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China: Democracy, or Confucianism? by Xujun Eberlein (www.xujuneberlein.com) 徐军，旅美专栏作家 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 (蒋庆), 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，当中共十七大召开之际，美国有线新闻网（CNN）对这次会议进行了报道，其所用标题为“中国不考虑效仿西方民主”。我对这个标题的第一反映是：既然不考虑效仿西方民主，那还有什么政治道路可供选择呢？这种下意识的反映，可能与我曾经读过蒋庆的《政治儒学》一书有关。蒋庆是中国当代儒家学者，他在这本书里，为中国未来的政治发展方向勾勒了一幅蓝图，这一蓝图便是中国今后的政治体制必须建立在儒教政治上。这是自“五四”运动以来首次倡导传统的政治理念，而“五四”运动曾将中国传统的政治理念作为封建遗毒打倒，从此开始了古老中国的现代化努力。 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? 美国人总是认为对于任何国家来说，共和制民主政体或议会制民主政体是绝对唯一正确的模式，这就是美国人看待政治问题最典型的思维方式。但是，一个国家对一种政治体制的选择要想获得成功，这种政治体制就必须植根于这一国家独特的历史文化传统。几千年来，无论在政治方面还是在哲学方面，中国都不缺乏伟大的思想家。这就引出一个饶有趣味的话题：为什么中国必须采用西方的模式来作为其政治体制呢？无论这种西方的模式是马克思的共产主义还是资本主义的民主政治。 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. 不过，中国已经很久没有出现过像孔子一样伟大的民间思想家了。特别是在共产主义体制下，根本就不可能有产生这种思想家的土壤。不过，这种死气沉沉的禁锢局面最近开始发生松动，最起码蒋庆正统的儒家思想还没有受到政府的压制。 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. 蒋庆是积极寻求中国未来出路的中国当代众多学者中的一员。在信奉儒家思想以前，蒋庆就显得与众不同，因为他曾深入不同的哲学思想体系中寻找中国未来的出路。早在七十年代他当兵的岁月——那时他只有二十多岁，而且仅仅受过中学教育——就着迷于马克思的《资本论》，并为其思想深深打动。1980年，在就读西南政法大学的时候，他就在中国首先批评中国的共产主义实践背离了马克思早期著作中的人道主义精神。他自己散发的手写论文《回到马克思》很快在许多大学传播，并因此给他带来了多年的政治麻烦。 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. 早在蒋庆三十来岁时，政治上的困境促使他信奉存在主义，继而转信佛教。在1984年游览少林寺后，他就开始独自一人呆在重庆歌乐山上研读佛经。这样长达四年之久，他最终意识到佛教所解决的是个人的“生死”问题，对于国家的政治问题无所助益。最后他发现，与佛教教人脱离尘世不同，儒教具有非常丰富悠久的政治建构资源，儒教从来就是为政治提供积极指导的。这成了蒋庆理论探索的突破点。 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) 在这一理论探索之后，蒋庆也曾转向基督教研究，并翻译过几本与基督教相关的英文书，其中有詹姆士•里德的《基督的人生观》、路易斯•保罗的《政治的罪恶》。（译者按：尚有《政治神学文选》、《道德的人与不道德的社会》与多篇论文。）他曾经多次被耶稣的救世精神所感动，也曾几次试图在深圳皈依基督教。然而，这最终没有成为现实，因为在他试图皈依基督教时感觉到“整个中国文化在把我往回拉。”（米湾：《蒋庆先生传》，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. 在经过多方探索之后，只有儒家思想让蒋庆找到了归宿感，并且注定了他的使命。这并不能简单归结为孔子这个人对他产生了影响，而是因为一个人思想的形成注定要受到他所处的文化背景的深刻影响。（孔子大约比耶稣早500年，并有72个弟子，而耶稣只有12个门徒。） 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岁的蒋庆放弃了他学校教师的工作，在贵州山区建立了一所儒家书院。山上不通电，也没有手机信号。在一年中除去冬天的三个季节里，蒋庆穿着传统服装，在山上研究并讲授儒学，同时推动了全国范围的儿童读经运动。 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，蒋庆出版了几本学术著作。《政治儒学》一书由北京三联书店出版，并得到了哈佛-燕京大学的部分资助。这本书只有中文版，它的出版并没有受到当局的禁止，不过我去年在中国的书店里并没有找到这本书。（我所读的书是从朋友那里借来的。）而蒋庆计划出版的另一本关于“政治儒学”的书，是他近年来的论文和演讲稿的文集。这本书在今年尚未能出版。 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. 在关于政治儒学的书以及文章中，蒋庆呼吁恢复儒家思想作为国家指导思想的传统地位。并且，他规划了一套儒家政治体制架构，这套儒家的政治体制架构与苏式的社会主义体制以及西式的民主政治体制完全不同。 