《老子·德经》首章的文本与义理问题——兼论老子哲学与周代思想传统的关系

On the Text and Theory of the First Chapter of“De Jing”in Laozi——A Discussion on the Relationship between Laozi s Philosophy and the Ideological Tradition in Zhou Dynasty

《德经》首章是《老子》书中极为重要的一章,它不仅关乎老子哲学的基本精神,还涉及老子哲学的渊源和背景。简帛《老子》的出现为重新考察此章提供了重要的新材料。综考可知,帛书此章更有可能反映《老子》之旧貌。此章整体上是总分总的架构,内在理路严谨。尤需注意的是,这里蕴含着老子对行为动机问题的独特思考,在帛书以后诸本中,由于语句增衍,此等义理一直得不到清晰的反映。此章所论富含批判意识,但老子所面向的应该不是儒家,而是西周以来以“德”为核心的思想传统。周代思想传统是老子和孔子共同的文化资源,对此他们采用了不同的转化方式,客观上造成某些方面儒道对立的结果。关于《老子》篇序,目前无法断定原本必是“德道经”的结构,但《德经》在前的简帛本更能提醒我们注意到老子哲学和周代思想传统的关系。

The first chapter of De Jing is an extremely important part in Laozi,as it concerns the background and the basic spirit of Laozi s philosophy.The bamboo slips and silk books of Laozi provide new information for re-examining this chapter.A comprehensive examination shows that this chapter in the silk books better reflects the older appearance of Laozi.The internal logic of this chapter is very rigorous,including Laozi s unique thinking on behavior motives.It is full of critical consciousness,but what Laozi is facing is not Confucianism,but the ideological tradition with De as the core since the Western Zhou.The ideological tradition in Zhou Dynasty was the common cultural resource of Laozi and Confucius,and they adopted different methods of transformation,resulting in the opposition between Confucianism and Daoism.Regarding the text structure in Laozi,it is hard to conclude that the original structure must have been“De Dao Jing”,but the bamboo slips and silk books of Laozi,with De Jing before Dao Jing,can draw our attention to the relationship between Laozi s philosophy and the ideological tradition of Zhou Dynasty.