destruction of Troy - the Mycenaeans, is the earliest inhabitants of greece. But,the source of the ancient Greek civilization is the Aegean civilization,many years later, Aegean has brilliant Minoan and Mycenaean culture.Then created bright Greek civilization. 古希腊文化作为古典文化代表，在西方乃至世界都占有极其重要地位，主要包括了古希腊战争，古希腊艺术和古希腊神话。Ancient Greek culture as the representative of classical culture, in the western world has occupied a very important position, including the ancient Greek War, the ancient Greek art and ancient Greek mythology. 说真的，希腊卓有成就的文化领域与神话传说密切相关。希腊神话传说不但是希腊人最早的文学，而且是希腊人最早的意识形态。Actually,Greece successful cultural fields and myths and legends are closely related. Greek mythology is not only the

物质文明建设与精神文明建设的关系

在党的十四届五中全会上，江泽民同志从社会主义现代化建设总体布局的高度，对物质文明建设和精神文明建设的关系做了深刻阐释。提出了在搞好物质文明建设的同时，“必须把精神文明建设提到更加突出的地位”，“要把物质文明建设和精神文明建设作为统一的奋斗目标，始终不渝地坚持两手抓，两手都要硬。任何情况下，都不能以牺牲精神文明为代价去换取经济的一时发展”。这是五中全会的一个重要精神，体现了邓小平同志关于坚持两手抓、两手都要硬的战略思想，体现了以江泽民同志为核心的党中央对精神文明建设的高度重视。 当今世界，经济政治格局正发生着深刻的变化，国与国之间的竞争、乃至社会主义制度与资本主义制度之间的谁胜谁负，集中地体现在经济实力和科技实力的较量上，社会主义要创造出高于资本主义的劳动生产率，并最终战胜资本主义，取决于它的发展速度和质量，取决于它的科技、教育，说到底取决于人的素质；随着我国对外开放的扩大，各种文化思潮不断涌入，各种思想文化的撞击日趋激烈。在这样的情况下，能否坚持马克思主义在我国意识形态的指导地位，能否正确地吸收、借鉴全人类精神文明的最新成果，能否自觉抵制各种不健康乃至腐朽思想文化的影响和侵蚀，关系到改革开放和现代化建设的成败，关系到把一个什么样的中国带入21世纪；随着社会主义市场经济体制的逐步建立，对人的素质提出了越来越高的要求。现代市场经济是健康、文明的市场经济。坑蒙拐骗、制假造劣，与现代市场经济是格格不入的。没有人的思想道德素质的不断提高，没有科技教育的持续发展，现代市场经济所要求的那种讲平等竞争、讲信誉、讲质量、讲效率的观念和氛围是难以形成的。正反两方面的事实表明，越是集中力量发展经济，越是加快改革开放的步伐，就越需要精神文明提供精神动力和智力支持。从粗放型增长方式向集约型增长方式转变，很大程度寄希望于科技的投入和进步，寄希望于人才的培育和人的素质的提高，同时，攻克深化改革中的难关也需要有力的思想政治工作做保障，需要调动人民群众的积极性、创造性。可见，把社会主义精神文明提到更加突出的地位，既是时代发展的客观要求，也是国际国内形势发展的客观要求。 （一） 在搞好物质文明建设的同时，必须把精神文明建设提到更加突出的地位，反映了社会主义现代化建设的客观要求。 1、提高人的素质，培育“四有”新人，是社会主义现代化建设的基础与前提。社会主义精神文明建设的根本任务，是适应社会主义现代化建设的需要，培育有理想、有道德、有文化、有纪律的社会主义公民，提高整个中华民族的思想素质和科学文化素质。 人的素质是社会历史的产物，同时又给社会历史以巨大影响。在社会主义条件下，努力改善全体公民的素质，必将使社会劳动生产率不断提高，使人与人之间在公有制为主体的基础上的新型关系不断发展，使整个社会的面貌发生深刻的变化。这是我国实现社会主义现代化必不可少的条件，同时也是解放生产力、发展

