Montaigne's Sketches - Excerpts from the Translations and Works of Liang Zongdai (Illustrated Edition)

Author: Montaigne
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2006-12-01
Features: The Essays is a monumental work spanning millions of words, yet its preface To the Reader is remarkably brief, barely filling half a page when typeset. The tone is modest, claiming it is written for family and friends, with no ambition for fame. In a word, it was an accidental creation. In the spring of 1580, he compiled his writings, which he jokingly called "salted meat" and "firewood," into two volumes and titled Essays. The original intention was to reflect on and judge life experiences, thoughts, and current realities. However, The Essays not only introduced a new literary form called Essai but also revolutionized how philosophy was expressed. While Plato's philosophy was conveyed through dialogues and Seneca's through letters, Montaigne's philosophy took the form of Essai to contemplate, quote, and depict the great and small events of reality. In the Middle Ages, when media was underdeveloped, The Essays spread rapidly after its publication. It shocked, amazed, and captivated its contemporaries, revealing a wise book filled with countless maxims and encompassing infinite thoughts. His quotations were vividly described by the Argentine poet Borges as follows: "A bee gathers flowers everywhere and turns them into honey, making everything its own." This book is also like a delicate artwork, blending literature, history, and philosophy. It is worth noting that France's oldest literary work, The Song of Roland (La Chanson de Roland), appeared around 1150, created collectively by unknown authors without a distinct personality, with somewhat monotonous verses. The Tale of Renart (Le Roman de Renart) was also a collectively written allegorical work, completed between 1174 and 1250. In fact, the French language took shape only in the ninth century, with the oldest surviving document being the Strasbourg Oath (Les Serments de Strasbourg) from 842. During this early stage, both the use of language and literary creation were simple and straightforward. It was not until the sixteenth century with figures like Fran?ois Rabelais, Pierre de Ronsard, and Montaigne that French literature reached an extraordinary level of perfection. The appearance of The Essays was undoubtedly a milestone. This book quickly gained international recognition, translated into Italian and English, marking the beginning of a new era in European prose and essay writing. Later philosophers, thinkers, and critics, such as Blaise Pascal, Montesquieu, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau in France, and Francis Bacon in England, formed a group of intellectual leaders. Despite some of them murmuring behind Montaigne's back, they ultimately drew sustenance from his intellectual pasture. Montaigne regarded this book as a method of applying knowledge and using the mind, but its publication was a literary event. The genius of the author lies in his ability to convey complex philosophical ideas without academic jargon or verbose discourse. Instead, he employed vivid literary language and techniques, using ordinary and natural life experiences to explain intricate and fluctuating thoughts: "Like an untamed horse, it runs faster for itself than for others; thus, countless demons and monsters emerge, chaotic and aimless, one after another. To leisurely contemplate their absurdity, I have begun to write them down, hoping to use them to shame it later."① Montaigne sought to simplify and lighten philosophy, making it relevant to life and human existence. "Among philosophical doctrines, I prefer those that are grounded, that truly align with human nature and suit us." Yet, it was not a systematic philosophy but a fragmented, individualized philosophy of life. His pen followed the rhythm of daily life and thought, unpretentious, unemotional, and free from poetic embellishments. His method of thinking was his method of expression. Montaigne was a writer of only one book, yet this book presented multiple facets to the world. In the seventeenth century, Montaigne's naturalness and integrity were highly praised, and The Essays became a bestseller, but in 1676, it was secretly listed as a banned book by the Church. Montaigne did not directly criticize Catholicism but believed that human existence was accidental. He revered the forces that maintained the order of nature. "Those stars not only govern our lives and destinies but also influence our inclinations, words, and intentions," he wrote. "A slight movement in the heavens could bring the entire world to ruin." As for the supernatural god, he was shaped according to human needs and appearances, marked by worldly signs, and an incomprehensible natural force, so Montaigne remarked, "I prefer those who worship the sun." Theologians quickly