許嘉璐在“第三屆陽明心學高峰論壇”啟動儀式上的發言

Xu Jiaiu's speech at Laurichirig ceremony ofThird Summit Forum onwang Yangmirig's Philosophy

今天，我們在這里舉行第三屆陽明心學高峰論壇的肩動儀式，竟然來了如此眾多的各界人士，這或許從一個側面反映出當今中國對陽明心學的熱心、關注和認識都達到了前所未有的高度，也可以說，王陽明在其身后將近500年遇到了他理想中的知音。這一知音既是無數個人和群體，也是中華民族經過無數奮斗和犧牲迎來的偉大時代。

在我看來，為了更好地繼承、弘揚陽明心學的精神，以有助于新時代中國特色社會主義思想、文化的不斷豐富、發展和普及，我們還需要加大力度，從多個視角、多個層次，拓展研究的廣度和深度。例如，如果把王陽明的學說放到白孔孟發其端，延綿起伏兩千五百多年的儒學歷史長河里去觀察，是不是可以說，王陽明恰好是在中國社會發展的一個特殊節點上出現的？宋承五代衰亂之后，至南宋，雖然北方民族割據爭戰的壓力還在延續著，而南方在有宋南遷的轄區內，農業技術、自然動力機械、交通運輸、貨幣流通、市場貿易、文化藝術……方方面面卻高度發達，幾乎所有“現代社會”所需的社會條件都已具備，但是卻一直在“現代”的大門外徘徊。要想跨出社會發展的這一步，所缺的主要是兩個緊密相關的方面：一是以陽明心學為代表的思想領域，主要指向社會個體道德倫理的培育和提升，卻沒有觸及阻礙社會進步的政治制度痼疾;即使在論辨“義…“利”關系時也沒有質疑既有的社會結構的弊病;與此相關的一個問題，即陽明心學等先進的、力圖超越社會現狀的思想主要盤桓在部分“社會精英”（文人、士大夫）的范圍內，雖然也有溢出的影響，但遠遠達不到動搖社會基礎、威脅社會政治結構的程度。王陽明在世時及其身后百年，國力未能恢復，朝廷愈益腐敗無能，他的治世愿望自然難以實現。他在一時的眼前繁華中看到了王朝衰落的跡象，自己經歷了百死千難，應該有著和孔子一樣的感慨：道之不行，已知之矣，但仍要知其不可而為之。

萬事萬物及其相互的關聯，都是極其復雜的，陽明心學及其命運亦復如是。王陽明一生不懈地探索，廣泛汲取了以儒家思想為核心的文化思想傳統的精華，屢變屢進，從對主客觀世界的觀察冥思、反己修身，到對人類和萬物的終極關懷，猶如一條紅線貫穿于他一生活潑生動的傳習過程中。由于種種原因，其后學分歧漸顯，爭辯日增，本為修己治世之學，不幸墮入空談心性、概念游戲的玄虛陷阱之中。明亡入清，學者即以“空談誤國”斥之，而倡傳統“經世致用”之學以救世。到了乾隆嘉慶時期，號稱“樸學…“漢學”的“小學”（文字、聲韻、訓詁、考據、版本諸學）大興，陽明之學以及它本身包涵著的經世致用的思想當然就更加冷落，就連在清初學界諸老那里已經蠕動的對皇權制度的質疑也都銷聲匿跡了。今天，我嘗試著概而言之：白明中葉到清初，中國“錯過了”大力發展技術、提高生產力，并在思想領域“失去了”踢出進入“現代”所需要的“臨門一腳”的機會。也許我們可以說，如果在陽明時代（15世紀末至16世紀中葉）任由社會經濟、生產和思想按其自身的規律繼續發展，中國就可能形成自己的、與西方顯然不同的“現代社會”（包括早期的“工業化”）。但是，歷史是天、地、人錯綜復雜、相互作用形成的過往事實，不是后人可以由假設而推論之的，更不必因此而痛惜既往，苛責古人。而事物還有著另外一個方面：王陽明說“人胸中各有個圣人”，又默許其門生“滿街都是圣人”之說，乃承孟子“人皆可以為堯舜”的思想而來，雖然王陽明可能意在強調“反諸己…‘致良知”，但是內中的基礎則是認為，世上的人至少在道德價值方面是平等的。這一思想在帝制時代末期重新被大聲提出，就成了可貴的反封建思想的萌動。但是，此時中華傳統文化進一步發展、突破的內動力，符合文化和社會發展規律地日漸式微，已經不足以撬開或頂破壓在它頭上的頑石了。

