Yutang LinRecensioni

La importancia de vivir es la obra de referencia en Occidente para conocer, desde una perspectiva moderna, la ancestral y rica cultura oriental. Asuntos como el sentido del ocio, la felicidad, la naturaleza, el viaje, la cultura o la religión son abordados por Lin Yutang con una amena combinación de conocimiento teórico y experiencia personal que lo convierten en un magnífico manual de sabiduría concreta que nos ayuda a conocernos a nosotros mismos y nuestras posibilidades. A partir a menudo de anécdotas en las que todos podemos reconocernos o de actitudes y comportamientos que no nos son ajenos, Lin Yutang invita a dedicarles una mirada crítica y a verlas con nuevos ojos.

I found this in Browsers' Bookstore and decided to pick it up after flipping through a few pages and laughing. (would strongly encourage flipping through and bringing home old books- they can surprise you!)

I'd never heard of Lin Yutang before, and it's a shame I hadn't. With Love and Irony is a collection of his essays and satire that he wrote in English, some from various magazines he published in between 1930 and 1940. 80 years later, his sense of humor still reads sharp, and he remains relatively optimistic in spite of the Second Sino-Japanese War and occupation contemporary to his work. In "Mickey Mouse", he chides the college revolutionaries that sometimes art can just be for enjoyment and that not all literature needs to be political propaganda, recommending they take a break with comic strips. "The Coolie Myth" skewers Western perceptions on Chinese laborers. A lot of essays compare and contrast "traditional Chinese" culture to their English and American counterparts, in addition to the invading neighbors from Japan.

I felt sad reading "The Future of China", thinking about how he thought post-war nationalism would buoy future prospects only for the Chinese Civil War to resume and dash all those dreams.

Would recommend. It also makes me wonder what an equivalent would be today- like if someone in 2060 decided to read a Dave Barry collection? Would it age as well, or stymie the reader in temporally specific references and metaphor?

Outstanding Eastern wisdom from a Chinese who knows the West.

The Importance of Living is a number of essays about the importance of enjoying life and ways to do so. In some ways, the author's ideas are kind of silly, but they are presented in such a non-pushy way that they the unpleasant ideas are easy to forget. However, his attitudes towards women are infuriating. At one point the author talks about how it is best for people to be natural... and women require lipstick to be natural. At another point, he makes this statement

Is it merely because woman is more charming and more graceful in a chiffon dress than in a business jacket, or is it merely my imagination? The gist of the matter seems to lie in the fact that women at home are like fish in water. Clothe women in business jackets and men will regard them as coworkers with the right to criticize, but let them float about in georgette or chiffon one out of the seven office hours in the day and men will give up any idea of competing with them, and will merely sit back and wonder and gasp.

This book may have been first published in 1937, but I still find the attitude towards women in this book excessively condescending.

Still, the general message of the book was nice, although not particularly noteworthy or inspiring. I agree that it is good to take things easily and to notice the world around us and appreciate nature and each other. It is good to make sure one's truths are consistent with human nature as well as with logic.

First Published May, 1942, reprinted May, August October

From the book collection of HUANG, Jundong. 黄俊东藏书， added covers by HUANG.

From the collection of Huang Jundong, 黄俊东，missing a few pages

I first read this book in 1962 and it has been the cornerstone of my philosophy ever since. The essence of the philosophy can be summed up in a quote at the beginning of the book, "Only those who take leisurely what the people of the world are busy about can be busy about what the people of the world take leisurely." It also warns about the dangers of too much concern with wealth, fame and accomplishment.

> Babelio : https://www.babelio.com/livres/Lin-LImportance-de-vivre/48209
> BAnQ (Lectures, janv. 1953) : https://collections.banq.qc.ca/ark:/52327/2632345

> On peut se souvenir de ces paroles de Confucius que ses disciples, depuis la dynastie des Sung, décidèrent de faire apprendre aux enfants des écoles (1) :
« Lorsqu’on a acquis la connaissance des choses,
alors la compréhension est atteinte, alors la volonté est
sincère ; quand la volonté est sincère, alors le cœur est
droit. Quand le cœur est droit, alors la vie personnelle
est développée ; quand la vie personnelle est dévelop-
pée, alors la vie familiale est réglée ; quand la vie
familiale est réglée, alors la vie nationale est en ordre ;
et quand la vie nationale est en ordre, alors le monde
est en paix. De l’empereur au dernier des hommes, le
développement de la vie personnelle est le fondement
de tout. Il n’y a jamais eu un arbre dont le tronc fut
mince et les branches épaisses et fortes. Il y a une cause
et une succession dans les choses, un commencement
et une fin dans les affaires humaines. Connaître l’ordre
de préséance, c’est avoir le commencement de la sagesse. »
(1) Lin Yutang, L’Importance de vivre, Éditions Corréa ;
cité dans: Jeanne Guesné, Cité dans: Le septième sens : Le corps spirituel, Le Relié (2007), p. 118

Es uno de esos raros libros de cualidades proféticas que se hacen mas actuales a medida que el tiempo transcurre. El autor lo que escribió durante la segunda guerra mundial, dolido por el trato que occidente daba a China, entonces en desesperada lucha contra sus agresores.

