孔教运动的由来及其评价

On the Movement of Confucianism

孔教运动可上溯到维新时期。维新时期康有为、谭嗣同等所倡导的孔教运动是其整个社会改造工程即中国现代化运动的基础性工程。它力图借助西方基督教的形式,完成儒学的宗教化过程,实现儒学向新形态的过渡,以期达到文化救亡(保教)的目的。民国时期康有为、陈焕章等所倡导的孔教运动是维新时期孔教运动的继续,但由于社会结构的整体转型造成儒家传统的断裂,此时的孔教运动已由文化救亡转向文化主位性的捍卫。孔教运动的领导人先欲借助光绪帝,后想依靠袁世凯、黎元洪等实现孔教国教化之梦,由此而染上了政治机会主义的污名,但孔教运动尊孔而不复古,它是儒学现代出路的一种尝试与努力。

The Confucianism movement initiated by Kang You-wei and Tan Si-tong in the reform movement (of 1898) was a fundamental project in the whole social constitutional reform, i.e. the movement of modernization in China. It attempted to draw the form of Christianity to make Confucianism a religion and realize the transition of Confucianism to a new form, to arrive at the purpose of salvation by culture (preservation of religion). The movement of Confucianism as a religion advocated by Kang You-wei and Chen Huan-zhang was a continuity of the Confucianism movement beginning in the Constitutional Reform period. But on the count of the Confucian tradition's crack caused by the complete transformation of the social structure, the Confucianism movement then had turned from cultural salvation to the protect of cultural subjectivity. The leaders of the Confucianism movement at the beginning wanted to rely on Emperor Guangxu, later they would like to depend on Yuan Shi-kai, Li Yuan-hong, etc. to realize the dream of nationalization of Confucianism, on the count of which the movement was given the bad name of political opportunism. But the movement advocates venerating Confucius but not backing to the ancients. It was an attempt and effort to the modernization of Confucianism.