《英雄德行》与《鲁滨逊漂流记》——一场围绕中国的古今之争

Of Heroick Virtue and Robinson Crusoe:A Controversy between the Moderns and Ancients Concerning China

面对英国的混乱局面,坦普尔参照复辟时期的共和主义德行,提出了以农业经济为基础、以君主为中心的政治秩序的英雄德行。中国以儒家思想为核心的英雄德行是其中的典范。在光荣革命之际,古派的坦普尔盛赞中国英雄德行违背了今派在光荣革命中确立的君主立宪制,遭到了笛福所著《鲁滨逊漂流记》的反对。作为中国英雄德行基础的农业经济也与《鲁滨逊漂流记》主张的重商主义相抵牾。坦普尔想通过颂扬中国的英雄德行来恢复光荣革命之前的旧体系,笛福则希望借助《鲁滨逊漂流记》中的中国来否定旧体系,达到捍卫光荣革命成果的目的。两者都无法回避中国的影响。

Concerning the turbulence in England in the 17th century,William Temple,a representative of the Ancients,proposed the heroic virtue centered around monarchy with the agricultural economy as its foundation,drawing on the republican virtues of the Restoration period.The exemplary heroic virtue in China,rooted in Confucian thought,serves as a paradigm.Around the time of the Glorious Revolution,Temple’s praise of Chinese heroic virtue,which violated the constitutional monarchy established in the Glorious Revolution,was opposed by Daniel Defoe,a representative of the Moderns,in his Robinson Crusoe.The agricultural economy,as the foundation of Chinese heroic virtue,also contradicts the mercantilism advocated in Robinson Crusoe.Temple wanted to restore the old monarchy before the Glorious Revolution by praising China's heroic virtue,while Defoe hoped to use the portrayal of China in Robinson Crusoe to negate the heroic virtue and defend the Glorious Revolution settlement.Nevertheless,the influence of China can be felt on both sides of the controversy between the Ancients and Moderns.