生存、发展与终极目的:孟子育民方略的“三步走”

Living, Development and Ultimate Purpose: the Three Stages of Mencius' Strategy for Civilizing People

孟子育民方略的核心理念是,庶民首先应该拥有"百亩之田"、"五亩之宅",解决温饱问题,然后再进行德性培育,使人性从"兽性"中分离出来,最后达到"圣人"的境界;具体步骤是生存、发展与终极目的,生存仅仅是手段不是目的,"幸福"也不是生活的最终目标,庶民的终极目的应该是"闻道成圣",即庶民不仅要掌握最高真理性的"道",而且须运用此"道"指导社会实践,在实践中实现人格的彻底升华,达到"至善"的"圣人"境界。

The kernel of Mencius＇ strategy for civilizing people is that： common people should first of all own ＂a land of hundred acres＂ and ＂a house of hundred meters＂ so that they have satisfaction in food and clothing, then they can be morally trained to distinguish their human nature from ＂beast nature＂ , and finally they may be led to ＂sage-hood＂ . The specific stages include living, development and ultimate purpose. Living is only a means, not the purpose; nor ＂happiness＂ the ultimate purpose of life; for common people, the ultimate purpose should be ＂to learn the Tao and be a sage＂ , in other words, they should not only understand the ＂Tao＂ which is the supreme reason, but also practise the ＂Tao＂ in social lives and completely sublime their own personalities through the process, hence reaching ＂sage＇s supreme benevolence＂ .