The Gibbon in China. An Essay in Chinese Animal Lore

by Robert van Gulik

“两岸猿声啼不住，轻舟已过万重山”是少年时熟读成诵的诗句，“风急天高猿啸哀，渚清沙白鸟飞回”“五月不可触，猿声天上哀”同样为人耳熟能详。长臂猿的形象不仅见于万口相传的李杜诗篇，更出现在诸多古典文学作品和文献之中，显示了中国士大夫阶层对它的情有独钟。性高洁、重人伦和善采气的长臂猿，似乎出尘脱俗，不仅贴合了士大夫们的审美趣味，甚至寄托了他们的理想。

长臂猿是否真的就是文学作品中的那种形象？荷兰著名汉学家高罗佩通过长时间亲身饲养长臂猿的经历，给出了自己的解答：所谓猿啸哀、猿连肱涧饮、猿善而猴恶、猿通臂，都是古代文学中的认知误区！高氏更对三千年来中国文学、图像中的猿意象广征博采、博观约取，横跨文学、史学、动物学和艺术学等领域，提炼出了中国士人崇猿的渊源与理念，以及长臂猿在中国文化史上的地位和人、猿关系的变迁。这一切，都使得高罗佩的这本“爱之作”独出机杼，并饶有趣味。

对古典文学感兴趣的读者从中可以收获别样视角下的研究范本，对动物感兴趣的读者能够从中体会到野生动物世界的横生妙趣，研究汉学者更会从中体会到中西文化交流碰撞出的火花。这部绝不刻板、字里行间满溢感情的作品，将颠覆你对长臂猿和“汉学研究”的认知。

Hardcover

Published January 1, 1967

About the author

Robert Hans van Gulik was a Dutch diplomat best known for his Judge Dee stories. His first published book, The Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee, was a translation of an eighteenth-century Chinese murder mystery by an unknown author; he went on to write new mysteries for Judge Dee, a character based on a historical figure from the seventh century. He also wrote academic books, mostly on Chinese history.

Reviews

[ﺭ · Rating 5 out of 5]

好書一夲意外發現內容涵蓋猨猴習性華夏地帶人文歷史書畫字源作者手寫生僻異字屢引古文博聞彊識別出新裁鄙人與㞢產生共鳴津津有味

[Ring Chime · Rating 3 out of 5]

It should be noted that my experience reading this was in some ways negatively impacted by the fact that I was reading a scanned-in document in PDF format, as well as by the fact that rather than Pinyin, they used the old system of romanization. This text covered some of the same ground that other texts that I've read have covered, including the collection of articles known as Animals Through Chinese History: Earliest Times to 1911, but I nevertheless found it interesting and entertaining. The text covers aspects of the actual behavior of the gibbon in comparison to other kinds of animals and the cultural context for why the gibbon was viewed the way it was, its historical range, and the cultural representations both negative and positive about the gibbon in China.