道德囚笼下的社会张力——读《万历十五年》有感

Social Tension in Moral Prison:Thoughts on Reading The Fifteen Years of Wanli

社会张力指社会系统在其运行与变迁的过程中,因结构性失衡或民众无序互动而导致的紧张状态,继而由此所引发的种种社会冲动力量。在《万历十五年》一书中,因结构性失调而出现的社会张力处处可见:君主与官僚之间的张力,文官集团内部的张力,文官与武官之间的张力,中央与地方之间的张力,传统与现代之间的张力……凡此种种,不一而足。而究其根源,这些社会张力无不来自于落后的道德囚笼的束缚。由史观今,明代社会的困境也给我们提供了宝贵的经验,使我们重新反思道德与社会、与时代间的关系问题。只有把握好这一问题,才能破除道德囚笼,减小社会张力,使道德手段真正成为社会发展的助力。

Social tension refers to the tension caused by structural imbalance or disorderly interaction of the public in the process of social system’s operation and change,and then the various social impulses caused by it.In The Fifteen Years of the Wanli Dynasty,the social tension caused by structural imbalance can be seen everywhere:the tension between the monarch and bureaucracy,the tension within the civil service group,the tension between civil servants and military officials,the tension between the central and local governments,the tension between tradition and modernity.The root cause is that these social tensions are bound by backward moral cages.From the perspective of history,the plight of the Ming Dynasty society has also provided us with valuable experience,so that we can rethink the relationship between morality and society,and the times.Only by grasping this problem well can we break the moral prison,reduce the social tension and make the moral means really become the driving force of social development.