儒家慈善意识与现代慈善理念

儒家"仁"、"仁政"、"人本"、"留余庆"的思想及儒家"灾害观"、"贫困观"、"财富观"中的"慈善意识"经常会在引用中与现代慈善理念混淆。事实上,"博爱"与"等差之爱"、"君王之惠"与"公民权利"、"慈善特权化"与"公民责任"以及"明哲保身"与"爱之慈善"有很多背离之处。认为"宗法"与"礼教"两大思想是导致"人本源"的儒家"慈善意识"与"神本源"的现代"慈善理念"发生冲突的关键所在。建设中国特色慈善文化必须扬平等、弃等差,扬责任、弃恩赐,纠正政府在慈善事业中的"越位"现象,克服"明哲保身"思想的局限,弘扬"社会主义荣辱观"、努力营造"团结互助"的社会新风尚。

The Confucian Consciousness of Charity and the Modern Concept of Charity

In Confucian classics,there are ideas of "benevolence","good government","humanism" and "comeuppance",and there are discussions,or at least mentions,of "disaster","poverty" and "fortune",but these ideas are very different from the modern concept of charity.This paper sets out to clarify the difference between several pairs of concepts,such as universal love & discriminate love,the ruler’s mercy vs.the citizen’s right,government’s privilege vs.citizen’s obligation,and self-protection vs.charity out of love.Based upon the analysis,this paper argues that the family-oriented Confucian idea of love,rooted in nepotistic and feudal tradition,is inconsistent with the modern concept of charity out of a divine tradition.Thus,the paper points out that we need to construct a charity culture featuring fair and just philanthropic spirit.