摘要
Through the stories of Shun and Shangjia Wei, the Baoxun bamboo manuscript expresses the Confucian political idea of zhongdao （中道 the middle way）. Early Confucians had a strong sense of propagating the dao （道 the Way）, but they kept an open mind as to how it was to be understood, which was very different from the later doctrine of daotong （道统 the tradition of the Way）. Although ancient China possessed a long and continuous intellectual tradition ofzhong （中 center, middle, etc.）, a tradition that gave rise to a series of concepts such as zhongzheng （中正 being fair and upright）, zhongyong （中庸the principle of the Mean） and zhonghe （中和 being central and harmonious）, zhong actually originated from ancient religious rituals and was an important category of the ancient study of li （礼 rites or ritual）. After Confucius, it was Xun Zi who was the true heir to the tradition of zhong in all its fullness. The Confucian daotong is the combination of the tradition of ren （仁 benevolence） and that of li, and the Confucian dao or Way refers to the Way of becoming a sage within and a king without.
通过舜与上甲微的故事,《保训》表达了儒家的中道政治理念。早期儒家具有强烈的弘道意识,但对于道的认识是开放的,与后世的道统说有明显的不同。中国古代虽然存在一个源远流长"中"的思想传统,并形成中正、中庸、中和等一系列概念,但古代的"中"源于宗教性的礼仪活动,是古代礼学的重要范畴。孔子之后,真正全面继承"中"的传统的是主要是荀子。儒家道统是仁学与礼学的结合,儒家之道乃内圣外王之道。
