[Explanation] The Supreme Court of the United States was built in 1935 and was designed by American architect Cass Gilbert.
The main entrance of this building on First Street in Washington, D.C., faces west, across the street from the Capitol.
However, some architectural design details and concepts of this building are far less well-known than the Supreme Court as a symbol of American judicial power.
[Explanation] Even the profile of the Supreme Court’s official website states: “Visitors often fail to notice the spire and pillars on the east side of the Supreme Court Building. The statues here are carved by Hermon McNeill, and the main statue is The great legislative sages, Moses, Confucius, and Solon, have portrait reliefs on both sides symbolizing law enforcement, benevolence, settlement of national disputes, maritime affairs and other Supreme Court functions."
[Explanation] Why is the statue of Confucius carved on the lintel of the Supreme Court of the United States?
China News Agency "Question about East and West" recently interviewed American Sinologist and Vassar College philosophy professor Bryan W. Van Norden, exploring the influence of Chinese philosophy on the United States and the impact it has brought to today’s Sino-US relations. Inspired.
[Concurrent] Wan Baian, American Sinologist and Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College, USA
The U.S. Supreme Court building has two lintels, one on the west side and one on the east side.
The statue on the west lintel represents an abstract concept.
The main entrance of the United States Supreme Court Building is on the west side.
Looking up, the statue in the center of the west lintel is the goddess of justice, and there are some symbolic figures around her.
People don't often see the east lintel of the Supreme Court building because it is not the main entrance.
If you are only here to visit the Supreme Court building, on a business trip or for tourism, usually you will only see the west lintel, but the east lintel is very interesting.
From left to right, the central group of statues are Confucius, Moses, and Solon, the ancient Greek legislative sage.
The designer of this group of statues said that these three figures represent the Eastern origin of American civilization.
The symbol of the origin of the East appears on the lintel on the east side, which is actually very interesting.
[Explanation] Among the few Chinese introductions about this architectural detail, some people think that Confucius is a symbol of morality, and some people think that he is the embodiment of education here.
But in fact, the original intention of the statue author McNeil was to use it as a symbol of Eastern civilization.
Hermon Atkins MacNeil (Hermon Atkins MacNeil) is a famous American sculptor in the early 20th century. He designed the 25-cent coins that circulated from 1916 to 1930.
The group of statues on the east lintel of the Supreme Court can be described as the most important work of his life.
In this group of statues, Moses, a symbol of Hebrew civilization, is in the center, holding a white stone book symbolizing the Ten Commandments in each hand.
Confucius, who represents Eastern civilization, is on the left, and Solon, an ancient Greek politician and legislative pioneer, is on the right.
[Concurrent] Wan Baian, American Sinologist and Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College, USA
At the beginning of the founding of the United States, the foundations of modern democracy and modern science were being laid, and Confucius was regarded as the secular saint of the Western Enlightenment.
The founding fathers of the United States were deeply influenced by the European Enlightenment.
Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, Thomas Paine, John Adams and others all have a keen interest and positive comments on Confucius and his thoughts.
Although the Supreme Court building was completed quite late, its design concept still reflects the great influence of Confucius on the founding fathers of the United States.
[Explanation] According to historical data provided by the US Supreme Court, McNeill explained his original intention in his letter to the Supreme Court Construction Committee at the time: "Law is an element of civilization, and American law naturally Inherited or derived from previous civilizations. Therefore, the east side door lintel of the Supreme Court building symbolizes the use of basic laws and precepts from the East. Moses, Confucius, and Solon were selected to represent the three great civilizations. It forms the central group of statues in this triangle."
[Concurrent] Wan Baian, American Sinologist and Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College, USA
From a Chinese perspective, it is a bit strange to list Confucius as a legislator.
But the problem is that most Americans, even Americans who adore Confucius, don't know the difference between Legalism and Confucianism.
So when they wanted to pay tribute to Chinese civilization, the only thing they were familiar with was Confucius.
They are not clear about the difference between "ritual" and "law", but they regard Confucius as a model of morality, so they choose him to represent part of the world tradition.
[Explanation] Whether it is Eastern Confucianism or Greek classical wisdom, it undoubtedly represents the cultural vision and eclectic spirit of the founding fathers of the United States at that time.
Wan Bai'an expressed concern that contemporary American society generally ignores the status quo of non-Anglo-European traditional knowledge systems.
[Explanation] He pointed out that the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia (Antonin Scalia) expressed a common misunderstanding of Chinese philosophy by Americans and regarded it as "the mystery on the fortune cookie". motto".
But in real life, Chinese philosophy is a persuasive argument and detailed analysis.
[Concurrent] Wan Baian, American Sinologist and Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College, USA
Americans’ attitudes towards China and Chinese culture are very complicated.
On the one hand, like the founding fathers of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, many intellectuals respect Chinese traditions and love the Chinese people.
But there are also many people who look down on Chinese traditions and disrespect the Chinese people.
In my opinion, there is a misunderstanding of China in the West, that is, Americans do not understand how the Chinese can solve common problems through cooperation.
[Concurrent] Wan Baian, American Sinologist and Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College, USA
Because the United States and China are two superpowers.
Cultural mutual understanding is very important for both the United States and China.
In China, many people know at least a little bit of American culture, but there are still many Americans who are very ignorant of Chinese culture.
In particular, the negative attitudes of American leaders towards China in the past four years have also reduced the number of Americans learning Chinese.
It is very important for the United States to learn more about Chinese culture and Confucianism, because the United States and China are two superpowers and need to understand each other in order to achieve long-term and fruitful development in the future.
[Explanation] Wan Baian has studied Chinese philosophy for more than 30 years and has translated many Chinese philosophy classics such as "Mencius".
He has always advocated that philosophical education should break the western-centered perspective and discard prejudice and misunderstanding.
When a reporter from China News Agency asked which Confucian wisdom could inspire Sino-US relations, Wan Baian replied in Chinese:
[Concurrent] Wan Baian, American Sinologist and Professor of Philosophy at Vassar College, USA
Do unto others, do not impose on others.
Chen Mengtong and Sui Zhiyuan report
Editor in charge: [Fang Jialiang]