老子“愚民”思想略探

Brief exploration of Laozi "Obscurantism" thought

历来多有学者对《老子》中的"愚民"之说加以指摘,我们或可将老子的治民思想称为"愚民",但此"愚民"非彼"愚民"。老子提出的"愚民"思想,并非愚弄生民、刻意阻碍民智之开化,更不是所谓的"反智主义"。"愚"在《老子》一书的语境中并不是一个贬义词,相反,"愚"的状态正是老子所希求的。老子所说的"愚"并非富有贬义的愚蠢、痴傻,而是返朴归真、复归于婴儿的表现。老子的"治论"与其"道论""教论"一以贯之,"愚民"并不是诈伪的帝王心术,而是老子在周末"文敝"的背景下以"道"之所导向的"朴"为世道人心所作的开示。

There have always been many scholars who mistakenly interpret Laozi’s thought of"obscurantism"as to fool people and criticize it.We may call Laozi’s thought of governing people"obscurantism",but it is not the same denotation.The thought of"obscurantism"by Laozi is neither to fool people or deliberately hinder the enlightenment of public wisdom,nor the so-called"antiintellectualism".It is not a derogatory term in the context of Laozi.On the contrary,this state is the exact expectation of Laozi.The term"obscurantism"of Laozi does not contain derogatory meaning such as being secular and foolish in a worldly sense,but represents tracing simplicity and returning to the state of infants.Laozi’s"Governing Theory"is consistent with his"Tao theory"and"Teaching Theory."Obscurantism"is not the deceitful imperial mind,but Laozi’s revelation of"simplicity"guided by"Tao"for people in late Zhou Dynasty,when harm occurs as a result of excessive advocacy of literature.