郭店《老子》“绝巧弃利”解

Analysis of "Abolish Artifice and Profit" for Lao Zi of Guodian Bamboo Slips

郭店《老子》"绝巧弃利"既不是"消除机巧,抛弃私利",也不是"绝弃以崇尚工巧,一味‘追曲’的‘时俗’"。"绝巧弃利,盗贼无有"应该分开来看:绝巧而无盗,弃利而无贼。"绝巧"是要求统治者去掉为了满足自己的贪欲而对劳动者采取的巧取豪夺的剥削手段,给劳动者最基本的生存条件,他们就不会为盗。"弃利"是要求统治者不要将体现"赏"、"罚"的"利器"即刑律政令公布于众。如果刑律政令秘而不宣,那么企图以毁坏社会法则而篡位或夺取更大权势的"贼"就无以得逞。

Carved on bamboo slips unearthed at Guodian, ＂Abolish artifice and profit＂ in Lao Zi means neither the desertion of personal profit nor the abolishment of trendy artifice. Analysis ought to be done in correlation with the sentence that follows： ＂burglary and theft can be thus exterminated＂： If a ruler deserts artirice, burglary would be exterminated ; if a ruler abolishes profit, theft would be nonexistent. ＂Abolishment of artifice＂ demands the ruler to cast aside high-handed exploitation of laborers who will abolish burglary with the ability to sustain themselves. ＂Concealment of instruments for the profit of a state＂ demands that the ruler should not promulgate decrees that reflect rewards and punishments. If criminal laws and government decrees are not promulgated, the traitor as the theft of state power can never disrupt social order and usurp the throne.