Rugby School Member Excerpt from an interview with Wang Xiaobo in 1992:
Q: “Do you think that there are two ways of thinking, one is Eastern and the other one is Western? Can you distinguish, or do you think this statement is just nonsense?
A: “I think it’s real nonsense, real nonsense. Generally speaking, the way of thinking of the East is very different from the one of the West, but this type of statement itself is concealing something, concealing something undignified. We’re actually all the same species, how can there be different ways of thinking”?
…
Q: “Does your novel contain some black humour”?
A: “Definitely, but I think it’s real black humour, because there were some historical periods in China that were the periods of black humour… But if you’d lived in this black humour, that kind of sense of humour would be gone, and you could only have it when it (the time of black humour) passed”.
…
Q: “What do you think of Chinese religion”?
A: “This question is quite difficult, because it is… because China has been educating traditional culture about Confucianism for a long time… In fact, it’s not even a religion, there’s no comparison (with Western religion) anyway, and it’s the same now. It’s not as formal as religion, though also very much like religion instead of a pure culture… I think I’ve compared (these two), the forms are still the same. Just like Western Christianity, or some other religion, is to provide a purpose of life, then let you live according to this way. As for Chinese Confucianism, it provides a way of life but no purpose… That’s the characteristic of Confucianism… China itself is like a Confucian country, where life does not need a purpose but a way of living and that’s enough… I think religion is good overall, it does have the effect on educating people and helping people… I think the point is not its function, it should be that it provides a purpose for life and that is the main point of religion. I’m not religious, so I don’t know if I’m right”.
本文摘自王小波于1992的专访：
问：“您是不是认为有两种思考方式，一个东方的，一个西方的，您能区分吗？还是说您觉得这个说法很无聊？
答：“我觉得可能还是相当无聊，相当无聊。一般来说认为东方的思想方式跟西方很不一样，这种说法本身就在掩饰着什么，掩饰一些自己也觉得不体面的事情，其实，咱们都是同一个物种，怎么可能思想的方法会有不同呢“？
……
问：“你的小说是不是带有一些黑色幽默”？
答：“黑色幽默肯定是的，不过我自己觉得它是一种真实的黑色幽默。因为，中国有一些历史时期它本身就是黑色幽默的时期… 不过你要是在这个黑色幽默之中生活的时候，你的幽默感就没有了，得等它（黑色幽默）过去之后才会有”。
……
问：“你怎么看待中国的宗教”？
答：“这个问题可能比较困难吧，因为就是长期以来，中国对传统文化的教育儒教… 其实也不是教，反正（和西方宗教）是没有什么可比性，不像宗教那么正式，但是也很像宗教，不是一种单纯的文化，现在也这样… 我觉得，我也比较过（两者），就是这个形式还是一样的，就像西方的基督教或是什么啊就是提供一个生活的目的，然后让你按照这个生活方式生活。中国这个儒教呢，是提供一种生活方式，但是也没有目的… 这是儒教的特点… 中国这个国家，他就像是一个儒教国家似的，不一定生活要有目的，但是生活一定要有方式，有了方式就够了… 我倒认为宗教是好的，确实有教育人帮助人的作用… 我倒认为它最主要的还不是它的作用，应该还是它提供了一种生活的目的，才是宗教的主体吧，我也不信教，不知道我说的对不对”。
D Block, School House, Rugby School Thailand
