中国古代哲学中的数本原观念

Research about the Philosophy of “Number” in Ancient China

在中国古代,以数为派生现象或计算符号的观念较为常见,但另一方面,以数为世界本原的哲学观念也一直或隐或显地存在于思想史中。以冯友兰以来的“数”哲学研究为线索,通过数的独立性和先在性这两条标准,可以在《周易》诠释史中辨认出数本原观念发展与演变的整体脉络。其中,《易传》将筮法数字融入宇宙论的尝试、郑玄易学对“数”的生成功能的诠释,以及汉唐经学注疏对“生数成数之鬼神”的构建,为后世以“数”为中心概念的图书易学奠定了基础,在“数”哲学的发展历程中具有重要作用。

In ancient China, numbers are mainly considered as derivative phenomenon or calculation symbols. On the other hand, in the history of thought, there has always been an opinion, explicitly or implicitly, that numbers could be the origin of the world. On the basis of the philosophical research on “number” by scholars like Feng Youlan, the theory of number as arche generally appear in the interpretation of Zhou Yi. The attempts of pre-Qin Yi Zhuan which converged the numbers in divination in the cosmology, the explanation of the cosmogony functions of “number”, and the construction of the concept of “ghost and deity of numbers”, have altogether made contribution to the philosophy of Hetu and Luoshu which revolves around the concept of “number”.