(East-West Questions) Exclusive | Yang Wuneng: Why is the fourth climax of Sino-Western cultural exchange bound to come?
China News Service, Chongqing, July 4th. Title: Yang Wuneng: Why is the fourth climax of Sino-Western cultural exchanges coming?
China News Agency reporter Zhong Yi
The picture shows Yang Wuneng.
Photo by China News Agency reporter He Penglei
There are significant differences between Chinese and Western cultures, but the 83-year-old winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award for Chinese Translation Culture and Yang Wuneng, who has been studying the relationship between Chinese and German literature and culture since 1980, recently pointed out that the difference is exchange Prerequisites, not obstacles.
If there is no difference, there will be no need for exchanges and mutual learning between China and the West.
Despite the current interference from multiple factors, the fourth climax of Chinese and Western cultural exchanges is bound to come.
The summary of the interview record is as follows:
Reporter from China News Service: When it comes to cultural exchanges between China and the West, the first thing that people think of is "Western learning spreading to the east" and "Eastern learning spreading to the west". It has vigorous vitality in the academic world and has always been a passionate research object for scholars. What do you think? This cultural phenomenon?
Yang
Wuneng
: It is
clear that the beginning of the school means communication, there must be "coming" and "going"; the "coming" of Chinese and Western cultural exchanges is the well-known "western learning to the east".
In the past 100 years, "Western learning spreading to the east" has been a hot topic in Chinese academic circles.
How important is it?
In my opinion, there would be no modern China without "western learning to the east".
"Study from the West" sent China not only "Mr. Sai" and "Mr. Virtue" (that is, science and democracy), but also Marxism.
The introduction of Marxism is even more precious to China, which was once poor, backward and suffering.
In the popular TV series "The Awakening Age", there is a historical reappearance of "Western Learning to the East".
From the academic perspective, the study of "Western Learning Spreading to the East" is worthy of long-term contributions.
Both history and reality have proved that cultural exchange is by no means a one-way street. There is a coming and going, a coming and going, and a coming and going. You can’t just talk about "coming" but also about "going."
This is also what I want to emphasize. "Come" is already familiar to everyone.
Nowadays, the focus of observation and thinking in Chinese academic circles should be on the word "to".
The term "Eastern Learning and Western Learning" is applied to the phrase "Western Learning to the East" by Rong Wing, the first student studying in the United States in modern Chinese history, more than a hundred years ago. It appears blunt and reluctant, lacks literary talent, beauty and creativity, and has a sense of "Eastern effect" .
More importantly, the proposition of "Eastern Learning and Westward Spreading" is not rigorous and accurate in academic theory.
What is Dong?
China's geographical position is in East Asia, but there are also countries such as Japan and North Korea in East Asia. "East" cannot be equated with China.
It can also provide evidence that the "East" in the traditional European sense is "Oringt" (Latin, Italian Near East), which is the Arab world, so their Orientalism is called "Orientalism" instead of the "Oringt" as we know it. Sinologie" (Sinology, Chinese Studies in Recent Translation).
Therefore, since the 1980s, I have advocated the use of the title of "Western Education" to describe the influence of Chinese civilization on Western countries.
Reporter from China News Service: In the exchanges and mutual learning, what process did the "Western School Broadcasting" go through? What did it bring to the Western world?
Yang Wuneng:
Re-examining history, the history of "Western Learning from Middle School" is much longer than that of "Western Learning from East", and its influence is more far-reaching. Overall, it has experienced three "climaxes."
The first climax was before and after the European Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a "China fever" in Germany, France and other countries.
It is manifested as the Chinese style "Chinoiserie" in Western countries, and the upper class are vying to use Chinese or Chinese-style fashionable objects, such as porcelain, silk, folding fans, daily utensils, etc., and even imitating Chinese life customs and keen on translation Publishing works on China and Chinese classics; actively researching Chinese ideology, culture, academics, and social reality; making up "Chinese literature" that satirizes reality under the name of Chinese people, and so on.
In this "Western Broadcasting of Middle Schools", the "protagonist" is Confucianism and Mencius Confucianism. The media are mainly Jesuit missionaries who came to China at the end of the 16th century, Italians Ricci and Min Mingwo, and French Jin Ge and Du Harder and German Tom Ruowang are among the best.
