Chapter 2 Preface in Chinese translation

Many scholars in Europe believe that for thousands of years, the wisdom of life with eternal value in the history of human thought is contained in three wonderful books: one is Machiavelli's "On Kings", the other is "Sun Tzu's Art of War", and the third is this book.The great German philosopher Schopenhauer once deliberately translated "The Book of Wisdom" into German, and praised the book as "absolutely unique".Nietzsche also praised this book for discussing the mysteries of morality. There is no book in Europe that is more subtle and more tortuous.In a note in 1873, Nietzsche wrote: "The experience of Gracian's life reveals a wisdom and understanding unmatched today."

The current Chinese translation is in front of us, so that the nations of the Eastern world are fortunate to have a glimpse of another style of Western wise men.Perhaps, the profound wisdom and detached attitude towards life displayed in "Laozi" are even more fascinating to us, but in terms of penetratingly analyzing the background of human nature and proposing gentle countermeasures, I dare say that the whole world is very unique. A similarly fantastic book can stand shoulder to shoulder with it. Machiavelli's "The King" is unique in that it is completely independent of sub-ethics and morals to study power.Such a value orientation may cause him to tear apart the pious appearance of human beings recklessly, revealing to us the most despicable, dirty, treacherous and cruel elements in the depths of human hearts.This was originally a wonderful recipe for governing the country that he wanted to enshrine to the monarch in order to please the monarch, but it painted the ugliest souls of the kings of all dynasties from another aspect.Machiavelli believes that monarchs can use all means to achieve their goals. They can be treacherous, cruel, and treacherous, but in the end they are often regarded as great and wise leaders: "If a monarch can conquer and maintain that country, His means will always be considered honorable, and will be admired by everyone. For a mob is always attracted to appearances, and the world is full of mobs." Although Machiavelli's "The Prince " helps us understand the ugly nature of human beings, but this book itself is also a kind of evil, because it not only does not help people develop in a good direction, but seeks some kind of legitimacy for the existence of evil.Every kind-hearted reader who has finished reading "On Kings" will feel sad. Is it true that human society can only toss and struggle forever in the endless strife and trampling among monarchs?Good books make people good, and evil books make people evil. "On Kings" vividly depicts the animal side of the Western rulers and even the entire Western culture with the brushwork of a Western wise man. This is undoubtedly a good news for the Eastern cultural circle with goodness as the leading force in today's 20th century. A thought-provoking mirror.Orientals should firmly believe that all power and status maintained by violence and conspiracy will eventually be destroyed by violence and conspiracy; those who imitate Machiavelli's tactics will eventually be killed by Machiavelli's tactics. "The King" is indeed a wonderful book, but it is the most hideous and dazzling flower that the human intellect has produced.Compared with "The Art of War" and "Sun Tzu", its grade is the lowest.

The greatest military book in human history is "Sun Tzu's Art of War", which can almost become a conclusion.Let us listen to the famous Western military strategist Clavier's comment on "The Law of Sun Tzu": "I sincerely believe that if our modern military and political leaders had studied this genius work, the Vietnam War would not have been fought in that way; We would not have lost the Korean War (no victory is failure); the Bay of Pigs landing would not have occurred; the Iranian hostages would not have occurred; To avoid -- at least to be sure, he said, not to fight so brutally; and to live out the lives of millions of young men who would not be duped and killed needlessly by those devils who call themselves generals. I I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading this book, as it is well worth reading. I hope that Sun Tzu's Art of War will be a must-read for all servicemen and soldiers in the free world, all politically active people and government officials, and all college and high school students. If I am the supreme commander. Or if I become the president or prime minister, I will go one step further; I will make it legal. There is an oral test and a written test, and the passing score is set at 95 points. Generals who fail the test are automatically dismissed immediately and are not allowed to appeal. Officers with other ranks are automatically demoted." ("Sun Tzu Military Science Publishing House", 1993 2010, p. 3.) What moved me was not the magic and boundless power of "Sun Tzu's Art of War", but the noble taste of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" itself; The frequent news of Chinese victories has caused thousands of miles of mountains and rivers to be littered with corpses, but "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is precisely preventing human wars, so that "millions of young people will not ... needlessly survive." Machiavelli's "On the King" Aiming to ruthlessly destroy an opponent is in stark contrast. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is to save people, not to harm them; it is to prevent or even eliminate wars, not to make generals talk about wars.Therefore, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" repeatedly asserts that if wars can be resolved in a peaceful manner, it is the best way to use troops: "That's why a hundred battles are victorious, and it is not a good man who is good; a soldier who surrenders without fighting is a good man." "("Sun Tzu's Art of War" Mou Gong Chapter 3) War is always cruel, and it can be avoided if it can be avoided, so "the first is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the enemy, the second is to attack the army, and the next is to attack the city. The method of attacking the city , as a last resort." (Sun Tzu's Art of War" above) This is the same as "Lao Tzu" "The weapon of a soldier is an ominous weapon, not a weapon of a gentleman, and it is used as a last resort. Tranquility is the best, victory is not beautiful, and the beautiful one is happy to kill "(Chapter 31 of "Laozi") has the same idea.Therefore, from the perspective of human relations, we can say that among the three great books, "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is of the highest grade.

