“和而不同”新释

A New Interpretation to the Logic of“Harmony in Diversity”

“和而不同”不能简单解释为静态的和谐、和气、团结或者和平共处,而是动态生成新事物的过程。《国语》《晏子春秋》开创了和而不同的哲学思考路径,讲究以异在为前提,以相成相济为手段,其旨归在“生物”。孔子“君子和而不同,小人同而不和”阐释史开创了和而不同的道德对比路径,认为君子“心和”“任道”“为公”而小人“利争”。这两条思考路径不应混为一谈。

“Harmony in diversity”cannot be simply explained as static harmony,unity,or peaceful coexistence,but rather a process of dynamically generating new things.Guoyu,Yanzi chunqiu had created a philosophical thinking path of“Harmony in diversity”,which stresses the premise of difference and the means of mutual aid,with the purpose of“Making all things come to prosperous”.Confucius'interpretation of“the gentleman is harmonious but different in soul,and the petty people are harmonious but different in belief”,had opened up a moral comparison path of the Harmony and Difference,for believing that the gentleman are ambitious,to follow the Daoism and to serving the public.The“petty persons”to compete for benefits.The two way of explanation should not be confused.