作为政治传播理论胚胎的水舟观念史:中国民心政治的文化逻辑

History of Water and Boat Ideas as the Embryo of Political Communication Theory:the Cultural Logic of Chinese Public Opinion Politics

水舟是研究中国古代民本思想绕不开的政治隐喻。“二十四史”中所有关于载舟覆舟的政治隐喻,其本质是中国古代民心观念的概念隐喻。圣人作舟的起源故事、以舟师为代表的战争实践、以漕运为代表的经济实践三种叙事框架共同构成了水舟观念生成的物质基础。水舟观念史的演进规律与中国造船史的发展脉络相吻合,即秦汉、隋唐及宋朝时期水战频繁、漕运及造船技术都有所突破,关于水舟的相关论述也随之增多;元明时期中国古代传统造船技术达到巅峰,其间“水舟”隐喻的使用已常态化。作为一种政治传播话语实践,水舟观念所折射的中国民心思想传统为“民心是最大的政治”理念提供了天然的政治土壤。特别是在马克思主义群众观与党群关系方面,根植于华夏文明的水舟观念无疑能够为当下的“民心政治”提供文化传统的思想根基与政治话语的理论胚胎。

Water and boat are political metaphors that can not be avoided in the study of ancient Chinese people-oriented thought.The essence of all the political metaphors about“water can carry a boat,but it can also overturn it”in the Twenty-four Histories is the conceptual metaphor of ancient Chinese public opinion.The origin story of the sages as boats,the war practice represented by the water army,and the economic practice represented by the water transport together constitute the material basis of the concept of water and boats.The evolution law of the concept of water boat is consistent with the development of Chinese shipbuilding history,that is,water wars were frequent in the Qin and Han Dynasties,Sui and Tang Dynasties and Song Dynasties,and there were breakthroughs in water transport and shipbuilding technology,and the discussion about water and boats also increased;the use of the metaphor of“water and boat”was normalized during the Yuan Dynasty,when traditional shipbuilding technology reached its peak in ancient China.As a political communication discourse practice,the Chinese public opinion tradition reflected by the concept of water and boat provides a natural political soil for the idea that“public opinion is the biggest politics”.Especially in the Marxist mass view and the relationship between the Party and the masses,the concept of water and boat rooted in Hua Xia civilization can undoubtedly provide the ideological foundation of the cultural tradition and the theoretical embryo of political discourse for the current“public opinion politics”.