儒学的根基:人性抑或人伦?——兼论荀子之为儒家的理由

The Foundation of Confucianism:Human Nature or Relationship?——Also on the Reasons why Xunzi is Confucian

人性与人伦皆为儒学的核心范畴,属于人的本质特征,人性重在内在维度,而人伦重在关系维度。宋儒基于形上诉求将人性问题提升为儒学的核心,人性与天理相贯通,理无不善,自然人性必善,由此为人之成圣奠定基础,并以此建立儒家道统。孟子因其性善论恰好契合宋儒的理论建构需求,故得到极力表彰,成为儒家道统中仅次于孔子的亚圣。与此同时,荀子因性恶主张及其对孟子的批评,被宋儒指斥为申韩之流,沦为非儒的地步。但追本溯源,儒学并非因性善说而称之为儒家,在其具有根本性地位的关于人的认识问题上,儒家始终认为决定人之所以为人的关键在于人伦,此为儒学之通义。荀子同样以人伦关系判别人禽,说明荀子在大本上并未偏离儒学宗旨。而在儒家礼学方面,荀子之礼出乎人伦之情,发挥人伦尊尊之义,将周礼作了最大限度的扩展与深化,使礼成为天地人世的最高规范,这既是对儒家礼学人伦本质的继承,又是适应儒学制度化发展需要的改造。

Both human nature and human relations are the core categories of Confucianism and belong to the essential characteristics of human beings. Human nature focuses on the internal dimension, while human relations focus on the relationship dimension. Song Confucianism sought to elevate the issue of human nature to the core of Confucianism based on formal appeals. Human nature and heavenly principles are intertwined. Nothing is wrong, human nature must be good, thus laying the foundation for the sanctification of people and establishing Confucian orthodoxy. Mencius was highly commended for his theory of the goodness of nature that fits the theoretical construction needs of Song Confucianism, and became the sub-sage second only to Confucius in the Confucian orthodoxy. At the same time, Xunzi was denounced by Song Confucianism as Shinhan and his ilk because of his views on sexual evil and his criticism of Mencius, and he became non-Confucian. But tracing its origins, Confucianism is not called Confucianism because of the theory of goodness of nature. On the issue of understanding of people, which has a fundamental position, Confucianism always believes that the key to determining human beings lies in human relations, which is the general meaning of Confucianism. Xunzi also judged other people’s poultry on the basis of human relations, which shows that Xunzi has not deviated from the purpose of Confucianism. In terms of Confucian rituals, Xunzi’s rituals are based on human relations, giving full play to the righteousness of human ethics and respect, and expanding and deepening Zhou rituals to the greatest extent, making rituals the highest norm in the world. The inheritance of essence is the transformation to meet the needs of the institutionalized development of Confucianism.