司马迁“究天人之际,通古今之变”析义

An Interpretation on “to Investigate the Relationship of Tian and Man,to Understand the Change from the Past to the Present”in Shiji

“究天人之际,通古今之变”是司马迁著《史记》的宗旨。他所说的“天”具有命运的特征,“究天人之际”是一个关于人的行动与成败治乱之间的关系的问题。“通古今之变”则主张以史为鉴,藉由考察历史经验而澄清成败治乱本源,探明为治之道,是“究天人之际”的根本途径。

It is the objective of Sima Qian's Shiji “to investigate the relationship of Tian and man,and to understand the change from the past to the present”.In Shiji,Tian shows the characteristic of fate,and therefore “to investigate the relationship of Tian and man”means to explore the practical problem of the causaHty between human action and political success.This problem,according to Shiji,can be solved through “understanding the change from the past to the present”,which requires studying the history,taking it as a guide and then having clarified the causes and ways of political success.