The Transformation of the Zeitgeist and the Changes in the Image of China

The German sinologist and historian Wolfgang Franke wrote in the *China Handbook* (1974) he edited: "Up to the present day, the Western image of China, or the understanding of China, often swings from one extreme to another; what the image of China reveals is more the standpoint of the observer than the object observed itself."[1]1 Wolfgang Franke (1912-2007): German sinologist and historian, editor of the *China Handbook*. Franke's view undoubtedly pertains to different historical contexts and zeitgeists, especially specific Western temporal needs, as well as the value judgments and observational standpoints of the image-makers.

德国汉学家和历史学家傅吾康主编的《中国手册》（1974）有言：“直至今天，西方的中国形象或曰对中国的认识，往往是从一个极端走向另一个极端；中国形象所显示的，更多的是观察者各自的立场，而不是被观察的对象本身。”傅吾康的这一观点，无疑涉及不同的历史背景和时代精神，尤其是特定的西方时代需求，以及形象制造者的价值判断和观察问题的立场。

From the late Ming and early Qing dynasties to the early 20th century, Western views of China exhibited two major "cross-century blocks." Both the positive and negative images of China from the Western perspective before the 20th century greatly influenced subsequent Western views of China. In other words, later Western views of China, due to new historical circumstances and social developments, may have found different expressions and reached some new conclusions, but on many fundamental issues they did not transcend the basic viewpoints set by earlier generations, which ranged across the positive-negative polarity. Similarly, the "China fever" of the early 20th century also bore distinct characteristics of its era.

从明末清初到20世纪早期，西方中国观呈现两大“跨世纪板块”。20世纪之前西方视角的正面和反面中国形象，都极大影响了而后西人对中国的看法。换言之，后来的西方中国观，因为新的历史状况和社会发展，也许可以换一种说法，得出一些新的结论，但在许多基本问题上，它们并未超越前人在正负两极中所展示的基本观点。同样，20世纪早期的“中国热”，也具有鲜明的时代特征。

Early Western accounts of Chinese literature focused primarily on Confucius, that is, the Confucian classics. This was due to the traditional broad conception of literature and was closely related to Western construction of "Chinese culture." It is also evident in the Western preference for Daoist works during the deep spiritual crisis of the early 20th century. The history of Western reception of Chinese literature clearly shows that the reception of Chinese literature has always depended on the understanding of Chinese culture and the construction of the image of China in different eras.

西方早期的中国文学叙述，以孔子亦即儒家经典为主，这是传统的大文学观使然，同时与西人对“中国文化”的建构密切相关，这也见于西人在20世纪早期深重的精神危机时对道家作品的偏爱。西方的中国文学接受史清楚表明，对中国文学的接受始终取决于不同时代对中国文化的认知和对中国形象的构建。

China as a Mirror for the West

成为西方之镜的中国

Before the mid-13th century, Westerners knew very little about China; their knowledge remained at the level of vague imagination and legend. Around the end of the BC era, the Romans used "Seres" and "Sera" to refer to the distant land of silk and its people, roughly meaning "the silk tribe" or "silk country." The ancient Roman writer Pliny the Younger once praised Eastern silk garments: "Far away there is a country where the people are so skilled in craftsmanship that even the clothes women wear in public are transparent." Thus, the earliest image of China from a Western perspective was hazy.

13世纪中期之前，西人对中国所知无几，只停留于不确定的想象和传说。大约在公元前末期，罗马人用“Seres”和“Sera”来指称遥远的丝绸产地和那里的人民，大概意思是“蚕丝族”或“丝绸国”。古罗马作家小普林尼曾经赞美东方的丝绸衣衫：“迢迢远方有一个国家，那里的人手工精巧，连女人在公共场合穿的衣服都是透明的。”可见，西方视角中最初的中国形象是朦胧的。

The five centuries from around 1250 to roughly 1750 can be regarded as one major block in European views of China. The travels of the Italian Marco Polo to the East in the latter half of the 13th century ended indirect imaginings of China and were epoch-making for the development of Western views of China. Even though many wonderful legends followed, on the whole Westerners could not imagine a civilized and cultivated state outside Europe. It was not until 1514 that China was "discovered" by the Portuguese under the name "China." If Marco Polo can be called the first Westerner to truly know China, his compatriot Matteo Ricci, the leader of the Catholic Jesuits in China, deserves to be called the first Westerner to truly touch the spiritual world of China. The China introduced by the Jesuits was a state of well-governed polity and refined religion, which not only brought the first wave of Western interest in China but also determined the Western view of China for the following century, up to the Enlightenment.