又過了三百余年，來自萬里之外的異質文化以堅艦利炮激活了中華民族幾近麻醉了的神經，有識、有志之士開始再一次肩動了民族的反思，接著，便是人所共知的中華民族長達百年的屈辱史、抗爭史、犧牲史、覺醒史。在這一次民族反思的潮流中，陽明學說就像從雪藏中復甦了一樣，在二十世紀的前五十年里，為許多重要政治人物和著名學者所強調和提倡，出現了否定之否定局面。但是，在這一次的循環中，陽明之學的傳播和對人生、社會的滲透仍然局限于政、學兩界狹小的圈子里，沒有形成全民族的共知共行。這是因為，陽明思想的精華在于中華文化幾千年沉淀下來的對人精神品格的珍視，對家庭、社會、國家、自然、宇宙無遠弗屆的關愛，這一思想需要與之相應的社會制度，需要領軍人物率爾知之、行之，否則，陽明學說將會面臨兩個兩層皮的尷尬處境：施政者所言所行與陽明的學說相反，社會現狀和走勢與陽明的理想相悖。所以，可以說上個世紀上半葉對陽明學說的肯定，基本上還只是紙面上的，教室里的，口頭上的。這種情景的出現也并不奇怪;凡是把為國為民、知行合一的陽明心學從對歷史的創造者（即人民）和民族振興、世界和諧剝離開來的號召和倡導，都會是這樣的結局。

說到這里，我今天之所以絮絮然占用“第三屆陽明心學高峰論壇”肩動儀式的寶貴時間，以極粗的線條把眾所周知的陽明學說命運的起伏跌宕勾勒出來的意圖已經無需多說了。我是想強調，加強陽明心學的研究，需要把它放到中華文化悠長的歷史中，放在明代中葉的社會背景下，也還應該考察在它成熟時期以及陽明身后近五百年中的境遇。我想可否以下面的幾句話概括我的認識：中華文化的優秀傳統，始終以人/民（二字古相通）為基點，進而“民吾同胞，物吾與也。”（宋.張載《西銘》），終達“與天地萬物同體”。一百年來，中華民族經歷了“百死千難”，對此愈悟愈深;進入中國的新時代，和睦、和諧、和平，建設生態文明，構建人類命運共同體……這些舉目可見、伸手可及的理念和行動，正是歷代賢哲的智慧在空前的大格局中的凝聚、超越和升華。

以繼承、弘揚陽明心學和中華優秀傳統文化為宗旨的陽明心學高峰論壇，理所當然地已經承載起了兩項急迫而又艱難的重擔。一是支持、協調、組織、參與各地社會力量，在社會文化多元化的環境中向城鄉居民、各層次的學生和干部以及企業家，因地制宜、因人而異地用明白易曉的語言、事例和人們喜聞樂見的形式進行普及。在這件事上，文化事業（包括學術研究）和文化產業可以進行多種形式的呼應與合作。二是積極開展國際合作，可以由東北亞開始，把陽明之學和新時代的研究成果介紹給世界。面對混亂無章、紛爭不斷、危險層出的國際狀況，包括陽明心學在內的中國古老智慧和當下中國人民的實踐效果和經驗，會逐漸引起世界多國學者和民眾的興趣并進而理解，從而有助于中外文化交流，促進國際的合作和共贏。我認為，在這過程中，我們毋需刻意回避與合作者、傾聽者之間在宇宙觀、價值觀上的差異和分歧。我的經驗是，坦率和真誠、包容和謙遜可以消弭信仰不同所帶來的障礙，達到跨文化交流應有的效果。

Present here at the Launching Cer-emony of the third Summit Forumon Wang Yangming's Philosophyare so many guests from all walksof life. This may prove the unprecedentedpassion and knowledge about Wang Yang-ming's philosophy in China nowadays. Insome sense， Wang Yangming has finally methis kindred spirits nearly five centuries afterhis death. The audience consists of not onlyinnumerable individuals and groups， butalso the great era created by generations ofChinese people with their dedication andsacrifice.

