论中国的民本思想

A review of the Chinese minben thought

中国的民本思想有政治哲学意义上的和文化信念意义上的两种存在形态。前者表现为一种统治意识 ,以民为称君立国之本是它的基本内涵 ,民主革命的兴起宣告了它的终结。后者主要融合在文学话语当中 ,谈不上有什么政治目的 ,属于较纯粹的知识分子意识 ,其基本内涵是对民生疾苦的同情和向劳动人民寻求精神认同等 ;进入现代以后 ,此种意义上的民本思想又变异为民众崇拜观念。从总体上说 ,民本思想是中国封建社会的产物 ,因此它不仅与民主有本质上的不同 。

The Chinese minben thought had two forms of existence: a political philosophy and cultural faith. The former, as a kind of ruling consciousness, holding as its basic connotation that people were the foundation of the monarch and the country, was brought to an end by the rise of democratic revolution. The latter, mainly melted into literary speech, had no political purpose, but belonged to fairly pure intellectual consciousness and mainly contained sympathy for and links with the laboring people. In modern times, the latter has changed into the idea of mass-worship. On the whole, minben thought was a product of the Chinese feudal society, and it differs from democracy and humanitarianism.