明清民本思想研究

【作者】 陈碧芬；

【导师】 林文勋；

【作者基本信息】 云南大学 ， 专门史， 2011， 博士

【摘要】 民本思想作为中国传统社会长期存在的政治思想基础,是中国优秀政治文化传统中最为基本的和重要的组成部分之一,也是一笔宝贵的历史遗产和精神财富,它具有了超越时代的普遍意义,不仅为开明的统治者所用,也成为人类进步的经久不衰的精神支柱。明清时期,传统民本思想发展到了历史的最高水平,同时,它的局限性和消极面也表现得越来越明显,越来越不能适应整个社会的发展变化时,伴随着社会的整体发展变化趋势,它必然受到挑战,并开始发生嬗变,所谓的“新民本”思想应运而生。它在特定历史阶段中客观上发挥了积极的社会作用,成为近代民主思想传入的中介和桥梁,将中国传统民本思想推向一个新的高度,为迎接新的时代准备了某些思想条件。所以,选择明清民本思想这一问题进行探讨,具有一定的学术价值。本文的研究角度,是把富民作为解开明清民本思想发展变化的“一把钥匙”,将中国古代“富民社会”和“富民”阶层的研究与明清民本思想的研究结合起来,从而赋予了这项研究新的价值。本文的主要内容是：第一部分是围绕着“重民”、“养民”、“富民”、“教民”等方面,对中国传统民本思想的历史作了总体的考察。第二部分是引出本文所要讨论的核心内容,指出明清时期,社会的整体发展变化带动了“新民本”思想的产生。第三部分是关于明清重民思想的考察。第四部分是关于明清养民思想的考察。第五部分是关于明清富民思想的考察。第六部分是关于明清教民思想的考察。第七部分是对明清民本思想做一个总体的分析和评价。这七个部分具体的研究目的都在说明一个观点：明清时期.中国传统民本思想中的精华部分仍然存在,但它们很多时候已只是流于形式,并没有成为统治者的政治实际。相反,它发生嬗变的部分——“新民本”思想更能反映当时的实际状况,并且对中国历史的发展还是起到了一定的积极作用,它所带来的“清新”之风为近代西方民主观念的传入和为世人所接受早早奠定了基础,提供了本土的思想资源和历史脉络。而在其中,富民阶层功不可没,他们充满了实践精神,积极参与到各种社会实践活动中,独立去寻求新思想、新认识的真切表达,使传统纯理论意义上的民本观念受到冲击,引发了民本思想的嬗变,他们确实是中国从传统社会迈向近代社会的内在“动力层”。本文所讨论的明清“新民本”思想,它“新”在两个方面：一是它虽是以传统的“民本”为旗帜,着力探讨重民、养民、富民、教民等民本的基本内容,但它是对传统民本思想创造性地继承、发展、超越和嬗变,已被赋予了新的时代特征,出现了一些有重大突破的核心命题,如公天下论、平等论、限君论、“以民治民”论；“治生为要”论、“以民养民”论；崇私论、义利并重论、工商皆本论、保富论；“以民教民”论、从重教化到重知识等,是与传统民本思想不同甚至相反的观念意识、主张。二是“民”的含义的“新”。在传统民本思想中,“民”被当作一个抽象的、整体的概念,是相对于君主来说的,是一个最宽泛的概念,没有具体的所指；而在“新民本”思想这里,“民”的内涵有了根本性的变化,“民”在政治生活、经济生活、文化生活、社会生活中有了自己的权利和利益要求；“民”也有了具体的所指,他们就是处于特定历史发展阶段的特定历史群体——富民阶层。富民阶层之所以成为明清民本思想嬗变的社会基础,这是因为他们在明清社会发展和转型中扮演了重要的角色,成为政治、经济、文化、社会生活的主角。他们进而谋求建立起自己的价值观,力图让其成为社会的主流思想。这集中表现在他们对自身社会价值的估量以及充分表达出自己的政治主张、价值取向和各种利益要求。而富民力量的壮大和活跃这一事实,也引发了知识阶层的相应思考,从而产生了要求重视富民要求和利益的政治呼声。明清新民本思想也就顺势而动,它是富民在思想领域内释放力量和发挥作用的集中反映,是富民话语权取得的结果,是富民在各方面发挥作用后“自我意识”的日益觉醒。更多还原

