“理”支撑世界的存在与运转——朱子的“理生气”与理气先后、动静再论

Reason Underlies Existence and Motion of the World:On Zhu Zi's Proposition of Reason Generating Qi,Priority between Reason and Qi and Relationship between Motion and Motionlessness

朱子主张的“理生气”往往受到误解,其意实际上是理不仅生物,而且生气;生气不仅是说依据,而且是说根源。之所以说理生气,关键在于理意味着生生的必然性,无此理则气可能一去不返,甚至连气本身也不存在。在理是天地万物的支撑、无理则无天地万物的意义上,理是先于气的;在理又不是一物而就在气中的意义上,理气又是无先后可言的。理之动静有三层含义:理从根本上支撑着这个世界的存在与运转,此为理之动,而其运转是有节律的,亦即是有动有静的;从理气对言而理非一物的角度来说,理无气的意义上的动静可言;从理气合言的角度来说,气的动静就可以体现理的动静。理往往被理解为规范,但相比之下更根本的是其支撑世界的意义,这是值得引起我们充分注意的。

Zhu Zi s proposition that Reason generates Qi is always disputable.This paper emphasizes that this proposition means that Reason generates not only the tangible objects,but also Qi.It indicates that Reason is both the ground and the origin of Qi.To be more specific,Reason implies the inevitability of generation and regeneration,and without such reason,Qi itself cannot regenerate anything and even cannot exist.In terms of the fact that Reason underlies all things in the world,the Reason is prior to Qi and without Reason there would be nothing in the world;whereas with regards to the fact that Reason itself is not an independent thing but manifests itself in Qi,there is no priority between Reason and Qi.The issue of motion and motionlessness of Reason involves three aspects.First,Reason underlies the existence and motion of the world.It is in this sense that Reason is dynamic.Activities of Reason involve regularities.It is in this sense that Reason is both dynamic and static.Second,when considering Reason and Qi as two different things,Reason doesn t imply motion and motionlessness of Qi.Third,when considering Reason and Qi as indispensible two things,motion and motionlessness of Qi are exactly motion and motionlessness of Reason.Last but not least,Reason is often understood from the perspective of normativity,whereas this paper states that its role of underlying the world deserves more notice.