中英雙語話中國歷史名人 第49期:韓愈

Han Yu (768~824), called Han Changli or Han Wengong, courtesy name Tuizhi, was the master of Chinese prose, outstanding poet, and the first proponent of what later came to be known as Neo-Confucianism, which had wide influence in China and Japan.

韓愈(768~824)，字退之，也叫韓昌黎或韓文公，中國散文大家、傑出詩人，首倡對中國和日本有廣泛影響的宋明理學。

An orphan, Han initially failed his civil service exams because the examiners refused to accept his unconventional prose style, but he eventually entered the bureaucracy and served in several high government posts.

韓愈是個孤兒，起初因考官不接受其非傳統的文風而科考落地，但是他最終進了官場，做了高官。

At a time when the popularity of Confucian doctrine had greatly declined, Han began a defense of it.

當時，儒家學說已如昔日黃花盛況不再，於是韓愈開始捍衛儒學地位。

He attacked Daoism and Buddhism, which were then at the height of their influence. So outspoken was he that he castigated the emperor for paying respect to the supposed finger bone of the Buddha; this act of criticism almost cost Han his life and caused him to be banished to South China for a year.

韓愈攻擊當時盛極一時的道教和佛教，非常直率地批評了皇帝對所謂的佛骨舍利的尊敬;此舉差點要了韓愈的命，他因而被流放到南方過了一年。

In defending Confucianism, Han quoted extensively from the Mencius, the Daxue ("Great Learning"), the Zhongyong ("Doctrine of the Mean"), and the Yijing ("Classic of Changes"; known to many as Yijing-Ching), works that hitherto had been somewhat neglected by Confucians.

爲了捍衛儒學，韓愈廣泛引用《孟子》、《大學》、《中庸》和《易經》裏的話。這些書已經有點被當時的儒生忽視了。

In so doing, he laid the foundations for later Neo-Confucianists who took their basic ideas from these books.

就這樣，韓愈爲後來的宋明理學家(他們的基本思想是從這些仔裏得來的)奠定了基礎。

Han advocated the adoption of "ancient style", the free, simple prose of these early philosophers, a style unencumbered by the mannerisms and elaborate verse-like regularity of the pianwen (“parallel prose") style that was prevalent in Han's time.

韓愈提倡寫作古文。古文是早期哲學家使用的一種自由、簡單的散文文體，這種文體並未受阻於漢代流行的辭藻華麗、崇尚對句等形式的駢文。

His own essays (e. g. On the Way, On Man，and On Spirits) are among the most beautiful ever written in Chinese, and they became the most famous models of the prose style he espoused.

韓愈自己的論文(《原道》、《原人》和《原性》)也在中國最優美的文章之列，併成爲他所提倡的文體的範文。

In his poetry also, Han tried to break out of the existing literary forms, but many of his efforts at literary reform failed.

在寫詩方面，韓愈也試圖突破原有的文學形式，但是他在文學改革方面的許多努力都失敗了。

He is considered the first of the renowned "Eight Masters of the Tang and Song". At his death the title of president of the ministry of rites was conferred upon him, as well as the epithet “Master of Letters", both great honours.

韓愈被尊爲“唐宋八大家”之首，去世時被追封爲禮部尚書(應該是吏部侍郎)，諡號“文”。