我们为什么要学习古文学？

The Real Reason to Study the Classics

Why study classical languages? For a long time the reason was clear: there wasn’t much else to read. Medieval Europe read and wrote in Latin, even as its spoken form had changed so much it had become early French and Spanish. During the Renaissance the rediscovery of Greek made it essential for the cultured to know it 为什么要学习古典语言？很长一段时间以来，原因都很清楚：没有其他什么可读的了。中世纪的欧洲用拉丁语读和写，就在它的口语形式发生很大的变化的时候，它也成为了早期的法语和西班牙语。在文艺复兴时期，希腊语的重新发现使有文化的人也必须知道它。

From there, “classics” had momentum: even as people started writing in their vernaculars, they still learned Latin and Greek, until those languages became a mark of education itself. And since education was limited to the upper classes and clergy, they became synonymous with power. In Britain, the classics carry the cachet of the posh schools where they have predominantly been taught. 从那时起，古典开始兴起：即使人们用各种方言书写，他们仍然在学习拉丁文和希腊语，直到这两种语言本身成为了有文化的象征。同时，由于受教育被局限在上层阶级和教职人员中，他们也成为权力的象征。

Gardini先生给出了学习古语的另外一个原因：我们的一生只是漫漫历史长河中的一粟，生命早在我们出生前就已延续千年。与一个偏向实际的观点恰好相反，这个观点引人深思，以至于让人感到谦卑。因为这门语言是为2000年前的智者们所用的，学习这门语言是对我们生活的世界的致敬。语言学习不是为了让自己变得完美，而是在学习过程中不断提高自己。

三皇五帝夏商周，
春秋战国乱悠悠，
秦汉魏晋南北朝，
隋唐五代及十国，
南北两宋元明清。