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guójì fēngyún biànhuànmòcè ，wàijiāo shìwù gèng shì cuòzōngfùzá ，wàijiāo cílìng zhǐshì qízhōngde yīzhǒng xíngshì ，zuòwéi pǔtōng guórén ，wǒmen suīrán wú xū cānyù guójì shìwù ，dàn liǎojiě wǒguó de wàijiāo cílìng yě yǒulìyú wǒmen gèng liǎojiě guójiā de wàijiāo dòngxiàng hé zhèngcè 。

The international climate is hard to predict, and diplomatic affairs are even more complicated. Diplomatic rhetoric is only a style, as an ordinary citizen, although we don't need to take part in international affairs, understanding Chinese diplomatic rhetoric is also helpful for us in understanding diplomatic moves and policies better.

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那些被普通民众吐槽“假大空”千篇一律而无实际内容的“外交辞令”，在我们新闻发言人眼里，却有着极为严格的表达规范，并且有着十分丰富的解读空间。有的时候真是到了只可意会，不可言传的程度。

nàxiē bèi pǔtōng mínzhòng tùcáo “jiǎ dà kòng ”qiānpiānyīlǜ ér wú shíjì nèiróng de “wàijiāo cílìng ”，zài wǒmen xīnwén fāyánrén yǎn lǐ ，què yǒuzhe jíwéi yángé de biǎodá guīfàn ，bìngqiě yǒu zhe shífēn fēngfù de jiědú kōngjiān 。yǒudeshíhou zhēn shì dào le zhī kě yìhuì ，bù kě yánchuán de chéngdù 。

Diplomatic rhetoric, that is jokingly referred to by the general public as empty ramblings, all more or less identical and impractical in content, in the eyes of us spokespersons, has a very strict form of expression, and has quite large room for interpretation. Sometimes it's often really just to the point where you can understand, but can't communicate it.

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说完历史渊源，我们再来看一看，现代国际社会，尤其是中国外交中常出现的一些基本外交辞令，目前外交部也有着一套独特的话语系统。

shuōwán lìshǐ yuānyuán ，wǒmen zài lái kànyikàn ，xiàndài guójìshèhuì ，yóuqí shì Zhōngguó wàijiāo zhōng cháng chūxiàn de yīxiē jīběn wàijiāo cílìng ，mùqián wàijiāobù yě yǒu zhe yītào dútè de huàyǔ xìtǒng 。

After reviewing the origins, let's look now at basic diplomatic rhetoric in the contemporary international community, especially in Chinese diplomacy, as currently the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has its own unique language system.

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目前在外交交涉中最常见的表述，依事件的严重程度，主要有：关注或关切、遗憾、不满或反对、抗议。目前在外交辞令上，“抗议”是最严重等级。举例来说，若日本高官参拜靖国神社后，中国外交部通常都会在第一时间表示“强烈抗议”。而抗议按照程度递进又可分为：抗议、强烈抗议和最强烈抗议。

mùqián zài wàijiāo jiāoshè zhōng zuì chángjiàn de biǎoshù ，yī shìjiàn de yánzhòng chéngdù ，zhǔyào yǒu ：guānzhù huò guānqiè 、yíhàn 、bùmǎn huò fǎnduì 、kàngyì 。mùqián zài wàijiāo cílìng shàng ，“kàngyì ”shì zuì yánzhòng děngjí 。jǔlì láishuō ，ruò Rìběn gāoguān cānbài jìngguóshénshè hòu ，Zhōngguó wàijiāobù tōngcháng dōuhuì zài dì yī shíjiān biǎoshì “qiángliè kàngyì ”。ér kàngyì ànzhào chéngdù dìjìn yòu kě fēnwéi ：kàngyì 、qiángliè kàngyì hé zuì qiángliè kàngyì 。

Currently the most commonly seen formulations in diplomatic negotiations, according to the degree of importance of the incident, are mainly: "关注" or "关切", "遗憾", meaning "regret", "不满" meaning "dissatisfied" or "反对", meaning "oppose" and "抗议" meaning "to protest". Currently in diplomatic rhetoric, "抗议" is the most severe level. For example, after high-level Japanese officials worship at the Yasukuni Shrine, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs will usually immediately announce their "强烈抗议" or "strong protest". "抗议" itself has different progressive levels, that can be divided into "抗议", protest, "强列抗议", strongly protest, and "最强烈抗议", protest in the strongest terms.

