“为政以德,譬如北辰居其所而众星共之”刍议

A Study on “To Run a Country through Morality Was Respected like the Polestar Circled by the Stars” in the Analects of Confucius

孔子的北辰之譬是在先秦人的北极崇拜和崇信天命的心理大环境下提出的。北极崇拜心理使孔子将受命于天的国君同执掌中天的北极星神联系在一起,其“政”、“德”亦一定程度地富有原始天命观的意蕴。“为政以德,譬如北辰居其所而众星共之”的产生同孔子的天命意识有一定联系。

Confucius’s analogy about politics originated from the mentalities of worshiping the polestar and (kismet) of Pre-qin dynasty’s people.Polestar-worshiping mentality made Confucius associate the king who was (believed) to be commissioned by Heaven with the polestar in the center of the heaven.Confucius’s concepts of “(morality)” and “politics” have the connotation of kismet in some centigrade.The emergence of Confucius’s opinion that to run a country through morality was respected like the polestar circled by the stars is in close relation to his (ideas) of kismet.