labeled Montaigne as an atheist, replacing theism with naturalism. For seventy years, The Essays was not republished in France. Blaise Pascal, who rose to fame by criticizing Montaigne, attacked his humanism and mechanicism with his own rationalism, sometimes praising and sometimes condemning him, depending on his mood. Others criticized the author for writing too much about himself, for the disorganized structure of his essays, for his rough language, and for being sexually suggestive. His bold honesty was also accused of being revolutionary and subversive. Yet, generations of readers found in The Essays a mirror reflecting their own images. It was called "the bedside book of the upright," a unique work. Montaigne's appearance in medieval France was like Homer's in ancient Greece; both played a foundational role in European literature, with worldwide influence. In 1571, Montaigne resigned from his parliamentary duties and returned to his hometown. "We have lived enough for others; now let us live for ourselves. The most important thing in the world is knowing how to give ourselves to ourselves." After resigning from his parliamentary post, he devoted nine years to studying, reading, and taking notes. Initially, these were diary-style records, but he later discovered that reflection was a method of self-analysis and self-positioning, leading him to compile these writings into a book. First published in 1580, it was reprinted in 1582, 1587, and 1588. After his European travels and four years as mayor of Bordeaux, he continued writing, eventually compiling the third volume and supplementing the first and second with six hundred additions. Throughout his life, he engaged in constant revision, supplementation, and deletion until his death in 1592. His unfinished manuscripts were edited by his adopted daughter, Marie Gourney, and published as a three-volume complete edition in 1595. Although his revisions never ceased, the three volumes each had distinct characteristics, not unified by a single philosophical thread. The first volume is dominated by ethical and moral philosophy, reflecting on life, death, and the barbarity and civilization of humanity. He advocates self-restraint, quoting Antisthenes: "Virtue is sufficient for itself: without rules, without language, without effect." He insists that in any activity, pleasure must be tempered with moderation. "Let us not let pleasure overwhelm us, so that we forget that our entertainment is often just the prelude to death." Montaigne maintains a moderate and timely tone, even rejecting eternal values and praising mediocrity. Critics note that Stoicism, or asceticism, guides the first volume. His close friend, étienne La Boétie, a proponent of Stoicism and a worshipper of death, deeply influenced Montaigne. "Philosophy is nothing other than preparing for death," Cicero once said, and this greatly resonated with La Boétie. Although Montaigne believed that death was merely the other pole of life, not its purpose, and that "happiness is our goal, though the methods vary," he was fascinated by La Boétie's courage, leading him to explore the theme of death and the heroic attitude of those facing it with profound depth. Montaigne wrote about the world he lived in—a small world of individuals and a vast external world—discovering its unpredictability, blindness, and contradictions in life and observation. "The era I live in has brought countless unimaginable evils through civil wars, with some people acting cruelly and unjustly, killing for pleasure." Humanity in this world appears powerless, indecisive, and elusive, often muddled and ignorant, yet inherently arrogant and self-important, imposing a certain dignity on their so-called greatness. "Humans are arrogant, unable to create even a small insect, yet they create countless gods." He also pointed out humanity's cruelty, sometimes even worse than that of animals. A lion does not kill another lion to demonstrate bravery, but humans are warlike, engaging in internecine strife, extermination, and claiming that "striving with others brings joy." "I fear that human nature contains inhuman instincts," and he posed the question: "Who am I? Who are we?" His profound knowledge of Latin and Greek provided him with examples: humans are foolish and a pitiful species. He analyzed this animal, the human, with relentless scrutiny, exposing its countless vices. He believed that humans are not the center of the universe. "Humans seem capable of measuring everything, yet they fail to measure themselves." Montaigne advocated placing humans back in their rightful place within the honest and tolerant natural world. In that era, while science was advancing and Copernicus's posthumous work On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres was published, inventions and religious conflicts, along with the violence they stirred, made Montaigne feel that truth was