伦理与政治:《荀子》孝道思想的内在张力及儒学意义

Ethics and Politics:The inner tension and the Confucian significance of the filial piety thought in Xun Zi

《荀子》的孝道思想整体上体现了以国制家,政治优于伦理的儒学立场,但其中伦理与政治之间的张力在《荀子》不同篇章中存在细微差别:《宥坐篇》之前,伦理与政治之间的张力被赋予宏观的政治架构意义,作为伦理的孝道是庶民的生活主题,而政治是士君子乃至圣王的生活主题;《宥坐篇》之后,伦理与政治之间的张力转而被内化为理想人格的两全,"孝道"不仅属于圣王人格的有机组成部分,更表现为圣王事功的"尽伦尽制"。这种差别可以归诸荀子后学对荀子思想的进一步发扬,并鲜明地表现为《荀子》诸篇论孝的不同侧重,以及与孔、孟截然不同的政治诉求。但以"圣王"为理想人格来统合伦理与政治之间的冲突仅仅是一种理论上的解决,当这种张力在实践中转化为不可调和的矛盾时,《荀子》的解答无益于指导具体境遇下普通人的社会实践。因此,《韩诗外传》中会存在以毁灭个体生命为代价的两全,而《孝经》则以孝道这种人类普遍的伦理情感为出发点构建政治的合法性,以此弥合《荀子》"大一统"思想造成的二者分裂,并重新回到孔、孟的儒学立场上来。

The filial piety thought in Xun Zi reflects the Confucian stance of governing the country with rules,and politics preceding ethics,but the tension between ethics and politics in the filial piety thought varies in different chapters of Xun Zi.In chapters before‘You Zuo Chapter',it is manifested in the macro political structure.Filial piety is the theme of life for ordinary people,while politics is the theme of life for the noble class including wise monarchs.After the‘You Zuo Chapter’,this tension has been internalized into ideal personality of a wise monarch in two aspects of ethics and politics.Filial piety is an important constitute of a wise monarch,as well as a symbol of his outmost illustration in ethics and politics.This difference can be attributed to the further development of Xun Zi’ s thought by his following scholars,which is clearly manifested in the different emphases on filial piety in various chapters of Xun Zi,as well as his different political demands from Confucius and Mencius.However,bridging the division between politics and ethics by combining them into a wise monarch with ideal personality is only a solution in the theoretical sense,and it is not helpful to guide ordinary people to face with the dilemma.Therefore,an individual may sacrifice his life to realize the both aims of ethnics and politics as described in Han Shi Wai Zhuan(Unauthorized Biography on Poetry by HAN Ying),while Xiao Jing(The Book of Filial Piety)constructs legitimacy of politics from the universal ethical affection of filial piety.In this way,the scholars managed to bridge the division caused by the thought of'unification'in Xun Zi and return to the stance of Confucius and Mencius.