孔子“礼教”面面观

Different Aspects of Confucius’s"Ritual Teaching"

孔子"礼教"是有关周代礼乐制度与礼乐文化的教育。他选择将"孝"作为推行礼乐文化、践行礼乐制度的伦理基础,将三年丧礼这种制度和形式问题,转化为情感、人格、人性问题,以教育弟子遵守礼制,在"孝"和"义"之间寻求平衡,并以"孝道"推衍为"治道"。孔子以"敬"作为"孝"的心理依据,进而作为"礼教"的心理依据,由"敬"而爱护父母给予的身体和生命,由"敬"而尊重一切社会秩序和规范,"主敬"因此成为孔子"礼教"的基本教义。孔子"礼教"的最佳境界是"制中""得其宜",即有秩序的和谐,与"乐"主"和"殊途同归,"礼之用,和为贵"成为基本价值取向,同时强调"顺"对于"礼"的实践意义;"和"重在人的心理感受,"顺"重在社会实际运作,二者结合,构成孔子"礼教"的完整价值结构。孔子"礼教"落脚点是政治,即社会治理,在"家天下"条件下,孔子赞赏"小康"社会,这一社会包括了禹、汤、文、武、成王、周公"六君子"的时代,而孔子理想的社会是尧、舜时代"天下为公"的"大同"社会,这证明孔子心目中的"礼"并非以维护宗法等级制社会为前提。

Confucius’s“ritual teaching”(li jiao 礼教)is a form of education related to the system and culture of rituals and music of the Zhou dynasty period.Confucius chose“filial piety”(xiao 孝)as the ethical foundation for the advancement of ritual culture and the practice of the ritual system.He turned the problem of how to give form to and systematize the mourning ritual toward the issue of human feeling,character and nature.Confucius made“respect”(jing 敬)the psychological basis of“filial piety,”and in turn the psychological basis of“ritual teaching.”Through“respect”one cherishes the body and life given by ones parents;through“respect”all social order and norms are honored–and therefore the“focus on respect”(zhu jing 主敬)became the basic tenet of Confuciuss“ritual teaching.”The ideal state of Confuciuss“ritual teaching”is one of“balanced control”(zhi zhong 制中)and“getting due measure”(de qi yi 得其宜).This means an ordered state of harmony,in which by means of“music”(yue 乐)a“harmony”(he 和)is prioritized which allows different paths to reach the same destination.Thus,“in the use of ritual,harmony is what is valued”(li zhi yong,he wei gui 礼之用,和为贵)became the fundamental value orientation,while the practical significance to“ritual propriety”(li 礼)of“compliance”(shun 顺)was emphasized as well.In“harmony”the emphasis lies on mental feelings;in“compliance”the emphasis lies on actual social practices.The combination of both constitutes the complete value structure of Confuciuss“ritual teaching.”The purpose of Confuciuss“ritual teaching”is political,namely social governance.Under the condition of“making the world one family”(tianxia wei jia 天下为家),Confucius approved of a society“prospering on a small scale”(xiao kang 小康),which included the era of the“six superior persons”(liu junzi 六君子),with the Kings Yu 禹,Tang 汤,Wen 文,Wu 武 and Cheng 成,as well as the Duke of Zhou 周公.But the ideal society for Confucius is one of“unity on a large scale”(da tong 大同),in which“the whole world is fair to everyone”(tianxia wei gong 天下为公),as was society during the time of Yao 尧and Shun 舜.This demonstrates that the preservation of a patriarchal and hierarchal society was not a precondition for the conception of“rituality”in the mind of Confucius.