Head and Shoulders above the Rest: The Spirit behind European Society

卓爾不群：歐洲精神所構建的社會  

Professor Shieh, Jhy-Wey, Department of German Language and Culture , Soochow (Dong Wu) University Taipei, Taiwan

主講人：謝志偉 /東吳大學德國文化學系教授 

 The Confucian maxim “when your parents are alive, one should not stray far from home”, is the filial path Chinese children must follow. In occidental literature however, there are countless stories that take leaving home and seafaring as heroic themes. In oriental cultures, “obedience” is the cornerstone that gives social stability and structure, while in the west, “revolution” has given impetus to social and technological progress. When democracy and technology were introduced in oriental societies, how did we thus interpret the European spirit of technological and social revolution in the face of our personal standards concerning “obedience”? Soochow(Dong Wu) University professor of German Culture, Shieh, Jhy-Wey, looks into the background of the impetus behind the social structure in Europe through western fairy tales and mythology, in order to allow Taiwan to get a better grasp of democratic development and scientific education here. 

在中國，「父母在，不遠遊」是為人子女必須謹守的孝道；在西方，「離家」與「航海」的主題則是英雄文學中常見的主題。東方的「順從」成為鞏固社會上下結構安定的精神規範；西方的「革命」則為推動其社會與科技進步的精神指標。而當東方社會在引進西方的民主、科技之時，以「順從」為圭臬的人們如何看待促成民主政治、科技發展的歐洲社會之革命精神？東吳大學德國文化學系教授謝志偉教授以其豐富的文學背景，從西方的童話與神話，探討建構歐洲社會發展背後的精神力量，以作為台灣培養民主精神與發展科學教育上的參考。  

Shieh, Jhy-Wey: Today’s topic “Head and Shoulders above the Rest: The Spirit behind European Society” is an immense one indeed. As I am a literature professor, I would like to approach the topic from a literary perspective. 

謝志偉：今天這個題目是『卓爾不群的歐洲精神』，這是一個很大的題目，因為我本身是讀文學的，所以就從文學的立場來看這個問題。  

Anyone who has been to a European or other western civilized country can attest to a certain “keep your distance” mentality, which has seen some exposure in Taiwan in recent years as well. In post offices or banks for example, it is required to keep your cell phones off, as they infringe on the rights of others in the room. Every person is entitled to “personal space” by maintaining a certain distance from others. We all know that without distance, there can be no observation, which means we would be unable to see any thematic part of a given thing. This is very important! Distance and theme are very important aspects of European civilization. 

有去過歐洲或西方文明國家的人可能會發現一種現象，這種現象近幾年在台灣也常見到，那就是對於『保持距離』的注重。比如到銀行或郵局，在排隊等候時，他們通常會要求不使用call機，因為在公共場所使用call機，會侵犯到其他人，每一個主體都需要有自己的空間，因為要跟外在的世界、跟外在的客體保持一定的距離，因為我們知道，沒有距離就沒有辦法觀看，因此也看不到它的議題性，這是一個重要的觀念！距離與主題性在歐洲文明裡是很重要的。

In English you have the word “outstanding”; sometimes I joke and say to be “outstanding”, “you have to stand out”. If you don’t step forward, there is no way you can distinguish yourself from the crowd. This is a key focal point in discussing the differences in personal relationships between the orient and occident. 

『卓爾不群』的英文就是剛剛所說的『outstanding』，我甚至要開玩笑地說---要『outstanding』,『you have to stand out！』因為你如果沒有先站出來，就不可能成為一個『卓爾』，特別是『不群』的人。討論東、西方人跟人之間的關係，這是一個關鍵性的焦點。

Let’s talk about European fairy tales and Chinese tradition. Those familiar with European fairy tales are well aware that in many stories a child is required to leave his or her family. The child must leave his or her mother for an adventure and no matter whether it is successful or not, the importance is placed on the growing process and the necessity of leaving home and becoming independent. Daeumling, Hansel and Gretel are two such stories.

