《县令箴》及其作者古之奇考论

Textual Research on Admonition for the County Magistrate and Its Author Gu Zhiqi

《县令箴》,即送给县令的箴言,属中国传统社会官箴的一种。唐人古之奇所写的《县令箴》辞义兼美,富含为政哲理,有“千古奇文”之誉。该文提出了“政不欲猛,刑不欲宽”的观点;在官员个人修养方面,提出了“明恕、清通”“保持中道”的要求,以及慎于起始、善于纳谏、严于自律、远离小人、刚柔相济等要诀,最后连用八个比喻,描绘出了理想官员的完美形象,今日读来仍颇有参考价值。但因古之奇被卷入朱泚之乱,致其《县令箴》传播不畅,甚至作品的问世朝代、作者姓名也在流传中出现错讹,使其成了历史上谜一般的人物。对《县令箴》加以研讨,特别是对古之奇其人及本《县令箴》的写作、流布情况予以考察,并同时介绍他人所作的另外两篇相关的《县令箴》,既可补官箴文化研究之阙,又可为治国理政提供借鉴,应有其现实意义。

The admonition for the county magistrate is a kind of official admonitions in traditional Chinese society.Gu Zhiqi's Admonition for the County Magistrate in the Tang Dynasty is beautiful in both form and meaning,rich in philosophy for governance,and known for“the most splendid article through the ages”.The article puts forward the opinion of“collecting less tax and apportioning less corvee,and enforcing the law strictly”.In terms of officials'cultivation,it makes a request of“being wise,tolerant,considerate”,“remaining neutral”,and sums up the secret of success:being cautious in the beginning,being good at taking advice,being strict in discipline,being far away from the base persons,being strong and gentle.Finally,it uses eight metaphors in succession to describe the perfect image of ideal officials.It still has a great reference value today.However,because Gu Zhiqi was involved in Zhu Ci Rebellion,his Admonition for the County Magistrate had a poor dissemination.Worse still,there were various kinds of errors in its spread,such as the dynasty of the work's publication,the author's name,which made him a mysterious person in history.Studying Admonition for the County Magistrate,especially Gu Zhiqi,his writing and its spread,and introducing two related admonitions written by the others,can make up for the research on culture of official admonition,and provide reference for governing the country,which has practical significance.