从“生民”到“人民”

From Shengmin to People

“生民”具三层含义,即初生之民、生民之道以及为天地所生之民。“民”观决定“治”观,对治理对象的不同认识,决定了治理的不同模式。对“生民”的治理必须合乎生生之道,体现为不以追逐利润为目的的“生民经济”和不同于民本论的“生民论”。重提“生民”,是为了探讨中国传统政治的多重内涵以及“人民”的中国传统思想资源。“人民”再度回到今天中国政治生活的中心,是在革命与文明的关系格局中对隐藏于历史深处的生民论的接续。

The term“shengmin”(born people)has three meanings,namely,the first birth of people,the Tao of cultivating the people,and the people born of heaven and earth.The concept of“people”determines the concept of“governance”,and one s understanding of the object of governance determines its different modes.Governance of the“shengmin”must be in accordance with the Tao of making lives live on.This is reflected in the“economy of the shengmin”and the“theory of shengmin”which are different from the people-foundation theory.The purpose of revisiting“shengmin”is to explore the multiple connotations of traditional Chinese politics and the traditional Chinese ideological resources of“the people”.The return of“the people”to the center of Chinese political life today is a continuation of the theory underlying shengmin,which is hidden in the depths of history and in the pattern of the relationship between revolution and civilization.