先秦法家的治国理念及其现代性

Pre-Qin Legalist’s Concept of Governing and its Modernity

法家以“一断于法”的理性精神,通过因功赏爵、察能授官的制度设计,打破了传统“别亲疏,殊贵贱”的礼治秩序,促成了政治体制的变革和“大一统”的奠基,其历史功绩是不容否认的。秦朝的灭亡,主因在于其施政方式,而不能简单归咎于法家思想。在法家那里,整肃社会秩序的关键在于确立一个客观、公正的价值准则,而儒家的教化之道缺乏必然性,“有法之常”作为治国的基本准则是道德所不能取代的。尽管在后世“儒法合流”的过程中法家学说日渐为儒教所吞噬,但其与时俱进的变革精神和富强之道,以及“一断于法”的价值诉求等,在今日依然具有重要的启迪与借鉴意义。当然,中国要真正走上富强之路,从根本上取决于民众内在潜力的充分发挥及相关的制度设计;民众不应只是国家富强的工具,国家富强应以民众权益为前提;唯有真正实现“唯法为治”,才能筑牢中国长治久安的制度根基。

With the rational spirit of “determination based on law”, the Legalist school broke the traditional ritual rule procedure of “distinguishing between the close and the distant, and between the noble and the inferior” through the system design of rewarding titles for merit and awarding officials on the basis of ability, which contributed to the change of the political system and the foundation of the “Great Unification”. The historical merits are undeniable. The main reason for the downfall of the Qin Dynasty was the way it was governed, not simply attributed to Legalist school. In Legalist school, the key to social order was to establish an objective and just value code, while the Confucian approach to education lacked inevitability. As a basic rule of law, “the rule of law” cannot be replaced by morality. Although the doctrine of Legalist school was gradually swallowed up by Confucianism in the process of “the merging of Confucianism and Legalism” in later times, its spirit of change with the times and the way to be rich and strong, as well as the value of “determination based on law”, still have an important significance for enlightenment and reference today. Definitely, for China to truly take the road to wealth and strength, it fundamentally depends on the full utilization of the people’s inherent potential and the related institutional design. The people should not be just a tool for the country’s wealth and strength, while the country’s wealth and strength should be premised on the rights and interests of the people;only by truly realizing “law is the only way to rule” can the institutional foundation of China’s long-term stability be firmly established.