关于“究天人之际”与“通古今之变”的再思考——从《史记·五帝本纪》的天命说谈起

Rethinking on the “Probing into the Correlation between Heaven and Human Being" and “Comprehending the Change from Antiquity down to the Present":Starting from the Theory of Destiny in Shiji·Wudibenji

从《尚书·周书》的诸篇诰辞中,我们可以看到以周公为代表的西周政治家们已经得出天命以民心为依归的观点,并以此来解释夏、商、周三代的历史递嬗。战国时期的孟子继承了该思想,并进一步以其来解释三代以前的历史递嬗。司马迁在思考天人之际时,既继承了周公、孟子的上述天人思想,并以此来解释古今历史递嬗中的"常";同时又有自己更深一层的思考,并以此来解释古今历史递嬗中的"变",从而最终做到"通古今之变"。在此,司马迁的"究天人之际"与"通古今之变"实紧密结合在一起,而这正是他能够"成一家之言"的原因所在。

From the statements in Shangshu ·Zhoushu （《尚书·周书》）, we can see the politicians of Western Zhou Dynasty, represented by Zhou Gong （周公）, had already known that the destiny is determined by the popular sentiments and applied this to explain the historical evolution of Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Mencius in Warring States Period inherited this idea and extended it to the explanation of the historical evolution before Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. When Sima Qian （司马迁） was considering the correlation between heaven and human being, he not only inherited such ideas of Zhou Gong and Mencius and used them to explain the ＂constancy＂ in the historical evolution, but also had his own further consideration, and made use of it to explain the ＂change＂ in the historical process, aiming at achieving the object of ＂comprehending the change from antiquity down to the present＂（通古今之变） finally. ＂Probing into the correlation between heaven and human being＂ （究天人之际） and ＂Comprehending the change from antiquity down to the present＂ are closely connected, which gave a good explanation for why Sima qian could ＂create a philosophy of his own＂.