1250年前后至1750年左右的五百年可被视为欧洲中国观的一个大的板块。意大利人马可·波罗在13世纪下半叶的东方之行，结束了对中国的间接想象，对西方中国观的发展具有划时代意义。即使此后还有不少美妙传说，但总体来说，西人无法想象欧洲之外还会有一个文明教化之邦。直到1514年，中国才以“China”之名被葡萄牙人“发现”。如果称马可·波罗为西方真正认识中国的第一人，他的同胞、天主教耶稣会在华领袖利玛窦则不愧为西方真正触及中国精神世界的第一人。耶稣会士所介绍的中国是政教修明之国，这不仅带来西方关注中国的第一次高潮，而且决定了以后一百年的西方中国观，直至启蒙运动。

During the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the two heterogeneous cultures of China and the West came into contact for the first time with far-reaching historical impact. While the Jesuits, represented by Matteo Ricci, traveled east to proselytize, they also brought back to Europe the precious treasures of Eastern culture and the Chinese spirit. The influence of the Jesuits in the West far exceeded their influence in the China where they sought to preach. For the European intellectual class, the Chinese culture discovered by the Jesuits was like a "divine revelation," prompting sudden enlightenment. The Enlightenment also provided a fertile ground for the reception of Chinese culture; it was truly timely. China's enlightened monarchs, religious tolerance, and Confucianism, especially the status of Confucianism in the state and society, were greatly appreciated by Enlightenment thinkers.

明末清初，中西两大异质文化发生了历史上第一次具有深远影响的接触。以利玛窦为代表的耶稣会士在东行传教的同时，也把东方文化和中国精神的宝贵财富带回了欧洲。耶稣会士在西方的影响远远超过在他们所要布道的中国。对欧洲知识阶层来说，耶稣会士所发现的中国文化犹如“天启”，让人顿悟。启蒙运动亦为接受中国文化提供良好土壤，真可谓适逢其时。中国的开明君主、宽容宗教以及儒家学说，尤其是儒家在国家和社会中的地位，颇受启蒙思想家的赏识。

The two German intellectual giants Leibniz and Wolff were deeply influenced by Chinese culture and thought. They combined the Chinese culture introduced by the missionaries with Enlightenment ideas, exerting considerable influence on the development of European intellectual history and Western views of China. Leibniz believed that Europe and China were two parts of a single global cultural whole. In the preface to his book *Novissima Sinica*, he wrote: "I consider that the unique arrangement of fate has brought the highest culture and the highest technological civilization of mankind today to both ends of our continent: Europe and China. China, like an Eastern Europe, adorns the other end of the earth." The two great French philosophers Voltaire and Diderot also revered the "gospel" from China.

两位德意志思想巨擘莱布尼茨和沃尔夫深受中国文化思想的影响，把传教士介绍去的中国文化和启蒙思想相结合，对欧洲思想史的发展及其西方中国观产生了不小的影响。莱布尼茨认为，欧洲和中国是一个世界文化整体的两个组成部分。他在《中国近事》一书的前言中说：“我认为，命运的独特安排，使人类最高文化和最高技术文明今天同时聚集在我们这个大陆的两端：欧洲和中国。中国犹如东方的欧洲一样装点着地球的另一端。”法国的两位大哲学家伏尔泰和狄德罗也都宗仰来自中国的“福音”。

The "China fever" of that time did not arise solely from the idealized China propagated by the Jesuits. The aesthetic pursuit of "Chinese taste" that was emerging in Europe at the time was extremely favorable to the reception of Chinese culture. Just like the fate of silk in ancient Rome, porcelain, which Europeans had never seen before, acquired a mythological aura upon its arrival in the West, its value comparable to gold. In addition, Westerners were obsessed with Chinese traditional handicrafts such as lacquerware, silk fabrics, and embroidery. Even Chinese goldfish were introduced to Europe, and the Chinese garden, with its unique charm and appeal, was especially widely admired.

