本书是鲁迅文学奖获奖作家穆涛为青少年读者量身打造的经典散文读本，旨在以中英双语的形式向世界传播中华**传统文化。文章重趣味、善用典，语尽而意不尽，以磅礴大气的文字评古察今，处处闪现着作者难能可贵的儒雅和心忧天下的人性光华。

“儒”这个字的结构， 一边是人，一边是需，内涵有两层意思， 一是自己需要，再是被旁人需要。
The shape of the Chinese character for Confucian—儒—consists of the image of a man on one side and the character for "need" on the other.It has two connotations:A man fills his needs, andhe is needed by others.

文化是有血有肉的……………………………………2 Culture has Blood and Flesh……………………………………3 坐船和吃饭……………………………………10 Sitting on a Boat and Eating……………………………………11 内涵……………………………………18 Connotations……………………………………19 局限……………………………………24 Limits……………………………………25 道理……………………………………32 Truth……………………………………33 表面的东西……………………………………40 Superficial Things……………………………………41 “儒”这个字……………………………………44 The Chinese Character for “Confucian”……………………………………45 内装修……………………………………56 Interior Decorating……………………………………57 身体器官的服务员……………………………………66 The Servers within the Organs of the Human Body……………………………………67 回头看……………………………………74 Turning to Look Back……………………………………75 文明人……………………………………82 Civilised People……………………………………83 去欲的态度……………………………………88 Extirpating Desire……………………………………89 心 中 贼 ……………………………………00 Thieves in the Heart……………………………………101 代价与成本……………………………………110 Price and Cost……………………………………111 立场与观念……………………………………120 Positions and Ideas……………………………………121 会说话……………………………………130 Knowing How to Talk……………………………………131 玉皇大帝住什么房子?……………………………………140 What Kind of House Did the Jade Emperor Live in?……………………………………141 写散文要说人话……………………………………158 To Write a Prose is To Say Human Words……………………………………159 言者无罪：中国早期的民意调查……………………………………172 Blame Not the Speaker: The Early Opinion Poll in China……………………………………173