In my opinion， in order to better in-herit and carry forward the spirit of WangYangming's philosophy in our attempt toenrich， develop and disseminate socialismand culture with Chinese characteristics fora new era， we need to devote great effortsto broaden and deepen our research frommultiple perspectives and at various levels.For example， if we put the philosophy inthe over-2500-year history of Confucian-ism starting from Confucius and Menciusro observe it， is it fair to say that WangYangming happened to appear at a specialpoint of the Chinese society development？After the decline of empires and continuousturmoil during the Five Dynasties period，although northern China still faced thethreats of wars among the northern eth-nic groups， southern China ruled by theSouthern Song Dynasty witnessed highlydeveloped agricultural technologies， naturalpower machinery， transportation， currencycirculation， market trade， and culture andarts. In other words， they had almost all thesocial conditions ready for the emergence ofa \"modern society\". However， they were al-ways lingering outside the door of moderni-zation. The last step towards it depended ontwo closely connected factors that the socie-ty then lacked. First， philosophers mainlyfocused on individuals in nurturing and de-veloping their morality and ethics. They didnot touch upon the maladies of the politicalsystem which hindered social progress， evenwhen they were arguing about the relation-ship between justice and personal interests.Second， thoughts of progressive thinkerslike Wang Yangming didn't trickle down tosocial classes lower than the very few eliteslike scholars and offcials. Their spillover ef-fect was far from shaking the foundation ofthe society to overhaul the social and politi-cal structures. From Wang Yangming's timeto hundred years after his death， his dreamof a peaceful and prosperous society wasmerely an air castle against the backdrop ofa withering and increasingly corrupted state.He might already have captured symptomsof the empire's fall at its zenith. After allhis ordeal， he would have sighed about hischoice the same as that of Confucius： theyknew their pursuit is impossible to realize，but they still carried on.

Everything and their connections areextremely complicated. So are Wang Yang-ming's philosophy and its later develop-ment. Throughout his life， Wang Yangmingkept learning extensively from the culturaland philosophical traditions with Confu-cianism as the core. He adjusted his phi-losophy accordingly， from the meditationon the mental and physical world and fromindividual introspection to the ultimateconcern for human beings and beyond.These changes were interwoven in his life-long dedication to learning and preaching.For various reasons， his successors split apartand disagreed with each other. As a schoolof the self-cultivation and governance， thePhilosophy unfortunately decayed intoempty talks about human nature and wordgames. When the Ming Dynasty gave wayto the Qing Dynasty， scholars dismissedthe philosophy as \"empty talks that ruinedthe state\" and returned to the traditionalschools focusing on pragmatism in thehope of saving the country. By the time ofQianlong and Jiaqing's reign， studies hadconcentrated on literature， thyme， exegesis，textual research， etc.， while Yangming's phi-losophy and its implications on governancewere naturally neglected. Thinkers evenstopped challenging the imperial system，which they had attempted at the beginningof the Qing Dynasty Today， I would likero draw a bold conclusion： from the mid-Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty，China missed the chance of technologyand productivity breakthroughs as well asthe final ideological driving force for mod-ernization. It may be fair to say that if theeconomy， production， and philosophy con-tinued to develop naturally at Yangming'stime （from the end of the 15th century tothe middle of the 16th century）， Chinawould have formed its own modern andinitially industrialized society， which couldbe significantly different from the West.However， history is the past and a resultof a combination of complicated factors.We cannot make counterfaaual assertionsbased on assumptions， nor need we mournthe past and blame the ancients. There'sanother side of the coin， too， as WangYangming stated that \"There is a saintinside everyone\" and allowed his studentsto preach that \"Saints are everywhere\". Theidea inherited the belief of Mencius thateveryone can be saints like Yao and Shun，the legendary wise and virtuous ancientkings. Wang Yangming might have focusedon introspection and conscience cultiva-tion， but the origin of his belief was thatpeople in the world were at least equal inmoral values. This idea was reiterated atthe end of imperial China， which assistedthe burgeoning of the valuable anti-feudalawareness. However， the Chinese traditionalculture back then no longer had enough in-ternal impetus to make another breakthroughor remove the obstacles in its way， which wasin line with the declining trajectory of cul-tural and social development.

