It is impossible to do other than assent to the unanimous verdict
that China has at length come to the hour of her destiny … The
contempt for foreigners is a thing of the past … Even in remote
places we have found the new spirit – its evidence, strangely
enough, the almost universal desire to learn English … as
knowledge of English is held to be the way to advancement, the key
to a knowledge of the science and art, the philosophy and policy, of
the West.
unanimous verdict 一致裁决
at length 最终
advancement 前进
1.孔夫子思想
Confucianism is based on ideas of mutual obligation, maintenance
of hierarchies, a belief in self-development, education, and
improvement, and above all, an ordered society. It abhors violence
and tends to look down on profi t-making, though it is not wholly
opposed to it. The ultimate ideal was to become suffi ciently wise
to attain the status of ‘sage’ (sheng), but one should at least strive
to become a junzi, often translated as ‘gentleman’, but perhaps
best thought of as meaning ‘a person of integrity’. Confucius
looked back to the Zhou dynasty, a supposed ‘golden age’ which
was long-past even during his lifetime, and which set a desirable
(but perhaps unattainable) standard for the present day.
mutual obligation 相互的责任与义务
maintenance of hierarchies 维持阶级
