“五德终始”说之终结——兼论宋代以降传统政治文化的嬗变

The End of“Five Virtues”Theory: With Reference to Changes in the Traditional Political Culture in China since the Song Dynasty

以阐释政权合法性为目的的五德终始说建立在对宇宙系统的信仰之上,经过宋代儒学复兴的冲击,被宋儒以道德批评为准则的正统论取而代之。但五运说的残余影响仍长期存在,直到明代,朝野间仍在继续讲求德运。五运说在宋代所面临的危机并不是一个孤立的现象,而是中国传统政治文化的一种共同境遇。宋代知识精英对五运说、谶纬、封禅、传国玺等传统政治文化进行了全面的清算,从学理上消解它们的价值,从思想上清除它们的影响。宋儒的政治伦理观念在当时是高调的、前卫的,但到元明清时代就变成了普世的价值观。传统政治文化的这一变迁轨迹,显示了宋元明清时代思想史的基本走向。

The“Five Virtues”theory designed to legitimate rule was based on the beliefs of a cosmological system. The theory of the“Five Virtues”was replaced by the theory of orthodoxy based on Confucian moral critics with the renaissance of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty. However, the influence of the Five Virtues theory remained for a long time and lasted well into the Ming Dynasty. The crisis that the Five Virtues theory faced in the Song dynasty was not an isolated incident. It took place in a crisis of the entire political cultural tradition. The intellectual elites in the Song Dynasty launched a campaign against the Five Virtues theory and the Apocryphal Texts (Chenwei 谶纬), Fengshan(封禅) and Chuanguo Xi(传国玺), which constituted the main body of traditional political culture. They sought to eliminate the theoretical value of these traditions and eradicate their influence on thought. These high culture and advanced political and ethical notions of the Song Dynasty Confucians became universal values in the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. The changes in political cultural tradition reveal the intellectual trends from the Song Dynasty through to the Qing Dynasty.