彼时的“中国热”不只源于耶稣会士所宣传的理想化的中国。当时正在欧洲兴起的对“中国趣味”的审美追求，对中国文化的接受极为有利。同丝绸在古罗马的命运一样，欧洲人从未见过的瓷器来到西方，刚到达这片土地便染上了神话色彩，其价值可与黄金相比。另外，西人还痴迷于漆器、丝织品、刺绣等中国传统手工艺品，连中国金鱼也引种到了欧洲，尤其是那具有独特韵味和情趣的中国园林，广受追捧。

Under the Western Gaze: Barriers and Prejudices

西方的目光下：阻隔与偏见

The Jesuit missionary mission in China was dissolved around 1775, thereby also interrupting Sino-Western intellectual exchange. The Chinese culture introduced to Europe by the Jesuits had once been the "guide" for Europeans to understand China. But times changed, and the guide lost its effect. Thus, attitudes of doubt, criticism, and rejection, or the negative image of China, gradually gained the upper hand and persisted for a century and a half, until the early 20th century. This constitutes the other major block of Western views of China.

在华耶稣会士传教团于1775年前后被解散，由此也中断了中西思想领域的交流。耶稣会士介绍给欧洲的中国文化，曾是欧洲人了解中国的“指南”。但是，时代变了，指南失去了效应。就这样，怀疑、批判和拒绝的态度或曰反面中国形象慢慢得势，并延续了一个半世纪，直至20世纪初。这便是西方中国观的另一大板块。

During this period, people no longer believed in the flourishing age of civil and military prowess praised by the Jesuits and Enlightenment thinkers; instead, they trusted more the descriptions and discourses that despised China: that China was uncivilized, ridiculous, and inferior. This phenomenon began roughly with the negative image of China presented in Anson's *A Voyage Round the World* (1748), and with various accounts from the Macartney mission at the end of the 18th century. These discourses gradually shattered the Chinese myth propagated by the Jesuits. In the travelogues and accounts written by unfortunate Western merchants and other visitors to China, Chinese were mostly portrayed as rogues and swindlers. The greatest characteristic of Western views of China during this period was the critique of the Chinese spirit by thinkers such as Montesquieu and Hegel.

此期，人们不再相信耶稣会士和启蒙思想家所赞誉的文武盛世，而是更相信那些鄙视中国的描写和论说：中国是不文明的、可笑的、低劣的。这一现象约始于1748年发表的安森《环球航行记》所呈现的反面中国形象，还有18世纪末马戛尔尼使团的各种记述。这些论说，让耶稣会士宣传的中国神话逐渐破灭。在西方那些不走运的商人和其他一些来华者所写的见闻和游记中，华人多半是无赖和骗子。这个时期西方中国观的最大特色，就是孟德斯鸠、黑格尔等思想家对中国精神的批判。

As early as when Leibniz was enthusiastic about Chinese culture and advocating sino-European synthesis, controversy had already arisen in France over Chinese politics and culture. Enlightenment thinkers such as Montesquieu and Rousseau were representatives of the opposition to the China vogue. They offered a different reflection on the Chinese knowledge disseminated by the Jesuits, severely criticizing "Chinese despotism." Based on his classification of republican, monarchical, and despotic governments, Montesquieu did not agree with the "enlightened monarchical despotism" promoted by his contemporaries; he believed that despotism was tyranny, with no distinction between enlightened and unenlightened, and that China was precisely such a state. Rousseau, who had long been regarded as opposing Chinese civilization, although he had some praise for Chinese political thought, firmly believed that the flourishing of Chinese science and art ran counter to moral progress.

