Part I: Background Information

1. Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism, the three most influential Chinese schools of thought, have a huge gathering of followers home and abroad. They are as secular as they are spiritual. Many of the virtues they advocate, say, self-discipline, restraint, social and familial harmony, equality, and gratitude for life in general, have universal applicability. Translated into our own life, the wisdom of these schools of thought will definitely serve us for the better in ways we have never foreseen.

2. Confucius

Kong Zi (Confucius), born in 551 B.C. in Qufu, Shandong Province, is a thinker and social philosopher of China whose teachings have for many centuries influenced East Asia. "Confucius" is the Latinized form for Kong Zi that has been widely used in the West.

3. Confucianism

Confucianism, founded by Confucius, is the cornerstone of traditional Chinese culture. 

Confucian ethics is characterized by Humanity (仁),  Righteousness (义), Propriety (礼) , Wisdom (智), Integrity(信). Humanity is at the core in Confucianism, which consists in loving others.

4. Confucianist’s advocate:

To know Ming (知天命):  to acknowledge the inevitability of the world as it exists, and so to disregard one's external success or failure.

The doctrine of the mean (中庸):  all things connected with man should strike the proper, and should not go beyond or fall short of it.

Rectification of Names (正名): things in actual fact should be made to accord with the implication attached to them by names.

5. 论语十二章

子曰：“学而时习之，不亦说乎？有朋自远方来，不亦乐乎？人不知而不愠，不亦君子乎？”——《学而》

曾子曰：“吾日三省吾身：为人谋而不忠乎？与朋友交而不信乎？传不习乎？”——《学而》

子曰：“吾十有五而志于学，三十而立，四十而不惑，五十而知天命，六十而耳顺，七十而从心所欲，不逾矩。”——《为政》

子曰：“温故而知新，可以为师矣。”——《为政》

子曰：“学而不思则罔，思而不学则殆。”——《为政》

子曰：“贤哉，回也！一箪食，一瓢饮，在陋巷，人不堪其忧，回也不改其乐。贤哉，回也！”——《雍也》

子曰：“知之者不如好之者，好之者不如乐之者。”——《雍也》

子曰：“饭疏食饮水，曲肱而枕之，乐亦在其中矣。不义而富且贵，于我如浮云。”——《述而》

子曰：“三人行，必有我师焉。择其善者而从之，其不善者而改之。”——《述而》

子在川上曰：“逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜。”——《子罕》

子曰：“三军可夺帅也，匹夫不可夺志也。”——《子罕》

子夏曰：“博学而笃志，切问而近思，仁在其中矣。”

译文 注释

孔子说：“学了（知识）然后按一定的时间复习它，不也是很愉快吗？有志同道合的人从远方来，不也是很快乐吗？人家不了解我，我却不恼怒，不也是道德上有修养的人吗？”
曾子说：“我每天多次反省自己：替别人办事是不是尽心竭力了呢？同朋友交往是不是诚实可信了呢？老师传授的知识是不是复习了呢？”
孔子说：“我十五岁开始有志于做学问，三十岁能独立做事情，四十岁（遇事）能不迷惑，五十岁知道哪些是不能为人力所支配的事情，六十岁能听得进不同的意见，到七十岁才做事才能随心所欲，不会超过规矩。”
孔子说：“温习学过的知识，可以从中获得新的理解与体会，那么就可以凭借这一点去做老师了。”
孔子说：“只学习却不思考，就会迷惑；只空想却不学习，就会疑惑。”
孔子说：“颜回的品质是多么高尚啊！一竹篮饭，一瓢水，住在简陋的小巷子里，别人都忍受不了这种穷困清苦，颜回却没有改变他好学的乐趣。颜回的品质是多么高尚啊！”
孔子说：“知道学习的人比不上爱好学习的人；爱好学习的人比不上以学习为乐趣的人。”
孔子说：“我整天吃粗粮，喝冷水，弯着胳膊做枕头，也自得其乐。用不正当的手段得来的富贵，我把它看作天上的浮云。”
孔子说：“多个人同行，其中必定有人可以做我的老师。我选择他好的方面向他学习，看到他不善的方面就对照自己改正自己的缺点。”
孔子在河边感叹道：“时光像流水一样消逝，日夜不停。”(孔子在河岸上看着浩浩荡荡、汹涌向前的河水说：“逝者如斯夫，不舍昼夜”，意思是：时间就像这奔流的河水一样，不论白天黑夜不停地流逝。)
孔子说：“军队的主帅可以改变，普通人的志气却不可改变。”
子夏说：“博览群书广泛学习，而且能坚守自己的志向，恳切地提问，多考虑当前的事，仁德就在其中了。”