关于精神文明心得体会4篇

关于精神文明心得体会4篇 关于精神文明心得体会1 精神文明建设和物质文明建设相辅相成，相互促进，然而在现实当中，有许多同志往往忽视精神文明建设对物质文明建设的推动作用。因而，正确认识精神文明建设的经济意义，对构建和谐社会，具有重要的现实意义。 社会主义思想道德建设是社会主义精神文明建设的灵魂和核心，决定着精神文明的性质和方向。同时，思想道德建设对于经济发展有着重要推动作用。 思想道德是实现资源合理配置的重要保证。社会主义市场经济一个最基本的目标就是实现资源的合理配置，从而实现最佳的经济效益。资源包括人力资源和物质资源。合理配置就是这两方面能得到合理、最优的发展，实现人尽其才，物尽其用。而资源的合理配置往往又直接取决于人的思想道德素质。当前一些领域道德失范，拜金主义、享乐主义滋长，使假冒伪劣、欺诈活动、偷税漏税等成为社会公害，直接扰乱了社会主义市场经济秩序，也破坏了物质资源合理配置的进程和效益。这就需要加强适应市场经济的思想道德建设，用来约束和调节人们的市场经济行为。 思想道德是经济运行中的无形资产。如果把经济运行中的资产仅仅理解为有形资产，那只是认识或掌握了资产的一半或是一小半。经济的发展、高效益的实现，往往取决于作为无形资产的人的思想道德觉悟。行政管理和思想道德是每

个集体生存发展的两大支点，二者密不可分。忽视了对人的素质的重视和管理，这个集体必定是效率低下，效益欠佳，发展前景暗淡。因此，坚持以人为本，努力做好协调、完善和激励工作，把人和人的素质放到经营与管理的制高点，这个集体才会顺利发展。 作为精神文明建设的重要内容，文化建设既是建设物质文明的重要基础，又是提高人们思想觉悟和道德水平的重要条件。它对经济发展的推动作用，更是显而易见的。 文化建设可激发人们为经济发展建功立业的积极性和主动性。文化建设一方面同经济共融，一方面又有着相对的独立性。其经济意义主要表现在文化产品中，具有鲜明的形象性、情绪的感召性、影响的普及性。健康的、优秀的文化产品，可以转化为人们从事经济建设的精神力量；消极颓废的文化产品可以把人们引向歧途，成为经济发展和现代化建设的阻碍因素。加强文化建设，发挥文化启迪人们智慧、陶冶人们的情操、美化人们的心灵、振兴民族精神的作用，必将激发人们投身改革开放的巨大热情，更加积极地为经济建设服务。 文化建设是综合国力的重要标志。这包含两方面的意义：其一，文化的发展程度取决于综合国力的水平；其二，文化本身就是综合国力的重要组成部分。社会主义的根本任务就是发展社会生产力。高度发达的生产力需要高素质的劳动者，而文化建设的任务就在于提高人的素质，倡导高尚的道德情操，促进人的全面发展，从而为经济发展提供强大的

