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Tuesday, May 19, 2015

Marco Polo Project

As we go along in our project we are finding wonderful efforts by others. The Marco Polo Project is a terrific platform that offers a sort of crowd-sourcing approach to translation of contemporary Chinese writing from the internet. It is an impressive website worth checking out for both reading and language or translation practice. The URL below includes a very helpful short video introducing the project:

http://marcopoloproject.org/about/

Tim

Friday, April 24, 2015

Daniel Bell

我在中国大学教授西方价值观
Teaching Western Values in China
作者:DANIEL A. BELL(贝淡宁)
译者:陈亦亭、许欣
来源:The New York Times (《纽约时报》)
时间:孔子二五六六年岁次乙未年二月廿九日癸亥
           耶稣2015年4月17日



BEIJING — Nobody is surprised that the Chinese government curbs “Western-style” civil and political liberties. But it may be news to some people that the government has recently called for the strengthening of Marxist ideology in universities and a ban on “teaching materials that disseminate Western values in our classrooms.” On the face of it, such regulations are absurd. It would mean banning not just the ideas of John Stuart Mill and John Rawls, but also those of such thinkers as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.

北 京——没人会对中国政府限制“西方式”的公民和政治自由感到惊讶。但政府最近要求大学加强马克思主义思想教育,并下令禁止“传播西方价值观念的教材进入我 们的课堂”,对一些人来说可能就是新闻了。从表面上看,这种规定不当。它意味着不仅要禁止约翰·斯图亚特·密尔(John Stuart Mill)和约 翰·罗尔斯(John Rawls)的思想,还要禁止卡尔·马克思(Karl Marx)及弗里德里希·恩格斯(Friedrich Engels)等思 想家的思想。

Pronouncements against the influence of Western values contradict what’s really happening in higher education in China. There have been recurrent campaigns against foreign interference since the 1980s, and yet the trend has been consistent: more international links with Western universities, more meritocracy and less political ideology in the selection and promotion of professors, and experimentation with different modes of liberal arts education.

排斥西方价值观影响的声明,有悖于中国高等教育真实发生的情况。自上世纪80年代以来,反对外国干涉的运动反复出现,但有一种趋势始终没变:与西方大学之间的国际交流越来越多;在选拔和提升教授时,更加重视才能,政治意识形态考量减少;在文科教育中尝试运用不同的模式。

Of course, the government could reverse these trends, but the nation’s leaders know full well that a modern educational system needs to learn as much as it can from abroad.

当然,政府可以扭转这些趋势,但中国领导人清楚地知道,现代教育制度需要尽可能多地向外国学习。

In my case, I’ve been teaching political theory at Tsinghua University — one of the country’s top universities — for more than a decade, and I continue to be pleasantly surprised by the amount of freedom in the classroom.

以我为例,我在中国的顶尖高校之一清华大学教授政治学理论已经有十多年了,但教室里的自由度依然会让我感到惊喜。

I routinely discuss politically sensitive topics and much of what I teach would fall in the “prohibited” category if official warnings were enforced to the letter. This term we’re reading Francis Fukuyama’s works, starting with his famous 1989 article that declared the debates about political ideology ended with the triumph of liberal democracy. Students say what’s on their minds, as they would in any Western university.

我 会经常性地讨论政治上敏感的话题。如果严格执行官方的警告,我教的很多东西都属于“违禁”类别。这学期,我们在读弗朗西斯·福山 (Francis Fukuyama)的著作。那篇文章宣称,有关政治意识形态的讨论,已经以自由民主的胜利而告终。学生们像在西方任何一所大学里一样, 说出了自己心里的想法。

I try to present the ideas of great political theorists in the best possible light, and let students debate their merits among themselves. If it’s a class on Mill’s “On Liberty,” I’ll try to make the best possible case for the freedom of speech, and in a class on Confucius’s “Analects,” I’ll do the same for the value of harmony. I invite leading thinkers from China and the West to give guest lectures, whatever their political outlooks. The good news is that my classrooms have been almost completely free from political interference.