The background of this "China fever" can be summarized as "people go to higher places and water flows to lower places" in cultural exchanges.
At that time, China was superior to Europe, where wars were frequent, in terms of politics, society, and spiritual thinking.
At the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century, the "Western Broadcasting of Middle Schools" ushered in the second climax. European countries, including Germany, once popularized the "Tao" style.
This is because there was a spiritual crisis in Europe before and after the First World War, and people once again had an urgent need to seek solutions from the wisdom of Eastern China.
So this time it was mainly Lao Zhuang Taoism, and the main medium was Wei Lixian, a German Sinology master.
The third climax occurred after 1949.
Take Germany as an example, first between the People’s Republic of China and the German Democratic Republic (German abbreviation DDR), then between the Federal Republic of Germany (German abbreviation BRD) that established diplomatic relations with China in 1972, and after the reunification of the West and the East in 1990 Between Germany, Sino-Western cultural exchanges have set off an unprecedented climax.
In particular, New China has successively established diplomatic relations with East Germany (DDR) and West Germany (BRD). The cultural exchanges between the two sides have not only opened windows, but also laid flat and wide roads. It is no longer the task of completing the exchange. Accidental and spontaneous individuals have become government departments and related groups and institutions of both sides.
Including China's culture, education, foreign affairs and other departments, there are corresponding institutions and organizations in Germany, and various foundations and non-governmental organizations are responsible for organizing and carrying out cultural exchanges.
With the blessings at the national level, the third climax of Sino-Western cultural exchanges was vigorous and vigorous.
China News Agency reporter: You have traveled to China and Europe as a cross-cultural scholar, and you have witnessed the "embarrassment" caused by cultural differences. Do you think that difference is an obstacle?
Yang Wuneng: It is
undeniable that there are differences between Chinese and Western cultural exchanges.
In 1956, I was admitted to the Southwest Russian College of Russian Language and Literature. With the breakdown of Sino-Soviet relations in 1957, people who learned Russian faced the dilemma of "more monks and less porridge". I had to change schools and left my hometown to go east to Kuimen and enter Nanjing University to study in Germany. Language and Literature.
In 1978, I was admitted to the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where I studied German literature under the tutelage of Professor Feng Zhi, focusing on Goethe.
The two "climaxes" of Chinese and Western cultural exchanges in history are only relative terms.
This is closely related to the material foundation, people's spiritual world and consciousness awakening under the development of the times.
At that time, a very small number of intellectual elites did something spontaneously and sporadically. The significance of pioneering the atmosphere should not be underestimated, but the effect and influence are limited after all.
Take the "majestic river" of cultural exchanges after the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany in 1972 as an example. The exchanges brought about by the first two "climaxes" are at best a "trickle".
Why dare to define it this way?
I can talk about anecdotes from Chinese and Western academic circles.
In 1980, appointed by Professor Feng Zhi, I served as a translator and escort for a delegation of writers from the Federal Republic of Germany in China.
The cultural difference stems from China’s official thinking: the head of the delegation and a young man from the Leibniz Institute in Germany who organized the visit to China is also the tour guide and leader of the delegation. When taking a photo, he was arranged to stand at the then deputy of the Central Propaganda Department. Minister Zhou Yang left his hand, while Enzensberger, the real big-name poet, was wronged to the side of the second row.
The subsequent journey was awkward. The great poet and his friends were unhappy, and there was no Puenktlichkeit (punctuality) and Disziplin (discipline) that the Germans were so proud of. As a result, China had to discuss countermeasures every night when summing up.
Cultural differences exist naturally, but where there is no difference, where is the need for communication and mutual learning?
Difference is a prerequisite for communication, not an obstacle.
In 1982, as a result of publishing a series of papers on the relationship between Goethe and China, I was invited to Heidelberg University to attend the "Goethe and China·China and Goethe" international academic seminar.
The seminar was initiated and presided over by Prof. G. Debon, the head of the Department of Sinology at Heidelberg University. The co-sponsor was Adrian Hsia, a Chinese-German professor at McGill University in Canada who had contributed to Sino-German cultural exchanges. .
