中國(guó)：實(shí)行民主，還是采納儒教？（徐軍）
China: Democracy, or Confucianism?
by
Xujun Eberlein (www.xujuneberlein.com)
徐軍，旅美專欄作家
Last October, when the CCP held its 17th congress, CNN reported the event with the headline
"China rules out copying Western democracy." My first reaction to this headline was, So what?
That spontaneous reaction might have been an unconscious consequence of my reading Political
Confucianism by Jiang Qing (蔣慶), a contemporary Confucian in China. In this book, Jiang Qing
draws a blueprint for China’s political future based on Confucianism. It is the first such conception
since the 1919 May 4th movement that denounced the traditional Chinese ideology as a feudal
relic and began the age-old country’s modernization efforts.
去年十月，當(dāng)中共十七大召開(kāi)之際，美國(guó)有線新聞網(wǎng)（CNN）對(duì)這次會(huì)議進(jìn)行了報(bào)道，其所用標(biāo)題為“中國(guó)不考慮效仿西方民主”。我對(duì)這個(gè)標(biāo)題的第一反映是：既然不考慮效仿西方民主，那還有什么政治道路可供選擇呢？這種下意識(shí)的反映，可能與我曾經(jīng)讀過(guò)蔣慶的《政治儒學(xué)》一書有關(guān)。蔣慶是中國(guó)當(dāng)代儒家學(xué)者，他在這本書里，為中國(guó)未來(lái)的政治發(fā)展方向勾勒了一幅藍(lán)圖，這一藍(lán)圖便是中國(guó)今后的政治體制必須建立在儒教政治上。這是自“五四”運(yùn)動(dòng)以來(lái)首次倡導(dǎo)傳統(tǒng)的政治理念，而“五四”運(yùn)動(dòng)曾將中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)的政治理念作為封建遺毒打倒，從此開(kāi)始了古老中國(guó)的現(xiàn)代化努力。
It seems typical of American thinking to regard either a republic or parliamentary democracy as
absolutely the only right model for all countries. For a political system to succeed, however, it
needs to be rooted in the particular country’s cultural history. Throughout thousands of years,
China has never lacked great thinkers, political or philosophical. Which poses an interesting
question: why does China need to adopt a Western model for its political system, be it Marxist
communism or capitalist democracy?
美國(guó)人總是認(rèn)為對(duì)于任何國(guó)家來(lái)說(shuō)，共和制民主政體或議會(huì)制民主政體是絕對(duì)唯一正確的模式，這就是美國(guó)人看待政治問(wèn)題最典型的思維方式。但是，一個(gè)國(guó)家對(duì)一種政治體制的選擇要想獲得成功，這種政治體制就必須植根于這一國(guó)家獨(dú)特的歷史文化傳統(tǒng)。幾千年來(lái)，無(wú)論在政治方面還是在哲學(xué)方面，中國(guó)都不缺乏偉大的思想家。這就引出一個(gè)饒有趣味的話題：為什么中國(guó)必須采用西方的模式來(lái)作為其政治體制呢？無(wú)論這種西方的模式是馬克思的共產(chǎn)主義還是資本主義的民主政治。
But it is true that China hasn’t had a great folk thinker like Confucius for quite some time.
Especially in the communist regime, there has been no soil for such a thinker to grow. This
frozen ground seems to have begun thawing lately. Jiang Qing’s Confucian orthodox thoughts, at
least, have not been subjected to suppression yet.
不過(guò)，中國(guó)已經(jīng)很久沒(méi)有出現(xiàn)過(guò)像孔子一樣偉大的民間思想家了。特別是在共產(chǎn)主義體制下，根本就不可能有產(chǎn)生這種思想家的土壤。不過(guò)，這種死氣沉沉的禁錮局面最近開(kāi)始發(fā)生松動(dòng)，最起碼蔣慶正統(tǒng)的儒家思想還沒(méi)有受到政府的壓制。
Among the contemporary Chinese scholars actively seeking solutions for their country’s future,
Jiang Qing is exceptional in that he investigated various philosophic schools and ideologies before
embracing Confucianism. As a 20-year-old soldier in the 1970s, with a mere middle school
education, he had taken a stab at Marx’s voluminous Capital. In 1980, an undergraduate student in
Southwest Politics and Law College, he was the first in the country to criticize Chinese
Communist practice as having abandoned the humanitarian essence of Marx’s early works. His
self-assigned, hand-written thesis "Return to Marx" spread apace in many universities, and
brought him years of political trouble.