我 会尽可能以最正面的阐述,来讲解伟大政治理论家的思想,并让学生互相讨论其优缺点。如果课堂上讲的是密尔的《论自由》(On Liberty),我会尽可 能为言论自由做出最好的辩护。如果课上介绍的是孔子的《论语》,我也会为和谐的价值观做出同样的努力。我会邀请中国和西方的知名思想家发表客座演讲,不论 他们持何种政治主张。好消息是,我的课堂几乎从未受到过政治干预。

The one exception happened shortly after I arrived in Beijing in 2004. I wanted to teach a course on Marxism but was told it would not be advisable because my interpretation may differ from official ideology. Human rights and democracy are fine, but not Marxism. I learned to get around that constraint by teaching the material without putting the word “Marxist” in the course title.

唯 一的一次例外发生在我2004年到北京后不久。当时,我想教授一门有关马克思主义的课程,但却被告知这个想法不可取,因为我的解读可能与官方意识形态不 同。人权和民主都可以,但马克思主义不行。后来,我学会了绕开限制的办法,就是在教授相关内容时,不要在课程名字中出现“马克思主义”的字眼。

Research is more challenging. I can publish books and articles in English without any interference. When my writings are translated into Chinese, however, the censors do their work.

研究工作受到的挑战则更大。我可以不受任何干涉地用英语发表著作和文章。但当作品被翻译成中文后,审查机构就会履行它们的职责。

An earlier book on the rise of political Confucianism was due to be published in 2008, but I was told it couldn’t go to press because of the Olympics: Nothing remotely critical about contemporary politics in China could be published when the whole world was watching the country. In 2009, the 60th anniversary of the founding of modern China made it another “sensitive” year. In early 2010, the upcoming World Expo in Shanghai provided an excuse for delay. To my surprise, my book was indeed published during a brief period of politically “not-so-sensitive” time in the autumn of 2010.

较 早前一本有关政治儒学崛起的书,原定于2008年出版,但我被告知由于北京将要举行奥运会,这本书不能出版:全世界都在注视中国的时候,任何对中国当代政 治稍加批评的内容都无法发表。2009年是现代中国成立60周年,因此这一年成为又一个“敏感”年。在2010年初,即将在上海举行的世博会又为延期出版 提供了借口。令我惊讶的是,这本书的确在2010年秋天,政治上“不那么敏感”的短暂时期内得以出版。

Lately, the censorship regime has intensified. This time, the main reason is President Xi Jinping’s anticorruption campaign, which produces real enemies with a strong motivation to undermine the current leadership. Hence, even more curbs than usual on political publications, no matter how academic.

近来,审查力度加强了。这次主要是因为中国国家主席习近平开展的反腐行动,该行动树立了真正的敌人,他们很想削弱当前领导层的权威。因此,目前对政治出版物的限制比平时更严苛,无论是多么学术的内容。

I’ve ordered books on Amazon that have been confiscated at the border. I’ve long needed a virtual private network to access The New York Times and Google Scholar, but censors have been disrupting the use of V.P.N.s. My tech-savvy students help me to get around the restrictions, but it’s a cat-and-mouse game and the cat is getting smarter. My mood varies almost directly with the ease of Internet access, and lately I’ve often been in a foul mood.

我 通过亚马逊(Amazon)订购的书籍在边境遭到没收。长期以来,我一直要通过虚拟专用网络才能打开《纽约时报》及谷歌学术 (Google Scholar)网站,但审查机构一直干扰VPN的使用。我那些精通科技的学生帮我绕过限制,但这是一个猫捉老鼠的游戏,而且猫变得越来 越聪明。我的情绪几乎直接随着网络状况的好坏而变化,最近我经常感到非常低落。

Ironically, I had a particularly hard time accessing sources for a new book that is a largely positive account of the principles underlying the Chinese political system. I had to leave the country for several months to access works on the Internet and banned books in English and Chinese necessary to make my case.