早在莱布尼茨热衷于中国文化并倡导中西合璧的时候，法国已经就中国政治和文化发生争议。启蒙思想家，如孟德斯鸠和卢梭等，即为反对中国时髦的代表。他们对耶稣会士传播的中国知识进行另一种反思，严厉批判“中国专制主义”。孟德斯鸠根据自己的共和政体、君主政体和专制政体之说，不赞成同时代人宣扬的“开明君主专制”，认为专制即暴政，没有开明不开明之分，中国正是这样的国家。一向被视为反对中国文明的卢梭，虽然对中国政治思想有所称赞，但坚信中国科学和艺术的昌明与道德进步背道而驰。

In the German lands, Herder's discourses on Chinese culture had an enormous influence on later generations. In his *Treatise on China*, he reached an extremely extreme conclusion, holding that China "locked its borders against the outside, was ethnically arrogant, compared only with itself, and neither knew nor liked the outside world." Entering the 19th century, Hegel stated in his *Lectures on the Philosophy of History* that China was almost excluded from world history. He viewed world history as the history of the progress of the consciousness of freedom, and thus believed that China had no progress to speak of.

在德意志疆域，赫尔德关于中国文化的论述对后人产生极大影响，他在其《中国论》中得出的结论非常极端，认为中国“锁国抵外，民族自大，只和自己比，既不认识也不喜欢外界天地”。进入19世纪，黑格尔在其“历史哲学讲座”中指出，中国几乎被排斥在世界史之外。他把世界史视作自由意识之进步的历史，由此认为中国没有进步可言。

Although the various negative images of China shared many common features, they followed two completely different basic paradigms. The first form satisfied the curiosity of the audience through curiosity-reading materials or cartoonish sketches; the various accounts of China by Dutch and English merchants also fell into this category. The second form focused on nations, states, and continents, seeking in-depth discussion, that is, an examination of the so-called "essence" and "commonalities" of the population of a country or continent, distinguishing them from other groups. When discussing Chinese issues, Leibniz, Wolff, Voltaire, and Diderot belonged to the positive category, while Montesquieu, Rousseau, Herder, and Hegel belonged to the other.

各种负面中国形象虽有很多共同点，但它们具有两种完全不同的基本范式。第一种形式用猎奇读物或漫画式小品来满足受众的好奇心，荷兰和英国商人的各种中国见闻亦属此类。第二种形式则聚焦于民族、国家、大洲，追求的是深度探讨，即对一个国家或大洲之群体的所谓“本质”和“共性”的考察，并将之区别于其他群体。在论述中国问题时，莱布尼茨、沃尔夫、伏尔泰和狄德罗属于积极的一类，孟德斯鸠、卢梭、赫尔德和黑格尔则属于另一类。

Cognitive Roots of Western Views of China

西方中国观的认知根源

The aforementioned cross-century blocks of Western views of China are intended to indicate the approximate positions of pre-20th-century Western views of China in the long river of history; they can be summarized as a history from "mythification" to "caricature." The so-called "cross-century blocks" are both chronological divisions and a rough summary of the positive and negative images of China in the pre-20th-century West. Of course, the two tendencies in views of China also had periods of parallel development, differing only in relative strength; so-called positive or negative images refer only to the general trend and mainstream. During the century and more from the 17th to the 18th century, European images of China were largely similar. Over the following nearly one and a half centuries, the basic tone of discourse on China also remained generally consistent.

前述西方中国观的跨世纪板块，旨在标示20世纪前的西方中国观在历史长河中所处的大致位置，当能概括为从“神话”到“丑化”的历史。所谓“跨世纪板块”，既是时段上的划分，又是20世纪前西方的正反中国形象的大概归纳。当然，两种走向的中国观，亦有平行发展的阶段，只是势头强弱而已，所谓正面或负面形象，指的只是大势和主流。17世纪至18世纪的一百多年时间里，欧洲的中国形象大同小异。之后近一个半世纪间，论说中国的基调也基本一致。

From at least the 17th century, there have always existed two qualitatively different images of China: one popular and one intellectual. Relatively speaking, the China in the eyes of the public has been relatively stable; what they sought was mostly just exotic scenery and fairy-tale stories to satisfy the universal human desire for novelty. As for the intellectual class, due to changes in the times and changes in the historical fantasies, intellectual content, and values of the intelligentsia itself, views of China changed accordingly. This distinction between "popular" and "elite" views of China and value orientations has persisted to the present day.