蔣慶是積極尋求中國(guó)未來(lái)出路的中國(guó)當(dāng)代眾多學(xué)者中的一員。在信奉儒家思想以前，蔣慶就顯得與眾不同，因?yàn)樗钊氩煌恼軐W(xué)思想體系中尋找中國(guó)未來(lái)的出路。早在七十年代他當(dāng)兵的歲月——那時(shí)他只有二十多歲，而且僅僅受過(guò)中學(xué)教育——就著迷于馬克思的《資本論》，并為其思想深深打動(dòng)。1980年，在就讀西南政法大學(xué)的時(shí)候，他就在中國(guó)首先批評(píng)中國(guó)的共產(chǎn)主義實(shí)踐背離了馬克思早期著作中的人道主義精神。他自己散發(fā)的手寫論文《回到馬克思》很快在許多大學(xué)傳播，并因此給他帶來(lái)了多年的政治麻煩。
In his early 30s, Jiang Qing’s political predicament drove him first to existentialism and then
Buddhism. After his visit to the Shaolin Temple in 1984, he shut himself up on Chongqing’s Gele
Mountain for four years to study Buddhist scriptures, eventually concluding that Buddhism solves
the "life and death" issue on the individual level, but provides inadequate guidance for national
political problems. Later he would find that, unlike Buddhism that teaches detachment from the
dusty real world, Confucianism has a long tradition of involvement in political construction, and
that would become the breakthrough point in Jiang Qing’s theoretical exploration.
早在蔣慶三十來(lái)歲時(shí)，政治上的困境促使他信奉存在主義，繼而轉(zhuǎn)信佛教。在1984年游覽少林寺后，他就開(kāi)始獨(dú)自一人呆在重慶歌樂(lè)山上研讀佛經(jīng)。這樣長(zhǎng)達(dá)四年之久，他最終意識(shí)到佛教所解決的是個(gè)人的“生死”問(wèn)題，對(duì)于國(guó)家的政治問(wèn)題無(wú)所助益。最后他發(fā)現(xiàn)，與佛教教人脫離塵世不同，儒教具有非常豐富悠久的政治建構(gòu)資源，儒教從來(lái)就是為政治提供積極指導(dǎo)的。這成了蔣慶理論探索的突破點(diǎn)。
Jiang Qing had also turned to Christianity, and translated several English books into Chinese,
including James Reid’s Facing Life with Christ and Louis Proal’s Political Crime. He was deeply
moved by Jesus’s spirit and attempted several times to join a Christian church in Shenzhen.
However, his attempts would not come to fruition as he felt "the entire Chinese culture dragging
my leg." (Miwan: "Biography of Sensei Jiang Qing," unpublished manuscript in Chinese)
在這一理論探索之后，蔣慶也曾轉(zhuǎn)向基督教研究，并翻譯過(guò)幾本與基督教相關(guān)的英文書，其中有詹姆士•里德的《基督的人生觀》、路易斯•保羅的《政治的罪惡》。（譯者按：尚有《政治神學(xué)文選》、《道德的人與不道德的社會(huì)》與多篇論文。）他曾經(jīng)多次被耶穌的救世精神所感動(dòng)，也曾幾次試圖在深圳皈依基督教。然而，這最終沒(méi)有成為現(xiàn)實(shí)，因?yàn)樵谒噲D皈依基督教時(shí)感覺(jué)到“整個(gè)中國(guó)文化在把我往回拉?！保诪常骸妒Y慶先生傳》，中文未出版稿。）
After all this exploration, only Confucianism makes him feel that he is at home and embracing his
destiny. This is not because Confucius, some 500 years older than Jesus, had 72 disciples while
Jesus had only 12; it is simply that cultural background has an indelible impact on one’s
ideological choice.
在經(jīng)過(guò)多方探索之后，只有儒家思想讓蔣慶找到了歸宿感，并且注定了他的使命。這并不能簡(jiǎn)單歸結(jié)為孔子這個(gè)人對(duì)他產(chǎn)生了影響，而是因?yàn)橐粋€(gè)人思想的形成注定要受到他所處的文化背景的深刻影響。（孔子大約比耶穌早500年，并有72個(gè)弟子，而耶穌只有12個(gè)門徒。）
In 2001, 48-year-old Jiang Qing quit his college teaching job and established a Confucian
seminary in the remote mountains of Guizhou. For three seasons of the year, except winter, Jiang
Qing dresses in the traditional long buttoned shirt, studies and teaches Confucianism in the
mountains without electricity or a cell phone signal, and pushes a nation-wide "children reading
Confucian classics" movement.
