Limitlessness / Infinity
無盡,無限?!盁o窮”一詞可用在不同領(lǐng)域表達無盡、無限之義:其一,指空間上沒有邊際;其二,指時間上沒有終結(jié);其三,指事物在數(shù)量、大小等方面沒有窮盡。古人在認(rèn)知“無窮”的同時,也意識到時空與具體事物的“無窮”往往具有相對性。隨著觀察視角的變化,“無窮”可能轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)椤坝懈F”,“有窮”也可能轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)椤盁o窮”。
Wuqiong (無窮), literally "limitlessness," has various meanings: (1) spatial boundlessness; (2) temporal endlessness; and (3) infinity in number, size, and so forth. As they explored limitlessness, the ancients recognized the relativity of the concept in terms of time, space, and other particular things. A switch in perspective may transform limitlessness into limitedness, and vice versa.
引例 Citations:
◎今夫天,斯昭昭之多,及其無窮也,日月星辰系焉,萬物覆焉。(《禮記·中庸》)
天,不過是眾多小小的光明聚積而成的,至于其無窮無盡的境地,日月星辰都懸掛其中,萬物都在其覆蓋之下。
Heaven is but the accumulation of limitless shimmers; when viewed in its limitlessness, the sun, the moon, the stars and the constellations of the zodiac are suspended in heaven, and all the other things are overlayed by it. (The Book of Rites)
◎南方無窮而有窮,今日適越而昔來。(《莊子·天下》)
南方?jīng)]有窮盡又是有窮盡的,今天去越國但昨天已經(jīng)到達了。
The land of the south knows no limits yet does have limits. Today I depart for Yue, but I arrived there yesterday. (Zhuangzi)
推薦:教育部 國家語委
供稿:北京外國語大學(xué) 外語教學(xué)與研究出版社
責(zé)任編輯:錢耐安