商周时期信仰的政治意义——从帝—天—道的递嬗来看

The Political Meaning of the Object for People’s Belief in Shang and Zhou Dynasties:the Evolution from Emperor to Heaven and to Tao

古代中国人对万物本源的崇拜和信仰,牵涉了解宇宙生成的启始,并为自然和人事秩序找到仿效的根据。殷商是中国信史的开始,也是本文讨论的着眼点。商人的信仰对象带有清楚的人格形象,包括"帝或上帝的崇拜""自然神祇的崇拜"和"祖先崇拜"三类。至西周以后,时人以"天"代"帝",天的形象抽象化,人文精神逐渐昂扬,取得天命端赖治者如何作为。时至东周,周人对"天"的信仰,已无法回应加剧的动乱,《老子》的作者透过对"道"的论述,重新构思万物本源和世界观。

The ancient Chinese people’s worship of and belief in the origin of all things involves understanding the creation of the universe and finding grounds for imitation of the natural and human affairs.The recorded history of China begun in the Shang dynasty,which is also the starting point of this paper.What the people of Shang Dynasty worshiped has clear personality image,including"worship of emperor or god","worship of natural gods"and"worship of ancestors".After the Western Zhou Dynasty,people replaced the"Emperor"with"Heaven".The image of heaven was abstract,and the humanistic spirit was gradually flourishing.To obtain the mandate of heaven depended on how the rulers behave.By the Eastern Zhou Dynasty,the belief in the heaven failed to cope with the severe turmoil.The writer of LaoTsurethought the origin of all things and the world views through the exposition of"Tao".In the article,we understand Tao from perspectives of physics,knowledge and law to find Tao’s development trend featuring"transcendence"and"internality".