略论包拯与中国的清官文化

Brief Argument on Lord Bao and Chinese Culture in Thinking Highly of Honest and Upright Officials

包公是中国清官文化的符号。清官文化在中国的形成和延续,反映了在君主专制的封建时代,无权无势的底层民众对清明政治的期待和对主持正义、为民伸冤的清官的祈盼。中国清官文化的基本内涵,是以儒家的民本思想和封建道统为核心。清官廉臣虽有缓和社会矛盾、为巩固封建帝制服务的一面,但他们刚正不阿、惩恶扬善的道德人格却有超越时代和阶级的普适价值。

Lord Bao symbolizes Chinese culture in thinking highly of the honest and upright officials. The forming and lasting of this culture in China reflects the expectation of the powerless people living in the lowest caste for lucid politics and their hope for honest and upright officials to uphold or plead for justice on behalf of them. The basic connotation of this culture is based on Confucianism＇s people- centered idea and feudal morality. On the one hand, those honest and upright officials in the history can moderate the social crisis and serve to consolidate the ruling of the feudal system. On the other hand, their morality and personality of being upright, punishing evilness and praising goodness embody the universal values which surpass the times and the classes.