the difference between Culture and Civilization

CIVILIZATION is social order promoting cultural creation. Four elements constitute it: economic provision, political organization, moral traditions, and the pursuit of knowledge and the arts. It begins where chaos and insecurity end. For when fear is overcome, curiosity and constructiveness are free, and man passes by natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life. Certain factors condition civilization, and may encourage or impede it. First, geological conditions. Civilization is an interlude between ice ages: at any time the current of glaciation may rise again, cover with ice and stone the works of man, and reduce life to some narrow segment of the earth. Or the demon of earthquake, by whose leave we build our cities, may shrug his shoulders and consume us indifferently. Second, geographical conditions. The heat of the tropics, and the innumerable parasites that infest them, are hostile to civilization; lethargy and disease, and a precocious maturity and decay, divert the energies from those inessentials of life that make civilization, and absorb them in hunger and reproduction; nothing is left for the play of the arts and the mind. Rain is necessary; for water is the medium of life, more important even than the light of the sun; the unintelligible whim of the elements may condemn to desiccation regions that once flourished with empire and industry, like Nineveh or Babylon, or may help to swift strength and wealth cities apparently off the main line of transport and communication, like those of Great Britain or Puget Sound. If the soil is fertile in food or minerals, if rivers offer an easy avenue of exchange, if the coast-line is indented with natural harbors for a commercial fleet, if, above all, a nation lies on the highroad of the world's trade, like Athens or Carthage, Florence or Venice- then geography, though it can never create it, smiles upon civilization, and nourishes it. Economic conditions are more important. A people may possess ordered institutions, a lofty moral code, and even a flair for the minor forms of art, like the American Indians; and yet if it remains in the hunting stage, if it depends for its existence upon the precarious fortunes of the chase, it will never quite pass from barbarism to civilization. A nomad stock, like the Bedouins of Arabia, may be exceptionally intelligent and vigorous, it may display high qualities of character like courage, generosity and nobility; but without that simple sine qua non of culture, a continuity of food, its intelligence will be lavished on the perils of the hunt and the tricks of trade, and nothing will remain for the laces and frills, the curtsies and amenities, the arts and comforts, of civilization. The first form of culture is agriculture. It is when man settles down to till the soil and lay up provisions for the uncertain future that he

Chinese civilization

Origins of Chinese Civilization: Neolithic Revolution in China & the 1st Chinese civilization Jayce，James，Hugh，Hill,Charles H13000312 ,H13000313,H13000311,H13000310, H13000119

Chinese civilization mostly originated from large river valleys. These river valleys provide people with favorable conditions to survive. Mild climate help people to easily adapt the environment near river valleys. So people can settle near this kind of place and do not need to choose a nomadic life any more. Also, river valleys provide abundant water for irrigation, and people can have steady sources of food. These kinds of factors lead to the formation of 1st civilization in china. And we will introduce 5 civilizations which originated from the Yangtse River,the Yellow River and Liao River in China.

社会主义精神文明建设学习心得

《社会主义精神文明建设基础知识》学习心得 2015年1月7日 陈建华 改革开放以来为实现民族富强，发展经济成为国家建设的重要工作，经过几代人的努力，GDP快速增长，中国成为世界第二大经济体。到处打上了“MADE IN CHINA”的印记。但精神文明建设的步伐远远滞后于物质文明的发展，旅游景点里中国人的形象在暗淡，这就是放纵意识形态无序发展造成的精神文明缺失。虽然我们一直在强调物质文明与精神文明两手抓，但实际中我们一只手中的物质文明已经太重，不得不放下精神文明的那只手，而让两只手共同去抓住物质文明。当我们两只手轻松地提起了沉重的物质文明前行时，却发现迷失了方向，没有了目标、没有了价值标准、没有了是非观念，环境被破坏、矿产被过度开发等等，让我们成为地球上最孤独的一群生物。 在经历了大跃进式的经济发展后，在无序的物质尘埃中，精神文明建设被重新重视起来，当建设和谐社会的口号响亮提出时，我们是否已经习惯了物质文明带来的快感，而对精神文明呲之以鼻，是否还继续放纵我们自私自利、目中无人、我行我素呢？屋