本書主要記述了一代國學大師林語堂的生平及信仰之旅，是解讀林語堂的珍貴資料。正文部分是林語堂多年探求宗教經驗的記錄，記述其在信仰上的探險、疑難和迷惘，與其他哲學和宗教的磋研，對往聖先哲言論的探討等。附錄部分包括“林語堂自傳”和“八十自敘”，主要記述了林語堂的生平經歷，信筆揮灑，豁達、從容的智者形象躍然紙上

China, Chinese memoir, China 1930s,

LA IMPORTANCIA DE VIVIR

PREFACIO

Este es un testimonio personal, un testimonio de mi propia experiencia
de pensar y de vivir. No lleva la intención de ser objetivo ni tiene pretensión de
establecer verdades eternas. En verdad, desprecio casi las pretensiones de
objetividad en filosofia; lo que vale es el punto de vista. Me hubiera gustado
llamarlo «Una filosofia lírica», empleando la palabra «lírica» en el sentido de
perspectiva sumamente personal e individual. Pero sería ése un nombre
demasiado hermoso y debo renunciar a él, por temor a apuntar demasiado alto y
levar al lector a esperar demasiado, y porque el principal ingrediente de mi
pensamiento es la prosa llana, un nivel más fácil de mantener porque es más
natural. Muy contento estoy de no sobresalir, de aferrarme al suelo, de ser se
mejante a la tierra. Mi alma serpentea cómodamente en la tierra y la arena, y
es feliz. A veces, cuando se embriaga uno con esta tierra, el espíritu parece tan
ligero que cree que es el cielo. Pero en la realidad pocas veces se alza dos
metros sobre el suelo.

También me habría gustado escribir el libro entero en forma de diálogo
como los de Platón. Es una forma muy conveniente para las revelaciones
personales, inadvertidas, para apuntar las significativas trivialidades de nuestra
vida diaria, y sobre todo para un ocioso ambular por los prados del pensamiento
dulce, silencioso. Pero no lo he hecho. No sé por qué. Por el temor
acaso, de que por estar tan poco de moda hoy esta clase de literatura, nadie la
leería probablemente, y a fin de cuentas un escritor quiere ser leído. Y cuando
hablo de diálogo, no quiero decir preguntas y respuestas como en las entrevistas
periodísticas, ni esos copetes tajeados en breves párrafos; quiero decir
discursos realmente buenos, largos, sosegados, que a veces se extienden por
varias páginas, con muchos desvíos y retornos al punto original en discusión por
un atajo en el lugar más inesperado, como un hombre que vuelve a su casa
trepando sobre un seto, con gran sorpresa para su compañero de caminata. jOh,
cómo me encanta volver a casa trepando sobre el seto del fondo, y viajar por
sendas laterales! Al menos, mi compañero admitirá que estoy familiarizado
con el camino a casa y con la campiña que me rodea... Pero no me atrevo.
No soy original. Las ideas manifestadas aquí han sido pensadas y expresa...

Questo libro era nella biblioteca di mio padre. Era una edizione della Bompiani o della Medusa, non ricordo bene. Risaliva agli anni del fascismo. Me ne parlava sempre, ma io ci capivo ben poco. Ero troppo piccolo per capire. Mi ricordo che il titolo mi impressionava molto e mi faceva sentire forte il senso della responsabilità con il quale mio padre lo diceva e sopratutto il modo con il quale poi, per tutta la sua vita, ha veramente dimostrato quanto sia importante "come" vivere. Da grande poi l'ho letto ed ho scoperto che è un libro davvero prezioso. Illumina ed incanta per la sua penetrazione psicologica. Ozio, casa, vita, natura, viaggi, cultura sono solo alcuni dei temi trattati da Lin. Tutto gestito dalla "chiangli" la "ragione che parla" e che controlla tutto ciò che si dice. Tutto il libro è caratterizzato dal senso pratico e comune dei cinesi, una tradizione antica, più antica di quella dell'occidente.

2 Bände

Written in 1935, Lin’s was the first major work by a Chinese to introduce China and her culture to the West. Lin was born in China, but was educated in the West, in the US and Europe. He was a key figure in the New Culture Movement of the 1920s, but after 1935 spent most of his life in the US. He was the compiler of a Chinese - English dictionary which is still one of the most widely used today, and the inventor of the first Chinese language typewriter – a kind of Renaissance Man. He is ideally suited, then, as a kind of insider-outsider to write about his own culture.

The Chinese observer has a distinct advantage over the foreign observer, for he is a Chinese, and as a Chinese he not only sees with his mind but he also feels with his heart… he writes of his mission to observe and explain his birth culture to his adopted culture.

Lin’s book covers subjects as diverse as…

Read the full review on The Lectern

A companion to Lin's [b:My Country and My People|1338084|My Country And My People|Lin Yutang|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1336496483s/1338084.jpg|1327643], The Importance of Living examines how one ought to live one's life to gain maximum enjoyment out of it: in reading, travelling, work, and relaxing.

