辛亥革命前后章太炎对道法政论之阐释

Zhang Taiyan's Interpretation of Taoist and Legalist Political Philosophy around the 1911 Revolution

在辛亥革命前后,章太炎在体认时代变局的基础上,对先秦道法二家的致用之道充分继承,作为感观时局、抒发政见的重要理论基础。他在清季对代议制度大加抨击,从学术根源入手,直指当时被许多人视为中国民主思想先驱的黄宗羲,对其主要观点逐条反驳。在此,他所运用的思想资源,便是先秦法家。同时,章太炎认识到法家学说的局限在于国家权力无限延展,让民众无所逃于天地之间,当时清廷新政,许多举措与此极为相似。是故他新诠齐物哲学,借庄子之言消解法家之失。在《检论》中,他探索能完全做到循名责实、保障民众利益的真"法治",认为舍去法令明文,以查无实证之词与占人心术之语来判定罪责,这才是执法过程中的最主要弊病。总之,章太炎之于诸子,从中国历史与文化本身脉络出发,根据对时局的感观,阐释诸子思想中能对今世有所贡献者。在他那里,传统与现代之间绝非处于割裂状态。

Around the time of the 1911 Revolution,Zhang Taiyan expressed his political criticism through novel interpretations of the pre-Qin Taoist and Legalist thoughts.A particular target of his was the representative system since the late Qing Dynasty,which had been advocated by Huang Zongxi,popularly known as the pioneering theorist of Chinese democracy.Based on Lao Zi＇s idea of＂the disregard of the wise,＂Zhang argued that instead of a total abandonment of civilization,Lao Zi was hinting at more Legalist and more objective standards in the selection of officials.He thus asserted that Huang＇s proposals,dwelling upon subjective criteria,would only lead to misgovernment rather than the true rule of law.On the other hand,Zhang was also aware of the limitations of Legalism in the overreach of the state power.He drew upon Zhuang Zi＇s theory of uniformity and emphasized an explicit check of such power.Jian Lun was where Zhang tried to reconcile the Taoist and Legalist thinking in search for a genuine rule of law that could safeguard the interest of the mass. Without tearing tradition apart from modernity,Zhang was attempting to reinterpret past Chinese ideas and illuminate on their contemporary relevance.