心学道统论——以“颜子没而圣学亡”为中心

On Xinxue Orthodoxy:Focusing on the Argument "Sacred Learning Ended with the Death of Yan Hui"

王阳明的"颜子没而圣学亡"这一论断有悖于理学道统论所建构的"孟轲死,圣人之学不传"的道统传承谱系,被认为是儒学史上的"千古大公案"。阳明及其弟子王畿从良知心学的立场出发,通过对颜子学的重新解释以重建"心学道统论",强调道统须建立在"心体"的观念基础之上。由于心体是普遍超越的,故道统不再受时空局限而具有不断传承下去的连续性,但这种连续不是个人化的私密传统,而应具有向任何人都敞开的开放性;它作为儒学精神传统既是历史文化的产物,同时存在于人们"生身受命"的过程中,故道统又具有实践性;道统也绝不是少数掌握儒家经典的知识权威才有资格接续,更不是拥有"政统"的政治权威者可以独占,因而道统具有独立于知识领域和政治领域之外的独立性。

Confucian Orthodoxy, or the orthodox Dao of Confucian saints, is the symbol of the spirit and values of Confucianism. In Tang Dynasty, Han Yu proposed the proto-Confucian Orthodoxy which claimed that the Dao which had been passed from generation to generation since Yao-Shun was discontinued after Meneius. In Southern Song Dynasty, Zhu Xi systematized and genealogized this Orthodoxy in Assembled Commentaries of the Four Books, proposing Neo-Confucian Orthodoxy which Zhou Dunyi and＇Cheng Yi recovered after its discontinuity one thousand years earlier. This version of Orthodoxy, based on the idealist philosophy of the Confucian school, had the exclusiveness which repelled the heresies of Buddhism and Daoism as well as continuity in constant discontinuity. It had a clear genealogical note of continuity, leaving people the impression of ＂ single inheritance.＂ However, Wang Yangming proposed a new version ofOrthodoxy from the Xinxue （School of Mind） perspective in his ＂A Farewell to Zhan Ganquan ,＂ claiming that ＂the Sacred Learning ended with the death of Yan Hui. ＂ This version broke down the genealogical framework of the Lixue （Study of Rites） version and the prototypical one, which according to Wang Ji was a major controversial claim in the thousand-year history of Confucianism. The core of the issue lies in how this claim could be reconciled with another claim -- ＂The Consistence Doctrine was passed down from Zeng Zi to Mencius, and then Zhou Dunyi and Cheng Yi resumed it two thousand years later. ＂ The latter claim is a well-known classic exposition of the Confucian Orthodoxy of Lixue School and is in irreconcilable conflict with the former. If the Sacred Learning had ended with the death of Yah Hui, then how could Confucian Orthodoxy be passed down from Zeng Zi to Mencius？ From his Xinxue perspective, Wang Yangming maintained that Yah Hui was able to see the completeness of Sacred Learning. Furthermore, he concluded that the two ＂knows＂ in the lines ＂when he （Yah Hui） does anything wrong, then he knows it; and when he knows it, he will not do it again＂ （in Commentaries on Yi Jing） undoubtedly refer to the intuitive knowledge of conscience. Thus he argued that Yan Hui could ＂learn the doctrine of intuitive knowledge of conscience all by himself＂ and should be considered as representing the ＂orthodoxy of Sacred Learning.＂ However, Wang Yangming did not raise the status of Yan Hui to belittle Mencius~ rather, by doing so he intended to distinguish his Xinxue of intuitive knowledge of conscience from Cheng-Zhu＇s Lixue and to trace it back to the Confucius-Yan Hui orthodoxy. Wang Yangming＇s disciple Wang Ji further elaborated on Xinxue Orthodoxy with reference to the innate learning of Xinxue. By reinterpreting Yan Hui, he concluded that learning should be modeled after Yah Hui. Wang Ji further claimed that Wang Yangming＇ was the lifeline that connected Yao-Shun and Confucius-Yan Hui, which ended the huge controversy over the claim that ＂Sacred Learning ended with the death of Yan Hui.＂ In short, the Xinxue Orthodoxy that Wang Yangming and Wang Ji reconstructed was characterized by openness, practicality and independence. That is to say, the Orthodoxy should above all be based on the ＂notion of heart and body,＂ which was universal, so the Orthodoxy was not limited by time or space and had the continuity of being passed on endlessly. But this continuity was not an individualized secret tradition, but was open to all people. This spirit of Confucian tradition was a product of history and culture, but it also existed in the process of human life, hence its practicality. Since Confucian Orthodoxy was by no means controlled solely by the authorities on Confucian classics or Political Orthodox, it was independent from the realm of knowledge and politics.