最晚从17世纪起，一直存在着两种不同质的中国形象：一种是大众化的，一种是知识界的。相对而言，大众眼里的中国比较稳定，他们追求的多半只是异国风光和童话般的故事，以满足人类共有的猎奇心理。就知识阶层而言，由于时代变迁和知识界本身的历史幻想、思考内容和价值观的变化，中国观亦随之而变。这种“大众化”和“精英式”的中国观及价值取向之间的区别，一直延续到今天。

Pre-20th-century Western views of Chinese culture can basically be summarized as having an idealized aspect and a distorted aspect. The former is seen in the Jesuits as well as Leibniz and Voltaire; the latter is seen in Herder and Hegel, and is especially evident in the writings of merchants who visited China and writers who regurgitated secondhand information. Due to the limitations of the times and the insufficiently comprehensive introduction of Chinese culture to the West at that time, and even more due to the influence of values, the arguments and discourses of some thinkers were often biased or excessively harsh.

20世纪前的西方对中国文化的见解，我们基本上可以将之归纳为理想化的一面和扭曲化的一面，前者见于耶稣会士以及莱布尼茨和伏尔泰等人，后者见于赫尔德和黑格尔等人，尤其体现于来华商人与拾人牙慧的作家所写的文字。由于时代的局限和当时西方对中国文化的介绍还不够全面，更由于价值观的影响，一些思想家的立论和论述常常失之偏颇，或者言之过激。

When Europe first became acquainted with China, Confucianism was often regarded as synonymous with Chinese thought, as presented to the Western intellectual world in the 17th and 18th centuries. For a long period after the publication of the Latin translation *Confucius Sinarum Philosophus* compiled by Prospero Intorcetta and Philippe Couplet, the main translations in the West were the Four Books and Five Classics.[2]2 The Four Books and Five Classics: The canonical texts of Confucianism. The Four Books are the *Great Learning*, the *Doctrine of the Mean*, the *Analects*, and *Mencius*; the Five Classics are the *Book of Songs*, the *Book of Documents*, the *Book of Rites*, the *Book of Changes*, and the *Spring and Autumn Annals*. Leibniz and Wolff's descriptions of Chinese society were likely based on the Three Ages theory in the "Li Yun" chapter of the *Book of Rites*: "disordered state," "moderate prosperity," and "great unity."[3]3 The Three Ages theory: From the "Li Yun" chapter of the *Book of Rites*: "disordered state" (luan guo), "moderate prosperity" (xiaokang), and "great unity" (datong). Originally Confucius's ideal of progressing toward a peaceful world. What was originally Confucius's ideal of a gradual march toward a peaceful world, Leibniz and Wolff took as a depiction of the actual social order and human relations in Chinese society.

欧洲初识中国之时，孔子学说常被视为中国思想的同义词，在17、18世纪呈现于西方知识界。殷铎泽和柏应理编译的拉丁文《中国哲学家孔子》出版后的很长一个时期，西方主要翻译的是四书五经。莱布尼茨和沃尔夫对中国社会的描写，很可能根据《礼记·礼运》篇中的“乱国”“小康”和“大同”的三世说：本来是孔子对渐进走向太平世界的理想，莱氏和沃氏却把那种理想的社会秩序和人际关系当作中国社会现实的写照。

The later negative image of China stemmed mainly from Eurocentrism: besides such modern European concepts as progress, individuality, and humanity, the Christian spirit and imperialist missionary consciousness became rampant. Another important reason was the lack of understanding of Chinese history: Europeans' knowledge of Chinese history long followed the Italian Jesuit Martino Martini's *Sinicae Historiae Decas Prima* and the French Jesuit Joseph de Moyriac de Mailla's *Histoire Générale de la Chine*,[4]4 Martino Martini (1614-1661): Italian Jesuit missionary and historian, author of *Sinicae Historiae Decas Prima* (first ten books of Chinese history).[5]5 Joseph de Moyriac de Mailla (1669-1748): French Jesuit missionary and historian, author of *Histoire Générale de la Chine* (General History of China). and there was little change even by the 19th century. Unexpectedly, Mailla's *Histoire Générale* was an adaptation of the *Tongjian Gangmu*, which commented on historical events from a Confucian perspective, rather than a strict historical work.[6]6 *Tongjian Gangmu*: *Outline and Details of the Comprehensive Mirror*, a Chinese historical work compiled by Zhu Xi in the 12th century, which recounts history from a Confucian perspective. Thus arose a great misunderstanding, as if China had undergone no substantive change from 1000 BCE to the present, which in turn fueled inaccurate claims such as the Chinese being an "eternally stagnant nation" or "China has no history."

