早期中国的“节义”观念——以《列女传·节义传》为中心

On the Idea of Moral Integrity and Righteousness in Early China——A Case Study on Liu Xiang's Biographies of Famous Women

古人即事以言理,通过对刘向《列女传·节义传》中诸多传主行事的分析,可以得知早期中国“节义”观念的三个特征:一是在亲疏关系中弃亲(或己)保疏(假);二是在家国、公私关系中,舍己或家人而为君国;三是在家族伦理的冲突中善处夫妇之义。笼统言之,“节”“义”观念多有类似之处,如臣死君(国)难等;析而言之,“节”意味着尽本分,“义”则不止于此,往往蕴涵着分外义务的观念,且“义”只适用于非血缘关系。由两汉至明清,正史《列女传》渐失刘向体例与宗旨,“列女”嬗变为“烈女”,“节义”蜕变为“节烈”。后世“节烈”专责于女性,“节”的观念也变得狭隘愚陋;“节义”本可通用于男女,是值得赞赏和令人敬佩的,但亦不可普遍化。

By investigating and analyzing stories of the moral integrity and the righteousness in Liu Xiang's Biographies of Famous Women,three main features of idea of moral integrity(jie)and righteousness(yi)in early China can be identified.The first is that the heroine gives up herself or her son in order to protect or save the person who is in distant relationship with her.The second is that she gives up herself or her family in order to serve to the king and state.The third is that the she deals well with her husband in the conflict among the family ethics.The idea of moral integrity expresses the concept of one's role duty while the idea of righteousness the concept of supererogation.What's more,the idea of righteousness is only sued in the non-blood relationship.From Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty,the idea of moral integrity and righteousness of women changed unfortunately into rigorous chastity(jielie).