董仲舒的天人之学及其政治含义再解读

A New Interpretation of Dong Zhongshu’s Theory of the Relationship between Heaven and Man along with Its Political Implications

董仲舒的天人之学具有深刻而独特的宗教含义和丰富的政治意涵。对董仲舒而言,上天主要是一种以神谴的方式所显现出的令人敬畏的力量。正是基于这一对天的神秘信仰,他推论出了一系列重要且影响深远的政治命题,如王者必受命而后王,王者应法天而治,以及上天会降灾异以警示、谴告君王的政治过失等。由于董仲舒开启了一种不同于以往的独特的政治理念,即政治之为政治,应是指对圣人孔子、儒家经典和超越者(天)所作的一种积极应答,因此,他可以说是一位引领了一个时代的思想风气和政治思维发生根本转向因而具有分水岭或里程碑意义的政治思想家。

Dong Zhongshu’s theory of the relationship between Heaven and Man not only has deep religious significances, but also has abounding political connotations. To him, Heaven is mainly 'an awesome power embodied in the wrath of God'. In view of this mysterious belief in Heaven, he concludes a series of political propositions with great importance and far-reaching influences, such as only the emperor empowered by Heaven is the real ruler, the royal governance should follow Heaven’s way, and Heaven will condemn and warn the monarch by disasters and anomalies when the ruler does the wrong things in the country’s political process and so on. Unlike the previous political theorists, Dong Zhongshu creates a unique political theory, namely, the essence of politics means that the monarch must actively response to the transcendent(Heaven), Confucian Classics and Confucius as a sage.