fleeting. The tide of new things replaced the old, everything was relative, temporary, and uncertain. The world was changing as people's understanding and judgment of new things evolved, and absolute truth did not exist. "‘What do I know?’" he wrote this as a maxim on a balance scale." After La Boétie's death at the age of thirty-three, Montaigne began to feel weary of the world. "Since I lost him that day, my life has been a mere struggle for survival," he wrote. "I have grown so accustomed to being his second self at all times that I feel like only half a person." As for the larger world, the hope and vitality brought by the Renaissance seemed to have vanished, replaced by chaos that reduced nations to ruins, leaving him disappointed. Faced with this situation, reason was powerless, and laws were often barbaric and absurd. His values began to waver, and Montaigne's era of skepticism began. He claimed, "Our only certain knowledge is that we know nothing." His skeptical thoughts were strongly expressed in the second volume, A Defense of Raymond Sebonde. In 1569, at his father's request, Montaigne translated Raymond Sebonde's Natural Theology from Latin to French. This work, written in the fifteenth century in Spain, approached the subject from a reverse angle to expose human arrogance, weakness, and misfortune. He quoted Plato, pointing out that our senses are limited, our intellect insufficient, life too short, and our strength unable to reach truth. What we think we know is illusory, while what we do not know is real. The ignorance of our own ignorance is a tragedy. On the surface, Montaigne appeared to be a devout Catholic, but witnessing the religious wars of his time forced him to acknowledge, "There is nothing more hostile than Christians." Especially, "The purpose of religion was to eliminate evil, but now it conceals, nourishes, and incites it." He took a detached attitude toward religion and politics. His numerous statements made it difficult to believe that Montaigne was a true Christian. In the chapter A Defense of Raymond Sebonde, he reflected on the value of humans, nature, and science from the perspective of an ordinary person. This chapter occupies one-third of the second volume, and skepticism permeates the entire book. His relationship with the political circles, apart from ideological differences, made him realize that he was not someone who could thrive in the court for long. He discovered that even kings were vulnerable to the tyranny of petty men. As a gentleman, he was freer in his own domain than a king. The so-called integrity of religion and politics was only loyal to himself. In 1571, at the age of thirty-eight, he decided to resign from his parliamentary duties, preferring personal independence and opinions to a life of subservience to politics. He devoted himself to writing, reading, and managing his castle and gardens. Initially, these writings were diary-style records, but he later realized that reflection was a method of self-analysis and self-positioning, leading him to compile these notes into a book. The third volume of The Essays was written intermittently during his two terms as mayor of Bordeaux after a long journey of over seventeen months. While the first and second volumes maintained a balanced and measured tone, the third volume was more direct and bold, with its statements clearly out of place for the time, even provocative. In this volume, the author himself takes center stage, discussing his travels across several European countries. "During the heat, I set out at night, traveling from sunset to sunrise." He regarded travel as beneficial exercise, keeping him attentive to new things he had never seen. But for other reasons, "I am well aware of what I am avoiding, but I do not know what I am looking for." The social realities he witnessed during his travels, the chaos caused by war, became the themes of his writing. "Civil wars have created a worse situation than other wars, driving us to our home towers and disrupting our peace, which is unbearable." He pointed out the instability and insecurity everywhere. In a world filled with war, violence, deception, and pretense, the search for truth was absurd. He exposed hypocrisy, while hypocrites worked even harder to expose it. Montaigne maintained a distance, recording his own situation and observations. He also wrote about his experiences in municipal affairs, frankly admitting the difficulties of a scholar in politics: "I once tried to serve the public with my life's beliefs and principles, but soon realized that it was an academic and naive doctrine, both useless and dangerous. To enter the crowd, one must clasp one's arms tightly, turn left and right, advance or retreat, even deviate from the straight path, depending on the circumstances." This way of living according to others' wishes was in stark contrast to his own free and leisurely nature. He