The Starting Point of Chinese Philosophy
中国哲学的出发点
If we link what Northrop has pointed out here with what I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, we see that the concept of the differentiated aesthetic continuum, from which come both the concept of the undifferentiated aesthetic continuum and that of differentiation (Ibid., p. 187), is basically the concept of the farmers.
如果我们把诺斯洛普在这里所说的和我在本章开始时所说的结合起来，就会看见：在连续审视中已予区分的概念，由它衍生出还未区分的概念和分辨的概念（同上书，第一八七页），都在基本上是农民的概念。
What the farmers have to deal with, such as the farm and crops, are all things which they immediately apprehend.
农民日常与之打交道的，诸如田地和庄稼，都是他们一看就认识的东西。
And in their primitivity and innocence, they value what they thus immediately apprehend.
他们处于原始和纯真的心态之中，把直接认知的东西看为宝贵的东西，
It is no wonder then, that their philosophers likewise take the immediate apprehension of things as the starting point of their philosophy.
这就无怪反映他们思想的哲学家们也同样把直接认知的东西看为哲学思维的出发点。
This also explains why epistemology has never developed in Chinese philosophy.
这也足以解释何以认识论在中国哲学里从未得到发展的原因。
Whether the table that I see before me is real or illusory, and whether it is only an idea in my mind or is occupying objective space, was never seriously considered by Chinese philosophers.
中国哲学家们对于自己眼前的这张桌子究竟是真实的，抑或只是幻觉的存在，
No such epistemological problems are to be found in Chinese philosophy (save in Buddhism, which came from India), since epistemological problems arise only when a demarcation between the subject and the object is emphasized.
从不认真对待（唯有佛家是对它认真对待的，而佛学来自印度）。认识论的问题之所以产生，是由于主观和客观已经有了明确的界限。
And in the aesthetic continuum, there is no such demarcation. In it the knower and the known is one whole.
而在一个连续审视过程之中，还没有明确区分主观与客观之间的界限，认识的主体和认识的客体还是浑然一体的。
This also explains why the language used by Chinese philosophy is suggestive but not articulate.
这也有助于说明，中国哲学的语言何以是提示性的而并不明晰。
It is not articulate, because it does not represent concepts in any deductive reasoning.
它不明晰，因为它不代表用理性演绎得出的概念。
The philosopher only tells us what he sees.
哲学家只是告诉人们，他看见了什么。
And because of this, what he tells is rich in content, though terse in words.
因此，他所述说的内容非常丰富，而使用的语言却很简短。
This is the reason why his words are suggestive rather than precise.
这就是何以中国哲学家的语言往往只作提示而并不明确的原因。
From YLYK《中国哲学的故事》专辑S02E12
