Childlike Heart
指人的自然本性，即尚未受到后天教化熏染的纯真坦白的赤子之心。“童心”是晚明思想家李贽（1527—1602）针对理学家虚伪矫情的文风以及复古派崇尚模拟的流弊而提出的文艺创作观念，这一术语主要用于古代文艺创作理论。李贽的“童心说”强调一切好文章均是童心的产物，只有以童心作文，以自然本心为文，才能冲破儒家“发乎情，止乎礼义”的桎梏，创作出天下第一等的好文章。“童心说”既与晚明的个性解放思潮相通，也明显受到王阳明心学的影响，表现在文艺创作上即是追求自然真实之美，反映了人们摆脱礼教束缚、追求自由解放的精神，对晚明时期的文艺创作具有指导意义。
This term refers to a person's innate nature, that is, the pure and true mind of a child not influenced by subsequent enculturation. "Childlike heart" is a concept of literary creation advanced by the late Ming thinker Li Zhi (1527-1602) to counter what he considered the conceited writing style of the Neo-Confucian School of Principle and the dogmatic imitation of the ancients by the Classicist School of Literary Creation. Li Zhi's "childlike heart" claims that all good writing comes from an untarnished heart. Only by writing with a childlike heart, natural and innate, can one break away from the shackles imposed by the Confucian principle that "emotions coming from the heart should be constrained by rites," thus creating first-rate work by any standard. The proposition of "childlike heart" relates both to thoughts on individual emancipation in the late Ming Dynasty, and the influence of Wang Yangming's philosophy of the mind. In literary creation, this“childlike heart” is expressed as a love for natural and pure beauty, reflecting people's desire to shatter the restraints imposed by rites, as well as their will to pursue freedom and liberty. As such, it helped shape literary creation in the late Ming Dynasty.
引例 Citations：
◎夫童心者，绝假纯真，最初一念之本心也。若失却童心，便失却真心；失却真心，便失却真人。（李贽《童心说》）
所谓童心，就是人生来就有的绝无虚假、纯然真诚的本心。如果失去了童心，就会失去真心；失去真心，就会失去成为真正的人的资格。
The so-called childlike heart is the innate heart at birth that is sincere and free from any hypocrisy. If a person loses his childlike heart, he loses his true heart. If he loses his true heart, he loses the qualification to become a true human. (Li Zhi: On Childlike Heart)
◎童心既障，于是发而为言语，则言语不由衷；见而为政事，则政事无根柢；著而为文辞，则文辞不能达。非内含于章美也，非笃实生辉光也，欲求一句有德之言，卒不可得。所以者何？以童心既障，而以从外入者闻见道理为之心也。（李贽《童心说》）
童心既然受到遮蔽，表现在语言上，说话就言不由衷；表现在政事活动上，做事就没有根基；表现在文学创作上，文辞就不能畅达。一个人如果不具有内在的美质，缺乏出于深厚德行的人性光辉，那么指望他说出一句合于道德的话，也是不可能的。这是为什么呢？因为他的童心已经被遮蔽了，后天得到的闻见道理入主了他的心灵。
When the childlike heart is overshadowed, one will not speak honestly when one talks, will not act soundly when one handles political affairs, and will not express well when one engages in literary creation. If a person does not have inner beauty, and lacks a noble personality which is deep-rooted in virtues, then it is impossible to expect him to say even one sentence that is morally appropriate. Why is it so? It is because his childlike heart has been overshadowed by what he sees and hears after birth, which has taken hold of his heart and soul. (Li Zhi: On Childlike Heart)
推荐：教育部 国家语委
供稿：北京外国语大学 外语教学与研究出版社
责任编辑：钱耐安
