“三达德”之变体及其历史意义

The Variants of the “Three Great Virtues” and Their Historical Impacts

先秦儒学以仁、智、勇为"三达德"。武士之勇以行动为目的,武士自身成为工具;谋士之智以获胜为目的,以他人为工具。孔子在二者之上镇之以"仁",揭示人不是工具而是目的。兼具仁、智、勇"三达德"的君子必将从道不从君。商鞅、韩非试图以法家理念重新拆分三者:"仁",被简化为"亲亲"而不能推及仁民爱物;"智",被束缚在国家机器中成为处理行政事务的"贤"而不再具有是非之心;"勇",在军功爵之名利诱导下以行动为工具追求"尊",其哲学根基是人的行为必基于欲求。由此,法家以欲求构建制度,国家结构被二分为"尊亲"与"忠贤",尊爵被皇亲国戚垄断,其内以亲亲之爱维系;小圈子之外则明尊卑等级,以忠贤之德为晋身之阶。

Benevolence, wisdom, and courage were the three great virtues in pre-Qin Confucianism. In the beginning,the virtue of courage was that of warriors who considered themselves implements and sought action,while the virtue of wisdom was that of counselors who considered others implements and sought victory in debate. Confucius added benevolence above these two virtues,revealing that human beings are not objective but subjective; as such a gentleman with the "three great virtues"would act in accordance with the Dao,not with the monarch. However,after Shang Yang and Han Fei rearranged the "three great virtues"in accordance with the perspective of legalism,the application range of benevolence was narrowed down to the circle of kinship,not to all beings; wisdom was limited to the capability of dealing with administrative affairs,not to distinguishing right from wrong universally; and courage was considered as a tool to gain merit through military glory. In a word,human desires became fundamental for the "three great virtues. "Afterwards,the state's structure was split in accordance with the virtues of zunqin( respect for kinship) and zhongxian( being loyal and virtuous) : royal families controlled the highest rank of nobility using the virtue of zunqin,while beyond this circle of kinship,high and low ranks were strictly separated in terms of legislation,and the virtue of zhongxian became the main path for promotion.