儒家天命及其法律意义

中国古代的文明是一个连续性的文明,儒家无疑是这一文明的传承者和突破者,其中最为瞩目的特征就是儒家对于天人之际的探究。儒家继承了夏商周以来的上帝或天命信仰,孔子在对礼乐的追问中得出了“仁”这一答案,此正为其对于中国古代文明的轴心突破。儒家的仁政思想源于周公的敬天保民和明德慎罚,儒家将“诚”作为天人合一的枢纽,它既是人德也是天道。仁作为规范的“立法者”,具有比法律规范本身更大的“创造性”,此时天命参与到个体人生中,在对于天命的追寻中儒家讲究“正心诚意”,以期达到“天人合一”。

Confucian Mandate of Heaven and Its Legal Implications

Chinese ancient civilization was a consecutive one, in which Confucian school assuredly was one of the successors and creators of that civilization. The most remarkable feature of the Confucian was its probe on the relationship between Heaven and human race. The Confucian school had inherited the belief of the Heaven or the Lord since Xia Shang and Zhou dynasties. Confucius found Benevolence as an answer from his pursuance of the Rites and Music, which actually was the breakthrough of Chinese civilization in axial period. The Confucian thought of benevolent governance originated from the idea of Respecting Heaven and Protecting People, Respecting Morality and Prudent Penalty from the Duke of Zhou dynasty. Confucian regarded Integrity as the pivot of the Union of Heaven and Human, for it was human beings virtue, and was natural law as well. As the lawmaker of the normative provisions, benevolence had more creativity than the normative provisions. The mandate of heaven involved into personal life, Confucian school advocated Sincerity during the process of pursuing the mandate of heaven, so as to reach the status of the Union of Heaven and Human.