我为了查找资料撰写新书,经历了非常艰难的过程,讽刺的是,这本书基本上对中国政治体制的基本原则做出了正面的描述。我不得不离开中国几个月,搜集阐明观点所需的网络资料和被禁的中英文书籍。

It’s worth asking why I continue to work in an academic environment with such constraints. Half of my family is Chinese, and I have special affection for the place. It helps to have great students and colleagues. Mr. Fukuyama’s “end of history” thesis put his finger on another key reason: A world where nobody argues about political ideals may be peaceful, but it’s boring. China is not boring.

有 人会问我,为什么继续留在这个受到诸多限制的学术环境中工作,这是一个好问题。我的家人有一半是中国人,我对中国有着特殊的感情。此外,我在中国有很多非 常棒的学生和同事。福山的“历史的终结”一文,确切地指出了另一个关键原因:无人争论政治理想的世界可能是和平的,但却是乏味的。中国并不乏味。

Chinese-style democratic meritocracy is the only viable alternative to liberal democracy, and I have front row seats to China’s experiment. What else could a political theorist ask for?

中国式的民主贤能政治,是自由民主体制之外,唯一可行的替代制度。我能亲身体验中国的试验,对一个政治理论家来说,夫复何求?

That said, I am in favor of free speech in universities. And my views are widely shared in Chinese academia: Whatever people say in public, I haven’t met a single Chinese intellectual — socialist, liberal or Confucian — who argues in private discussion for censorship of scholarly works. Censorship only serves to alienate intellectuals.

即便如此,我还是支持大学保障言论自由。中国学术界普遍同意我的观点:无论在公开场合说些什么,我没有遇到一个在私底下也赞成审查学术作品的中国知识分子——无论是社会主义者、自由主义者,还是儒家学者。审查制度只会疏远知识分子。

My own students usually say that political reform should take place on the basis of the current political system, not against it. But the more they are prevented from discussing such views, the more disenchanted they will become, and that spells trouble for the long term. Openness, in my view, can only benefit the system.

我自己的学生常说,政治改革应该在现有政治制度的基础上开展。但他们越被禁止讨论这些观点,越是会不再抱幻想,从长期来看,这会带来问题。我认为,开放只会让中国的政治体制受益。

I am confident that things will loosen up eventually. I confess, however, I was even more confident 10 years ago.

我有信心,限制最终会放松。然而我要承认,十年前的我甚至更有信心。

Daniel A. Bell is chair professor of the Schwarzman Scholars program at Tsinghua University in Beijing. His latest book is “The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy.

贝 淡宁(Daniel A. Bell)是北京清华大学苏世民学者(Schwarzman Scholars)项目的讲席教授。 他最新的著作是《中国模 式:贤能政治与民主的局限》 (The China Model: Political Meritocracy and the Limits of Democracy)

Sunday, March 8, 2015

military intellectuals

Here's a link to the sort of PLA intellectuals that I think we should probably be paying more attention to.  Several useful names provided.

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Monday, February 9, 2015

Liu Mingfu et al

Article from the New York Daily Post plugging Michael Pillsbury's The Hundred Year Marathon, a book that claims to reveal China's "secret" plan to depose the US and rule the world.  The book sounds like "China threat" claptrap, and I suspect that China's "secret plans" look a lot like Pentagon contingency plans.  Pillsbury also argues that the Song dynasty Zizhi tongjian ("never been translated"!) has served as some kind of Bible for inscrutable Chinese nefariousness, which sounds like Orientalist nonsense.  However, Pillsbury bases a lot of his stuff on his reading of military figures/writers like Liu Mingfu.  We probably should look at these guys, even if they do not fall into our basic categories.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Li Chengpeng 李承鹏

Li Chengpeng, former sports journalist turned popular writer and social critic, was born in Hami, Xinjiang, and lived in Chengdu, Guangzhou and Beijing. Baidu Baike (百度百科) wrote "After graduating from the Department of Chinese from Sichuan Normal University in summer 1990, Li Chengpeng was supposed to write literature or teach Chinese, but because of the special time he became a sports journalist 1990年夏天从四川师范大学中文系毕业后,李承鹏本应从事文学创作或语文教育工作,可是年代特殊的原因让他改行当了一名体育记者。"  I think this explains his "sudden change" in 2008 after the earthquake. In the prelude in his popular book The Whole World Knows (《全世界人民都知道》)published in the beginning of 2013, he explained why he decided to write. 

