从“谌”“忱”二字看周人的天命观

To See People's Destiny Ideology in Zhou Dynasty via the Character “Chen"

《尚书·周书》及《诗经》中经常出现类似"天棐忱(谌)"的语句,前辈学者大多认为"棐"是"匪"的假借,而"忱(谌)"的意思则为"信",因此"天棐忱"的意思就是天不可信。按从"甚"、从"冘"之字常有"极"、"盛"之义,还有"因超出一定限度从而导致过度"之义;故"谌"、"忱"二字皆有"因过度相信从而导致迷信"的意思,则所谓"天棐忱"可以理解为天不可迷信。同时,周人还将对天的不可迷信与天命所归乃在民心结合在一起,二者共同构成周人天命观的主要内容。

The expression 天棐忱（谌） （tian fei chen） frequently occurs in Zhou Shu （ The Book of Zhou） in Shangshu （The Book of Ancient Times） and Shijing （TheBook of Songs）. Most former scholars thought that 棐 should be a phonet- ic loan character of 匪, and the meaning of 忱（谌） is 信（belief）. Therefore, 天棐忱（谌） may be interpreted as that ＇the heaven is not believable＇. However, characters made up of 甚and冘 usually bear the semantic feature of ＇extreme＇ and ＇abundant＇, or ＇being excessive for surpassing certain degree＇. Accordingly, the characters 谌 and 忱 both have the ＇superstitious＇ feature led by excessive belief. Then ;天棐忱（谌） should be understood as that ＇human beings should not believe the heaven superstitiously＇. The Zhou people combine the latter with that ＇ destiny lies in the common aspiration of the people＇, and the two co--constitute the main part of the destiny ideology of the Zhou people.