「黃帝四經」中的政治圖像——從「道」概念叢談起

Abstract

現今學界對「黃帝四經」的研究，已有一定程度的共識。「黃帝四經」繼承了《老子》的「道論」，並更專注於政治思想。「黃帝四經」認為「道」具有「無形無名」、「無限」等性質，是萬物的根源、基質、規律、準則。因此，統治者應該要以「道」作為行為與施政的指導原則。簡言之，「宇宙論的『道』」為核心概念，政治思想則是附屬於此的應用。 然而，「黃帝四經」文本對政治事務的關心明顯高於「宇宙論的『道』」，且於部分文本段落中，在「道論」被視為「『道』代稱」的詞彙，看似與「道」的關係較小，且在意義上與以往認知差距較大，這提供了重新檢視的目標與根據。據此，本研究將以「黃帝四經」既有的政治關懷為重心，對「道」及相關的「无刑」、「无名」、「一」及「虛」四概念進行分析與詮釋，並根據上述成果，進一步對「道」概念重新進行理解。 研究方法上，為避免「學派」的理解對文本詮釋造成影響，本研究將盡量避免引入其他文本思想對「黃帝四經」進行詮釋。同時，考慮到「黃帝四經」本身具有的同一性問題，本研究將《經法》、《十六經》、《稱》、《道原》四部分獨立進行分析。藉由這樣的方法，本研究嘗試給予「黃帝四經」各部分的「道」及相關概念更具備一致性的詮釋。 據本研究的分析，「无刑」、「无名」、「一」及「虛」等概念，並不指涉宇宙論的「道」，也不作為其代稱，而是展現出了對於政治問題的原因判定，以及對於問題解方的論述。「黃帝四經」中，個人的身殞、國家的滅亡、天下的混亂是所有統治不願意見到的狀況，而制度的缺乏與不被重視即是這些問題產生的根本原因，因此摒除個人的喜好成見，重新訂立並遵守適當的制度，乃是解決這些問題的最標準答案。以往於「黃帝四經」中被視為的「道」，事實上乃是指涉這一種遵循制度的理想施政策略。

Current academic research on the Huangdi sijing 黃帝四經 (Four Classics of the Yellow Emperor) has reached a certain degree of consensus. That is, the Huangdi sijing inherits the ‘Dao Theory’ (daolun 道論) from the Laozi and places a greater emphasis on political thought. It posits that the Dao 道 possesses qualities such as being ‘formless and nameless’ and ‘infinite,’ making it the source, foundation, regulation, and standard of all things. Therefore, rulers should use the Dao as the guiding principle for their actions and governance. In short, the cosmological Dao is the core concept, with political thought being an application subordinate to it. However, not only does the text of the Huangdi sijing demonstrate a significantly higher concern for political affairs than for the cosmological Dao, but terms that are commonly seen as representing Dao appear to have a rather weak connection to Dao and significantly differ in meaning from their ordinary understanding. This provides a basis and target for re-examination. Accordingly, this study will focus on the existing political concerns of the Huangdi sijing and analyze and interpret ‘Dao’ and its related terms, namely, ‘wu xing’ (无刑), ‘wu ming’ (无名), ‘yi’ (一), and ‘xu’ (虛). Based on these findings, this study will further reinterpret the concept of Dao. To minimize the influence of ‘school of thought’ interpretations on the text, this study will, as a matter of methodology, strive to avoid drawing on ideas from other texts when interpreting the Huangdi sijing. Additionally, considering the inherent issues of uniformity within the Huangdi sijing, this study will analyze its four component parts separately. Through these approaches, a more consistent interpretation of Dao and related concepts in each part of the Huangdi sijing is intended. According to the analysis performed in this study, the concepts ‘wu xing’ (无刑), ‘wu ming’ (无名), ‘yi’ (一), and ‘xu’ (虛) do not refer to the cosmological Dao nor do they otherwise represent it. Instead, they convey the causes and solutions to the problems of politics. In the Huangdi sijing, personal demise, the fall of the state, and chaos in the world are situations that all rulers wish to avoid. The fundamental cause of these issues is the lack of and disregard for normative systems. Accordingly, eliminating personal biases and preferences, and re-establishing normative systems, is presented as the standard solution to these problems. What was previously regarded as the Dao in the Huangdi sijing actually refers to an ideal strategy of governance that adheres to normative systems.