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当然在全球政局比较动荡的年代，我们也听到过过诸如，是可忍孰不可忍、悬崖勒马以及勿谓言之不预等较强烈的外交辞令。其中“勿谓言之不预”意为，不要说没有事先跟你说过。指把话说在前面，也就是警告对方事后别后悔。

dāngrán zài quánqiú zhèngjú bǐjiào dòngdàng de niándài ，wǒmen yě tīngdào guo guò zhūrú ，shì kě rěn shú bù kě rěn 、xuányálèmǎ yǐjí wù wèi yán zhī bù yù děng jiào qiángliè de wàijiāo cílìng 。qízhōng “wù wèi yán zhī bù yù ”yì wèi ，bù yào shuō méiyǒu shìxiān gēn nǐ shuō guò 。zhǐ bǎ huà shuō zài qiánmian ，yějiùshì jǐnggào duìfāng shìhòu bié hòuhuǐ 。

Of course in an era with a relatively tumultuous political climate, I've also heard stronger diplomatic rhetoric like, "是可忍孰不可忍", meaning "If this is permissible, what isn't permissible?", "悬崖勒马", an idiom mean "to avert disaster in the nick of time" and "无谓言之不预“ meaning, "we have already given fair warning". Suggesting that something has already been said, as a warning to someone else not to regret their actions afterward.

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首先，我们来看一下外交辞令的概念，在我国，外交辞令指的既是适合于外交场合的话语，也借指客气、得体而无实际内容的话。

shǒuxiān ，wǒmen láikàn yīxià wàijiāo cílìng de gàiniàn ，zài wǒguó ，wàijiāo cílìng zhǐ de jì shì shìhé yú wàijiāo chǎnghé de huàyǔ ，yě jièzhǐ kèqi 、détǐ ér wú shíjì nèiróng de huà 。

First of all, let's look at the concept of diplomatic rhetoric. In China, diplomatic rhetoric indicates the speech suitable for use in diplomatic occasions, as well as being used to indicate speech that is polite, fitting to the occasion if impractical in content.

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这种外交语言“含蓄性”的特点，可一直追溯到先秦时代。同时，先秦时期的外交辞令也开创了我国有史料记载的外交辞令的先河。无论是春秋时期委婉恭敬的君子风度还是战国时期酣畅激扬的雄辩气势，无外乎都以“含蓄性”为基本主题。

zhèzhǒng wàijiāo yǔyán “hánxù xìng ”de tèdiǎn ，kě yīzhí zhuīsù dào xiān Qín shídài 。tóngshí ，xiān Qín shíqī de wàijiāo cílìng yě kāichuàng le wǒguó yǒu shǐliào jìzǎi de wàijiāo cílìng de xiānhé 。wúlún shì chūnqiū shíqī wěiwǎn gōngjìng de jūnzǐ fēngdù háishì Zhànguó shíqī hānchàng jīyáng de xióngbiàn qìshì ，wúwàihū dōu yǐ “hánxù xìng ”wèi jīběn zhǔtí 。

The veiled nature of this diplomatic language can be traced back to the pre-Qin era. At the same time, diplomatic rhetoric in the pre-Qin era served as the source of China's recorded history of diplomatic rhetoric. Whether it is the noble deferential euphemistic style of the Spring and Autumn Period or the unrestrained rousing oratory style of the Warring States Period, they are all, without exception, within the basic theme of veiled speech.

