Chinese practice
殊途同歸
(shu1 tu2 tong2 gui1)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
照片:維基共享資源
different routes to the same destination
義大利羅馬市中心曾有一座以大理石或鍍金青銅所製成的紀念碑,為羅馬帝國第一位皇帝奧古斯都於西元前二十年所建。這座紀念碑被命名為「Milliarium Aureum」(或「黃金里程碑」),它代表了羅馬帝國公路系統的中心點,羅馬的公路由此中心向外延伸至所有其他主要城市。羅馬帝國全盛時期,版圖包括現今大部分歐洲,西迄葡萄牙、東及德國、南及北非與中東、北至今英格蘭北部。所有的道路,無論是支線或主要輻射分支,都直接通往羅馬,讓首都得以連結所有地方,即便是最偏遠處。
我們所知第一次引用「all roads lead to Rome」(所有的路都通往羅馬)的拉丁文的出版品,是法國神學家及詩人阿蘭‧德‧里爾(約西元一一二八~一一○二/○三年)所著的《Liber Parabolarum》(比喻之書),其中有一個寓言,便是以「Mille viae ducunt hominem per saecula Roman」起頭,譯文如下:
上千條的路都引領人通向羅馬
為那些想要全心尋求主的人
有一條直通山頂的小路,山坡上佈滿了荊棘。
還有一條步道布滿粗糙的石頭,日復一日磨難和刮傷腳底。
還有一條穿越大海的路,一條穿越荒野的路,
穿過岩石間的深谷,穿過腳難以走過的地方。
穿過森林和隱蔽的地方,穿過可怕的野獸出沒的地方,
在荊棘和薊之間,穿過泥濘的地方。
在這個比喻中,我們已可見這句話是用來作隱喻,表示有很多可能的途徑、方法和手段來實現相同的目標。
因此,「all roads lead to Rome」這具有歷史背景的短語,現今當作隱喻使用,指許多途徑都通往相同的目的。。
「All roads lead to Rome」一語的廣泛流傳,讓中文也有了「條條大路通羅馬」的說法。其實中文另有一個道地的成語「殊途同歸」,表達了非常相近的意義。「殊途同歸」出自《易經.繫辭下》:「天下何思何慮?天下同歸而殊塗(通『途』),一致而百慮。」(天下的事物,有什麼可以困擾憂慮?天下萬物同歸於一個好的理想目標,雖然有百種不同的思慮,採用的方法不同,但所得到的結果都是相同的。)
清末提出「師夷之長技以制夷」,並著有《海國圖志》的啟蒙思想家魏源(西元一七九四~一八五七年),在其哲學思想著作《默觚》(作於西元一八三五~一八三九)的〈學篇十一〉也說道:「是以君子之學,先立其大而小者從令,致專於一,則殊途同歸。」(君子做學問的方式,是先抓住大的方向,細節部分則依此大方向進行,因此得以專注在同一個方向,即便採取的途徑不同,也都會達到同一個目標)。 (台北時報林俐凱譯)
有人說自然學科和人文學科看似涇渭分明,但其實殊途同歸,最終都是探索未知的哲學。
(Some say the natural sciences and the humanities are distinct disciplines, but they are essentially both philosophical enquiries exploring the unknown.)
兩國的貨幣政策殊途同歸,甲國降息以鼓勵投資,乙國升息以鼓勵儲蓄,都是在建立健全的經濟體質。
(The two countries’ monetary policies have the same goal, with Country A lowering interest rates to encourage investment and Country B increasing interest rates to encourage saving. The idea is to get the economy on a strong footing.)
英文練習
all roads lead to Rome
In the center of Rome, a monument made of marble, or perhaps gilded bronze, was once erected by the empire’s first emperor Caesar Augustus in 20 BC. This monument was named the Milliarium Aureum, or “Golden Milestone” and it represented the point from which the Roman road system extended out to all the major cities. At its full extent, the Roman Empire would eventually extend through much of what is now Europe — as far west as Portugal and east into Germany — south into north Africa and the Middle East, and north as far as what is now northern England. All roads, either feeder routes or the main radial branches leading directly to Rome, kept the capital in contact with even the most far-flung places.
The first known published reference to the phrase “all roads lead to Rome,” in Latin, was in the Liber Parabolarum (Book of Parables) by the French theologian and poet Alain de Lille (c. 1128 – 1202/03), in a parable starting with the phrase Mille viae ducunt hominem per saecula Romam, and translated thus:
A thousand roads lead men forever to Rome
For those who want to seek the Lord with all your heart
There is a path that leads directly over to the top of the mountains with its slopes full of brambles and thorns.
And also a footpath that rough stone makes rough and scrapes every day the soles of the feet.
There is also a path across the sea, a path across the wilderness,
Across deep valleys, between rocks, across hard places for feet.
Across forests and hidden places, across places which fearsome beasts walk,
Among thorns and thistles, across muddy places.
In this parable, we already see the metaphorical use of the term to mean there are many possible ways, methods and means to achieving the same goal.
The phrase “all roads lead to Rome,” then, has a historical basis, and is now used in the metaphorical sense of many paths leading to the same end.
The phrase itself has found itself in far-flung places, too, entering Chinese, for example, as 條條大路通羅馬. The Chinese language already had an idiom carrying a very close sentiment, however: 殊途同歸. This idiom derives from the Great Treastise II commentary of the ancient Chinese divination classic the Book of Changes, or yijing, in which it says, 天下何思何慮?天下同歸而殊塗,一致而百慮 (what is there for anything in this world to concern itself over? All things come down to an ideal goal, and although there are 100 concerns, employing different methods, the eventual result is always the same).
The late Qing Dynasty thinker Wei Yuan (1794 - 1857) was progenitor of the idea the Qing should master the advanced technologies of the Western powers and ultimately use these against them, and author of the haiguo tuzhi (Atlas and Annals of Overseas Countries). In Chapter 11 on the section on scholarship of his philosophical work mogu, he wrote 是以君子之學,先立其大而小者從令,致專於一,則殊途同歸 (the scholar approaches study by first grasping the general direction of a thing, and the details are looked at within the context of this trajectory; concentrating on this general direction, even if taking different paths, one will always arrive at the same goal).(Paul Cooper, Taipei Times)
I’ll leave the details of the project planning to you. Proceed as you see fit. All roads lead to Rome, as they say.
(專案規劃的細節就交給你辦了,用你覺得合適的方法進行就好,所謂條條大路通羅馬。)
Yeah, he’s very eccentric, but give him a break. All roads lead to Rome.
(對啦,他這人是很怪沒錯,但是饒了他吧,只要他最後把事給辦好就行了。)
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