博文
谈爱因斯坦回信(5): 爱因斯坦尊重中国文明
|
围绕爱因斯坦给Switzer的回信的几点看法（5）
5. 爱因斯坦尊重中国文明
据我所知，爱因斯坦从来没有轻视中国文明。
1921年，爱因斯坦在给在天津教书的一个德国人信中写道：
I would imagine life among the Chinese to be actually quite fine and attractive. I found the few exemplars I met extraordinarily appealing. From the human point of view these people, in their finely proportioned shapes, actually seem to be far superior to us.
1922年11月，去日本访问途经上海时，爱因斯坦在演讲中说：
As to Chinese youths, I believe that they are bound to make great contributions to science in the future.
在这之前的3月，爱因斯坦写信给蔡元培讨论访问北京事宜时写道：
I eagerly hope that we will be able to reach an agreement to your full satisfaction so that I will see with my own eyes the cradle of the East Asian civilization.
与李约瑟观点对抗的Wright也表示中国文明的尊重（虽然他认为那是没有科学的文明）。他对爱因斯坦这封信的引用正是由以下导言导出（这句话也就暗示了他对爱因斯坦信的解读）：
I am not persuaded that man's attainment ofmodern science was in the West or elsewhere a fore-ordained goal in terms ofwhich his other intellectual achievements should be evaluated. I would be inclined to follow AlbertEinstein who, in 1953 wrote in a letter to. J. S. Switzer……
补充：因为第一个评论，我再加上爱因斯坦1922年12月1日和1923年1月1日的旅行日记：
Outwardly, the Chinese attract attention by their industry,the small demands of their lifestyles, and their abundance of children. . . .Yet to a large extent they are a burdened people, cracking stones day after day and carrying them for pennies. They seem to be too stolid to recognize the horror of their lot. . . . In Shanghai, the Europeans are the master class and the Chinese their servants. . . . They appear not in any way connected to their great intellectual history. As good-natured laborers they are appreciated by the Europeans, to whom as such they are far inferior intellectually.
这里可以看到爱因斯坦对当时中国现实的观察。但是当代现实和历史上的中国文明是两码事。爱因斯坦特地提到了中国的great intellectual history。所以这也证明了爱因斯坦对中国文明的尊重。
https://blog.sciencenet.cn/blog-4395-884400.html
上一篇：谈爱因斯坦回信(4)：我的翻译和解读
下一篇：我的微信公众号：物理文化