子里太沉闷，于是打开窗户透进了新鲜的空气，但是空气中的灰尘也飘落在了窗前的茶几上。我们要做的不是关上窗户发一通牢骚，而是应该用抹布擦拭上面的灰尘。改革就好比推开窗户，我们的经济发展了，但是落在茶几上的灰尘需要我们用精神文明去擦拭，然而现在我们除了看到那些到处发牢骚的人，却看不到身体力行的人。在那些人眼里，只要是中国的都是不好的，只要是外国的都是至宝，这就是精神文明缺失，是我们丢失了衡量价值的标准。 企业是国家经济发展的重要组成部分，追求利润最大化的过程中，员工无形之中被指向业绩为王的道路。只要签单我们甚至可以忽略掉他身上的任何缺点，还要大为表扬、树立典型。这是畸形的价值观，是有碍于社会发展，更不利于企业发展的思维方式。作为社会主义经济的组成部分，企业有责任在精神文明建设中起到应有的职责。目前公司组织学习精神文明建设基础知识是必要的，而且还要长期持续下去。有人觉得这年头学这些没用，觉得这些都是政治洗脑，有这类思想的人还是很多的，越是这样就更需要我们加强精神文明知识的学习。更需要公司、部门、同事去帮助他、影响他。只要当世界上还有国家存在，那么我们每个人都不可能脱离政治。况且，公司下发的精神文明基础知识无关乎政治，是作为一个有担当的人应该具备的基本素养，是放之四海而皆准的素养。 当然这些精神文明基础知识仅仅是理论，是对日常行为的文

物质文明和精神文明协调发展

第三框物质文明和精神文明协调发展 一、教学目标 1、知识与技能：了解物质文明、精神文明的含义，理解物质文明和精神文明同等重要；认识到提高国民素质对经济和发展具有重要意义，并能结合实例对此作出初步分析。 2、过程与方法：通过展示典型事例和图片，并运用对比、讨论交流的方法，说明物质文明和精神文明两者之间的关系，理解精神文明建设、提高民族素质对社会进一步发展的重要作用。 3、情感、态度、价值观：激发学生努力学习，提高自身素质的责任意识，增强对经济和社会发展中提高国民素质重要性的认同，立志为两个文明建设作出贡献。 二、教学准备 1、准备歌曲《越来越好》 2、教师收集相关材料，制作多媒体课件 3、要求学生预习教材相关内容，思考如何提高自身素质 三、教学过程 [ 导入新课] [ 多媒体播放歌曲]《越来越好》 师：请结合歌词说说人们的生活为什么会越来越好？ 生：(略) 师：同学们说得对，人们的生活越来越好主要是因为我们坚持了以经济建设为中心、坚持了改革开放政策、大力发展了教育和科技、坚持了物质文明和精神文明一起抓…… 师：那么什么是物质文明？什么是精神文明？两者之间的关系如何？精神文明建设、提高民族素质对国家经济和社会的进一步发展有什么重要作用？这就是今天我们要学习的内容。[ 讲授新课] [ 出示课题]三、物质文明和精神文明协调发展（板书） [ 多媒体出示] 教材P74页“阅读天地”------“华西村发展之路” （教师引导学生阅读上述材料和P76页“知识窗”，并思考交流以下问题。） [ 多媒体出示] 想一想：（1）材料中的“口袋”与“脑袋”分别喻指什么？ （2）结合华西村的事例说说什么是物质文明？什么是精神文明？ 生：（略）

A Definition of Civilization(文明的定义)

