China News Agency, Beijing, June 8th: Dialogue across time and space, is the "encounter" between Aristotle and Lao Tzu a coincidence?
——Interview with Slovak sinologist Montenegro
Author Chai Jingbo
In today’s world, mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations is inseparable from ideological consensus. Comparing traditional Chinese philosophical thought with Western philosophical thought, Slovak sinologist Montenegro believes that Aristotle in the West and Laozi in the East were almost born in the same era, and both exist. connection across time and space.
The Eastern and Western civilizations have gone through a long process from "encounter" to "integration". Traditional Chinese philosophical thought has greatly helped and enlightened the mutual learning of civilizations, and to a certain extent can bring progress and thinking to the Western world.
Recently, Ms. Montenegro accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency "East and West Questions" and made an interpretation.
The following is a summary of the interview transcript:
China News Service: In the more than 50 years that you have been associated with China, why has traditional Chinese culture caught your attention? Why have you been committed to promoting Chinese classical philosophical thought and traditional Chinese culture?
Montenegro:
I was born into a traditional Slovak Catholic family and was taught to believe in God and obey the Ten Commandments.
As I grew up, I discovered that this belief was not the truth of human life.
People can see the world in many ways, and life cannot be defined as a space created by God.
So much so that I began to think about how to view the distinction between "good and bad" and "right and wrong" between countries and people.
Later I studied Chinese and Chinese classical philosophy at Charles University in Prague, but at that time I could not study in China.
I studied Tao Te Ching and Xun Zi in the library, and found that Chinese philosophers observed the real laws of the earth, nature and human society more realistically than the West.
The belief in "monotheism" in Western philosophy is contrary to and divorced from reality.
I think the western world needs to accept and learn the wisdom of Chinese philosophy, make up for the destruction of the earth due to various human actions, and establish a real relationship of cooperation and solidarity between people.
He Feishu calligraphy work of Tao Te Ching
China News Agency reporter: Lao Tzu and Aristotle were born in almost the same era. For example, on the concept of "principal", the two philosophers coincidentally, what enlightenment does this historic "encounter" have on modern exchanges between China and the West?
Montenegro:
Lao Tzu and Aristotle were born in the same era, and it is no coincidence that they have many similarities in moral and political viewpoints in their thinking on "people".
First of all, this stems from the biological fact that all humans in the world then and now are descendants of "Homo Sapiens" (Homo sapiens, the scientific name for human beings in archaeology).
According to the theory of human origin in Africa, after experiencing the natural conditions in different regions, modern human races can be summarized as whites (Caucasians), blacks (Negros), yellows (Mongolians) and so on.
Therefore, in terms of psychological cognition and human behavior, different races have great commonalities in the anthropological perspective.
The difference between the two is that Lao Tzu was born in China at the beginning of the 5th century BC. He perceives the process of human life through natural changes, that is, life on earth is in a process from birth to death and cannot be avoided, so there is no supernatural god to create. life.
For Lao Tzu, "Tao" itself created "Virtue".
He believes that if the laws of nature are ignored and rejected because of the worship of gods, they will be threatened by nature.
Western philosophy is based on "metaphysics".
In ancient Greece, Aristotle's teacher Plato discovered the individual world of thought, that is, human beings are the subjects in the world.
With the help of logical thinking, Aristotle created his thought within this worldview, which later developed into a religious and theological framework, which became the mainstream belief in the Western world and thereby Christianized the whole world.
Acropolis.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Sheng Jiapeng
The idea of Eastern philosophy is the unity of yin and yang, and the harmonious coexistence with nature, while the West prefers to promote the "struggle of opposites", that is, to eliminate the other side as an opponent.
It turns out that this difference in ideological roots has a negative impact on East-West communication, and even exists in the daily life of modern Westerners.
Therefore, I think this is also a very important reason why the West needs the inspiration of Chinese philosophy.
Laojun Mountain in Henan.
Photo by Wang Zhongju issued by China News Agency
China News Service reporter: You once commented that Tao Te Ching is a textbook for modern human beings, so what do you understand by "Tao"? How did this classic work become one of the most translated Chinese classics by international sinologists?
Montenegro:
Now, like the times when Aristotle and Lao Tzu lived, it is more important that human beings on earth need the principle of "mutual coexistence".
Humans are still unable to determine what is the most accurate life law?
Since human beings are evolved, they are obliged to accept the natural laws of the earth instead of rigidly believing in the myth of "God" created by the West.
"Tao" refers to believing in the natural process of life, which I think is more sensible.
The Tao Te Ching expresses the wisdom of life more accurately than the Bible, which is why this classic Chinese philosophy book can be translated and widely circulated in the West.