我們可以從『歐洲的童話』及『中國的傳統』來分別論述。熟悉歐洲童話的朋友們都會注意到，在許多童話故事裡，有一個重要的主題就是---一個小孩一定要離家，離開她/他的父母親，出去冒險，不管成功或失敗，重點是在經歷成長的過程裡，必須要離家。例如小拇指的故事、漢斯與葛雷特的故事，都是這種代表性的童話。

Up until the 17^th and 18^th centuries, many pieces of classic European literature had “naval navigation” as a theme. There was an emphasis on growing and maturing and the necessity of leaving home and familiar surroundings. This was because the familiar made one dependent. This is why Europe today had developed differently than we have here and underlies the disparate characteristics between the Chinese people and westerners.

一直到十七、十八世紀所謂的傳統歐洲經典文學裡，如『航海』這個主題，強調的還是一個人要成長、成熟，就必須要離開他所熟悉的環境，因為熟悉的環境可以讓他依賴、讓他獲得溫暖。這意味著今日歐洲跟我們之所以會有所不同，特別養成了中華民族跟西方民族的不同特質。

Another theme in fairy tales has been tensions between parents and their children. The relationship between parents and children is not always very smooth, which frequently results in abandonment. This is a common occurrence in classic European fairly tales.

另外一個主題是說小孩子跟父母親在童話裡的緊張關係。小孩子跟父母親之間的關係不是很合的，而這種『不合』往往透過『棄離』來呈現。這是在歐洲童話故事典型的現象。

In Chinese tradition, there is an emphasis on not venturing far from parents while they are alive as well as protecting the family. That is to say tradition has always been important and anyone who could not protect the family was considered the “black sheep”. In Chinese tradition, you never had to venture out, as long as you maintained and protected the family, there wouldn’t be any problem. It has always been imperative to not be the “black sheep”; that is not doing anything that would cause the family to lose face. In other words, classics like the Confucian Analects that we have been schooled in emphasizes “emulating the past”, while occidental literature emphasizes opening up to the future. 

而在東方的中國傳統中，強調的則是『父母在，不遠遊』與『守成』的觀念，也就是『過去的重要性』，誰無法守成就是敗家子。即便你不能開拓，只要維持、守住這個家，基本上就沒有問題。可是你千萬不能敗家，不能敗家就意味不能出去鬧事丟人，這是「守成」的重點。換句話說，我們所讀的中國如論語等經典，強調的是「今天要向昨天看齊」，而西方強調的是現在要向未來開展。

Occidental Views of China in the 18^th Century

我們先看看西方在十八世紀的時候他們是怎麼看當時的中國。 

A man who played an important role in the development of occidental thought was the Frenchman Herder (1744-1803). Just before the French Revolution, he wrote “A Reflection and Observation on the Philosophy of Human History”, in which he spoke of his views on China. These views could be considered representative of the European zeitgeist toward China at that time. He wrote: “Chinese set filial piety as the cornerstone of moral virtue. This is true for children whether they are still young and at home or grown and out in the world. The concept is one that is accepted without argument and passed on from one generation to the next.” On the surface, how can obedience and going out of your way to please your parents become the distinguishing characteristics of Chinese morality? Herder further pointed out that a person was even subject to this sort of obedience when one became an adult and already out in the world. A court official would not be spared the rod if he did something to the disliking of the emperor. This sort of iron-clad discipline became part of the national psyche. Parents themselves are punished as if they were “bad children”in the workplace; this can be considered something along the lines of “court caning”.

在整個西方歐洲文化思想上扮演著重要角色的賀爾德（Herder, 1744-1803），於法國大革命的前夕寫了一本書《對人類史之哲學面向的沈思與觀察》，裡頭提到有關他對中國人的看法，基本上也代表當時歐洲對中國的看法。他這麼說道：中國人將小孩對父母的孝順設定為所有德性的基礎，不僅小至在家庭裡執行，大到在國家層次裡也照樣遵行無誤，這種毫無商量的觀念如此一代一代下來，表面的「順從」，乃至「曲意承歡」如何能不成為中國人的人格特質？後面還提到，提倡小孩子犯錯被處罰，也擴大到已經當了官的人，犯了錯一樣會被當眾用棍子打，這種孝順的鐵律在這個國度裡無限上綱，到最後連已經是自己都有小孩和事業的成人都還必須忍受原本是專門」用來對付壞小孩的訓斥和處罰。這邊應該指的是「廷杖」。

In the past, Chinese officials were considered “parents, with the emperor considered the patriarch of the national family. This sort of relationship where the emperor was the father and the people the children was not a very natural one, but it was a sort of nepotism that became identified with on the surface in Chinese society, while there was probably still some inner rebelliousness. From an occidental perspective, this sort of result could only produce a boy and not a man. This would be because education based on obedience could only produce those who would pay heed to the whims of superiors in carrying out tasks; it could only produce cunning people at best. The occidental notion of the orient hasn’t changed that drastically in the past two hundred years. Now though instead of “filial piety” and “obedience”, the adjective used is “industrious”.