I am translating the beginning parts of the prelude here because I find it quite beautiful. The whole prelude in Chinese is here.


There is a story in the Chronicles of Zuo: there is an infamous womanizer in the country of Qi called Master Qi Zhuang. There is also a very gorgeous woman in the country of Qi called Tang Jiang. One day, Master Qi Zhuang saw beautiful Tang Jiang and couldn't help but tossing around at night and couldn't fall asleep. Eventually he won her over and slept with her. However, this was discovered by Tang Jiang's husband Cui Zhu. One day when Master Qi Zhuang and Tang Jiang were making out, Cui Zhu arranged some warriors and chopped him. 

Cui Zhu is a violent man, and also an important official in the country of Qi. He told the recording historian to just write that Master Qi Zhuang died of malaria. However, the historian was not cooperative and wrote, "In the summer in May, Cui Zhu killed Master Qi Zhuang". Cui Zhuo was very angry and killed the historian. According to the customs at that time, the historian's brother took over the position after his successor passed away. Cui Zhu said to the new historian that you should write Master Qi died of malaria. The new historian was also not cooperative and wrote on the bamboo slips that "Cui Zhu killed Master Qi Zhuang". Cui Zhu took his sword and killed the new historian. Afterwards there was the youngest brother, Cui Zhu looked at him directly and asked, don't you cherish your life?" The young historian also wrote, ?in summer in May, Cui Zhu killed Master Qi Zhuang." Cui Zhu smashed the bamboo slips on the ground, after a long time, he took a long sigh, and let the historian go.

Some people ask me why do I write and I told them this story. What I like to highlight is that it is this story that made me not writing in the beginning. It clearly shows that writing is asking for death. For a common person like me, of course I won't do something so taxing and dangerous, including that there are intellectuals in my family who led very sad lives, me, having a background of literature, played a risk-free game for a long time and I felt fortunate about it. However, gradually, I have found another kind of risk. The rules demonstrate clearly that there are two teams in a game, but actually it is not performed that way. A soccer star once told me, "that day I checked in and had a quick look and almost cried, because some team member kicked the ball to our own gate, and there are three teams now. Afterwards I started to laugh, because afterwards there were also members from our opponent who kicked the ball to their own gate, so there were four teams. Until the end I realized that there were actually five teams, because there was the judge. "

Under this circumstance I realized there is a thing called "dignity". There is dignity even in games.  I couldn't ignore that two teams became five and I couldn't accept my job was to perpetually explain five teams as two, and I had to justify it passionately. This constant defaulting system in my brain was very painful and I felt I lost the dignity of my intellect. From literature I hid to games. In a big house without any dignity, every corner is disgusting. I started to read the story in the beginning again and realized that there was an end: that young historian kept his life and brought his bamboo slips with him and went out. On his way out he bumped into another historian who records the history of the South. The young historian asked in surprise, how did you come? The historian from the South said, I heard that all of your brothers were killed and I was afraid of history being manipulated, so I came over to record with my bamboo slips." I find this ending more shocking. The previous historians died because they were just trying to do their job, but the historian from the South really was asking for death. This is what is called one after another. Some kind of fate just falls on you. There is nowhere else to hide. You might as well bring you bamboo slips and embrace it. 
 
It was until 2008, when I saw the little hand, still warm and alive, under the debris of the collapsed buildings, with the flowery sleeve ...... I eventually realized, it is time to come back. This, is where I come from. 
 -----------
At the signing ceremony of this book in Beijing in the beginning of 2013, Li was punched and threatened because that person says he doesn't like what Li writes. During his book tour month Li was silenced by the authority, and in his book signing in Chengdu, he wore a black mask

Li Chengpeng once had 6.6 million of followers on weibo and had lots of readers on his blog but they are both deleted right now. Though some of his essays are still online and some are translated into English. 

His famous speech in Beida called 说话, in Chinese, in 2012. 
It was translated by Liz Carter in English. 

