被摇摆于“王”“盗”之间——论陈胜及其起义在中国古代的特殊形象和地位

Swaying between King and Bandit ——On the Special Image and Status of ChenSheng and His Uprising in Ancient China

陈胜及其领导的农民起义,作为中国历史上第一次大规模农民起义,在相当大程度上被中国古代正史、官方、士大夫和主流意识形态承认合法性,甚或将陈胜视同"汤武"圣王,这与其后农民起义都被贬斥为"盗""贼"等判然有别。即或偶有将陈胜与黄巢等并提者,也多从儆戒统治者的角度立论。陈胜的历史形象如此被摇摆于"王"与"盗"之间,却更加近似于"王",有其深刻历史文化意蕴:他是"诛暴秦"者;刘邦集团无政治伦理思想"包袱";《史记》、《汉书》是"正史"楷模,后世无法推翻其评价,司马迁在学术史上发出高度评价陈胜的第一声,乃因前无先例,又与刘邦的肯定态度有关,亦继承了先秦民本思想遗风和汉初思想家反思的精神遗产。

The uprising led by Chen Sheng was the first large-scaled peasant uprising in China＇s history. To a large extend, its legitimacy was recognized by official books of history, officials, scholarbureaucrats and the mainstream ideology in ancient China, and Chen Sheng was even regarded as a sacred king like Emperor Shang Tang and Emperor Zhou Wu. This is obviously different from later peasant uprisings which were denounced as bandits and thieves. Even if occasionally some people drew parallels between Chen Sheng and Huang Chao, their aim was to warn the rulers to take care of the people. Between king and bandit, Chen Sheng was more like the king. This special image and status of Chen Sheng and the uprising led by him are of profound historical culture implication： Chen Sheng^s revolt was aimed at overthrowing the cruel Qin Dynasty, while Liu Bang＇s ruling clique did not need to consider political ethics. Since Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian and History of the Former Han Dynasty by Ban Gu were models for official history books in ancient China, no scholars and rulers in later generations were unable to repudiate their appraisals. Sima Qian was the first scholar who highly appraised Chen Sheng. His unprecedented appraisal was related with Liu Bang＇s affirmative attitude. It also shows that Sima Qian inherited both the people-first ideology of the Pre-Qin period and introspection of thinkers of the early Western Han Dynasty.