A Definition of Civilization What do we mean when we say that “People became civilized”? We mean that they have achieved all or most of the following: writing; cities; arts and sciences; formal political organization; social classes; and taxation. People could not have achieved these characteristics of civilization as long as they had been food gatherers and always on the move. They could not have built cities, for example, when they had to move their camp frequently to new grounds for hunting, fishing, picking berries, and digging roots. Agriculture therefor made civilization possible. Styles of Ancient Civilizations All these civilization had the same general characteristics: writing, cities, arts and sciences, rich and poor classes, and so forth. Despite these similarities, there were also basic differences among these civilizations. Each had its own distinctive style, Geography explain some of these differences. The mesopotamians, for example, lived in a land threatened by sudden floods, by difficult irrigation problems, and by constant invasions of barbarians(nomadic people). The Egyptians, by contrast, enjoyed a land protected by almost impassable deserts. They benefited from a river that flooded regularly and predictable. It is not surprising, then, that the usual attitude of the mesopotamians was one of pessimism and uncertainty, while the Egyptians tended to be optimistic and confident. This difference can be seen clearly in architecture. The uncertain Babylonians built for the moment, the confident Egyptians for eternity. The Mesopotamians normally use sun-dried bricks, even in areas where stone was easily available.they did not care that temples built of bricks would not last long; the gods probably would soon want them changed anyway. But the Egyptians, who began by imitating the Mesopotamians, soon changed from brick to stone. They built gigantic temples for their gods, and vast pyramids to house the mummified bodies of their kings, or pharaohs. The Karnak Temple at Thebes includes a hall 122 meters(400 feet)long, 53 meters(175 feet)wide, and 24 meters(80 feet)high. The roof is supported by rows of columns, some so large that 100 people could stand on top of one of them. Likewise the Great Pyramid of Khufu, is one of the seven wonders of the world.. it is a solid mass of limestone blocks covering 5 hectares(13 acres), and originally it was 234 meters(768 feet) square and 147 meters(482 feet)high. So enormous is this pyramid that its limestone blocks would build a wall 3 meters(10 feet) high and 23 centimeters(9 inches) thick aroud the boundaries of france. To the present day these huge monuments dominate the Egyptian landscape, whereas the many large structures built by the Mesopotamians have mostly crumbled away. Significance of Ancient civilizations The civilizations of the ancient world differed from each other in their styles, or in their ways of looking at life and carrying on everyday life. But they were similar in one basic respect, they were all much more complicated societies than those in the earliest villages. We have seen that during the centuries between the beginning of agriculture and the development of civilization, people lived in socially homogeneous villages. They did the same thing as their neighbors. They lived in the same way that their neighbors did. They grew their own food to feed themselves. But when people became civilized, two important changes took place. One was a great increase in productivity and the other was division of labor, so that everybody no longer did the same thing. The increase in productivity occurred because they now used irrigation in farming. They also

(完整版)文明与文化的异同civilizationandculture

Civilization is the progress of human being and the system of rational society. This concept is contract but also can be interpreted from two aspects-broad sense and narrow sense. From the former one, civilization means all the develop that culture gains as well as well-behaved life style, showing the level that the material civilization, spiritual civilization and political civilization has reached. However, if you see it from the latter perspective, civilization only is the one human use to describe the contrary side from barbarous society. There is also a new definition of this word nowadays. “people with specific spacial and temporary connection own the city architecture and scripture; the same civilization contains of several similar types of countries and races; civilization can be divided into politics, economic and culture, of which culture is the soul. ”That can explain why some countries was invaded or even conquered but their civilization got passed generations. Civilization also contains of philosophy, religion and art. Most of scholars believed that there is some differences between civilization and culture. Like I mentioned in the definition before, civilization is superior to culture, which means culture is part of civilization. What’s more, that civilization and culture is subject to different attribute is also another popular theory. As Alfred Weber, one of Germany culture socialists, once said: “the difference between culture and civilization is that civilization is the one which be “invented” while culture is the one that be created. The former one can passed from one race to another race but doesn’t lose its specialty; it can passed from one generation to another generation but doesn’t lose its function. So all the things like nature science and material tools can be seen as civilization. But culture is created by human so it is the racial appearance of a specific time and place where can only persevere its original essence. Anyone who from other places want to copy it from past, they will lose its original essence. Not only the scholars from western countries but also some from Japan who held this kind of theory. They believe that civilization is material while culture is spiritual. Civilization can be spread while culture is cohesion.