The picture shows attending the "Goethe and China·China and Goethe" international academic seminar, taking a group photo in front of the Golden Rose Hotel where they are staying.
Professor Feng Zhi and Ye Fengzhi of Nanjing University are in the front row, Yu Kuangfu of Shanghai International Studies University is on the left, and the senior high school Fu of the Academy of Social Sciences and Fan Dacan of Peking University are in the back row.
Photo courtesy of me
Before the seminar closed, the participating scholars reached a consensus: the meeting greatly promoted Sino-German cultural exchanges, and the next one will be held at Nanjing University in two years.
At that time, Nanjing University was unable to undertake the meeting for various reasons.
At that time, I was the deputy dean of Sichuan International Studies University (now Sichuan International Studies University) and I "picked up a leak" and hosted the "Schiller and China·China and Schiller" international academic seminar in Chongqing in April 1985.
The picture shows a group photo of Chongqing "Schiller and China·China and Schiller" International Academic Seminar.
Photo courtesy of me
At that time, it was the first large-scale international academic conference hosted by the foreign language community in China.
Sichuan International Studies University went through layers of reports, applications, and approvals, and finally reported to Beijing. After receiving the approval, I also wrote it to the then German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who was very concerned about cultural exchanges between Germany and China after the visit to China. A letter.
Surprisingly, Chancellor Kohl attached great importance to the seminar and asked relevant German authorities to strongly support the seminar, adding a rich touch to the history of Sino-German cultural exchanges.
From the academic perspective, the seminars held in Heidelberg and Chongqing proved the momentum and influence of the third climax of cultural exchanges between China and the West.
The reason is that social progress is inseparable, and it is not at the same level of politics, economy, and technology as it used to be.
As the country becomes stronger, international cultural exchanges have entered a high-speed era with broad prospects.
China News Agency reporter: What do you think is the next step for Sino-Western cultural exchanges?
Yang Wuneng:
Despite the differences and embarrassment, the tide of cultural exchanges is still rolling forward.
The separation caused by cultural differences will be overcome and eliminated as communication increases and understanding deepens.
After all, the difference between cultures is not the "protagonist". The commonality of culture and the empathy of human beings are the fundamental principles of mutual learning between China and the West.
In the torrent of the times, the general and eternal common ground is: people not only pursue material satisfaction, but also value spiritual abundance; they not only value safety and dignity, but also yearn for self-development and self-realization, and they all have a higher level of beauty. Expectation of life.
The aforementioned "identity" determines that humans can understand and tolerate each other, and it is also a prerequisite for the establishment of a community with a shared future for mankind.
In contrast, the difference is small, partial, and temporary.
The doors of Chinese and Western cultural exchanges will become wider and wider, and the roads will become wider and wider.
Although in recent years, the cultural exchanges between China and the West have been interfered by political differences and ideological influences, resulting in a little "suspect" and slightly poor communication, it is undeniable that with the "community of human destiny" advocated by General Secretary Xi Jinping. With continued promotion, the fourth climax of Chinese and Western cultural exchanges will definitely come, and it will be larger, higher, and deeper than the third.
(Finish)
Yang Wuneng, nickname "Bashu Yiweng", German literary translator, former vice president of Sichuan International Studies University, professor at the School of Foreign Languages and Liberal Arts of Sichuan University, Lifetime Achievement Award for Chinese Translation Culture, German National Merit Medal, Humboldt Academic Award and World Goethe Research Winner of the highest award in the field "Goethe Gold Medal".
Yang Wuneng has been engaged in the translation of German literature for more than 60 years. He has translated popular works such as "Faust", "The Complete Works of Grimm's Fairy Tales", and "The Troubles of Young Werther".
He began to study the relationship between Chinese and German literature and culture in 1980, and published monographs "Goethe and China" and Goethe in China.
He is currently the director of the Chongqing International Exchange Research Center, the honorary curator of Chongqing Library, the honorary director of the Goethe Institute of Sichuan International Studies University, and the honorary professor of Southwest Jiaotong University.