辨析“《春秋》为后王立法”——审视皮锡瑞《经学通论》的论证

Evaluating“Chun Qiu Legislated for the Future King”——The Arguments of Pi Xirui in Jingxue Tonglun

随着晚清经学的发展,《春秋》常被视为救世的完美蓝图.在《经学通论》中,皮锡瑞宣示且拥护“《春秋》为后王立法”的构想,但证据欠缺.《春秋》和《公羊》皆不支持这一说法.因此,皮锡瑞努力找资料证明其说,以后儒有关孔子为汉制法的证言为据,但此说仅能证成汉儒的想法,不足以确证“《春秋》为后王立法”之说.《经学通论》的论证在逻辑上绝非有力的.

With the development of Confucian Classics study in late Qing dynasty,Chun Qiu were regarded as a perfect blueprint for the era.In Jingxue Tonglun,Pi Xirui announced that Chun Qiu legislated for the future king.There is not a shred of evidence that it was the case.Neither Chun Qiu nor Gongyang Zhuan can testify to the basis for the truth of Pi’s view.So Pi tried hard to collect the information to prove how the other scholars believed that Confucius’s legislation was for Han dynasty.These are a testimony for the belief among the Han scholars,but it cannot support the view that Chun Qiu legislated for the future king.The view presented in Jingxue Tonglun is not a logically compelling argument.