太平天国宗教正名问题商榷

Discussion on Religious Name of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

天教是太平天国宗教的自称,亦即自我命名,但在对外场合使用时,出现过"自称"和"统称"并用的现象。它实际上是一个问题的两个方面,"自称"是"统称"的实质和前提,"统称"是"自称"的外延拓展,亦即天教的"一统之称",所以说到底,天教仍然只是太平天国宗教的"自称"。这是它既已独树一帜,又追求"大一统"的双重文化心态使然,其根植于儒学"大一统"的文化普世精神。

Tianjiao was religious name of Taiping Heavenly kingdom's own,namely self-name,but when it was used outside their territory, the phenomenon emerged of laying equal stress on both 'self-name' and 'unification of names'. In fact it was two aspects of a problem, the former was essence and premise of the latter, the latter was extension of the former, namely 'unification of names'. In a word, Tianjiao was only 'self-name' of Taping Heavenly Kingdom religion. It was the result of double culture of developing a school of their own and pursuiting 'great unification', its root embedded in Confucianism, which pursuited a 'great unification' culture of doing missionary work to all over the world.