However, if we evaluate from the aspect of wisdom in life, then the author is the most subtle and practical of the three strange books. "On the King" is mainly written for those emperors who deliberately hope to obtain or retain the kingship; "Sun Tzu's Art of War" is mainly written for those generals who are equal to strategizing; but it is a book written for everyone.It deeply describes life experience with an astonishingly stern attitude, and provides readers with various strategies to overcome embarrassment, difficulties and evils in life.Through these colorful life maxims, people not only get good recipes to overcome possible adversities in life, but more importantly, enhance their understanding and insight into life.To a certain extent, it has both the frankness of "On Kings" and the high grade of "Sun Tzu's Art of War". On the one hand, it makes us admire its wit and perfect prudence, and on the other hand, it makes us have a good psychology.Some of his sayings, once caught in our eyes, will make us never forget.Just take the first maxim as an example: "Everything in the world is perfect, and to be a true moral perfection is the pinnacle of perfection in all things in the universe." (See Maxim 1) This sentence can be said to be a concentrated summary. By grasping the essence of the Confucian doctrine of inner sages and outer kings, we can peep into the spark of the connection between East and West. "To cultivate a sage in today's world is more difficult than to cultivate the seven sages of Greece in ancient Greece. When the world spends more energy on dealing with a single person than it has spent on dealing with a whole nation in the past." (See the motto 1) It would take a whole book to fully explain these two sentences of Gracian!Civilization has brought material progress to mankind, and human intelligence has also developed to a higher energy level. Unfortunately, evil will also rise and develop into a more refined form.A more cunning force.This undoubtedly greatly increases the difficulty of the victory of good over evil.However, is there no hope of salvation for mankind?No!Gracian is trying to protect the lives of ordinary people by exposing the clever disguises of evil and striking them down appropriately.Through his frequent witticisms, we feel that life is not as hopeless as some pessimists assert. In fact, Gracian suggests that as long as people learn certain necessary life skills , it is possible to find for oneself the way to overcome difficulties and evils and obtain happiness.

However, what impresses us the most is the pinnacle of wisdom it shows in its penetrating analysis of the depths of human nature.Of course, for works of the same kind, we can also cite "Zeng Guang Xian Wen", or some of Carnegie's books on life, but these books are either obscene, or scattered, or below-grade, or delayed in analyzing human nature. In terms of exaggeration, although each is trying its best, it is difficult to compare with "Book of Wisdom".Even Shakespeare's tragedies and Bacon's "On Life" are well-known in the world for their profundity in analyzing human nature, but they are not so good in describing human nature systematically and comprehensively.

One might have hoped that Gracian would write a great book on the subject, for it is a never-ending subject.However, I would have liked Gracian to have written shorter.We all have a great deal to do, and if it could be stated in the most succinct terms, it would prolong our lives.And Gracian's succinctness of writing and vigilance of narration really make us feel grateful and admired.Only a wise man who thinks most clearly and knows the subject well can write such clear, wise and vivid maxims.How beautiful life would be if people could learn to give the most thought to others with the least words.

The Chinese version of this book is translated based on the English version published by Doubleday Publishing Company in 1992. Gu Zhengkun July 1998 at Zhongguanyuan, Peking University