永恒还是永续:由王船山的宇宙观说起

Eternal or Long-lasting:Starting from Wang Chuanshan's Cosmological View

宇宙论是儒家哲学的重要内容,而宇宙观是宇宙论的基础部分。王船山对于宇宙观有高度的自觉。他通过反思已有的宇宙观,提出自己的宇宙观。在他看来,老子、《易纬》、邵雍的宇宙观实质是“天地有始说”,而“天地有始说”是错误的,原因在于其认为天地有“始”“终”。通过对天地无“始”“终”的论证,王船山确立了自己的“天地无始说”的宇宙观。对于王船山的宇宙观,若以时、空为视角,可以推知其非“永恒”的宇宙观,乃“永续”的宇宙观,进而可推知儒家的宇宙观亦为“永续”的宇宙观。这样的分析凸显了王船山乃至整个儒家宇宙观的特点,有利于把握王船山哲学乃至整个儒家哲学的特质。

Cosmological theory is an important part of Confucian philosophy and cosmological view is the fundamental part of cosmological theory.Wang Chuanshan has a high degree of self-awareness about his cosmological view.He proposed his own by reflecting on the existing worldviews.According to him,the cosmological views of Laozi,Yi Wei and Shao Yong are essen-tially the“theory that heaven and earth have a beginning”,which is incorrect as they all believe that heaven and earth have a“beginning”and“end”.Through the argument that there is no“beginning”or“end”in heaven and earth,Wang Chuanshan es-tablished his cosmological view of“the theory of heaven and earth having no beginning”.From the perspective of time and space,Wang Chuanshan's cosmological view is not“eternal”,but“long-lasting”,and thus it can be inferred that the cosmol-ogical view of Confucianism is also“long-lasting”.Based on the analysis,the characteristics of Wang Chuanshan's and even the Confucian cosmological views are highlighted,which is conducive to the understanding of their philosophy.