“了解之同情”:董仲舒“君权”思想辨正

Perception of Empathy: A Study on Dong Zhongshu’s Thought of Monarchical Power

董仲舒的"君权天制"论回应了汉代社会关于政权合法性问题的追问,攻破了君主本身足以独制天下之命的专制思想倾向。董仲舒虽将君权神化,客观上强化了君主的权威,但他并不主张君权至高无上。董仲舒认为君权要受到天的制约,君主要"法天而治",天乃道德之天,天意即民意,"法天而治"亦即为民而治,实现仁政。董仲舒提出了"灾异谴告"论,以期挽救失德的君主,威慑君主省己修身,不断学习《春秋》,及时探知天意,更好地践行天道。

The theory of "monarchical power being restricted by heaven", which was put forward by Dong Zhongshu, responded to the question of the legitimacy of the regime in the society of the Han Dynasty and broke through the autocratic ideological tendency that the monarch himself could govern everyone. Although he deified the monarchical power and strengthened the authoritativeness of the monarch, Dong Zhongshu didn’t advocate the supremacy of the monarchy. He thought that the monarchical power should be restricted by heaven. The monarch should "govern according to heaven", for heaven was virtuous and it represented the will of the people."Governing according to heaven" also meant governing for people so as to realize the policy of benevolence. Dong Zhongshu put forward the theory of "the warning of disasters", hoping to deter and save the unscrupulous monarchs so that they could introspect themselves and cultivate their moral qualities, keep learning The Spring and Autumn Annals, understand the will of the heaven timely and better practise the way of heaven.