在华生活了四十年之久的美国传教士倪维思(John Livingston Nevius,1829-1893)在其著作《中国和中国人》中所说的,若无真正的信仰,“中国人道德的沦丧和灵魂的堕落终将至无以复加的地步”2。倪维思的话有些极端,但他的思想还是值得仔细剖析的,因为这将有助于我们弄清楚长期以来中国人在西方人眼中所形成的复杂形象(尽管这些形象中国人自己可能不认同)。 In his book “China and the Chinese,” John Livingston Nevius (1829-1893), a American missionary who lived in China for forty years, said that if there is no true belief, “the decline of Chinese morality And the fall of the soul will never be added. ” Ni Weisi’s words are rather extreme, but his ideas are worthy of careful analysis because this will help us to understand the complex image that the Chinese have long formed in the eyes of Westerners (though these images may not themselves agree with each other).