Li's essay on Patriotism with Chinese Characteristics published by the New York Times online in English.
Also another essay, To Know What's going on in her country, look at her Construction. English and Chinese version follows.

His translated essay on Watermelon vendor died pursuing the Chinese dream, translated by the Daily Telegraph.
You Can Expunge the World, but not dignity, translated by Human Rights Watch.

Li Chengpeng on political openness of Taiwan, The Taiwan You Can See, English, Chinese.

Thursday, January 22, 2015

Xu Zhiyong 许志永

Xu Zhiyong, leader of the New Citizen's Movement, jailed for four years in 2014 for "gathering a crowd to disrupt public order", was a lecturer in law at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications until 2009. He received his PhD in law from Peking University in 2002. According to the Guardian, "The charge stems from a series of small protests he organized in 2012 and 2013 to champion rural children's education rights and official transparency." Xu was listed the 100 top World Thinkers in 2013 by Foreign Policy. 

Xu's closing statement to the court was translated by a group called China Change. 
The Chinese version is here; and the English version is here. 
It was very well written and gave a good and detailed explanation of his political stance and the history of his detention. 


He has published a manifesto of the New Citizen's Movement in his blog in Chinese:
And here is the translation in English.

His autobiography To Be a Citizen, compiled by his friends and lawyers Teng Biao and Hua Ze, was published in Chinese in Hong Kong in 2014.

Xu married Chinese journalist Cui Zheng, who works in Caixin, and they had a daughter in the beginning of 2014, two weeks before he was sentenced to prison. Cui Zheng used to be a researcher/news assistant at the Guardian and CNN.  

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Cui Weiping 崔卫平

Hi all, 
Happy New Year. I hope to introduce Cui Weiping, an influential female writer and academic. 
The China Story has an entry of Cui Weiping:
"Cui Weiping is a public intellectual and a professor at the Beijing Film Academy whose work focuses on literary theory, political philosophy and eastern European intellectual and political culture".
Born in 1956 in Jiangsu province, Cui Weiping received her Masters Degree in Chinese Literature from Nanjing University in 1984 and has since then been teaching at Beijing Film Academy. She became a professor in 1999. Cui Weiping has close to 250,000 followers on Sina Weibo.
Based in Beijing she is also a freelance writer, translator, movie critic, and political essayist.  Her books include Prior to Justice (2005), The Narratives of our Time (2008), Thoughts and Nostalgia (2010), and Attractive Lies (2012).  She has also translated Václav Havel’s Toward a Civil Society and Collective Works, both of which have been published underground in China.
Again according to China Story, "in the mid-1990s, Cui began translating Václav Havel’s The Power of the Powerless (Moc bezmocných) and other essays, circulating them privately among friends and colleagues. They’re now available online, as well as in a print edition published in Taiwan, but they have not been printed in an officially-approved edition on the mainland. She has also translated Ivan Klima’s essay collection The Spirit of Prague 布拉格的精神(1998)".

I have been reading one of her books called Thoughts and Nostalgia in Chinese and find it very interesting. It was published in 2010 by Beihang University Press. In this book she collected articles on current affairs, combined with review of Western philosophy. I have picked up some excerpts to share with you. 

Thoughts and Nostalgia
《思想与乡愁》
Cultural Modernism like a maze
迷宫般的文化现代性

There are many forms that people look for as their "spiritual home" - religion, traditional culture, all kinds of Qigong, etc. They always hope to find a spiritual haven that could make them happy ever after. They hope to submit themselves once and for all, so that they will never need to bother, especially tolerate conflicts from everyday's different spiritual values and they don't need to answer all sorts of new questions that come up all the time. The deceased writer Wang Xiaobo commented on this in the end of the 20th century. He is very suspicious of the notion that "knowing how to recite religious rituals means you have a spiritual home". Or rather perhaps the concept of "spiritual home" is quite inappropriate. Spiritual activity is a kind of pursuit, inquiry. It is a journey to the unknown. It is to create order from chaos, and it is to shape form from mud, rather than rush to a place to settle. Circling a piece of land as their own and drawing a place as a prison is pre-modern. 
人们为自己寻找的“精神家园”还有许多--宗教,传统文化,各种气功,等等。总是希望能找到某个一劳永逸的精神乐土,能够一次性地将自己交付出去,永远也不要再烦神,尤其是不必忍受每天不同的精神价值之间的冲撞,不必面对和回答各种新出现的问题。已故作家王小波在20世纪末就已做过评论,他十分怀疑“会背宗谱就算有了精神家园”。而也许“精神家园”这个提法本身就不恰当。精神活动是一种追寻,追索,是向着未知世界的出发,是将混沌的变为有秩序的,将混乱的变为有形式的,而不是急于找到一个安身之地。划地为己,画地为牢,那是前现代的做法。

