中日国民性话题史上的《国民性十论》

Ten talks on national character in the history of topics on national character in China and Japan

关于国民性问题的讨论,是在中国和日本近代化进程中都始终存在的一个重要思想史话题。日本的国民性研究开启于明治时期脱亚入欧引进西学的时代风潮中,并直接启发了中国的国民性思考。中国知识界从日本接受并引入西方的"国民性"概念,以及与此相应的问题意识,从梁启超的"新民说",落实于再造国民性,并以鲁迅的创作,将思想领域的国民性思考赋予文学形式表达,诞生了世界文学史上思想性、艺术性经典。《国民性十论》是明治日本的代表性历史文献,其作者芳贺矢一既是日本近代学术多领域的奠基者,又是当时国民性研究的开拓者和集大成者。他超越了明治维新时期对欧洲文献简单翻译和"山寨"处理的水平,提出"国民性"这一独特的文明批评视角,成为近代日本民族自我认识和自我教育的范本。当时在日本留学的鲁迅、周作人兄弟很快就注意到该书,也正是由于他们看重这一视角。时至今日,在各民族文明大检讨的大视野下,反思当下世界范围的诸多难题,"国民性"这一文明批评视角仍然具有现实意义。

The discussion on national character is a major topic in the history of thought throughout the process of modernization of China and Japan.The study of national character in Japan originated in the trend of escape into Europe during Meiji period,which inspired the thinking on national character in China.Ten talks on national character is a representative historical document in Meiji period.As the founder of many academic fields in modern Japan and the pioneer and leader of the study of national character in that time,Yoshika Yachi,the author of that book,outdistanced the simple translation of European documents and proposed"national character"as a distinctive perspective of the criticism of civilization,which became a model of self-consciousness and selfeducation for modern Japanese people.This perspective soon caught attention of brothers Lu Xun and Zhou Zuoren.Today,the perspective is significant for rethinking profoundly the problems around the world.