中国古代自然概念与Nature关系之再检讨——以《周易正义》为个案

Reflection of the Relationship between the Concepts of Ziran and Nature——Taking Ziran in the Rectification of Meaning of Zhouyi as a Case Study

自先秦以来关于自然的讨论,至《周易正义》而作一小结,唐以后没有增添太多新的内容。《周易正义》中的自然概念,具体可区分为六种含义:道(阴阳)、至理、物性、感应、偶然、无生命系统;六义虽各不同,但均是就天人关系着眼,与冯友兰所谓天之五义有一种奇妙的对应。这是《周易正义》自然概念与Nature在内涵上的相通之处,也是将Nature译为自然可以在中国被顺利接受的内在学理依据。就生态美学而言,始终定位于天人关系之间的自然概念,实较严格主客二分传统下产生的Nature有着更为广阔的阐释空间。

The discussion on the concept of Ziran from the Pre-Qin Period to the Tang Dynasty had been summarized in the Rectification of Meaning of Zhouyi（ zhouyi zhengyi）,and afterwards little progress was made. The concept of ziran can be divided into six meanings： Dao（ yin-yang）,the supreme principle,the nature of matter,the telepathy,the contingency,and the inanimate systems. These meanings are all deduced from the perspective of the relationship between Heaven and man,and they have a special correspondence with the five meanings of Heaven proposed by Feng Youlan. This correspondence is the interlinked point between the concepts of ziran and Nature,and is also the inherent theoretical basis on which the latter can be translated into the former. In terms of ecological aesthetics,ziran as a concept of modality,has broader explicative space than Nature as a concept of entity.