《瓦尔登湖》中的中国哲学思想_英语论文

A Study on Chinese Philosophical Thoughts in Walden

摘要

《瓦尔登湖》是美国作家梭罗所作，自二十世纪初被译成中文并引进中国，读者们意外地感受到这个来自大洋另一端的经典著作所带来的亲切感，因为里面充满了大量的中国哲学思想，这也引发了国内外许多专家学者的研究。书中除了直接引用《四书》中的经典语句外，行文中随处可感觉到与中国相似的哲学气息。

本论文主要从以下三个方面讨论体现在《瓦尔登湖》中的哲学思想与中国哲学思想的相似性：一是人与自然的关系，中国哲学体系提倡“天人合一”，这里的“天”指的是宇宙自然，“天人合一”是人与自然的和谐统一，是主体与客体的内外映照；梭罗在瓦尔登湖畔用他的亲身体验加上他精妙的哲学思维告诉人们什么是回归自然，人与自然怎样做到和谐相处。二是从隐士文化的角度来进行分析梭罗独居在森林中的行为同中国古代隐士进行隐居行为的异同，并分析了二者在精神追求上的一些相似性。三是谈论节俭和节欲的重要性，梭罗认为人的生活要有节制，我们在物质生活上需要的其实很少，相反地我们要更多地丰富我们的精神生活，这一点跟中国人在对待物质生活和精神生活的态度上不谋而合。

关键词：梭罗 《瓦尔登湖》中国哲学思想 相似性

Abstract 

Walden was composed by American writer Henry David Thoreau and it was translated into Chinese and brought to China in the early 20th century. The readers surprisingly found that they felt an intimacy brought by the classic work from the other side of the ocean, because it was full of many Chinese philosophical thoughts, which led to the research of the experts and the scholars at home and abroad. 

The thesis mainly discusses the similarities between Chinese philosophies expressed in Walden from three aspects: The first one is the Relationship between Man and Nature. The Chinese philosophical system advocates the idea Tianren Heyi（the Human-Nature Integration), in which the “Tian” means the universe and the nature. The concept means the harmony between man and nature and it is the mutual mapping of subject and object. Thoreau used his practice and his crafty thinking to tell people that what is returning to nature and how to live in harmony with nature. The second point is in the Culture of Hermits, which is to compare similarities and differences between Thoreau and the Chinese Hermits both in their living styles and spiritual pursuits. The last point lies in the Importance of Thrift and Abstinence. Thoreau thought that we should live in thrift and abstinence. He also thought that we the material we need is not much and we should concentrate more on our spiritual life, and the way in which that the Chinese treat their material life and spiritual life is much the same.

Key Words: Thoreau  Walden  Chinese Philosophies  similarities