“天下无不可化之人”――读《王守仁〈象祠记〉》

The Study on Philosophy “Every One Can Be Changed”——on Reading WANG Shouren's Xiang Ci Ji

王阳明受托写此文。象,是一个争议很大的历史人物。王阳明并没有简单地选边站,而是经过认真重温古代经典和反思历史事件以及密切联系实际,穿越时空,穷原竟委,认识到"唐人之毁之也,据象之始也;今之诸夷之奉之也,承象之终也。"并认识到:其一,"使知人之不善,虽若象焉,犹可以改",我要使大家知道人的不善,即使如象一样的坏,还是可以改造好的;其二,"而君子之修德,及其至也,虽若象之不仁,而犹可以化之也",我还要使大家知道君子的修养德行,如达到极点,即使如象这样的不仁的坏人,也是可以感化他的。最后,上升到理论高度:"吾于是益有以信人性之善,天下无不可化之人也。"他乐意彰显这个"至善"之道来与大家分享,"斯义也,吾将以表于世,使知人"。这有一定的现实意义。

Wang Yangming was committed to write this article. Xiang was a controversial figure in history. Instead of being onesided,he reviewed the ancient classics,reflecting on historical events,connected them with reality,and he found out the origin across the times,realizing that Tang people tear down Xiang＇s temple for his notorious behaviors in his early life,and the Miao minority admired him for the good he had done lately. Wang drew the conclusion： first,a person notorious as Xiang could change; second,if a gentleman improved his morality to the highest level,he could turn a bad person like Xiang into the good. Finally,he made it up to the theoretical level： human beings were born to be kind so that they can be cultivated into the good. He was willing to share this conclusion with people： ＂I will write it down to make people known＂,so it was of realistic meaning.