Compared to other Chinese writers, Wang Xiaobo is a rare and conscious modernist. He borrowed the expression from Hans Christian Andersen's The Thorny Road of Honour and described his own proposal: "the humanistic undertaking is like a road of thorn on fire, and smart and enduring people walk on fire". Walking on fire means people rather endure the pain and torment of not having a "home" than selling themselves short or settling themselves carelessly on any kind of haven or utopia. It is not that he is not eroded by void. It is not that he does not feel the hollowness and dullness of the ridiculous modern life. But he rather likes to stay silent. He endures. He is able to endure. 
比起其他许多中国作家,王小波是一个少有的,自觉的现代主义者。他运用安徒生在安徒生《光荣的荆棘路》中的表达,来形容自己的方案:“人文事业就是一片着火的荆棘,智者仁人就在火里走着”。在火里走着意味着宁愿忍受没有“家园”的痛苦和煎熬,也不轻易给自己找一个归宿,一个温柔乡或乌托邦。他不是没有感受到虚无的侵蚀,不是没有感到魑魅的现代生活特有的空虚乏味,但是他宁愿采取一声不吭的方式,他熬者,他能熬。

We need a lower version of humanistic value
需要一个低版本的人性观

I call the leading principal of the humanistic value in our society a "higher version" of humanistic value. It is "high" because it has a relatively higher level of evaluation or estimate of humanistic values. Sometimes it is even so high that it lacks necessary consciousness of the defect or limits of human beings. 
我将在我们环境中发生主导作用的人性,称作一个“高版本”的人性论。所谓“高”,就是对于人性拥有一个比较高的评价和估计,有的时候甚至过高,而对于人性中所具备的缺陷,沉沦等各种有限性,缺少必要的自觉意识。

In the contrast divide between different classes, the working class is considered the most noble and exemplary - they are selfless, willing to sacrifice, etc. This symbolizes a highness of humanistic values, which is also a benchmark that is set up for everyone to follow.
在阶级对立的区分当中,劳动阶级的人性被当做高尚的,富有榜样性的--大公无私,富有牺牲精神,等等,这些代表着人性的一个高度,这个高度同时也是一个尺度,提倡人人都要以此为表率。

To deify a certain class is a consequence of the influence of a generally deifying society. People in that kind of background tend to look at the society from a perspective of awe. They use this kind of perspective to look at their reality and future, and other people. Not only in terms of skills and capability, but also on moral standards, they enter into a phase of miracle. 
将一个阶级加以神化,与一个社会普遍存在的神化气氛是相互影响的。在那种气氛之下的人们,习惯运用一种人间奇迹的眼光,来看待自己的现实和未来以及看待人们自己。...... 不仅在能力上是如此,而且在道德上也迈进了一个神奇阶段。

People who are beautified and deified most are heroes and leaders. No matter they are heroes from real life that are broadcast from mass media, or heroes in arts, they are all made of special materials. Usually they can tolerate unbearable pain and test unattainable by ordinary people. They also have another common feature: they don't have emotional needs that are also shared by all human beings. Their lives come from half way in the sky, instead of from the ground. In terms of the crazy admiration of leaders, it was performed to an unimaginable degree. All the wonderful features are captured in one person, and this person is considered the "god". One sentence he utters out is worth of "ten thousand of sentences". When he passed away everyone was shocked, because since the red sun always rises from the east, he will never die. 
得到更大规模的美化和神的,还数英雄人物和领袖人物。不管是宣传口径中现实的英雄人物还是文艺作品中的英雄人物角色,他们都是用某种特殊材料做成的,他们能够忍受常人所完全不能忍受的痛苦和考验,还有一个共同特点在于,不具有人类成员通常具有的七情六欲,他们的生命是从半空中开始的,而不是从脚下的地面开始。至于狂热崇拜领袖人物,则达到了难以想象的地步。所有伟大光芒最后都集中在一个人身上,这个人被当作“神”一般,他所说的话”一句顶一万句”。他去世的时候令许多人大吃一惊,觉得既然红太阳每天从东方升起,他就不会撒手人寰。

