“证人社”与明季江南士绅的思想动向

Zhengren She and the Thought Trend among the Bureaucratic Gentry of Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty

在明亡十三年前，绍兴府有一批士绅成立了一个讲会组织“证人社”。他们在思想上以心学为理论武器，在实践上非常注重“迁善改过”，在现实关怀方面，往往抱有“忧时之怀”。他们在私人交往领域经常出入佛老，谈论一些抽象的形上问题，但在公共事务领域却往往扮演着凝聚地方力量、形成地方舆论、承担地方事务的公众知识分子的角色。一方面，他们试图通过个人的“功过格”实践来改变人心、重整秩序，另一方面他们也积极涉入社会、有着十分强烈的担当精神。本文认为清代以降针对“证人社”的某些批评指责未免片面失实，那种将明亡原因归咎于心学末流之“清谈”的观点，也不符合“证人社”的实际情况，故有必要重新评估“证人社”在思想史上的历史地位。

Thirteen years before the fall of the Ming Dynasty,there were a number of bureaucratic gentry in Shaoxing District founding a lecturing group—Zhengren She.In thought,they took the Yang-ming School for their theoretical arms;in practice,they strongly emphasized the performance of'Transfer Vice to Virtue'.In the respect of realistic care,they were always bearing the'Mind of Concerning Current Time'.In the field of private communication,they kept a close contact with Buddhist and Taoist monks and talked about some abstract problems of metaphysics.In the field of pubhc affairs,however,they usually played the role of public intellectual to aggregate local powers, fashion local opinion and bear local affairs.On the one hand,they tried to change people's mind and restore the order of society through the personal practice of Gongguo Ge;on the other hand,they actively entered society with the strong bearing spirit.I suppose that some critiques of the Zhengren She since the Qing Dynasty are one-sided and the view that ascribes the fall of the Ming Dynasty all to the Pure Conversation in the late Yang-ming School is not identical with the real situation of Zhengren She.Therefore,it is essential to review the historical position of Zhengren She in the history of thought.