2001年，48歲的蔣慶放棄了他學(xué)校教師的工作，在貴州山區(qū)建立了一所儒家書院。山上不通電，也沒(méi)有手機(jī)信號(hào)。在一年中除去冬天的三個(gè)季節(jié)里，蔣慶穿著傳統(tǒng)服裝，在山上研究并講授儒學(xué)，同時(shí)推動(dòng)了全國(guó)范圍的兒童讀經(jīng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。
Since 1989, Jiang Qing has published several scholarly books. Political Confucianism, available in
Chinese only, was published, with partial sponsorship from the Harvard-Yenching Institute, in
2004 by SDX Joint Publishing in Beijing. It has not been banned, though I couldn’t find it in
China’s bookstores during my visit last year. (The copy I read was lent to me by a friend.) On the
other hand, Jiang Qing’s plan to publish a collection of recent articles and speeches on Political
Confucianism was rejected this year.
1989年，蔣慶出版了幾本學(xué)術(shù)著作。《政治儒學(xué)》一書由北京三聯(lián)書店出版，并得到了哈佛-燕京大學(xué)的部分資助。這本書只有中文版，它的出版并沒(méi)有受到當(dāng)局的禁止，不過(guò)我去年在中國(guó)的書店里并沒(méi)有找到這本書。（我所讀的書是從朋友那里借來(lái)的。）而蔣慶計(jì)劃出版的另一本關(guān)于“政治儒學(xué)”的書，是他近年來(lái)的論文和演講稿的文集。這本書在今年尚未能出版。
In his books and articles on political Confucianism, Jiang Qing calls for a restoration of
Confucianism as the state ideology, as it had been in many dynasties. Further, he outlines a
Confucian political structure strongly distinct from both Soviet-style communism and
Western-style democracy.
在關(guān)于政治儒學(xué)的書以及文章中，蔣慶呼吁恢復(fù)儒家思想作為國(guó)家指導(dǎo)思想的傳統(tǒng)地位。并且，他規(guī)劃了一套儒家政治體制架構(gòu)，這套儒家的政治體制架構(gòu)與蘇式的社會(huì)主義體制以及西式的民主政治體制完全不同。
Democracy is Westernized and imperfect in nature, Jiang Qing points out. If applied to China, a
western style democratic system would have only one legitimacy –popular will, or civil legitimacy.
Such uni-legitimacy operates on the quantity of votes, regardless of the moral implications of
decisions taken. Since human desire is selfish by nature, those decisions can be self serving for a
particular majority’s interest. Because of this, Jiang Qing argues, civil legitimacy alone is not
sufficient to build or keep a constructive social order.
蔣慶認(rèn)為，實(shí)施民主制度實(shí)際上就是西化，而且民主制度本身就存在許多缺點(diǎn)。如果在中國(guó)實(shí)行民主制度，那就只意味著實(shí)現(xiàn)民意一重合法性。而且這唯一的合法性也是由投票的數(shù)量來(lái)實(shí)現(xiàn)的，并不管道德在人們做決定時(shí)的真正作用。既然人的愿望在本性上是自利的，那么通過(guò)投票所做出的決定也只能是自利的，即這一決定只能照顧到這一參與投票的特定多數(shù)人的利益。所以，蔣慶認(rèn)為：民意一重合法性沒(méi)有充分的能力去建構(gòu)戓維護(hù)一個(gè)完善的社會(huì)秩序。
The uni-legitimacy criticism makes senses to me because western countries, which have evolved
the concepts of sufferance, law, tolerance and community standards over hundreds of years, have
a broad base for governance. China, on the other hand, does not have this same evolution. Western
democracy simply dropped onto China is likely to face pitfalls parallel to those seen in Iraq. The
foundation of majority rule alone is not sufficient to provide good governance.
蔣慶對(duì)民意合法性一重獨(dú)大的批評(píng)使我認(rèn)識(shí)到，因?yàn)槲鞣絿?guó)家花了幾百年的時(shí)間發(fā)展出了忍耐、法制、寬容與團(tuán)體精神這些觀念，而這些觀念才成了政府的牢固基礎(chǔ)。但是，中國(guó)并沒(méi)有同樣的發(fā)展歷程。如果把西方的民主制度簡(jiǎn)單地套用到中國(guó)社會(huì)，則很可能出現(xiàn)類似于在伊拉克所發(fā)生的那種問(wèn)題。單純的多數(shù)決定原則并不能充分達(dá)致一個(gè)好的政府。
In contrast, the Confucian state Jiang proposes is tri-legitimate: it carries numinous, historical, and
civil legitimacy simultaneously. In particular, the governmental body consists of three mutually
constraining institutions that represent religion (members chosen through community
recommendation and Confucian examination), cultural tradition (members based on sovereign and
sage lineage and by appointment), and popular will (members elected), respectively. Jiang Qing
believes that such a structure would avoid many of the mistakes that appear inevitable under a
uni-legitimate system.