also wrote about writing, praising the carefree and unpredictable style. "My style and thoughts are un, wandering and unpredictable." The free and flexible thinking in the third volume made Montaigne's ideas seem ahead of his time, as if he were living among us. In the sixteenth century, the Spanish colonized Argentina, the British began to colonize India, and the Portuguese attempted to occupy Morocco. Montaigne opposed wars fought in the name of a certain belief, in reality serving the interests of a group. In short, he opposed colonial wars, pointing out that the conquest of the so-called barbarians by civilization was imposing one's own laws on others. He was also one of the earliest opponents of torture, arguing that killing one to warn others was both cruel and foolish. The constant appearance of cruelty was the reason for the decline of the era. In matters of love and marriage, he pointed out that the laws and social conventions imposed by men on women to submit were severely restraining women's natural inclinations. He saw the benefits of divorce in making men understand that they could lose their wives. He quoted Plato and Antisthenes, arguing that women had the right to participate in all forms of social work. Montaigne opposed the unfairness of the law, "The maintenance of legal credibility does not depend on its correctness but on its being the law. They are often formulated by fools." He opposed the dogmas of the spirit and religion, social hierarchies, and the barbarity of the civilized. Montaigne anticipated everything that modern protesters would shout on the streets centuries later. In fact, the sixteenth century wasing a new dawn, breaking free from the dark age of barbarism, and stepping into a new century of hope. Montaigne was fully aware of this. Therefore, while he spoke of losing hope, he also wisely forged new paths in the midst of contradictions. He did not entirely reject that era. Once the beams are removed, the house will collapse. He preferred to absorb the spirit of humanism and turn to personal introspection, starting from life experiences to discuss his passion for knowledge and his deep belief in progress, willing to return to the true source and seek the treasures of civilization in ancient texts. He advocated diligence and opposed procrastination, believing that possibilities could be seized and that those who only learn through were not true wise ones. While the first and second volumes explored moral and ethical philosophy, discussing how to die beautifully, the third volume delved into how to live better. Montaigne gradually shifted from the philosophy of death to the philosophy of life. Initially influenced by the fervor of young people and his close friend La Boétie, later by his indifference to the so-called wise, "What do I know?" became the center of his thoughts. Then, due to the instability of the external environment and his advancing age, plagued by illness and injuries from a fall, he became more balanced, tranquil, and content, increasingly appreciating the enjoyment of life and body. In an era filled with war and the Black Death, learning to avoid disasters, control anxieties, seize the present moment, and enjoy life without letting happiness slip away was inevitable. Moreover, in Montaigne's view, the soul and body were inseparable. To pursue only the immortality of the soul while despising the body was to split a living person in two. "Everything in conformity with nature is worthy of respect," but the union of soul and body must be noble and rational. Since "nature is a gentle guide," once instincts awaken, they cannot be mistaken. To enjoy the happiness of nature is a right and an obligation. If the first volume was Stoic, and the second was skeptical, the third was considered hedonistic. He repeatedly emphasized the natural attributes of humans, making the art of living his primary focus. Montaigne's awareness of death and his pursuit of the art of living formed the unique artistic style of The Essays. The art of living was a recurring theme throughout the book, even when discussing death, it was about finding a good way of life. His art of living revolved around the idea that humans must understand what "nature" means. Nature encompassed the laws of overall life as well as natural functions and pleasures. Food and sex were a harmonious balance, and rejecting or excluding either was wrong—life must be lived in accordance with nature. Montaigne, this sixteenth-century pioneer, praised the happiness of the primitive but insisted that it must first be civilized and rational. Montaigne wrote about himself in the book, attempting to portray humanity through his own depiction. He made readers generalize from himself. His portrayal of himself was not simple or linear but complex, exploring various aspects filled with personal impressions and experiences. He pursued solitude but also craved