以前中國的官吏叫父母官，天子等於一國的大家長，這種「父子」（皇帝是父，人民是子）關係的轉移是不自然的，而是透過各種恩威並用的方式，到最後會養成一個表面上認同，內心實際上卻反抗的心態。這個結果從西方人的角度來看，在中國這個國家裡，沒有男人，只有小男孩，因為這種「順從」的教育只造就一群永遠依附著上面長官意思而做事的人，而為了要蓄意承歡，就成了像狐狸一樣狡猾的人。西方對於東方的這個看法，其實兩百年來大致上沒有太大的改變，只不過換了一個形容詞，從『孝順』、『順從』變成『勤勞』。

In the story “The Peacock flies Southeast” for example, the main character, Jiao Chung-ching, and his wife, Liu Lan-chi, are very much in love. But Jiao Chung-ching’s mother looks down upon her daughter-in-law; she thus finds every sort of pretext to get rid of her. Jiao Chung-ching is powerless in front of his mother and agrees to temporarily divorce his wife. When Liu Lan-chi returns home, her older brother immediately forces her to marry another, while Jiao Chung-ching’s mother forces her son to do the same. A couple in love is thus separated and in the end, the two agree to meet one night and commit suicide. From a western perspective, they cannot understand how parents could force their children to remarry nor can they fathom how a husband would be so unable to protect his wife; such a story is considered unbelievable.

譬如『孔雀東南飛』的故事中，男主角焦仲卿跟他太太劉蘭芝感情非常好，但是焦仲卿的母親非常看不起她的媳婦，因此找了各種理由要把這個媳婦給逼走。焦仲卿沒有辦法只好和太太約好暫時先離婚。但這個媳婦才剛回家，他哥哥就硬要把妹妹嫁出去，而焦仲卿的媽媽也硬要他再娶一個。一對恩愛的夫妻就這樣被拆散了。最後故事的結局是他們倆人約好在一個晚上自殺。──從西方人來看，他們無法了解父母親居然可以逼兒子再娶，而做先生的竟然沒辦法保護他的太太，這是不可思議的。

In Japanese there is an expression that goes “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down”. A nail that sticks out in a board renders the whole board useless, so every nail must be in place. This saying underlies the importance of “obedience” in the orient.

在日文裡也有一句話，意思是一排釘子釘在木板上面，突出來那根要先敲下去，因為它會使那塊木板變成不能用，必須每一排都是平平，的這塊木板才可以使用。這裡也是強調「順從」的重要性。

Let’s take another look at some occidental stories. In Greek mythology there were a father and son, Icarus and Daedalus that were exiled on the island Crete by the gods. Daedalus was a well-known craftsman and in order to flee the island he fashioned some wings out of wax. Before taking off, he instructed his son: “don’t fly too low, if you do your feathers will become damp, don’t fly too high either or else the sun will melt your wings. Fly by my side and everything will be alright”. Everything went smoothly at the start. The point I want to make here though is that in occidental stories, when the father says “absolutely not”, the son will inevitably rebel against his father’s wishes. The father is an “authority” figure, while the son represents “revolution”. Icarus flew higher and higher, ignoring his father’s admonitions and the end is of course tragic. But tragedy has its positive sides in western literature. One such example would be striving to find life’s goals in otherwise insignificant and absurd existence”. This sort of spirit found its way into the thinking of some modern day existential philosophers such as Soren Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche.

