The sage mourning for the qilin

    《春秋》三传和《史记》等多部典籍都记载了“西狩获麟”的故事：鲁哀公十四年春，叔孙氏家臣钥商捕获一头怪兽，因视之为不祥之兆而将其遗弃。孔子获悉后亲自前往观看并确定它其实是麒麟仁兽，继而流泪感慨：“‘吾道穷矣!’喟然叹曰:‘莫知我夫!’子贡曰:‘何为莫知子?’子曰:‘不怨天，不尤人，下学而上达，知我者其天乎!’，曰：‘吾道穷矣！’” 孔子借哀麟亦哀叹圣人先贤之道以及自己以“仁爱”为主体的政治主张，无法在当时的乱世得以实现。《圣殇——哀麟》这幅油画描绘的正是孔子认出麒麟后，仰天悲悯、悲痛流泪的情景。尽管当时孔子所主张的仁道无法践行，但孔子思想中“和而不同”、仁者爱人、以己度人、以德为邻、“协和万邦”等理念，却成为当下解决经济全球化和新自由主义带来的问题和弊端所亟需的经验智慧。

  Some history books, like the three Commentaries of the Spring and Autumn Annals and The Records of the Grand Historian, record the story of a qilin, a legendary animal, caught in a hunting in the west of the country. In the 14th year of Duke Ai of Lu (481 BC), a minister in the Shusun family called Yaoshang caught a strange animal. Suspecting that it was a bad omen, he abandoned it. When Confucius learned of this, he went to the scene and recognized it as a qilin. With tears in his eyes, he sighed: “My way is coming to an end! No one understands me!” Zigong said: “Why do you suppose that no one understands you?” The Master said: “I bear no grudge against Heaven; I do not blame others. I study affairs close at hand and try to become adept in higher matters. Perhaps it is Heaven that understands me!” Through mourning for the qilin, Confucius expressed his disappointment that the Dao of the sages and the meritorious people in the past and his political ideals based on benevolence and love could not be realized in those turbulent days. This painting depicts the grief-stricken Confucius with tears in his eyes when he recognized the animal. Although Confucius’ ideal of benevolent government failed to be realized at that time, his concepts, such as “seeking harmony, not sameness”, “humaneness being the same as loving other people”, “empathy for other people’s situation”, “living in the company of virtuous people”, “establishing harmonious relations with all countries”, provide inspiration for solving current problems caused by economic globalization and neoliberalism.

“文化互译，沟通世界”