Lin aims to restore the reader to a more relaxing and leisurely time in which the bustle of the busy modern world is far removed from everyday life. Drawing from a long Chinese tradition, Lin calls us to be humorous, to revere inaction as much as action, and to remember there are plenty of people busying themselves with business. So, relax, take it slow and experience all life has!

Lin Yutang writes here in a systematic approach to a western audience about China and Chinese culture. Still prescient even today, after nearly seventy years, Lin truly understands what it is to be Chinese and conveys that to his audience, and is frank and sincere about China's shortcomings and positives. Highly recommended at the time of its publishing, it ought to remain so today.

Peonia, giovane vedova felice della libertà ritrovata, è uno spirito libero e insaziabile, alla ricerca continua di un amore perfetto. Una Madame Bovary "made in China", ma indifferente alle costrizioni sociali e alla ricerca attiva della propria felicità. Consapevole della propria fisicità e delle proprie emozioni, talvolta crudele nel suo essere totalmente sincera con gli altri e con se stessa, Peonia si fa beffe della "forma" e segue il proprio cuore, non i dettami di una società tradizionalista ed estremamente formale come quella cinese del diciannovesimo (?) secolo.
Mi aspettavo un lieto fine: tutto il romanzo tendeva verso una conclusione felice per Peonia. In un certo senso, le mie aspettative sono state rispettate. In un certo senso.

Molto bello, mi è piaciuto :)

Indeholder "Forord", "Lao Hsiang: Enken Chuan", "Liu O: En nonne fra Taishan", "Lin Yutang: Frøken Tu".

"Forord" handler om ???
"Lao Hsiang: Enken Chuan" handler om ???
"Liu O: En nonne fra Taishan" handler om ???
"Lin Yutang: Frøken Tu" handler om ???

Rather self-indulgent and nothing new under the sun.

Stopped at p. 17 "I have always been impressed by the fact that the most studiously avoided subject in western philosophy is that of happiness."

Since the study of happiness has actually been underway for a while now, and I own a couple of those books, I go with that.

I should say Lin Yutang has a lovely conversational style of writing and a fairly engaging voice. It's just not for me.

A witty and humane book that ranges in the most relaxed of ways over two millenia of Chinese writing about how we should live. Marred only by a short section containing atavistic views abut women, this is a marvellously refreshing rumination about how to be happy.½

Compilation of wisdom literature collected by the Editor. Part One is "Wisdom of India. This includes Hymns from the Rigveda, including the song: "To Liberality" which rings with this truth that "the riches of the liberal never waste away, while he who will not give finds none to comfort him". [25] The Upanishads - "drunk with god", all 12 books of the Ramayana, some humorous Fables, and Buddhist works including the Dhammapada, sermons, parables, sutras, and small Glossary of Hindu words (Vivekananda)--Sanskrit and Pali (which is a "simplified" Sanskrit)[558].

Part Two is the "Wisdom of China". Yutang presents China with an idiosyncratic intensity, as a "culture which has a broad and deep spiritual basis" which is "in a sense mystical". [597] He repudiates the notion of Chinese civilization of Confucius as merely rationalistic. "If by non-mystical is meant the modern servile and shallow worship of mechanistic and materialistic facts, accurately observed and well-tabulated, seemingly sufficient unto themselves, which is the prevalent type of thinking today...". Yutang asserts "The fact is, any branch of knowledge, whether it be the study of rocks and minerals, or the study of cosmic rays, strikes mysticism as soon as it reaches any depth." Citing Dr Carrel and A.S. Eddington. Yutang leads what he believes is a parade toward a "new synthesis of the mechanical and the spiritual, of matter and spirit". [568] His selections reflect this effort.

China had no systematic epistemology or metaphysics; it had to import from India. Chinese philosophers use the language of market slang, and avoid the jargon of academia, usually surfacing parables to make their points. He compares them to Emerson. "China's peculiar contribution to philosophy is the distrust of systematic philosophy." [569] Alan Watts comes to mind.

Chinese Humanism, a Confucian "point of view" is concentrated on human relations (jenlun) with a view to behaving reasonably (tsuo jen). Politics is always subordinated to morals. Force is an invention for the immature. [571] "The thing is so to aim that there shall be no lawsuits" says Confucius.

The sense of morals can be brought about by education, culture, and the cultivation of rituals and music. Excerpts from the Book of History, documents of Chinese Democracy, works of Mencius, Motze, and aphorisms of Confucius.

Yutang suggests a study of the "invasion of the humanities" by scientific materialism. He decries the Comptian "Society is an organism" as having no meaning or use. The search or claims of "fundamental laws" in social sciences is derided.

Seeing the whole world shattered by WWII, Yutang offers this "wisdom" as a tool to rebuild a new world. This work includes "letters of a Chinese Poet", a minor commercial tradesman, which provide an autobiographical picture of family life.

Need to check on these translations. I've worked with "better" [more beautiful in English] for Chuangtze. Appreciate the conviction of Yutang but know little about his life.