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
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
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)
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)
Monday, April 20, 2015
to add to our list of liberalsOne was Liu Yu, a thirty-eight-year-old political scientist and blogger who has written a best seller explaining how American democracy works.
One was Liu Yu, a thirty-eight-year-old political scientist and blogger who has written a best seller explaining how American democracy works.
Tuesday, April 14, 2015
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.
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