从书院到乡约——王阳明乡治思想研究

From Academy to Rural Social Contract A research of Wang Yangming'sthought ofcommunity governance

王阳明的乡治思想主要体现在乡约实践中。在乡约由民间走向官方,由地方走向全国的发展过程中,阳明是过渡性的人物,他既焕发了乡约的新生命,某种程度上也牺牲了乡约的民间自治精神。阳明的乡约实践借助于他的行政权力,但不能简单理解为官方性质。与宋儒得君行道不同,阳明选择觉民行道,并以书院讲学为主要载体。书院与乡约呈现体用或本末关系,乡约是书院讲学的延伸,是良知发用的治民事业,目的在于移风易俗。阳明的乡治思想对当前的乡村振兴有启发意义:乡约精神对完善乡村治理,扩大民治基础,加快乡村振兴的步伐有一定的借鉴意义。

Wang Yangming's thought of community governance lies mainly in his practice of rural social contract.He was a transitional figure in the development of hisrural social contract from a folk contract into an official one,and the application of it from the localityto the nationwide.He endowed a new life to the contract,but at the same time sacrificed its spirit of folk autonomy to some extent.Wang implemented his contractwith the help of his administrative power,whichcouldnot simply be understood as endorsed by the authority.While Confucian intellectuals in Song Dynasty fulfilled their social morality through the trust from the emperor,Wang chose to achieve this by enlightening the people and took academy lecturing as the main approach.The relationship between his academy and social contract was the relationship between the primary and the auxiliary,or between the root and the end,where the contract was an extension to the academy lecturing,and a cause of governing the people with conscience,with the purpose of transforming customs.In this sense,his community governance is instructive to the current rural revitalization.Maybe the restoration of the rural social contract spirit could be adopted toimprove rural governance,expand the foundation of governance by the people,and eventually speed up the pace of rural revitalization.