Chao Fulin | the ideological light of Xunzi's "Treatise on Heaven"

2006-08-07 Source: Guangming Daily

The Warring States period was an era of brilliant stars in the history of Chinese thought, and the thoughts of the sons were as dazzling as lightning bolts that pierced the night sky, but there was still a big gap between the thinking of ordinary people in society and the height reached by the elites in that era, and the superstitious ideas in society were still very serious. We have received considerable attention from recent years to sleeping tigers in Qin

In Jian's "Book of The Day", we can glimpse the taboos and complicated spells of avoiding evil spirits and exorcising ghosts at that time. As an outstanding thinker in the Warring States period, Xunzi was interested in praying to the gods and asking for the blessing of ghosts. There is an in-depth critique of auspicious things and superstitious customs. His treatise on The Theory of Heaven is the chapter in which this kind of thought shines. The "Chronicle of Mengzi Xunqing" says that "Xun Qing was jealous of the government of the world, the subjugation of the country and the chaos of the king, and did not succeed in the road but camped in Wu Zhu, believing in words? auspicious...... Sequence of tens of thousands of words and pawns", a critique of Xunzi? Xiang's ideological orientation is clearly summarized.

In the "Treatise on Heaven", Xun Zi pointed out that it is normal for people to feel strange without understanding the reasons for falling stars, the chirping of trees, the eclipse of the sun and the moon, the irregularity of wind and rain, and the common appearance of strange stars in the sky, but it is not necessary to fear these phenomena. He explained that these phenomena "are the changes of heaven and earth, the transformation of yin and yang, the rare things, the strange can also be, and the fear is not." Xun Zi believes that the most terrible thing is the "shemale", that is, the disaster caused by the ruler's "unclear government decrees, irregular measures, and inaction". As long as the politics are clear and people are not superstitious, even if there are natural disasters, they will not have much impact. The natural changes in heaven and earth all operate according to their own laws, without interference from the will of man, in the words of Xunzi, "The heavens do not fall out of winter for the evil of man, the evil of the earth is not for man, and the evil of the earth is far away, and a gentleman does not quit for the villain." Heaven has a constant path, the earth has a constant, and a gentleman has a constant body." Since the Shang Zhou Dynasty, monarchs have often focused on the granting of monarchical power and demonstrated the rationality of their own power, but Xunzi clearly said that heaven is the same for all people, "not for Yao to survive, not to perish", and the holy king and tyrant have nothing to do with heaven. This is obviously a huge shock to the traditional concept of mandate of heaven.

Xunzi's theory of heaven has reached the height of thought that can be attained in that era, and its value in the history of thought should indeed be fully affirmed, but if it is forced to bear a laurel of "materialism", it is not necessary. Commentators generally believe that Xunzi put forward the theory of "the separation of heaven and man" as opposed to the idealism of "the unity of heaven and man". In fact, the theory of "the separation of heaven and man" is only an understanding of Xunzi's thought, and Xunzi himself did not say "the separation of heaven and man", he only said that "the distinction between heaven and man is that of heaven and man, then it is said that the people are the most important" ("Xunzi Heavenly Theory"). Xun Zi's emphasis was on understanding the respective names of heaven and man. The key here lies in the "division" of "the division between heaven and man", not as the meaning of the distinction and distinction of the verb, but as the position and meaning of the noun. In the literature of the Warring States period, there are also many examples of "points" as nouns, such as: "Mencius Devoted to the Heart" said that "the gentleman's nature, although the great line is not added, although the poor do not lose, the division is determined", and the "Book of Shangjun Fixed Points" is said to be "the name has been determined, the poor thief does not take", which is a typical example. These documentary materials prove that the meaning of the word "point" as a noun lies in "office" and "name". Zheng Xuan's note on the "Fortune of Rites" is correct, which is "divided, Judas is also". The meaning of the word "fen" is sometimes also written as "part", and the word "fen" in this sense should also be pronounced as the sound of "part".

Xunzi's line of thought about the relationship between heaven and man is: Heaven has a routine, people have a hierarchy, and a wise person will "know that he does not complain about others, those who know his destiny do not complain about heaven, those who complain about others are poor, and those who complain about heaven have no ambition" (Xunzi Honor and Disgrace). Xun Zi advocated the "distinction between heaven and man", and its purpose is precisely this. The "knower" who "does not complain about heaven" mentioned by Xun zi is the "supreme man" who "knows the distinction between heaven and man", that is, the gentleman who "obeys the order to be cautious and independent" ("Xun Zi does not go ungodled"). The so-called "distinction between heaven and man" means to understand the names and duties of both heaven and man and not to be usurped. Of course, we are not saying here that this sentence has nothing to do with the distinction and division between heaven and man, but only that its dominant idea here is not the boundary between heaven and man.