精神文明与物质文明的关系

精神文明与物质文明的关系 ——鲁迅译《从灵向肉和从肉向灵》的读书笔记 选择字号：大中小本文共阅读15441 次更新时间：2014-08-14 22:06:18 进入专题：鲁迅从灵向肉和从肉向灵●胡定核 不久前应上海《财经》丛书主编张志雄先生之约写了《学而优则商》一文，匆匆草就，现在回想起来颇有些意犹未尽之感。近日重读鲁迅先生的译文集，其中有一篇《从灵向肉和从肉向灵》，译自日本文学评论家厨川白村，日文原著我无缘得见，不过译文倒是承继了鲁迅先生一以贯之严峻冷静鞭辟入里的风格。文章虽然完成于80年前，今天看来仍不失其现实性，而且诚如鲁迅先生在译后记中所指出的，此文“主旨是专在指摘他(指厨川)最爱的母国一一日本——的缺陷的。但我看除了开首这一节攻击旅馆制度和第三节攻击馈送仪节的和中国不甚相干外，其他却多半切中我们现在大家隐蔽着的痛疾，尤其是很自负的精神文明。” 其实所谓“从肉向灵，从灵向肉”，翻成白话文，就是物质与精神、现实与理想、根本的与提倡的孰先孰后孰重孰轻的问题。文章开门见山写道：“日本人(建议读者诸君在以后的引文中不妨将所有的“日本人”都代之以“中国人”) 的生活中，有着在别的文明国里到底不会看见的各样不可思议的现象。”什么现象，限于篇幅本文不加引述。不过所谓大千世界无奇不有，日本的现象再怎么出人意料也不值得厨

川如此惊奇，那么厨川想说的是什么呢?原来他认为“这些现象……一探本原，则其实不过基因于一个缺陷。”进一步说，“将西洋的，尤其是英美人的生活，和我们日本人的一比较，则在根本上，灵和肉，精神和物质，温情主义和权利义务，感情生活和合理思想，道德思想和科学思想，家族主义和个人主义，这些两者的关系上，是完全取着正相反的方向的，我们是想从甲赴乙，而他们却从乙赴甲进行。倘若日本人真要诚实地来解决生活改造的问题，则开手第一着就应该先来想一想这关系，而在此作为出发点，安下根柢去。" 这一番日本人与西洋人，或换言之，东西方文化的比较固可称得上精辟得当，但也并非什么发前人所未发之高论。鲁迅译毕《从灵向肉和从肉向灵》是一九二四年冬，而作者厨川白村本人则在一九二三年的关东大地震中不幸遇难，颇为巧合的是，同在一九二三年，与日本一水之隔的中国也发生了一场大地震，不过不是自然地理意义上的，而是在思想文化界，这就是现代中国哲学史上有名的科玄论战，论战的核心命题是科学与人生观之关系，但其更为广阔的理论背景和哲学前提则是如何看待东西方文化。窃以为如果《从灵向肉和从肉向灵》一文仅止于对东西方化差异的平面描述，或者不痛不痒各打五十大板，说一句“尺有所短，寸有所长”，深黯中庸之道也无不可，只不过我们可能就读不到这篇译文了。但厨川却一定要比较个优劣高下，并且一口咬定“从肉向灵”优于“从灵向肉”，或者这正是这篇文章的“卖点”？所以鲁迅先生不仅译了，译完后还不忘了写译后附记，并指明其意义是"作为从外国药店贩来的一帖泻药。"

(完整版)DifferencebetweenCivilizationandCulture

Culture Vs Civilization Firstly, civilization in theory is bigger than culture in which an entire civilization can encompass one single unit of culture. Civilization is a bigger unit than culture because it is a complex aggregate of the society that dwells within a certain area, along with its forms of government, norms, and even culture. Thus, culture is just a spec or a portion of an entire civilization. For example, the Egyptian civilization has an Egyptian culture in the same way as the Greek civilization has their Greek culture. A culture ordinarily exists within a civilization. In this regard, each civilization can contain not only one but several cultures. Comparing culture and civilization is like showing the difference between language and the country to which it is being used. Culture can exist in itself whereas civilization cannot be called a civilization if it does not possess a certain culture. It’s just like asking how a nation can exist on its own without the use of a medium of communication. Hence, a civilization will become empty if it does not have its culture, no matter how little it is. Culture can be something that is tangible and it can also be something that isn’t. Culture can become a physical material if it is a product of the beliefs, customs and practices of a certain people with a definite culture. But a civilization is something that can be seen as a whole and it is more or less tangible although its basic components, like culture, can be immaterial. Culture can be learned and in the same manner it can also be transmitted from one generation to the next. Using a medium of speech and