后来的负面中国形象，主要缘于欧洲中心主义：进步、个性、人性等近代欧洲理念而外，基督教精神和帝国主义布道意识甚嚣尘上。另一重要缘故是对中国历史的不了解：欧洲人的中国史知识曾长期依循意大利耶稣会士卫匡国的《中国上古史》和法国耶稣会士冯秉正的《中国通史》，时至19世纪也没有多大变化。岂料冯秉正《中国通史》是根据《通鉴纲目》改写而成的，用儒家观点评点史事，而非严格意义上的史书。这便出现了一个莫大的误解，仿佛中国自公元前一千年至今没有实质性变化，由此也助长了中国人是“永远静止的民族”或“中国没有历史”之类的失实说法。

The images of China in the Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment eras were completely different. This was caused by different zeitgeists, sociocultural needs, and worldviews of the image-makers. Even the indisputable fact of "China's long history" was dealt with and judged in completely different ways: the Jesuits, Voltaire, and others saw thousands of years of Chinese morality, enduring peace and tranquility; Montesquieu, Herder, and Hegel saw a stagnant China and a rigid Chinese culture.

启蒙时代与后启蒙时代的欧洲中国形象截然不同，这是不同的时代精神、社会文化需求和形象制造者的世界观造成的。甚至对“中国历史悠久”这一毋庸置疑的事实，也有完全不同的处理和评判：耶稣会士、伏尔泰等人见到的是数千年的中国道德、持久的和平与安宁，孟德斯鸠、赫尔德、黑格尔见到的却是停滞不前的中国和僵化的中国文化。

The "cross-century blocks" are often manifested in the enduring, almost archetypal cultural patterns in Western narratives about China, or what might be called the "constancy" of certain images. Once many images were generated, they displayed vitality, both concerning the content of views of China and carrying value judgments. During the era when the imperialist powers humiliated China, China's image in Europe hit rock bottom.

“跨世纪板块”时常体现于西方的中国叙事中那些延续的、近乎原型的文化程式，或曰某种形象的“恒定性”。不少形象生成之后，便显示出生命力，既关乎中国观的内涵，又带着价值判断。在帝国主义列强凌辱中国的时代，中国在欧洲的形象跌入低谷。

Another Oriental Fever: "Become Europeans of China"

又一次东方热：“成为欧洲的中国人”

Around the time of the First World War, the Western image of China underwent a historic turning point, once again becoming an image worthy of reverence. From the high praise of Chinese culture by Enlightenment thinkers to the contempt of Eurocentrists for China, and then to the correction of the revised image. Europeans were dejected by the destruction of the war; they had long been exhausted, and now they turned their eyes wistfully to the East in search of new spiritual sustenance and a way to salvation. Thus, the "Oriental fever" arose again. People longed for true harmony and tranquility, and historical China was well suited to satisfy the universal human need of the Europeans of that time for a fairy-tale vision.

第一次世界大战前后，西方的中国形象出现历史性转折，中国形象再度变成令人崇敬的形象。从启蒙思想家对中国文化的高度赞美到欧洲中心主义者对中国的鄙视，再到被修正的中国形象之修正。欧洲人因大战的破坏而沮丧，他们长期疲于奔命，现在怅惘地将目光转向东方，找寻新的精神寄托和拯救之途。于是，“东方热”再度掀起，人们渴望真正的和谐与安宁，而历史中国又很适用于满足彼时欧洲人之普遍的、向往童话般景象的人性需求。

The translation and introduction of Chinese classics in the West followed a sequence of "first Confucianism, then Buddhism and Daoism," with the Confucian classics long predominating. Due to the earlier broad conception of literature, China had been regarded by many Europeans as a land of letters. For a long period after the Enlightenment, Confucius was not only seen by Westerners as the sole representative of Chinese culture, but his status as a man of letters was also beyond doubt. If the Enlightenment thinkers found a kindred spirit in the Four Books and Five Classics, that is, in Chinese ethics and morality, and this helped them to be innovative, then two hundred years later the situation was quite different: from the 1860s to the early 20th century, a first wave of translations of the *Dao De Jing* emerged in the West. Moreover, not only did Laozi's teachings gain more favor among Westerners than Confucianism, but the number of translations soon exceeded that of earlier Confucian classic translations.