【Abstract】 People-oriented thought, as the foundations for the long-existing political philosophy in traditional Chinese society, has been one of the most essential and important parts of Chinese political culture and tradition as well as a precious historical heritage and spiritual wealth for Chinese people. It is also of epoch-making significance because it’s not only the ideological system adopted by the wise rulers but also the spiritual elements that have always driven human progress. But, as the thought system developed to its peak by the Ming and Qing dynasties, its limitations and negative effects became more and more obvious. And, it became more and more difficult to meet the changes of the whole society. With the development of these trends, it’s inevitable for this thought to be challenged and begin to change. Thus, in this context appeared what is known as "New- people-oriented thought". Objectively, the new thought has played positive roles in the particular historic period because it served as the intermediary and bridge for the spreading of modern democratic ideas to China, took the traditional people-oriented thought to a higher level and set the stage for the new era. So, the study of people-oriented thought in Ming and Qing Dynasties is of great academic value.The overall perspective of this paper is to view the rich class as a key to the development of people-oriented thought system in Ming and Qing Dynasties. By combing the research on "the rich society" and "the rich class" of ancient China with the study of the thought, this dissertation provides some value to further work. The discussion is composed of seven parts and mainly focuses on the primary themes of traditional Chinese people-oriented thought system ---respecting people, supporting people, enriching people and educating people;it also puts emphasis on the importance of the social developments and changes in this period which led to the formation of the new thought. Finally the study makes a general analysis and comment on the thought system. The argument is that, during the Ming and Qing period, it is the newly emerging thought that reflected the real situation of the day and exerted positive effects on China’s history. Also, the "freshness" of this new thought paved the way for bringing in modern western democratic ideas. While the traditional one, for the most part, was a mere formality although its essence still existed at that time. Meanwhile, it is worth noting the great contribution of the rich class in this process, who were full of practice and threw themselves into various social activities to seek for new ideas, giving a blow to the traditional people-oriented thought and inducing its changes. Therefore, they were really the internal dynamics of the evolution of China from a traditional society to a modern one.What’s different about the "New- people-oriented thought" discussed in the paper lies in two aspects:first, although the paper explores the basic themes of the thought such as respecting, supporting, enriching and educating people under the banner of traditional people-oriented thought, it emphasizes the new thought has been evolving from the traditional one through inheriting, developing and transcending and has been given new characteristics of the times. This period also saw a theoretical breakthrough in the thought, with some new important ideas being held forth. Second, in this new thought system the term "people’ has got new connotations. Originally, "people’in the traditional thought was used as an abstract and general concept, relative to rulers. It had the broadest notion and didn’t refer to any specific person in the society. While, in the new thought system, there had been some radical changes in the meaning of "people". They became the subject of country rather than the object in the past and began to assert their own rights in political, economic, cultural, and social life;at the same time, the term "people" was used with reference to some specific persons, that is, the rich class living in particular times. The rich class were the social foundation for the changes of people-oriented thought in Ming and Qing Dynasties just because they had played important roles in the social development and transitions of this period and had been at the center of various aspects of society. They wanted to establish their own values and tried to make them the mainstream of the society. Therefore, they further made attempts to measure their true value to the society, to set forth their political views, values and to assert themselves. With their growth and their active participation in social activities, they were brought to the attention of the intelligentsia, who truly began to think the positions of the rich class carefully and then called on the government to take their political needs and rights seriously. Such was the situation in response to which the new thought arose. So, in some ways, New-people-oriented thought reflected the ideological trends and the positions of the rich class. It means not only the gaining of discourse power by the rich class but also the awakening of their self-consciousness about their roles in Ming and Qing societies.更多还原