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A recognized classic of cultural anthropology, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword paints an illuminating contrast between the civilization of Japan and that of the United States. Exploring the political, religious and economic life of Japan from the seventh century through the mid-twentieth, it shows how the ideology of the Japanese has developed and how it is reflected in the daily manners and customs of their life. It traces the main outlines of Japanese society — their systems of practical ethics, their ideas of good and evil, and the structured disciplines that enable them to live according to their code...
Ruth Benedict was professor of anthropology at Columbia University and one of the most eminent anthropologists of the twentieth century.check holdings in CityU LibraryFind
A recognized classic of cultural anthropology, The Chrysanthemum and the Sword paints an illuminating contrast between the civilization of Japan and that of the United States. Exploring the political, religious and economic life of Japan from the seventh century through the mid-twentieth, it shows how the ideology of the Japanese has developed and how it is reflected in the daily manners and customs of their life. It traces the main outlines of Japanese society — their systems of practical ethics, their ideas of good and evil, and the structured disciplines that enable them to live according to their code...(From the back cover, 1989)
露絲 ．潘乃德 (Ruth Benedict)的「菊花與劍」(The Chrysanthemum and the Sword ―Patterns of Japanese Culture)就是研究日本民族性格、文化模式的名著。
ReplyDelete必須指出的是歷史上有關一個民族與國家的文化與性格的論著，並不新鮮，而且，即使說汗牛充棟，也不過分。就對日本而言，中國有關日本的論文或專著，就已為數不少。「菊花與劍」一書之不同於許多其他論及日本的著作者，乃在於這本書是以昌盛於美國的一個新科學 ―行為科學(behavioral science) ―的方法來寫作的。行為科學是心理學、人類學與社會學的合作，是廿世紀下半以來對於十九世紀的「專門主義」(Specialism)的反動，而趨向於科學的統一 (unity of science)或科際的整合的一種新學術。「菊花與劍」就是在這個學術氣候之中的產物。這本出版於一九四六年，直到今年(一九七四年)我們才欣見中譯本的出版(桂冠圖書公司六十三年四月初版)。
在解釋自卑與進取之間的矛盾上，「菊花與劍」所提供的日本民族性的根源，給了我許多資料與論據。
一個自卑的人若不肯(或未到)自甘墮落，時常表現為極端的愛好榮譽。日本的奮發與進取，就是這樣的情況。日本人很在意世界人士對他們的看法。書中說 「美軍登陸瓜達堪農島時，日本所下的軍令是：現在他們在舉世注目之下，因此必須表現日本人的特色。日本海軍官兵有一條戒令：如果他們受到魚雷攻擊而受令棄艦，那麼在登上救生艇時必須極度遵守禮節，否則『將會受到全世界的嘲笑，美國人會把你們的醜態拍攝下來，送到紐約放映』。他們把世人的觀感看做嚴重的事，而他們對這一點的注重也是深嵌在日本文化之中。」在日本，「 重名譽之人 」就是「知恥之人」就是「有德之人」。
(摘錄至何懷碩的《自卑的罪孽—讀「菊花與劍」隨想》)