這兩個故事看完之後，我們再回過頭來看西方的故事。在希臘神話中有一對父子，兒子叫做Icarus，父親是Daedalus，父子倆被天父宙斯王關在克里特島上， Daedalus本身是很有名的工匠，為了離開克里特島。他就用蠟做了兩套翅膀準備逃走，行前他吩咐他兒子：『你不可飛太低，因為你飛太低的話羽毛就會濕掉，可是也不能飛太高，否則太陽會把翅膀的蠟融化掉，跟著爸爸飛，就不會有問題』。剛開始很順利。可是各位請注意，在西方的故事裡，當父親說「絕對不可以怎麼樣」，作兒子的就一定會去反抗父親的意思，父親代表的是權威，兒子的反抗則代表革命。Icarus越飛越高興，也忘了父親的叮嚀，越飛越高，當然結果就是悲劇。但是悲劇在西方文學裡仍然扮演著某種正面的角色，譬如「能夠從無意義的生存、荒謬中看到生命的指標」，這種精神一直延續到近代的哲學家齊克果、尼采。

There was a German playwright named Bertolt Brecht who emerged after World War II. He wrote a short story as well. In the story, a man was living in an area controlled by a tyrannic regime. One day a man came to his house with a piece of paper issued by the regime and proclaimed, “the government gave me this piece of paper and now you have to serve me”. The result being that the man fed and housed this guest that was forced upon him for seven years. The guest was taken care of so well that he died in the end, becoming too weak from over sustenance. The host did not say anything in the end, but merely bound his body in a straw mat and threw him in a ditch, after which he uttered a simple “no”. The gist of the story is that while a man may have to submit to forces he has no power over, in the end he will find some way to overthrow the forces of tyranny. The man may have seemed to be “obedient” in the oriental sense, but the final purpose was an occidental “rebelliousness”.

二次大戰期間還是之後有一個德國的劇作家叫做Bertolt Brecht，這個人寫了一篇短篇小說。故事背景是一個被某個暴力政權控制的地方，有一天，有一個老百姓的家裡來了一個人，這個人拿了政府的證明跟他說：『這是政權給我的證明，你要不要服侍我？』結果，這個百姓就為這個人倒茶送水煮飯，服侍了他七年。七年後，這個當權者因為被服侍得太好了，營養過剩，體衰而死，結果這個服侍了他七年從來不說話的人就拿了一張草蓆把他身體捆一捆，丟到外面的水溝裡去，並且說了一句話，這句話用英文來說就是『NO』！從這裡可以看出來，人在屋簷下，不得不低頭的時候，你千萬不可忘掉，最後要用另外的方法推翻暴力統治。這個百姓用的手段看起來像是東方的「順」，可是目的卻是西方的「犯」。

Before I was 28 years old, I too was the sort of obedient child described above, acquiescing to everyone considered an authority, including my parents. I want to emphasize that filial piety toward parents is not the problem. The problem is with Taiwanese education. We have been taught to treat everyone that is above us in school and the workplace like our own parents, and not to rebel against them. Any criticism I offered against the government or political parties before I was 28 had me marked as a rebel. After I went to Germany, I found their situation to be quite the opposite of ours. It was not only politicians there that were always mutually criticizing each other; it started in the elementary schools as well. Teachers and students began debate early on, which was a big revelation for me. The ages of Rationalism and Romanticism in Europe contributed to form a “natural equilibrium” and not one of terror. This is why Europe has developed into what it is today----their reason has contributed to their technological development, while their romanticism acts as a critical balance to their rationality.

個人在28歲以前，就是前面所談的那個順從的小孩，凡事以上級、包括父母親的意思為依歸。在此，我必須強調的是對父母親孝順不是問題。問題是在台灣的教育裡，所有其他比我們高一級的，不管在職場或學校裡，我們都被教育成他們就像是我們的父母親，是不能反抗的。28歲前的我，對台灣所有批評當時政府、政黨的，都被我視為是叛徒。我到德國去之後才發現，他們的情形剛好相反，不只是政治人物在互相批鬥，從小學開始就是這樣子，小學生跟老師辯來辯去，有來有往，對我來說這是一個很大的衝擊。歐洲的理性主義和浪漫主義之間的激盪，最後形成的不是『恐怖平衡』而是『自然平衡』。這也讓今天的歐洲在大體來說有了如是發展──他們的理性能夠使他們的科技發達，而他們的感性也使他們能具有對理性的批判。

The end

全文完  

edited by Tina Lee/Translated by Steven Marsh

編輯李美儀/ 英文翻譯馬強