Humans need to understand the real state of the earth and think about where to compromise and where to act in the laws of nature.
Life is not just simply living, or satisfying food and clothing, and greed for pleasure, we should act on the "warning" of nature.
China News Service reporter: Your translation of Tao Te Ching will be published in 2021, and it has attracted a lot of attention in Slovakia. Why is Chinese philosophical thought so popular in the West?
Montenegro:
In order to study and translate the Tao Te Ching in detail, in 1990 I conducted an in-depth study of the manuscript of the Chinese philosopher Wang Bi with the Czech philosopher Egon Bondy.
We are all aware of the misguided notion in the history of Western philosophy of believing in the need for one "opposition" to fight another "opposition" and trying to eliminate every opposing "opposition" in life.
This concept has caused great damage to the world, especially Western politicians use it as an ideological tool and apply it to all social practices in reality.
We found the thinking in the Tao Te Ching fascinating and realized that classical Chinese philosophical thought gave appropriate answers to Western philosophical questions.
At that time we published three translations of the Tao Te Ching, which were well received in Slovakia.
After Egon Bundy's death, in 2007 I saw Tao Te Ching Annotation (He Shang Gong) in China. I thought this version would be more helpful for modern readers. It is characterized by a concise title and annotations to the whole chapter.
In 2020, I will complete the translation, and the 3,000 bilingual books published in 2022 will be sold out.
Slovak readers are so interested in Tao Te Ching that I have been invited to interview Slovakia's most popular newspapers and TV shows.
Slovaks, like Western people, still adhere to the Western worldview and Christian beliefs, but now many people are beginning to question the rationality of those concepts.
For the rules of human life, they may have found a more accurate and true explanation in Tao Te Ching than in Western philosophy.
The cover of the Montenegrin translation of Tao Te Ching
China News Service reporter: How do you evaluate and view traditional Chinese philosophical thought? What enlightenment does Chinese classical philosophical thought bring to Western modern philosophical thought?
Montenegro:
After breaking away from scholasticism in the Middle Ages, the enlightenment period (17th and 18th centuries) of Western classical philosophical thought was inspired by Chinese philosophy, which was then spread to Europe by Jesuit missionaries.
Since then, philosophers headed by Leibniz have studied the Neo-Confucianism of the Song and Ming Dynasties, and started the development process of modern European dialectics of nature.
The "ontology" of Aristotle and Christianity is so deeply rooted that people cannot understand the dialectics of nature and can only discuss the causal relationship between subject and object with linear thinking.
So far, modern European scholars have not given up on the interpretation and research of "struggle", which may become one of the reasons for the great tragedy of human society in the future.
Colonialism, crusades, the idea of "eliminating all contradictions" led to endless religious wars and a way of life with Western characteristics.
Now both quantum physics and Chinese classical philosophy have explained human society, inspiring people to accept the existence of "opposites".
Westerners certainly want to live a better life and gradually understand the wisdom of Chinese philosophy, but it is not easy to free yourself from the constraints of traditional beliefs.
Ancient Greek drama.
Photo by China News Agency reporter Xiong Ran
China News Service: At present, the irrational "anti-China" sentiment in the West is on the rise. Is it because of the conflict between Eastern and Western ideas? Where should we start in the future to strengthen mutual learning between Eastern and Western civilizations?
Montenegro:
The Chinese use hieroglyphs, the Western world uses alphabets.
Until the 20th century, the West was seen as a world leader and other countries seemed inferior.
Since the birth of Western centrism, the Western world led by the United States has been very aggressive, and there are still people who believe that its hegemony cannot be shaken.
At the beginning of the 21st century, China became a great power capable of leading the world economy, which certainly shocked the West.
However, the future of humanity on Earth requires the cooperation of all of humanity, not exploitation and aggression.
The war seems to be far away from us, but the reality is not.
The wisdom of Chinese classical philosophy provides more forward-looking thinking for the world of human civilization. I also think it is necessary to promote the world view of Chinese classical philosophy as much as possible in the world.
There is no good or bad culture, but there is right and wrong.
The development of world civilization is far beyond imagination, and I hope to see the West and the East transform into a brotherly partnership one day.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Montenegro (Marina Čarnogurská), female, born in 1940, is a Slovak sinologist. She has translated and published more than 20 works introducing Chinese history, philosophy and literature, including Tao Te Ching, The Analects of Confucius, and A Dream of Red Mansions.
In 2015, he won the 9th "China Book Special Contribution Award".
Montenegro joined the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), the highest scientific institution in Slovakia, as a senior researcher since 1991 as a sinologist, specializing in Chinese classical philosophy, religion and literature.