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. 蒋庆认为，实施民主制度实际上就是西化，而且民主制度本身就存在许多缺点。如果在中国实行民主制度，那就只意味着实现民意一重合法性。而且这唯一的合法性也是由投票的数量来实现的，并不管道德在人们做决定时的真正作用。既然人的愿望在本性上是自利的，那么通过投票所做出的决定也只能是自利的，即这一决定只能照顾到这一参与投票的特定多数人的利益。所以，蒋庆认为：民意一重合法性没有充分的能力去建构戓维护一个完善的社会秩序。 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. 蒋庆对民意合法性一重独大的批评使我认识到，因为西方国家花了几百年的时间发展出了忍耐、法制、宽容与团体精神这些观念，而这些观念才成了政府的牢固基础。但是，中国并没有同样的发展历程。如果把西方的民主制度简单地套用到中国社会，则很可能出现类似于在伊拉克所发生的那种问题。单纯的多数决定原则并不能充分达致一个好的政府。 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. 与民意一重合法性相对应，蒋庆倡导的儒教国家具有三重合法性：包括神圣的合法性、历史的合法性与民意的合法性。具体说来，国家体制由三个相互制衡的机构组成，这三个机构分别是代表宗教的通儒院（成员由公共社团推荐，并通过儒家的考试选拔产生）、代表历史文化的国体院（成员通过任命，由历史上的君主及圣贤后代组成）、代表民意的庶民院（成员由普选产生）。蒋庆相信这样一种结构可以避免一重合法性制度下产生的种种弊端。 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. 上述思想来源于“王道参通天、地、人”的儒教理念。中国人的这种政治观念存在于他们古老的政治制度中，有着几千年的历史传统，而且在所有的伟大古文明体中，中国是公认的唯一一直延续下来的文明体。 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. 对于蒋庆的“政治儒学”思想，有许多人赞成，也有许多人反对。追随者尊称他为“当代大儒”，而反对者则指责其为“原教旨主义”。蒋庆说他对这两种评价都不介意。 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，在由政府主办的英文报纸《中国日报》的网站上，刊登了一篇题为“儒家思想绝不能成为宗教”的文章。这篇文章的结论是；“蒋庆所鼓吹的国教，绝不会允许在这个国家成为现实。” 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. 中国著名的儒家学者、北京大学哲学系教授陈来，认可蒋庆所提出的“政治儒学”的新思路。《政治儒学》一书就是在他的帮助下出版的。不过，陈来认为将儒家思想作为国家唯一的意识形态是不现实的。去年陈来访问哈佛大学时，我曾同他进行交流，他对政教不分的思想摇头。 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." 牛津大学毕业的加拿大人、现为北京清华大学哲学系教授的贝淡宁却认为，中国共产党在未来的几年内变成“中国儒家党”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. 种种迹象表明，目前中国的领导人已经在开始鼓励儒学的复兴。国家主席胡锦涛在多次演讲中间接提到孔子的教导，而这种回归传统价值的姿态并没有在他的前任身上有所表现。这种回归传统的倾向也表现在中共十七大当中。 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. 政府由对传统文化排斥到表现出一定程度的包容，这是一个值得赞许的转变。但对于蒋庆所提倡的儒教国家，还有一段漫长的过程。 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，我在北京同米湾作过一次交流，他是蒋庆的弟子及道友，一所中国知名大学的教授。当问及他对蒋庆思想可行性的看法时，他说：“对一个伟大的思想家来说，可行性并不是首先需要考虑的。而蒋先生正是一个伟大的思想家。” 无论是对面还是背后，蒋庆的弟子及其追随者都尊敬地称蒋庆为“蒋先生”。这是儒家“师之所在，道之所存”的传统。这种尊敬的行为与今天毫无尊敬感的年轻一代的行为形成了显明的对比。作为一个对中国历史着迷的人，能看到久违的师道尊严的再现，我心中是感到非常温暖的。 In an email to me later, Miwan summarizes his association with Jiang Qing by using a classic phrase, "Though unreachable, my heart longs." 在最近的电子邮件中，米湾用一句经典中的话概括了他与蒋庆的交往：“虽不能至，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，蒋庆回到他在深圳的家中时，我通过电子邮件问他正在忙什么，他回复道：“终日读书而已。”当我问到他对儒教成为国家指导思想可能性的看法时，他说：“我并不乐观，可能要等上几十年。” Well, that is optimistic. 这么说来，还是可以期待的。 （徐军，旅美专栏作家，本文发表于美国著名英文网刊THE CHINA BEAT，并由美国多家著名中国问题英文网刊链接转载。） 戊子端午前 心兰谨译于阳明精舍何言居 (责任编辑：admin) |