孔子在中国文化史上的地位及其成因(下)——兼评“去圣化”倾向

The Position of Confucius in the History of Chinese Culture: With a Comment on the Tendency of Desacralization(Ⅱ)

孔子以文自任,始对中国文化统绪进行系统建构与自觉反省。他上承六经,乃经学之鼻祖;下开九流,乃诸子之源。由孔子始,以传播知识为谋生手段的独立的士(文士)阶层开始走上历史舞台,开辟了中国学术文化独立传承、发展的统绪。没有孔子,就没有战国时代诸子并作、百家争鸣局面的出现。孔子以其全幅的生命撑开成就了"人伦之至"(圣人)的人格典范,可以说"去圣没有真孔子"。

This is the second part of a two-part discussion of the role of Confucius and his thought in the history of Chinese culture. h e i rst part appeared in the inaugural issue of Confucian Academy, which covered Confucius＇ s consciousness of culture conveyance and his achievements in the transmission of the culture as a system, the assembling of the Six Disciplines, and the initiation of study of Confucian classics. In this second part, the author continues to argue that, as the first one to inherit, study, and compile the Six Classics, Confucius opened up the nine major schools of Chinese philosophy and spurred a long succession of philosophers and scholars. From Confucius on, the shi（scholar-officials） began to investigate history and became an independent social class by disseminating knowledge as their means of living. Moreover, shi initiated a system of independently inheriting and developing Chinese academic culture. Without Confucius, philosophers would not have contended with one another in the so-called hundred schools of thought during the Warring States period. Confucius spent his entire life practicing as he preached, thereby setting the example of what the ultimate standard of human relations（a sage） should be. It can be said that the true Confucius would be lost if he was desacralized.