What is the name and status of "heaven", that is, the attributes of "heaven"? Xunzi has made many analyses of this. During the Warring States period, the theory of heaven of the sons was analyzed from many angles, either calling heaven a natural heaven, or calling heaven a heaven of gods, or calling it an ethical heaven. In Xunzi's theoretical system, although heaven does not absolutely abandon its natural attributes, the natural attributes of "heaven" are obliterated in its divine attributes. People have a natural and intuitive impression of the high sky and the running sun, moon, stars, etc. Xunzi used this crude appearance to elaborate on the mysterious properties of heaven. Xunzi believed that "heaven" is not only a god with a purpose and a will, but also has its own moral attributes, "sincerity and benevolence are forms, form is God, and God can transform; sincerity and righteousness are reasonable, reason is clear, and ming can change." Change is called heavenly virtue. Among the moral attributes of "heaven", Xunzi believes that the most important thing is "sincerity", "heaven and earth are great, and insincerity cannot transform all things" ("Xunzi is not scrupulous"), and the character of heaven's steadfastness and non-deception is the guarantee for its creation of all things. The Xunzi Treatise on Heaven demonstrates the impartial, unbiased, and unbiased character of heaven in all aspects. Because of the impartiality and selflessness of heaven, people will not have resentment against heaven in times of social turmoil, and the so-called "those who know the destiny of heaven do not complain about heaven" ("Honor and Disgrace") is here. Xun Zi pointed out that heaven is the standard of rulers in the world, saying that they should "dwell like great gods and move like heavenly emperors" (Xunzi Zhengyi). The so-called "Heavenly Emperor" was originally created by people according to the image of the worldly monarch, but Xunzi turned it upside down, thinking that the worldly monarch was the shadow of the "Heavenly Emperor".

When discussing pre-Qin philosophy, commentators often emphasize XunZi's brilliant idea that "man will triumph over heaven". On the basis of the theory of "the division between heaven and man", Xun Zi proposed in the "Treatise on Heaven", "The great heaven thinks about it, and the things and animals control it." Praise from heaven, and use it with the mandate of heaven", this is a famous saying that scholars who believe in dividing the history of the development of Chinese philosophy by the two camps of "materialism" and "idealism" are particularly valued. From here, commentators often deduce Xunzi's idea that "man will triumph over heaven", and then extend that this is a reflection of the philosophical thinking of the development of social productive forces and the victory of manpower over nature in the Warring States period, and is a brilliant cloud of ideas of "materialism". In fact, the meaning of Xunzi here is not to ask people to conquer the natural world and realize man's victory over heaven, but to "control the mandate of heaven", that is, to know and master the "mandate of heaven", although this attitude is positive, thinking that people can make a difference in the face of the mandate of heaven, it should be noted that the theory of Xunzi only ends here, and has not developed to the point of "man is determined to win the heavens". As far as Xunzi's proposition of "controlling the Mandate of Heaven" is concerned, how big is the scope of the "system"? Xunzi did not mean to conquer the heavens, nor did he mean to conquer the natural world. Judging from Xunzi's concept of etiquette and righteousness, his so-called "mandate of heaven" actually drew a circle with the radius of etiquette and righteousness, and the people beyond this circle are "fools", "villains", and "adulterers" who do not know the destiny of heaven, and Xunzi believes that he can only "control the mandate of heaven and use it" in this circle. In Xun Zi's view, the social status of the Heavenly Son, the Scholar Master, and the Shu Ren were all the result of the conscious arrangement of the "Heaven". The theological model of Dong Zhongshu," as the Han Confucian Dong Zhongshu called "following the king with man and following the heavens with the king" ("Spring and Autumn Prosperity and Jade Cup"), is really indiscriminately coveted here. Xun zi, like Dong Zhongshu, emphasized man's dependence on "heaven", but in terms of time, it was much earlier than Dong Zhongshu.

As an outstanding thinker, Xunzi's thought is indeed beyond ordinary people, and his theory of heaven is indeed a valuable treasure in the history of ancient thought. As a deep-thinking philosopher, he was fascinated by superstition. Xiang's critique shines with the light of wisdom. Xunzi's profound understanding of "heaven" from the perspective of nature is indeed invaluable. In the "Treatise on Heaven", he once emphasized the meaning of natural heaven from various angles, to a large extent, he broke the superstition of "heaven", and when paying attention to personnel, Xunzi passionately asked people to exert subjective energy. However, it should be noted that the progressive significance of his thinking is really due to this, and Xunzi's understanding of this aspect still has certain limitations. He advocated that people could not know and did not have to know the nature of heaven and the mystery of the domination of heaven, and he did not put forward the so-called "separation of heaven and man" and "man will triumph over heaven". In our careful analysis of Xunzi Tian's theory today, if he had known, he might have smiled and nodded his head in approval if he had known it.