"三合然后生":康有为论孔子人道教的优越性

"The three are in harmony(三合)and then there is life":Kang Youwei on the superiority of Confucius' humanitarianism

康有为经常引述《谷梁传》"独阴不生,独阳不生,独天不生,三合然后生"来阐述孔教的特点与优越性.人由天而生,决定了人要敬天、祭天,修心养性、净化灵魂是"事天"的重要工夫.上天有好生之德、仁爱之心,决定了人要有博爱精神.由阴阳而生,即人由父母而生,决定了人要孝敬父母,要祭祀祖先.康有为认为,基督教、佛教、伊斯兰教等宗教都是神道教,只注重上天或灵魂的一面,忽视了人的身体性,对父母和祖先的敬重不够,即只有仁的向度,"孝"的维度较弱.而孔子儒学是全面的,"三合而生"、仁孝并重、祭天与祭祖并重、情理并重、智仁勇统一.晚年康有为认为,孔教是一种人道教,此教兼摄神道,但以人道为主,有着很强的整体性、中和性和包容性.作为人道教的孔教本质上是一种文明之教,它可以与所有神道宗教对话融合,化解宗教冲突.孔子人道教有着很强的中国性,是中华民族国魂所系,康有为对孔子人道教的阐发对我们重新认识儒学、探索儒学与当代中国社会的精神建构有重要启发意义.

Accordingto theGu Liang Zhuan:The Third Yearof Zhuang Gong(《谷梁传·庄公三年》)"A singleyindoes not give birth,a single yang does not give birth,a single heaven does not give birth,and a trio is thenborn".Kang Youwei often quotes this sentence to explain the characteristics and superiority of Confucianism.The fact that human beings acre born from heaven determines that they should honour and worship heaven.The soul of human beings also comes from heaven.Cultivating one's mind,nurturing one's character,purif-ying the soul,is also an important part of"doing things for heaven"Heaven has the virtue of kindness andiove,which also determines that human beings should have the spirit of fraternity.Being born from yin andyang,i.e.,from parents,determines that one should honour ones parents and sacrifice to one's ancestors.Love begins with parents,and benevolence has to be based on filial piety as its foundation and birth point.Ac-cording to Kang Youwei,Christianity,Buddhism,Islam and other religions are all Shintoism,which focuses onlyon the heavenly or soul aspect,ignores the physical nature of human beings,and does not pay enough respect toparents and ancestors,i.e.,there is only the dimension of benevolence,and the dimension of"filial piety"isweaker.On the other hand,Confucius"Confucianism is comprehensive,with"Three Harmonies and Life",equal emphasis on benevolence and filial piety,equal emphasis on sacrificing to heaven and ancestors,equalemphasis on love and reason,and unity of wisdom,benevolence and courage.In his later years,Kang Youweibelieved that Confucianism was a kind of humanistic religion,which took in both the divine and humanisticways,but was mainly humanistic,with strong wholeness,neutrality and inclusiveness.As a humanistic religion,Confucianism is essentially a civilized religion that can dialogue and integrate with all divine religions andresolve religious conflicts.Confucius'humanism has a strong Chinese character and is the soul of the Chinesenation.Kang Youwei's interpretation of Confucius'humanism is an important inspiration for us to re-concep-tualise Confucianism and to explore Confucianism and the spiritual construction of contemporary Chinese society.