中国经典在西方的译介是“先儒家、后释道”，曾长期以儒家经典为主。缘于早先的大文学观，中国一直被许多欧洲人视为文学之国。在启蒙运动以降的很长一个时期，孔子在西人眼里不仅是中国文化的唯一代表，他的文学家地位也是毋庸置疑的。若说启蒙思想家在四书五经亦即中国伦理道德中觅见知音，且有助于他们标新立异，那么，二百年后却是另一番景象：19世纪60年代至20世纪初，西方兴起了第一波《道德经》翻译热潮。并且，老子学说不仅比儒家学说更受西人青睐，译作数量也很快超过了以往儒家经典的译作。

Although translations of the *Dao De Jing* and the Daoist concept of "non-action" (wuwei) did not cause a sensation at first, the cultural pessimism represented by Nietzsche gradually gained prevalence at the end of the 19th century, and especially Nietzsche's famous dictum of "revaluation of all values" with its fierce critique of modern materialism, caused Taoist thought to resonate ever more strongly in Western intellectual circles in the early 20th century. Especially the spiritual crisis in the West brought about by the First World War—it was during this period that Taoist thought became the main characteristic of Chinese culture in the West, just as Confucius and Confucianism had become synonymous with Chinese culture or the code for the Chinese spirit two hundred years earlier.

尽管《道德经》译作和道家倡导的“无为”起初并未带来轰动效应，但以尼采为代表的文化悲观主义在19世纪末逐渐盛行后，尤其是尼采“重新估定一切价值”之名言对现代物质性的猛烈批判，使得道家思想在20世纪初的西方知识界愈发引起强烈共鸣。特别是第一次世界大战导致西方精神危机，正是在这个时期，道家思想在西方成为中国文化的主要特征，如同孔子和儒家学说在二百年前成为中国文化的同义词或者中国精神的代码。

A new generation of intellectuals and writers rediscovered Chinese culture, but praised a different China. What people discovered was Laozi, Zhuangzi, the *Book of Changes*, and Chan (Zen) Buddhism, among others. The obsession of Western philosophical circles at that time with Taoist thought produced a lasting influence. Taking Germany as an example, even before the war, Martin Buber published *The Sayings and Parables of Zhuangzi*, accompanied by a profound afterword. Max Weber wrote *The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism*, in which he regarded Laozi as a fashionable philosopher. At the same time, he also pointed out the comparability between Confucian ethics and Christian ethics.

新的一代知识人和文学家重新发现了中国文化，赞美的却是一个不同的中国。人们发现的是老子、庄子、《易经》，还有禅宗等。当时的西方哲学界对道家学说的沉迷，产生了持久的影响。以德国为例，早在战前，马丁·布伯就发表《庄子的言论和寓言》，并附有一篇深刻的后记。马克斯·韦伯则著有《儒教与道教》，他在书中把老子看作一位时兴的哲学家。同时，他也指出儒家伦理与基督教伦理的可比之处。

The "Daoist fever" first arose from the apocalyptic atmosphere and decadent mood of the time, especially the worldview of the generation of the 1920s, who saw in Daoist thought their own cultural pessimism and pacifism. In the 1919 magazine *Der Revolutionär*, the German Expressionist poet Klabund issued a startling proclamation to his compatriots, "Listen, Germans!", urging people to live in the "sacred spirit of the Dao" and to "become Europeans of China."[7]7 Klabund (pseudonym of Alfred Henschke, 1890-1928): German Expressionist poet and writer, known for his adaptations of Chinese poetry. Klabund became one of the most famous and successful German poets of his era due to his imitations of Chinese poetry; he called Li Bai "perhaps the greatest poet of all times and peoples." It was also in that era that Li Bai replaced Confucius as the most conspicuous symbol of Chinese culture. However, some left-wing writers were more interested in Bai Juyi and Du Fu, valuing their social criticism.

