从以天论德看儒家道德的宗教作用

The Mandate of Heaven as the Source of Virtue: Religiosity of Confucian Morality

现在很多学者均认同这样一个观点:儒学不是典型的宗教,却有着宗教的作用。儒学之所以有如此奇特的现象,奥秘在于儒学有一个独特的天论传统。自西周初期统治者为寻求政治合法性而“以德论天”以来,春秋战国之际的天仍然具有伦理宗教的余韵,当儒家沿着思维的惯性“以天论德”即将道德的终极根源推给上天之后,其道德便不可避免地染上了宗教的色彩。更为重要的是,这种宗教性是通过儒家心性之学中仁性一层实现的,将仁性的根源归给上天,仁性因为天的超越性而赋予了类似宗教的作用和力量,具有了强大的动能,进而保证理性自身就是实践的。

It is a widely accepted view among researchers that Confucianism functions as a religion although it is not a religion in the typical sense of the term. That is a unique phenomenon that comes from its unique tradition about Heaven. In the early Zhou dynasty rulers tried to legitimize their rule through the theory that they had gained the mandate of Heaven because they were virtuous. Heaven still had a religious-ethical tinge in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. When Confucians went further along this line and spoke of the Heaven as the source of virtue, Confucian morality inevitably gained a religious coloring. More importantly, such religiosity was realized through the stress on benevolence in Confucianism. When benevolence was attributed to a heavenly source, it gained religious functions and powers because of the transcendency of Heaven. It thus had a strong dynamic that ensured that rationality itself would be practice.