林語堂簡介—-摘自林語堂故居網站

林語堂先生於清光緒二十一年（1895）十月十日生於福建省龍溪（漳州）縣。

他曾獲上海聖約翰大學學士學位、美國哈佛大學比較文學碩士學位、德國萊比錫大學語言學博士學位，是一位以英文書寫而揚名海外的中國作家，也是集語言學家、哲學家、文學家、旅遊家、發明家於一身的知名學者。

林語堂因為翻譯「幽默」（Humor）一詞，以及創辦《論語》、《人間世》《宇宙風》三本雜誌，提倡幽默文學，「幽默大師」自此加冕；並著有《吾國吾民》、《生活的藝術》、《京華煙雲》、《風聲鶴唳》、《朱門》、《老子的智慧》、《蘇東坡傳》等經典名著。

民國五十五年，落葉歸根的思鄉之情促使語堂先生離美返台定居。

這座房子是政府的禮物，由林語堂先生親自設計；這座白牆藍瓦的別墅，以中國四合院的架構模式，結合西班牙的設計取向，融合成現代感與古典美兼具的建築。歐風建築正是他年輕時所夢想的上海樓房形象，而故居的地點則選擇貌似福建故鄉山景的陽明山；在這裡，最讓他欣慰的是，可以聽到親切的閩南話。

他曾經形容這座宅院「宅中有園，園中有屋，屋中有院，院中有樹，樹上有天，天上有月，不亦快哉」，陽台是林先生生前常來的地方；吃完晚飯，林先生最喜歡坐在桌旁的藤椅上，口含煙斗，欣賞夕照沉沒於觀音山際。

語堂先生於民國六十五年三月廿六日去世於香港，四月移靈台北，長眠於故居後園中，享壽八十二歲。

Lin Yu-tang was born on October 10 th in 1895 in Longxi (Zhangzhou) County, Fujien Province .

He obtained his bachelor’s degree from St. John’s University in Shanghai , a master’s degree in comparative literature from Harvard University , and a doctorate in linguistics from Leipzig University in Germany . He has been celebrated as a Chinese author of books in English and known for his work as a linguist, philosopher, writer, traveler, and inventor.

Lin is best known for his translation of “Humor,” as well as the three magazines The Analects of Confucius, World of Mankind, and Cosmic Wind. H is promotion of humorous literature won him the title of “Master of Humor.” In addition, he contributed a number of notable collections including My country and My people, The Importance of Living, Moment in Peking , Leaf in the Storm, The Vermilion Gate, The Wisdom of Laotse, and The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo .

In 1966, homesickness forced Lin to leave America and return to his home in Taiwan .

This house was the government’s gift and was designed by Lin himself. The villa with white walls and indigo roof represents the “shiheyuan” architectural style, a Chinese style with a quadrangle courtyard surrounded by four houses, and combined with Spanish architecture, successfully mixing beautiful modern and classic structure. The European architecture fulfills his dreams from his youth of the impression of two-story Shanghai houses, but also follows the style of his former residence incorporating the mountain scenery of Yangminshan. Here the most gratifying for Lin was the fact that he could hear the cordial local dialect of Fujian .

He once described the dwelling as “in the dwelling there is a garden, in the garden there is a house, in the house there is a courtyard, in the courtyard there is a tree, on the tree there is the sky, in the sky there is the moon, what a fortunate life!” The balcony was a place Mr. Lin often went before his death. After dinner, Mr. Lin liked sitting near the table on the rattan chair, with a smoking pipe in his mouth, appreciating the evening glow from the sun setting behind Guanyin Mountain .

林語堂所撰寫的《蘇東坡傳》是到目前為止，全球華文界銷量最大的一本人文傳記。此書成於一九四八年，國共內戰還未結束，其時旅居美國的林語堂。本書是林語堂以英文所撰寫的書，目前通行的兩個中譯本，一本由遠景出版的宋碧雲翻譯，一本由天地圖書出版的張振玉操刀。

林語堂重要的人生哲學：

我們最重要的不是去計較真與偽，得與失，名與利，貴與賤，富與貧，而是如何好好地快樂度日，並從中發現生活的詩意。

人本過客來無處，休說故里在何方。 隨遇而安無不可，人間到處有芳香。生活所需的一切不貴豪華，貴簡潔；不貴富麗，貴高雅；不貴昂貴，貴合適。

我們對於人生可以抱著比較輕快隨便的態度：我們不是這個塵世的永久房客，而是過路的旅客。理想的人並不是完美的人，通常只是受人喜愛，並且通情達理的人，而我只是努力去接近於此罷了。

人生不過如此，且行且珍惜。自己永遠是自己的主角，不要總在別人的戲劇里充當著配角。蘇東坡是大事聰明，小事糊塗。但構成人生的往往是許多小事，大事則少而經久不見。

人生在世，幼時認為什麼都不懂，大學時以為什麼都懂，畢業後才知道什麼都不懂，中年又以為什麼都懂，到晚年才覺悟一切都不懂。

● 如需閱讀《蘇東坡傳》中文版，請連絡版主信箱 [email protected] ，提供分享。