After more than three hundred years， theinvading foreign cultures provoked the Chi-nese people who had almost become numbwith warships and cannons， and intellectualsand activists restarted the national retrospec-tion. Following that was the acknowledgedcentury-long history of humiliation， resist-ance， sacrifice， and awakening. This wave ofnational retrospection reignited Yangming'sphilosophy， which was advocated by signifi-cant political figures and scholars in the firsthalf of the twentieth century. However， hisphilosophy was again lingering only withinthe political and academic communities with-out nation-wide influence. The reasons are asfollows. Yangming's philosophy boils down totreasuring human's dignity and morality andto loving the family， society， nation， nature，and the universe， which are deeply rooted inthe thousands of years of Chinese culture.Disseminating his ideas requires correspond-ing social systems and leading figures thatundersrand the philosophy and practice whatthey preach. Otherwise， the doctrines wouldbe embarrassed by the discrepancy betweenYangming's ideals and the decisions of policymakers as well as the status quo and trends inthe society. In other words， the recognition ofYangming's philosophy in the first half of thelast century was literally only on paper and inscholars' words. Not surprising， though， forhis philosophy promotes combined knowl-edge and practice for the dedication to thenation and the people. Consequently， isolat-ing its promotion from actions in the inter-ests of the creators of history （i.e. the people），national rej uvenation， and social harmonywould only end in failure.This will help the cultural exchange be-tween China and the rest of the world，which can promote international win-wincooperation，

I believe you have grasped what I wantto say today by outlining the trajectory ofthe acknowledged development of Yang-ming's philosophy， and I do appreciate yourtime. What I want to stress is that we needto consider in our study the long history ofChinese cultures， the social context in themid-Ming Dynasty， and its acceptance inits mature stage and nearly five centuriesafter Wang Yangming's death. I would liketo summarize my understanding as fol-lows. The treasures of Chinese traditionhave one thing in common： that is on thebasis of \"Ren\" or \"Min\"， both Chinesecharacters that mean \"the people\". Start-ing here， thinkers have said \"AII the peopleare my family， and everything my fellows（Ximing by Zhang Zai， Song Dynasty） .\"The ultimate ideal is perfect harmonywith the umverse and everything on earth.Over the past century， the Chinese na-tion went through trials and tribulations，during which our understanding aboutthis idea have become deeper and deeper.Our appeals in the new era for friendship，harmony， peace， harmony with nature， anda community of shared future that every-one is familiar with are exactly our ancientsaints' wisdom cohering together and sur-passing itself.

Dedicated to the inheritance and promo-tion of the Wang Yangming's Philosophyand other treasures of traditional Chinesecultures， the Summit Forum on Wang Yang-ming's Philosophy has naturally shoulderedtwo urgent and challenging missions. First，in a society with diversified cultures， weneed to promote the philosophy to urbanand rural residents， entrepreneurs， studentsand government staff at all levels. Various so-cial forces should be supported， coordinated，and mobilized in the campaigns to dissemi-nate the philosophy in ways welcomed bythe local people. To this end， our academiaand cultural industries can contribute in var-ious ways. Second， we should introduce thephilosophy and its latest research results tothe international community starting fromNortheast Asia. In a world of constant tur-moil， conflicts， and dangers， the philosophyand other ancient Chinese wisdom as wellas experiences practiced by Chinese peoplenowadays will arouse the interest of moreand more scholars and people from all overthe world， and ultimately be better under-stood. This will help the cultural exchangebetween China and the rest of the world，which can promote international win-wmcooperation. I believe that differences anddisagreements in values and beliefs betweenour partners， listeners and us need not beavoided in this process. My experience toldme that obstacles brought by different be-liefs can be overcome by frankness， sincerity，tolerance， and humility， which will actualizethe ideal cross-cultural communication.