什么是慈善?在中国古代的典籍中,“慈”与“善”两个词最初是分开使用的。“慈”的含义比较丰富,就其源流来说,大致有三种。一是指母亲,古人常称自己的母亲为家慈。二是指子女对父母的孝敬奉养,如《庄子·渔父》云:“事亲则慈孝”。三是指父母的爱,《新书·道术》曰:“亲爱利子谓之慈”。“善”的本义是“吉祥”、“美好”,与之相对的词是“恶”,如《尚书》即有“彰善瘅恶”之句。孔子亦云:“不如乡人之善者好之,其不善者恶之。”后来,“善”被引申为友好亲善,品行高尚。从语源学的角度看,“慈”与“善”虽有一定的区别,但在长期的演进过程中,两者的字义渐趋相近,均包含有仁慈、善良、富有同情心的意思。到南北朝时期,“慈”与“善”常常并列言之,于是便有了“慈善”这 What is charity? In the ancient Chinese classics, the words “mercy” and “goodness” were initially used separately. The meaning of “Ci” is rather rich, and there are roughly three types of “Ci”. One refers to the mother, the ancients often call their mothers mercy. Second, refers to their children filial piety to their parents, such as “Zhuangzi fisherman” cloud: “thing is kind and filial piety.” Third, refers to the love of parents, “New Book Taoism” said: “Dear Lee Zi means the mercy.” The original meaning of “good” is “auspicious” and “beautiful”, while the opposite is “evil”. For example, “Shang Shu” means “good and evil”. Confucius also said: “It is not as good as the good of the people of the country, but its evil is not good.” Later, “goodness” was extended to friendship and goodwill, noble character. From the perspective of etymology, although there is a certain difference between “mercy” and “goodness”, in the long-term evolution, the meanings of the two are similar and include the meaning of kindness, kindness and compassion. By the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, “mercy” and “goodness” often juxtaposed, so there was “charity”