The so-called "lower version" of humanistic value hopes to adjust the existing understanding of humanistic values. 
所谓“低版本”的人性观,是希望对于已有的人性知识有所调整。

From the surface, it seems to mean widening people's understanding of humanistic values with a more relaxing attitude to accept all kinds of human performances. There is enough estimation and preparation to all kinds of chaos and degradation in human life. This is contrast to the quick critique that we regard things as not possibly be conducted by human beings. We believe that human beings are capable of doing anything, even the most compromising things. They are still human beings and their humanistic nature is probably not that far from yours. In terms of the possibility of shocking others and shocking to yourself, or more bluntly, in terms of the capability to conduct evil deeds, everyone is equal, there is no difference.
从表面上看,它意味着放宽对于人性的认知,以更加放松的态度,接纳人性的种种表现。对于人性中的杂芜混乱,尤其是其种种堕落和沉沦,有着足够的估计和思想准备,而不是动不动拒斥说这种事情不是人干的。要相信人能够做得出任何事情,即使是做出为人所不齿的举动,那个人也仍然是人,他的人性或许离你并不十分遥远。在同样能够做出令人震惊也令自己震惊的事情方面,或者干脆说--在同样能够作恶方面,人与人一概平等,不分高低。

However, this does not mean that we give up moral requirements on people. To the contrary, this kind of "lower version" of humanistic values is to further constrain and regulate human nature. It is to highlight -- no matter to master or transcend human nature, we need to first have a proper understanding of human nature. We need to have a good recognition of the dark sides in human nature, in stead of singing a high tune from unrealistic standpoint, or just indirectly address the issues but not confront them. The so-called "low" means that we have lower expectation and could see more human behaviour. We have enough awareness of the dark sides of human nature, therefore we will be fully awake, alert and suspicious.
然而这样说,并不等于放弃对于人的道德要求,恰恰相反,这个“低版本”的人性观,正是为了对于人性做进一步的约束和规训,是强调--不管是驾驭还是化育人性,都首先需要对于人性有正当的了解,对于人性中的阴暗面有所正视,而不是站在坡上唱高调,或者仅仅是旁敲侧击,而不做正面的直击和追击。所谓“低”即意味着,一旦放低了看人性,望见了人性的种种表现时,对于人性中那些幽暗面,便应该有这足够的意识,从而引起足够的惊醒,警惕和防范。

......
Today, "taking human as the foundation" is a notion of rich significance. It clearly outlines a new historical phase of our nation. It means that same as other nations in the world, we have entered into a modern society, or a secular society. This is a world of the people, a world based on the benchmark of human beings, instead of on God. It is no longer a world centred on the will of the God. This is an incredible step.
在今天,“以人为本”是一个非常富有意义的提法。它清楚明白地划分出我们民族一个新的历史时期,表这着我们民族与世界上其他许多民族一样,迈入一个现代社会也是世俗社会。在这里是一个人的世界,是以人为尺度的世界,而不是以神为中心,围绕着神的意志转动的世界。这一步非同小可。

