《中庸》“柔远人”与先秦儒家夷夏观

“Appeasing the Foreigners”and Pre-Qin Confucian View of Discrimination between the Civilized and the Barbarians in The Doctrine of the Mean

“柔远人”作为《中庸》治天下国家“九经”之一,所彰显的是推己及人、兼容并包的实践智慧。它最深层次的机理在于对儒家人性论的参透,对仁爱思想的践履,从而为儒家“夷夏之辨”的进一步展开提供了方法论的依据。总体上,先秦儒家基本秉持“礼别夷夏”而非以血统、地缘为区隔的夷夏观。“柔远人”集中体现了儒家民族思想的内核,奠定了中华民族“以和为贵”的文化基因与思想传统。

As one of the“Nine Standards”of the Doctrine of the Mean to govern the world,“Appeasing the foreigners”manifests the practical wisdom of putting yourself in someone else’s shoes and being compatible and inclusive.Its deepest mechanism lies in the penetration of the Confucian theory of human nature and the practice of the thought of benevolence.This therefore provides a methodological basis for the further development of the Confucian“Discrimination between the civilized and the barbarians”(Yi and Xia).In general,the pre-Qin Confucians basically adhered to the concept of“separating the barbarians with propriety”rather than the view of barbarians separated by blood and geography.As the core of Confucian national thought,it has established the cultural gene and ideological tradition of“peace is precious”of the Chinese nation.