説《老子》中的“無爲”和“爲”——兼論老子的社會、政治思想

A Discussion of the Wei 爲 and the Wuwei 無爲 in the Laozi

《老子》書中的“爲”有一種專指老子所反對的不合“道”的行爲的特殊用法,這種“爲”與以“聖人”爲行爲主體的合“道”的“爲”義正相對。對《老子》中的“聖人”而言,“無爲”之義已由“天道無爲”説的“不見其爲之之迹”變爲“没有不合‘道’的行爲”了。根據《老子》用韻之文等線索,《老子》書中專指老子所反對的行爲的“爲”和“無爲”之“爲”原來應該是讀去聲的。從老子主張聖人應“爲”之事來看,他的社會、政治思想主要是消極、落後的。

The paper reveals a previously unrealized use of wei 爲 in the Laozi.I argue that the wei can be used to denote"actions that do not conform to the dao",contrasting with the ordinary sense"to do things that conform to the dao."The term wei in the Laozi was used both with a negative and positive connotation depending on the context,and Laozi disapproved of the negative wei.The phrase wuwei 無爲 Foriginally meant"to do without leaving any trace,but Laozi adopted it to mean"no existence of actions that do not conform to the dao."The words rhyming with the negative wei are all read in qusheng.Based on this and other evidence,I suggest that wei in the Laozi also has a qusheng reading.The wei in Laozi's wuwei and other wei that were disapproved of by Laozi should be read in qusheng.Judging from what Laozi saw as the positive wei,his social and political thought was generally anti-evolutionary.