Part II: Detailed Study of the Text

1. Outline

Part One (Paras.1-2): Becoming a good and responsible person.

Part Two (Paras.3-4): Finding the sacred in the relationships of ordinary life.

Part Three (Paras.5-8): Leaning to harmony as life’s ultimate value.

Part Four (Paras.9-10): Helping people all over the world grow in the arts of good people.

2. Words and phrases

1)  adopt (Para.1)  v. 

to start to use a particular method or to show a particular attitude toward sb. / sth.

e.g. All three teams adopted different approaches to the problem.

I think the company should adopt a more flexible strategy on account of the changing market conditions.

2)   subordinate (Para.1)  v. ~ sb. / sth. (to sb. / sth.)

to treat sb. / sth. as less important than sb. / sth.

e.g.  Campaign leaders subordinated their egos and personal ambitions to the greater goal.

Arts was subordinated to Science in these schools.

3)    virtue (Para.2): n. [countable] a particular good quality or habit

e.g.  Patience is not one of her virtues, I’m afraid.

Among her many virtues are loyalty, courage, and truthfulness.

4)    (be) a window on / into … (Para.2)

e.g.  The street gives visitors a window into the real Taiwan.

The seemingly simple measurement offers a window into the oceans’ basic ability to support life.

5)   equate … with … (Para.3): to think that sth. is the same as sth. else or is as important

e.g.  Some parents equate education with exam success.

It’s a combination of looks and confidence that we often equate with smartness.

6)   give oneself (over) to (Para.4):  to devote oneself to sb. or sth.; to spend all the time doing sth. or thinking about sth.

e.g.  Find the faith that you can believe in and give yourself to it completely.

7)   at issue (Para.5): under discussion; in dispute

e.g. What is at issue is the extent to which exam results reflect a student’s ability.

What is at issue is whether she was responsible for her actions.

8)    be compatible with (Para.9): be able to exist or be used together without causing problems

e.g. The uncovered code suggests iMessage will be compatible with iChat when it launches later this year.

Are measures to protect the environment compatible with economic growth?

9)     speak of A as B (Para.9): regard A as B

e.g. In the past decades, the officials used to speak of China as the Asian economic giant, but they now speak of India and China as twin giants.

10)   speak of: to mention or to discuss

e.g. We owned our own house, a car and had no major debt to speak of.

Gray couldn’t keep the pride out of his voice when he spoke of his eldest son writing a book.

3. Ways of Giving Definitions

l predicate verbs: be, be called / named, refers to, means, etc. ;

l punctuation marks: colon, dash, etc;

l attributive or appositive clauses;

l synonymous or antonymous;

l connective expressions: in other words, that is to say, etc;

4. Reading Skill

Understanding a complicated concept

A complicated concept could be interpreted beyond its literal meaning.

Clues:

l statements indicating personal understanding

l statements showing different perspectives

l details  showing different aspects

5. Writing

Writing Goal: Developing extended definition paragraphs

An extended definition usually consists of:

l a thesis statement indicating personal understanding

l details to support the thesis statement

To extend a definition, you may use some or all of the following ways:

l description (characteristics of a term)

l classification (category or parts of the term)

l exemplification (examples, facts or personal experience)

l comparison / contrast (with similar terms)

cause / effect (of the term)