说说“中庸”的表达
《中庸》的英译本名称是The Doctrine Of The Golden Mean:
The Master [Confucius] said, the virtue embodied in the doctrine of the Mean is of the highest order. But it has long been rare among people.
子曰:中庸其至矣乎!民鲜能久矣!
不过,为什么要用Golden Mean来翻译“中庸”呢?其实这个概念在西方哲学中也有出现:
In philosophy, especially that of Aristotle, the golden mean is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. For example courage, a virtue, if taken to excess would manifest as recklessness and if deficient as cowardice.
亚里士多德的哲学观中就有“中庸”这个说法,指的是两个极端之间的平衡状态。例如勇气,过头就是鲁莽,不足就成懦弱,居中则正好。
所以,这就是Golden Mean的由来。至于意大利馆展出的拉丁文译本,在拉丁语中,“golden mean”的说法是aurea mediocritas,从英语可以反过来推测拉丁文的意思,因为英语中的aura意为“光环”,而mediocre意为“中等的、平庸的、普通的”。
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