醉心研究孔孟思想

2006年10月17日晚，浙江省人民大會堂燈光璀璨，高朋滿座，浙江省友協成立50周年慶典在此舉行。當外賓代表講話時，只見一位身材高大、滿頭銀發、具有學者風度的外賓走上臺來，熱情地說：人在地球各處的存在這個事實告訴我們，應該加強友好交流。這位外賓代表就是德國東方文化研究所負責人、德中友好協會會長波爾教授。

次日，記者在林木蓊郁的花家山賓館采訪波爾會長。握手后我第一句話便是“波爾會長昨天的講話很精彩”。他一笑，機敏地回答：“我把講話的時間縮短，把讀書的時間增加。”這一開場白使得采訪的氣氛輕松而融洽。當問及他與東方文化的結緣時，波爾手捧他著的《孔子》一書，侃侃而談：“我曾在德國大學學哲學，也學數學和文學，當時我想到世界各地人民碰到的問題有共同點，從此我就在關注西方的同時把研究的目光轉向東方，研究東方人民是怎樣提升自己的方法論和中國人的方法論有什么先進性。”

說到這里，我請他談談如何研究中國文化。他不假思索地說：“在德國大學哲學系是沒有東方文化專業的，我是靠自學的。我有一個私人圖書館，里面有我搜集來的多種中國書籍，我每天在自己的圖書館里學東方文化，研究孔孟思想。”說著，他手指《孔子》一書封面上的孔子像說：“孔孟思想對日本有很大影響，這張孔子像是中國贈給日本一所大學的，我將它搜集來做封面。這本書由德中友好協會出版，沒有偏見地介紹儒家思想，傳遞東方信息，啟迪歐洲人對東方文化的興趣。這本書出版后銷售一空，說明東方文化在歐洲頗受歡迎。”

說起德中友好協會舉辦的文化交流活動，波爾會長娓娓而談：“除了出版，德中友好協會還搞論壇和講座，曾舉辦過中日關系、中國婦女問題等講座，在去年舉行的中國教育推介會上，還請中國駐德大使講話。有時講座也講些德國聽眾感興趣的話題，如《西游記》。有的德國企業要求組織觀看中國武術和舞龍，這樣的活動德中友好協會也搞，但我以為搞講座和論壇信息量更大。”

從1985年起，波爾每年都來中國一次，對中國情有獨鐘，他說每次來都感到中國變化大，發展速度快。這次在浙江杭州，他先后去了南宋皇城遺址公園和中國絲綢博物館，還沿著西湖仔細觀賞一番，整個心靈完全被吸引住了。他說太美了，這是“一種有靈魂的美”。許多景觀的建筑物都是新的，景點是美的，這些建筑物和景點都有歷史文化的靈魂，杭州把美景和歷史信息一并展現給中外游客，杭州做得真好。

Gregot Paul: German Scholar of Confucianism

By Zhao Zheng， our staff reporter

On the evening of October 17， 2006， a grand banquet was held at the Great Hall of the People of Zhejiang Province in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Zhejiang People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries. Professor Gregot Paul， director of the German Oriental Cultures Research Institute and president of the Germany-China Friendship Association， spoke on behalf of the foreign guests present at the banquet. “The fact that all the people share the whole earth tells us that we should strengthen friendly exchanges，” he remarked.

I met with the professor the next day at Huajiashan Hotel on the West Lake. I began by commenting on his brilliant speech at the banquet the night before and he said he had deliberately made the speech short so that he could find more time to read. We smiled and the conversation became free and harmonious. When asked how he began to study the oriental cultures， he explained that he studied philosophy in a French university and then studied mathematics and literature. The studies enabled him to see the similarities shared by West and East. He began to learn how the peoples in the East enhanced their methodological theories and how advanced， in particular， the Chinese methodology was. Now， the professor loves oriental classics.

I asked him to comment on his Chinese studies. The professor observed that philosophy departments in German universities did not offer studies of the oriental cultures. He is a self-made Orientalist. Now he has built a private library with a collection of books on China， where he carries out his daily studies on Confucius and Mencius.

Professor Gregot Paul proceeded to explain the book he had written， a copy of which was in his hand when we talked. The book has a Confucius portrait as the frontpiece in the title page. Published by the German-China Friendship Association， it introduces Confucianism without bias and imparts oriental messages to the Europeans. This book was a best seller.

When talking about cultural exchange activities between Germany and China， the president said that， in addition to publications， the association also holds forums and lectures at regular intervals. For example， the association has held forums on the Sino-Japan relations and the issues of Chinese women. Some forums were organized to offer insight into the special aspects of the Chinese culture that interest the German people. For example， a forum was held on the Journey to the West， a classic Chinese novel. On a few occasions， the association had organized martial arts and lion dancing shows. The president said: “I personally prefer forums to other activities， because they offer more detailed and concrete information on China.”

Since 1985， Professor Gregot Paul has been able to pay an annual visit to China. He has witnessed the fast development and tremendous changes in the great oriental country. During this latest visit， he had visited the Southern Song Dynasty Palace Site Park and the China Silk Museum in Hangzhou and took a tour around the West Lake. He expressed his total fascination for the beautiful scenery and new architecture around the lake. He commented: “This beauty comes from the soul， from which one can look into the history and culture of the ancient city Hangzhou.”

(Translated by David)