“道家热”首先缘于当时的末日氛围和颓废情绪，尤其是1920那代人的世界观，他们在道家思想中见到了自己怀有的文化悲观主义与和平主义。在1919年的《革命者》杂志中，德国表现主义诗人克拉邦德向他的同胞发出惊人之语《听着，德国人！》，呼吁人们本着“道的神圣精神”生活，“成为欧洲的中国人”。克拉邦德因其中国诗歌仿作而成为那个时代最著名、最成功的德国诗人之一，他称李白“或许是所有时代和民族中最伟大的诗人”。也是在那个时代，李白取代了孔子，成为中国文化最引人注目的象征。不过，一些左翼作家对白居易和杜甫更感兴趣，他们见重的是社会批判。

It seems that only about a hundred years ago did Westerners discover that China was a traditional "land of poetry." It was the intense interest in Tang poetry that largely inspired the eager attention to China at that time, which is fully reflected in Austrian composer Gustav Mahler's masterpiece *Das Lied von der Erde*. The six movements of this symphonic song cycle are respectively based on German translations of four poems by Li Bai, and poems by Meng Haoran, Wang Wei, and Qian Qi. The "Daoist fever" spread among writers and artists, exerting a tremendous influence on the poetry, drama, and fiction of the time. In the German literary scene, it had a particularly profound impact on famous writers such as Hermann Hesse, Alfred Döblin, and Bertolt Brecht.

似乎在一百多年前，西人才发现中国是一个传统“诗歌之国”。正是对唐诗的极大兴趣，在很大程度上激发了时人对中国的热切关注，这在奥地利作曲家马勒的代表作《大地之歌》中得到充分体现。这部交响声乐套曲的六个乐章，分别取材于李白的四首诗以及孟浩然、王维和钱起的德译诗作。“道家热”在文学家和艺术家中蔓延，对当时的诗歌、戏剧和小说创作产生了巨大影响。在德国文坛，则对黑塞、德布林、布莱希特等著名作家影响尤深。

Looking at the degree of understanding and evaluation of Chinese literature in different eras in the West, one can clearly discern its "zeitgeist," and this remains true today. In recent times, Western reception of Chinese literature has been tinged with a heavy utilitarian color. For various reasons, the criteria used by translators and publishers in selecting Chinese literary works are often not based on their literariness or aesthetic quality, but rather on the critical content, explicit orientation, or topicality of the works.

纵观西方不同时代对中国文学的认识程度和评价，颇能见出其“时代精神”，今天依然如此。晚近西方对中国文学的接受，沾染上浓重的功利主义色彩。出于各种原因，翻译家和出版商选择中国文学作品时的标准，时常不是基于其文学性或审美品质，而是注重作品的批判性内容、明确倾向或话题等。

Since the 18th century, Europe's affirmation or negation of China has always arisen from Europe's own needs and depended on the times and intellectual background in which specific images were generated and developed. Time passes; from the Western "China fever" of the early 20th century to the present, another hundred years have gone by, and the characteristics of contemporary Western views of China remain to a large extent unchanged: they proceed from Westerners' own specific needs and standpoints, expressing their views on changed circumstances and situations, not without Cold War thinking.

18世纪以降，欧洲对中国的肯定或否定均出于欧洲自身的需求，取决于特定形象之生成和发展的时代与思想背景。光阴荏苒，从20世纪早期西方的“中国热”到今天，又是一百年时光，而当代西方中国观的特征在很大程度上一仍旧贯，即从西人自身的特定需求和立场出发，表达的是他们对改变了的现状和局势的看法，其中不乏冷战思维。

(Author: Fang Weigui, is the chief expert of the major project of the National Social Science Fund "Research on the Compilation of Early Western Chinese Literary History and Its Influence" and professor at Chongqing University)

（作者：方维规，系国家社科基金重大项目“西方早期中国文学史纂及其影响研究”首席专家、重庆大学教授）

Online Editor: Huihui

网络编辑：慧慧