先秦时期化解政治冲突的和平手段及其历史影响

Peaceful Means of Resolving Political Conflicts in the Pre-Qin Period and Their Historical Influence

中国人自古就有爱好和平、崇尚以和为贵理念的悠久传统。先秦时期,许多政治家依托于特定社会与文化基础,试图利用和平手段化解矛盾、缓解冲突、团结盟友,为妥善解决不同政治组织之间的政治、军事、外交等复杂关系,开拓了除战争等暴力手段之外的重要选项,积累了丰富经验。这些手段中最具代表性的包括政治解决、政治联姻、因俗简礼、誓诰诅盟等。有别于战争等暴力手段给民众、社会带来极大负面影响,和平手段最大程度上减轻了民众的痛苦,降低了社会代价,对于促使民族融合,推动国家统一发挥了重要作用。在这些和平手段的基础之上,秦汉之后的中央集权体制下酝酿出和亲、羁縻、互市等解决中央政府与地方政权(尤其是少数民族政权)关系的新模式。认真总结历史经验,发掘中国古人化解政治冲突的智慧,弘扬中华民族优良传统,具有重要的现实意义。

Chinese people have had a long tradition of loving peace and promoting the idea of harmony since ancient times.Drawing on their specific social and cultural basis,many politicians in the pre-Qin period tried to use peaceful means to resolve contradictions,ease conflicts and unite allies.In order to properly handle the complex political,military and diplomatic relations between different political bodies,they considered other important options as well as violent means like war,accumulating rich experience.The most typical of those peaceful means included political solutions,political marriages,simplification of rituals to accord with local customs,and oaths and covenants.Unlike violent tactics such as war,which had an overwhelmingly negative impact on the populace and society,these peaceful means did everything possible to alleviate the suffering of the people and reduced the cost of social progress,and thus played an important role in facilitating ethnic integration and national unity.On the basis of these peaceful means,governments under the centralized system after Qin and Han dynasties came up with new models:heqin(和亲;a sort of marriage alliance,the historical practice of Chinese emperors marrying princesses—usually members of minor branches of the royal family—to rulers of neighboring states),jimi(羁縻;“loose rein,”also known as jimi fuzhou,an autonomous administrative and political organizational system used in China between the 7th and 10th centuries),hushi(互市;a special kind of tributary trade,usually between the states occupying the Central Plains and those founded by border peoples along the boundaries)to deal with the relationship between central and regional regimes(especially those set up by border peoples).Summarizing historical experience,learning from the wisdom of the ancient Chinese in resolving political conflicts,and carrying forward the fine traditions of the Chinese nation is of great practical significance.