與民意一重合法性相對(duì)應(yīng)，蔣慶倡導(dǎo)的儒教國(guó)家具有三重合法性：包括神圣的合法性、歷史的合法性與民意的合法性。具體說(shuō)來(lái)，國(guó)家體制由三個(gè)相互制衡的機(jī)構(gòu)組成，這三個(gè)機(jī)構(gòu)分別是代表宗教的通儒院（成員由公共社團(tuán)推薦，并通過(guò)儒家的考試選拔產(chǎn)生）、代表歷史文化的國(guó)體院（成員通過(guò)任命，由歷史上的君主及圣賢后代組成）、代表民意的庶民院（成員由普選產(chǎn)生）。蔣慶相信這樣一種結(jié)構(gòu)可以避免一重合法性制度下產(chǎn)生的種種弊端。
The above ideas can be traced back to a Confucian concept: "The sovereign rules through the
heaven, the earth, and the people." The Chinese had thousands of years of tradition with these
elements in their political systems, and of all the great ancient cultures, China is unique in having
survived with recognizable continuity.
上述思想來(lái)源于“王道參通天、地、人”的儒教理念。中國(guó)人的這種政治觀念存在于他們古老的政治制度中，有著幾千年的歷史傳統(tǒng)，而且在所有的偉大古文明體中，中國(guó)是公認(rèn)的唯一一直延續(xù)下來(lái)的文明體。
Jiang Qing’s idea of political Confucianism has found as many advocates as dissenters. Followers
honor him as "the greatest Contemporary Confucian," while dissenters accuse him of being a
“benighted cultural conservative.” Jiang Qing says he accepts both titles without the modifiers.
對(duì)于蔣慶的“政治儒學(xué)”思想，有許多人贊成，也有許多人反對(duì)。追隨者尊稱他為“當(dāng)代大儒”，而反對(duì)者則指責(zé)其為“原教旨主義”。蔣慶說(shuō)他對(duì)這兩種評(píng)價(jià)都不介意。
The website of China Daily, a government-run English newspaper, published an article on January
6, 2006 titled "Confucianism will never be religion [sic]." It concludes, "Religion as a state power,
as Jiang advocates, should never be allowed, not in this country."
2006年1月6日，在由政府主辦的英文報(bào)紙《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》的網(wǎng)站上，刊登了一篇題為“儒家思想絕不能成為宗教”的文章。這篇文章的結(jié)論是；“蔣慶所鼓吹的國(guó)教，絕不會(huì)允許在這個(gè)國(guó)家成為現(xiàn)實(shí)?！?
Chen Lai, China’s top Confucianism scholar and professor of philosophy at Beijing University,
welcomes the new departure in political Confucianism research conducted by Jiang Qing. In fact,
he helped to have Political Confucianism published. Still, he considers the suggestion that
Confucianism become the state ideology, let alone a basis for government, impractical. In my chat
with Chen Lai when he visited Harvard University last year, he shook head at the theology that
does not separate state and church.
中國(guó)著名的儒家學(xué)者、北京大學(xué)哲學(xué)系教授陳來(lái)，認(rèn)可蔣慶所提出的“政治儒學(xué)”的新思路?！墩稳鍖W(xué)》一書就是在他的幫助下出版的。不過(guò)，陳來(lái)認(rèn)為將儒家思想作為國(guó)家唯一的意識(shí)形態(tài)是不現(xiàn)實(shí)的。去年陳來(lái)訪問(wèn)哈佛大學(xué)時(shí)，我曾同他進(jìn)行交流，他對(duì)政教不分的思想搖頭。
On the other hand, Daniel A. Bell, an Oxford-educated Canadian scholar and professor of
philosophy at Tsinghua University in Beijing, deems that "it is not entirely fanciful to surmise that
the Chinese Communist Party will be relabeled the Chinese Confucian Party in a few years time."