However, pointing our gaze on human beings themselves, in the world of the people, we need to further ask the question: "what is the people". If we say people are complicated, multi-faceted and multi-layered there are different shifts and shades among different channels from low-tune to high-tune, then what kind of people should we be based on? What kind of people should be the benchmark? After taking over the position of god or godly powers, do human beings really have enough awareness and consciousness of their own defects, limits and degradation? We don't need to overwhelm the notion of human nature based on the principal of "the people". Of course, this question can only be asked after the notion of "based on the people". Contemporary experts and scholars need to shoulder some responsibility. Maybe we could also ask, how come "human nature" became an important notion?
然而,再将目光投向人身,人的世界之后,需要进一步追问到底“人是什么”如果说人是复杂的,多侧面多层次的,人性中拥有从低音到高音的各个不同频道及其相互转化,那么,到底以什么样的人为本?以什么样的人作为尺度?在取代了神或者神性力量的位置之后,人自己是否对于自身的缺陷,沉溺和堕落,有足够的自觉和惊醒?而不是什么都以“人性”的名义,弄得人性过于泛滥。当然,这样的问题只是在确立“以人为本”之后才能够提出的,需要我们当代专家学者对此负起责任。不妨稍微想想,“人性”怎么会成为一种名义?

Postscript: Thinking is processing one's darkness
后记:思想即处理自身黑暗

The path of my work has always demonstrated that thinking is actually processing one's darkness and blind spot: thinking is self-education. We always open up our mindset bits by bits. In terms of academic pursuit, it is after thought, based on the foundation of thinking. Thinking is the plough, academia is the field. 
我的工作道路始终都在说明,思想其实就是处理自身黑暗,处理自身的盲点:思想就是自我教育。我们始终是在一点一滴地打开自己的思路。而学术,是后来的事情,是在思想的基础之上。思想是犁,学术是视野。

How does thinking process one's darkness? It means, not only do you need to understand this world, but you also need to feel yourself. You need to capture your fleeting feelings, sometimes it is continuous, but it is also a silent yet stubborn feeling. Due to all kinds of pragmatic concerns, people often choose not to respond to their reactions. To achieve a certain goal, it is even better to bury oneself and never voice their heart's opinions.
思想如何处理自身黑暗呢?也就是说,你不仅要理解这个世界,同时还要感觉自身,要能够抓住你自己那稍纵即逝的感觉,有时候是持续的,但却是默不出声的那种固执的感受。处于种种现实利害的考虑,人们对自己身上涌现出来的东西,那些对于事情最基本的反应,往往采取一种无动于衷的态度。为了能够达到某些具体目的,甚至最好将自己就地埋葬,永远也不让自己的内心发出声响来。

Actually I started from observing myself. When people try to acquire some real and tangible knowledge on this world, I try to acquire probably the most unrealistic knowledge -- the knowledge on one self, meanwhile on human nature and humanistic nature. In my article I write about Han Han's shift of personal perfection to civil humanism, and actually this is my own path, at least it is the case in this volume. 
实际上我是从观察自己开始的。当别人拥有关于这个世界种种实际的知识时,我却试图掌握一门最不切实际的知识--关于我自身的知识,同时也是关于人性,人本身的知识。我写文章说韩寒从私人的完美走向公民人文主义,其实这正是我自己的道路,起码这本集子里的情况仍然是这样。

From observing one self, from listening to the timid voice inside us (including consciousness), we could listen to this world, including the oppressed and excluded voices and the obscure and blurry fields. To me, voicing in the public sphere is not just a cry of integrity. To the contrary, I avoid loud cry. I hope to find some reasons, and hope to find a perspective that is not articulated yet. I hope to find a dimension that is covered up -- why are things (feelings) this way? What are the reasons behind them? Using the terminology of public sphere, we call it widening the public platform. For me this is still called "imagination", to upgrade the things that lack a shape to a clear feature. 
从观察自身出发,从谛听自己身上那些隐隐约约的声音开始(包括良知),继而才来倾听这个世界上那些被压抑和被驱逐的声音,那些隐隐约约或者模模糊糊的领域。对我来说,公共领域中的发言,远远不仅仅是一个道义呐喊,甚至相反,我避免呐喊。我希望能够找出理由,希望找出哪个没有被人表述过的角度,希望找到某个至今被掩盖的维度--为什么事情(感觉)是这样,背后的道理是什么。用公共领域的术语来说,叫做扩大公共平台。对我来说,这仍然叫做“想象力”,即将缺乏形状的东西,提升为形象。