摘要
This article scrutinizes three texts about Xun Zi written during the Qin-Han period： the final part of ＂The Questions of Yao＂ in the Xunzi, a rebuttal by one of Xun Zi＇s disciples of the idea that Xun Zi was inferior to Confucius; ＂Mencius and Xun Zi＂ by Sima Qian in his Records of the Grand Historian; and the Annotated Book of the Xunzi by Liu Xiang. We explore the images of Xun Zi as a great Confucian （大儒） that emerge from these texts, as well as their authors＇ motives for writing. These texts are understood within three contexts： first, the self-identification of a Confucian; second, the dispute between Confucianism and Daoism; and lastly, the distinction between the classics and the annals and biographies. Due to their different discourse environments, Xun Zi＇s great Confucian image project a different significance in each： in one, he is a model of action who can act in accordance with perfected morality; in another, he is a model of ＂private words,＂ who can counter the philosophers of his day and become the teacher of kings; and finally, he is a model of ＂official learning,＂ able to use his knowledge of the classics in practical statecraft and elucidate the kingly Way. Overall, these three texts represent three types of discourse on a great Confucian. At thesame time, they also exhibit their writers＇ consciousness of their times and their views of the genealogy of daotong, or transmission of the Way; hence their significance for intellectual history.
析论秦汉时期三篇评述荀子其人、其书的文献,一是《荀子·尧问》终章所载荀子门人对"孙卿不及孔子"之说的反驳,一是司马迁《史记·孟子荀卿列传》的荀子传,一是刘向所撰《孙卿书录》一文,探究其中荀子的大儒形象以及三位作者的论述旨趣。这三篇文献有着不同的论述语境,一是儒者自我认同的语境,一是反映儒、道之争的语境,一是攸关经籍、传记分野的语境。由于不同的论述语境,荀子的大儒形象也折射出不同的论述意义,一是具有完善道德行动能力的行动典范,一是足以对治诸子、为王者师的家言典范,一是通经致用、阐述王道的官学典范。总体而言,这三篇文献代表着大儒论述的三种类型,同时也展示了论述者不同的时代意识与道统系谱,因而也具有思想史的意义。