牛津大學(xué)畢業(yè)的加拿大人、現(xiàn)為北京清華大學(xué)哲學(xué)系教授的貝淡寧卻認(rèn)為，中國(guó)共產(chǎn)黨在未來(lái)的幾年內(nèi)變成“中國(guó)儒家黨”并不是不可能的。
There is in fact a sign that China’s current leaders have begun to encourage the revival of
Confucianism. President Hu Jingtao has alluded to Confucius’ teaching in various speeches – a
gesture toward the return to traditional value that was not seen in his predecessors. This tendency
was again displayed in CCP’s 17th Congress.
種種跡象表明，目前中國(guó)的領(lǐng)導(dǎo)人已經(jīng)在開(kāi)始鼓勵(lì)儒學(xué)的復(fù)興。國(guó)家主席胡錦濤在多次演講中間接提到孔子的教導(dǎo)，而這種回歸傳統(tǒng)價(jià)值的姿態(tài)并沒(méi)有在他的前任身上有所表現(xiàn)。這種回歸傳統(tǒng)的傾向也表現(xiàn)在中共十七大當(dāng)中。
It is a welcome change, displaying a small degree of tolerance that has been lacking. But it is a far
cry from the Confucian state proposed by Jiang Qing.
政府由對(duì)傳統(tǒng)文化排斥到表現(xiàn)出一定程度的包容，這是一個(gè)值得贊許的轉(zhuǎn)變。但對(duì)于蔣慶所提倡的儒教國(guó)家，還有一段漫長(zhǎng)的過(guò)程。
Last summer in Beijing I had a conversation with Miwan, a disciple and friend of Jiang Qing’s and
a professor himself in a renowned Chinese university. When asked what he thought of the
feasibility of Jiang Qing’s ideal, Miwan said, "To a great thinker, feasibility does not have to be an
immediate concern. Sensei Jiang is a great thinker." All of Jiang’s disciples and followers
reverently refer to him as "Jiang xiansheng" – sensei Jiang, whether in front of or behind him. This
is a practice of the Confucian "respecting the teacher, valuing the tao" tradition, in sharp contrast
to the behavior of today’s irreverent young generation. To a Chinese history addict like me, the
reappearance of this long-abandoned reverence for a teacher is heart warming.
去年夏天，我在北京同米灣作過(guò)一次交流，他是蔣慶的弟子及道友，一所中國(guó)知名大學(xué)的教授。當(dāng)問(wèn)及他對(duì)蔣慶思想可行性的看法時(shí)，他說(shuō)：“對(duì)一個(gè)偉大的思想家來(lái)說(shuō)，可行性并不是首先需要考慮的。而蔣先生正是一個(gè)偉大的思想家?！?nbsp;無(wú)論是對(duì)面還是背后，蔣慶的弟子及其追隨者都尊敬地稱蔣慶為“蔣先生”。這是儒家“師之所在，道之所存”的傳統(tǒng)。這種尊敬的行為與今天毫無(wú)尊敬感的年輕一代的行為形成了顯明的對(duì)比。作為一個(gè)對(duì)中國(guó)歷史著迷的人，能看到久違的師道尊嚴(yán)的再現(xiàn)，我心中是感到非常溫暖的。
In an email to me later, Miwan summarizes his association with Jiang Qing by using a classic
phrase, "Though unreachable, my heart longs."
在最近的電子郵件中，米灣用一句經(jīng)典中的話概括了他與蔣慶的交往：“雖不能至，心向往之?！?
After Jiang Qing returned his home in Shenzhen for winter last year, I emailed him asking what he
was busy on. He replied, "Reading all day long, nothing more." I asked what he thought of the
potential for Confucianism to become the state ideology. "I’m not optimistic," he said, "I’m afraid
it might have to wait for several decades."
去年冬天，蔣慶回到他在深圳的家中時(shí)，我通過(guò)電子郵件問(wèn)他正在忙什么，他回復(fù)道：“終日讀書而已?！碑?dāng)我問(wèn)到他對(duì)儒教成為國(guó)家指導(dǎo)思想可能性的看法時(shí)，他說(shuō)：“我并不樂(lè)觀，可能要等上幾十年?！?
Well, that is optimistic.
這么說(shuō)來(lái)，還是可以期待的。
（徐軍，旅美專欄作家，本文發(fā)表于美國(guó)著名英文網(wǎng)刊THE CHINA BEAT，并由美國(guó)多家著名中國(guó)問(wèn)題英文網(wǎng)刊鏈接轉(zhuǎn)載。）
戊子端午前 心蘭謹(jǐn)譯于陽(yáng)明精舍何言居
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儒家網(wǎng)
青春儒學(xué)
民間儒行