“王霸之辨”论析

An Analysis of “Wang-Ba”

孟子将“王道”解释为“以德服人”,将“霸道”解释为“以力服人”,有一定的偏颇性。孟子以后,“贵王贱霸”思想长期成为学术界的主流观点。本文还原“三王”与“五霸”的真实历史,并列举了战国时期、两汉时期、唐代初中期、宋元时期、清初与晚清时期关于“王霸”或“德力”的讨论。今日我们对待“王道”与“霸道”问题,不能完全以孟子、董仲舒、朱熹等人之是非为是非,而应借鉴汉代王充“文武张设,德力具足”、宋代陈亮“王霸并用,义利双行”、元代赵汸“既尊德教,也尊实力”的政治思想主张。古代“王霸之辨”带给我们的思考与启示是:作为一个国家主体,单纯的“德教”政治思想路线或单纯的发展“实力”的政治路线,皆不可取,而将二者结合起来才是明智的选择。

Mencius interpreted“Wang”as“convincing people with virtue”and“Ba”as“convincing people with force”,which is somewhat biased.After Mencius,the idea of“considering Wang superior to Ba”has long been the mainstream view in academic circles.This article restores the real history of the“San Wang”and“Wu Ba”which means the“Three Kings and Five Overlords”and lists the discussions on the“Wang-Ba”or“Virtue and Force”during the Warring States period,the Han Dynasty,the early and mid-Tang Dynasty,the Song and Yuan Dynasties,and the early and the late Qing Dynasty.Today,we cannot treat the issue of“Wang”and“Ba”entirely on the basis of the views of Mencius,Dong Zhongshu,Zhu Xi,and others,but we should draw on Wang Chong’s“laying equal stress on literary and martial arts,and virtue and force can be sufficient”,Chen Liang’s“paying equal attention to Wang and Ba,and righteousness and benefits will go parallel”,and Zhao Yancheng’s political view that respected both virtue and force.The ancient“Wang-Ba”brings us the following thoughts and inspirations:as a sovereign state,neither a purely“virtuous”political ideology nor a purely“forceful”one is desirable.It is advisable to combine the two.