林巍·《日本人的“耳的文化”》英译

日本式的“莫言”和“微笑”是有名的，有人对此难以忍受。有人曾忿忿地对我说：跟日本人讲话太累了，简直不知道他们在想什么！

中国人有“口才好”一说，但却没有“听才好”，而日本人则有“善聴”的说法。在与日本人的交谈中，他们会不断地点头说 “はい、はい”（是的、对的），但这并不代表他们同意你的观点，而只是表面“是的，我在听你讲话”。

如果说，中国人善说是一种“口的文化”，那么日本人的善听则是“耳的文化”。在日本看电视，很少看到在中国及其他西方国家的那种唇枪舌战的场面，这大概是出于民族性格的原因。他们善于默默地听，把他人的东西拿来，化为己用。

如同在中国近代史上有“中学为体，西学为用”的讲法，在日本也曾奉行“和魂漢才”的信条，即以日本人的精神为本，学习中国的知识和技术。近代以后，又有了“和魂洋才”，即以日本人固有的精神，学习西方的文明。

有这样一个段子流传着：英国人作诗，法国人作曲，德国人演奏，意大利人唱歌，美国人付钱来听，而日本人则会一边鼓掌一边喊“再来一次！”看来，善听与善学，有着某种内在的关系。

Japanese Listening Culture

Lin Wei

The Japanese are said to have inscrutable grins and silence unbearable to foreigners. Someone told me uneasily that “I am sick of talking to Japanese! You have absolutely no idea of what’s going on in their mind”.

In Chinese there is a term for eloquence—kou cai hao (have a talent for speaking), but no such thing as ting cai hao (have a talent for listening), however this is the case in Japanese (zen chou). During conversation, a Japanese constantly nods and says “hai, hai” (yes, yes), which may not mean he agrees with everything you’ve just said, but merely indicates, “I am listening to you”.

Perhaps we may put it in this way, Chinese culture is best presented as a speaking culture, whereas Japanese culture may be described as a listening culture. On the Japanese television screen, you rarely see a lively scene of people engaged in a battle of words, as often appears in China and in Western countries. It’s perhaps due to their national characteristic that Japanese are good at quietly listening and efficiently taking in for their own sake.

A tenet in modern Chinese history is “rooted in Chineseness while taking in Western techniques as a means”. Similarly, in Japan there was a creed in ancient times, “taking Japaneseness as the soul while learning Chinese skills”, which in modern times shifted to “taking Japaneseness as the soul while learning Western civilization”.

There is a popular passage: while British write poems, French compose, Germans perform and Italians sing, Americans pay for listening, and the only thing the Japanese can do is to shout out “one more!” while clapping. A good listener and a good learner are surely mutually beneficial.

（林巍 译）