构建当代和谐社会理论的历史借鉴

Historical Reference in Building Contemporary Theory of Harmonious Society

构建和平、和谐的人类社会,是华夏子孙的一贯追求。先秦诸子关于和谐社会的构想,主要有三种:一是儒家以“仁义”为核心的和谐理念,孔子主张“克己复礼,天下归仁”;孟子的性善论为实现和谐社会的可能性找到了人性根据。二是墨家的“兼爱”理念,尚贤、节用、兼爱,是墨翟构建和谐社会理论的三个支撑点。三是道家以顺应自然为核心的和谐理念,老庄认为真正的和谐社会应该是顺应自然规律的社会生活。二千年来,儒家的和谐理念占主导地位,其他几种和谐理念同样渗透于传统文化的血脉中。从孔孟、老庄、墨翟等古代哲人的思想中择取和谐理念的资源,不仅能为中国社会的和谐与发展提供历史借鉴,也能为整个人类社会的和谐与发展提供有益的参考。

It has been constant pursuit of Chinese people to build a peace and harmonious human society. There are mainly three types of opinions towards harmonious society among pre-Qin scholars. The first one is the Confucian concept of harmony with 'benevolence and righteousness' as its focus. Confucius advocates the idea of 'to chasten yourself to restore the old social customs, then the world becomes a benevolent place'. And Mencius's 'Kindness of Human Nature' Theory could be the humanistic ground for building a harmonious society. The second one is Mohist's concept of 'universal love'. The three catch points of Motse's theory of harmonious society are respect for talented persons, frugality and universal love. The third one is Taoism's concept of harmony with 'following the nature' as its core. Both Laotse and Zhuangtse believe that a real harmonious society is social life that follows the law of nature. In the last 2,000 years, Confucius's concept of harmony has taken the dominant role, while the other ones are also important in traditional cultures. Those ancient scholars' concepts of harmony will be useful historical reference not only for the harmony and development of Chinese society, but also for the human society at large.