儒家文化与和谐社会

Confucian Culture and Harmonious Society

人们通常认为儒家文化是导致中国传统社会发展缓慢的重要原因,但实际上,没有伦理道德约束的君主专制的中央集权官僚体制才是导致官吏作风腐化以及中国政治及社会进化迟缓的重要原因。儒家文化通过借助于君、臣道德水平的提高而达到了治理天下、维护统治秩序的目的,这对于弥补君主专制中央集权的官僚统治所造成的种种弊端起到了无可替代的作用。但这并不意味着,儒家文化与封建君主专制的人治统治必然联系在一起。儒家文化是针对人类社会面临的共同问题而提出的,因此,也具有普遍的价值。特别是儒家文化中重视道德教育和品格培养、重视从人心的治理出发从根本上解决社会问题的思想,既可以成为封建社会治国安邦的良策,也同样可以为构建社会主义和谐社会提供借鉴。

It is commonly accepted that Confucian ethics is one of the key reasons leading to the slow development of traditional Chinese society. The paper challenges this point of view by pointing out that it is traditional Chinese federal bureaucracy that leads to the severe corruptions and the slow social development. By resorting to improving the rulers＇ moral sense and responsibility, Confucian ethics helps to keep the society in order and in harmony. But this does not necessarily mean that Confucian ethics must relate to the traditional federal bureaucracy. The aim of Confucian ethics is to solve the common problems facing human beings. Thus it has universal values. Its emphasis on moral education and character cultivation and its emphasis on solving social problems from training human good heart/mind are valuable policies not only for the Chinese federal society, but also for the contemporary socialist harmonious society.