《左传》中“以史为鉴”的求真与致用

Validity and Pragmatism of “History as Mirror” in Zuozhuan

中国史学“以史为鉴”的传统在西周文献中就已明现,发展到春秋时代,体现在《左传》中有大量以史为鉴的记载。考其为鉴之史的来源,主要是《诗》《书》和熟知古史。其内容大体忠于真实,但由于中央王室的话语权力、流传中的无意识书写、文献不足,导致了以史为鉴“求真”的局限性。《左传》以史为鉴的目的和致用是各种各样的,体现了时人对现实的各种期盼。在致用过程中也导致了古史的模板化、结构化,损益古史的情况就发生了,但总体上并未超出“求真”的限度,没有违背当时对古史的普遍共识。要之,《左传》以史为鉴的首要目的还是为了致用,其次才是求真。

The tradition of “history as mirror” in Chinese historiography has been evident in the literature of the Western Zhou Dynasty and has developed into the Spring and Autumn Period, which is reflected in a large number of historical records of history as mirror in Zuozhuan . The source of this idea is mainly Shi , Shu and familiar ancient history. Its content is generally loyal to the truth, but due to the central Royal family s discourse power, unconscious writing in circulation, and insufficient literature, which leads to the limitation of validity of history as mirror. The purpose and pragmatism of history as mirror in Zuozhuan is various, which reflects all kinds of expectations of reality. In the process of pragmatism, it also led to the modularization and structuralism of ancient history which resulted in the profit and loss of ancient history. However, on the whole, it did not exceed the limit of validity and did not violate the general consensus on ancient history at that time. To sum up, the primary purpose of history as mirror in Zuozhuan is pragmatism, and the second is validity.