陈淳论鬼神之妖怪

Chen Chun's View on Ghosts and Gods

陈淳继承了朱子对鬼神妖怪的看法,他认为“妖”是客观的,是由于人未能遵循天理伦常,以致人死后“气”未能完全消散,所以产生“妖”;另一方面,他又认为“妖由人兴”,是人心念虑发动之后,“妖”才随之感召而来,“妖”的灵验和怪异与否取决于人心如何对待。陈淳对于妖怪鬼神的理性化论述对于破除当时迷信的社会风俗,扶正儒家教化有着重要作用。

Chen Chun inherited Zhu Zi's view of ghosts and spirits and analyzed the causes of monsters in many aspects.On the one hand,Chen Chun thought that the demon was objective,the demon was the"qi"of the"soul",not completely dissipated,thus causing mischief,On the other hand,he held that"the demon is aroused by people",inspired by people's thoughts.The effectiveness and weirdness of the demon depends on how people treat it.At the end of the discussion on monsters and ghosts and gods,Chen Chun pointed out that if a gentleman practises morality,ghosts and gods will be respected by himself,in order to emphasize that he should do a humane thing and stay away from monsters and spirits.Thus it can be seen that it is Chen Chun's intention to analyze the anomalous phenomenon of monster and attack the superstition and heresy in the society at that time.