friendship; he admired ancient heroes but admitted his fear of death and pain; he came from a noble family but refused to serve politics; he despised human weaknesses, and many of the historical figures he depicted had corrupt souls and twisted hearts, yet he still advocated treating people from a concrete, ordinary, and secular perspective, because the perfect person does not exist, and everyone is an ordinary and mediocre individual. We can only accept people as they are, know ourselves, be ourselves, and be the type of person nature has made us. Humans cannot be transformed; they can only roll within their natural attributes. This was Montaigne's wisdom. The Essays covers the vast expanse of the universe and the past, with knowledge and philosophy woven into a wide tapestry. Yet, from the bottom of the overall writing, two small melodies emerge—one is a remembrance of his close friend La Boétie, and the other is his admiration for Socrates. La Boétie was a humanist, like Montaigne, also a judge. His work Discourse on Voluntary Servitude was a critique of tyranny. To honor his friendship with La Boétie, Montaigne wrote On Friendship. Montaigne himself felt, "Our souls walk so consistently together, and I trust him more than I trust myself," and "Beyond what I can say, beyond what I can particularly explain, there is an unknowable, fateful force that mediates this bond." He took friendship to its extreme. He believed that fatherhood lacked equality and could not lead to true communication; as for marriage, it was not only a trade with only an entrance but often driven by other motives. As for friendship, it was a choice of free will, a spiritual connection, concerned only with itself, without any other interests involved. He was deeply influenced by his thoughts, and from his perspective, he also saw himself. After La Boétie's death, to fill the void in his spiritual life and prove himself, he devoted himself to writing. Critics noted that Montaigne and La Boétie's relationship was far from accidental; without this friendship, there would have been no Montaigne and his The Essays. Readers could easily notice that the name "Socrates" appeared frequently in the book, with some statistics indicating it appeared over a hundred times. He praised Alexander the Great as "the greatest of the ordinary men," and called Epaminondas "the most outstanding of the outstanding." As for Socrates, he was a man with a secret mission, his mysterious light shining over certain chapters. In Montaigne's eyes, he was the most perfect human, a saint of humanity. "A model of all excellent qualities." A book containing infinite thoughts gave rise to an infinite Montaigne. It was said that the success of The Essays was the success of the author's personality, the two inseparable; its uniqueness also lay in being ancient yet forever modern. Montaigne pointed out that Homer's poetry was unparalleled and both the first and the perfect. Could we not also consider that a book like The Essays might never appear again in the world of prose? The first person to introduce Montaigne to China was the teacher Liang Zongdai. Essai is generally translated as "sketch, essay, or," but the teacher Zongdai translated it as "," which seemed most. In 1933, he wrote Commemorating Montaigne's 400th Birthday and included a translation in the inaugural issue of the Literature magazine. He highly praised Montaigne, calling it "a unique, light, natural, and winding essay." Like Rabelais, he drew on and developed the philosophy and ethics of ancient Greece and Rome. In 1935, Mr. Zheng Zhenduo, who edited the World Library, included twenty-one of his translations under the title Montaigne's Prose, distributed across volumes 7 to 12. After that, the teacher Zongdai continued to translate and revise, accumulating over two million words of manuscript, all of which were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, leaving only the translations published, which are included in this collection, consisting of twenty-two essays. The number is small, but it was carefully selected, encompassing the essence of the Essays from the first volume of the complete works. The translations are elegant yet un, capturing Montaigne's style. Based on the original French, we have supplemented the necessary notes, corrected some omissions in previous publications, and standardized individual translations. To prepare for this book, the author traveled to the western region of France, the Bordeaux area, to visit Montaigne's former home and personally understand the specific environment in which this philosopher lived and wrote. He collected the ancient Greek and Roman maxims inscribed on the beams of Montaigne's house and translated them into Chinese, hoping to add a touch of interest to the teacher Zongdai's translations. (The visit record From Noble Teacher to Philosopher is included at the end of this book.)