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华人的名目不会丢 |
| 八十多年前鲁迅先生写道：
"现在许多人有大恐惧；我也有大恐惧。 许多人所怕的，是'中国人'这名目要消灭；我所怕的，是中国人要从'世界人'中挤出。 我以为'中国人'这名目，决不会消灭；只要人种还在，总是中国人。譬如埃及与犹太人，无论他们还有'国粹'没有，现在总叫他们埃及与犹太人，未尝改了称呼。可见保存名目，全不必劳力费心。 但是想在现今的世界上，协同生长，挣一地位，即须有相当进步的知识、道德、品格、思想，才能够站得住脚；这事极须劳力费心。" 报章上对华人认同感的讨论令我想起了早年鲁迅先生的这段话。中国人（华人）要在世界上立足，争一光荣地位，不应在"名目"上花太多功夫，而应当把自己的精力，用于掌握人类社会的先进知识与思想，使自己发展壮大起来。 倘若没有先进的精神和过硬的本领，徒有"华人"的名目又有什么用呢？再"中国化"恐怕也无济于事。鲁迅先生早就指出：华人最重要的不是保存"中国人"的名目，而是要发愤图强，争取在世界上的生存与发展；保存名目容易，不必费心，而要在世界上站稳脚跟，争一地位，则极需劳力费心。 英国著名历史学家汤恩比也认为，对任何文明共同体而言，向来都只有自杀而无他杀，所以无论外患看起来多么岌岌可危，都要通过深重的内忧来起最后的作用，来给行将灭亡的文明以最后一击。所以命运还是操在每个人自己的手里。只要知道该在何处下功夫，力气用到点子上，便可掌握自己的命运。 好在今日中国已非本世纪初贫弱的中国，分布世界各地的华人经过数代人的奋斗也取得了令世人瞩目的成就。比如有国际影响的大政治家李光耀、世界现代派建筑大师贝聿铭、诺贝尔物理学奖获得者朱棣文、著名经济学家张五常等等，他们都是我们学习的好榜样。 古代中国人创造了举世公认的辉煌的文明，这种文明现在已经成为全人类的共同文化遗产，至今仍启迪着人们。 80年代一批诺贝尔奖金得主在《巴黎宣言》中指出："如果人类要在21世纪生存下去，必须回头2500年，去吸取孔子的智慧。"中华文化过去的荣光不会消失，孔子的后代——当代华人应致力于开创新的文化，对人类文明作出自己的贡献。 在新千年来临之际，我愿用《易经》里的一句话与全球华人共勉：天行健，君子以自强不息。（天道的运行是有规律的，君子因而要自强不息。） The Chinese have more than their ethnicity to preserve "CURRENTLY many people have a great fear, and I have a great fear too," wrote Lu Xun, the late Chinese writer, 80 years ago. "Many people fear that 'the Chinese' will perish as an ethnic group, but I fear that the Chinese will be excluded from 'the citizenry of the world'. "The Chinese as an ethnic group, I am sure, will not perish. So long as the race survives, the people will remain Chinese in the same way as the Egyptians and Jews remain Egyptian and Jewish. "The two peoples are still known by their ethnic names respectively, whether or not they retain the peculiar cultural excellence they used to possess. "Therefore, a people needn't make special efforts, physical or mental, to preserve its ethnic being. "But it takes considerably advanced knowledge, moral power, character and ideas for a people to survive and secure a position in the international community today. "This demands great pains, both physical and mental." I am reminded of this quotation from Lu Xun by the recent discussion in the press about the identity of the ethnic Chinese. It is also my belief that the Chinese, or even the people of China, should not waste their energy on their ethnicity. To secure a position in the international community as an admirable people, the Chinese should make efforts instead to master the advanced knowledge and ideas of mankind so that they can grow in strength. Without such knowledge and ideas, without strong capabilities, the mere ethnic being as "the Chinese" would be worthless. Even an absolute "China-likeness" would not help. As Lu Xun pointed out, the priority for the Chinese should be to strive for survival and prosperity in the world today, rather than preserve their ethnic being. It is easy to preserve a people's ethnicity; it takes no efforts. But it takes great efforts, both physical and mental, to secure a decent position among peoples of the world. Arnold J Toynbee, the renowned British historian, holds that civilisations have never been annihilated except by themselves. It takes the coup de grace from domestic disasters to finish off an ailing civilisation, however destructive the foreign aggression may appear. So, the destiny of a people is put in its own hands. It remains its own master so long as it directs its efforts and energy wisely. Fortunately, China
is not what it used to be when the 20th century began ——poor and
weak country. The Chinese diaspora spread world-wide have made achievements
that seize Illustrated examples include Lee Kuan Yew, a statesman of international stature; I. M. Pei, the world-renowned modernist architect; Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate physicist; and Cheung Ng Sheung, the celebrated economist based in Hong Kong. They are good role models for us. The ancient Chinese created a civilisation that commands the world's admiration, which has become part of the shared heritage of mankind and a lasting encouragement for people. In the Declaration of Paris in the 1980s, a group of Nobel laureates pointed out that mankind must draw 2500 years back upon the wisdom of Confucius if it is to survive the 21st century. The glory of Chinese culture of the past will not fade out. Descendants of Confucius, namely the Chinese of today, must endeavour to create a fresh culture and make their contribution to human civilisation. At the beginning of the new millennium, I would like to share with all my fellow Chinese this adage from the Book of Change, a classic of Chinese culture: "The Heaven follows its Way in movement, so the Man of Virtue ceases not to exert himself." (Translated by Allen Zhuang) 注：原载新加坡《联合早报》2000年1月22日，略有改动。 |
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