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有些国人也戏谑地把“外交辞令”称为"没有错误的废话"。虽然是“废话”，可在国与国交往的重要场合中，“外交辞令”却是非用不可。外交辞令往往委婉含蓄，隐藏着“潜台词”。

yǒuxiē guórén yě xìxuè de bǎ “wàijiāo cílìng ”chēngwéi "méi yǒu cuòwù de fèihuà "。suīrán shì “fèihuà ”，kě zài guó yǔ guó jiāowǎng de zhòngyào chǎnghé zhōng ，“wàijiāo cílìng ”què shì fēiyòng bù kě 。wàijiāo cílìng wǎngwǎng wěiwǎn hánxù ，yǐncáng zhe “qián táicí ”。

Some Chinese people jokingly refer to diplomatic rhetoric as "precise nonsense". Although it's "nonsense", diplomatic rhetoric is indispensable in important interactions between countries. Diplomatic rhetoric is often indirect and veiled, hiding implicit words.

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那么先看春秋时期，春秋时期的外交辞令简言之就是以“吟诗”为主要形式，这儿的“诗”，指的正是我国第一部诗歌总集《诗经》，《诗经》是周礼的象征，工于委婉，这与外交语言需符合“礼”的观念不谋而合，以至于在《左传》中所记录的外交辞令中“引诗七十五则”，引用《诗经》数量之多也让后人叹为观止。

nàme xiān kàn chūnqiū shíqī ，chūnqiū shíqī de wàijiāo cílìng jiǎnyán zhī jiùshì yǐ “yínshī ”wéi zhǔyào xíngshì ，zhèr de “shī ”，zhǐ de zhèngshì wǒguó dì yī bù shīgē zǒngjí 《shījīng 》，《shījīng 》shì Zhōu Lǐ de xiàngzhēng ，gōngyú wěiwǎn ，zhè yǔ wàijiāo yǔyán xū fúhé “lǐ ”de guānniàn bùmóuérhé ，yǐzhìyú zài 《zuǒzhuàn 》zhōng suǒ jìlù de wàijiāo cílìng zhōng “yǐn shī qīshí wǔ zé ”，yǐnyòng 《shījīng 》shùliàng zhī duō yě ràng hòurén tànwèiguānzhǐ 。

So, first let's look at the Spring and Autumn Period. In simple terms, the diplomatic rhetoric of the Spring and Autumn Period was mainly in the form of reciting poetry. Here "poetry" refers to China's first anthology of poems, the Book of Songs (Shijing). The Shijing was a symbol for the Rites of Zhou, with its ability for euphemism, this diplomatic language needed to be in line with the concept of rites, to the extent that there are 75 instances of nobles citing poems in diplomatic rhetoric recorded in the Commentary of Zuo, the amount of references to the Shijing is amazing to see looking back.

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举个例子，《左传·襄公二十七年》中记载，齐景公和郑简公为解救被晋国拘禁的卫献公而带领侍从出使晋国。在如此微妙的外交情境中，其中的外交辞令引用了无数《诗经》之语。

jǔ gè lìzi ，《Zuǒzhuàn ·Xiānggōng èrshí qī nián 》zhōng jìzǎi ，Qíjǐnggōng hé Zhèngjiǎngōng wèi jiějiù bèi jìnguó jūjìn de Wèixiàngōng ér dàilǐng shìcóng chūshǐ jìnguó 。zài rúcǐ wēimiào de wàijiāo qíngjìng zhōng ，qízhōngde wàijiāo cílìng yǐnyòng le wúshù 《shījīng 》zhī yǔ 。

As an example, in the records of the 27th year of the reign of Duke Xiang of Lu in the Commentary of Zuo, to rescue Duke Xian of Wei from imprisonment by the Jin, Duke Jing of Qi and Duke Jian of Zheng led a delegation to Jin. In such particular diplomatic circumstances, the diplomatic rhetoric made innumerable references to poems in the Shijing.

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