近代中国知识转型视野下的“命学”

"命学"(命理、命相之学)是中国古已有之的学问,读书人对命运问题的思考和举措融入为学与为人的统一中。这种情形到清末民初知识转型时期发生了巨变。随着近代中国知识形态的日趋西化,不论在知识分类层面,还是在读书人社会身份和态度的转变层面,传统"命学"都处于颇为不利的境地。"命学"中的"学"或"道"被分离在近代西式学科的不同分支中,主要是在哲学层面讲求,但因与西学主流不符,在哲学中也难以占据主导地位,日趋边缘化;"命学"中的"术"或"器"则在强大的科学主义潮流面前败下阵来,从文化"大传统"的一部分沦落为"小传统"之一,走向衰微之路。

“Fate Study” in the Knowledge Transformation of Modern China

"Fate study" (Ming Xue) is an ancient knowledge of China. Intellectuals combined their study of fate with the consistency of studying and living in the ancient times, which was significantly changed in the knowledge transformation of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. With the increasingly westernized transformation of the knowledge form of modern China, traditional "fate study" was in a very disadvantage position in terms of the knowledge classification as well as the social status and attitude transformation of the intellectuals. The "Xue" or "Dao" in the "fate study" were absorbed into different branches of modern western knowledge categories, which were mainly in philosophy. However, it can’t maintain a leading position because of the inconsistency with the mainstream of western knowledge. On the other side, the "Shu" or "Qi" in the "fate study" decayed in the face of western science from part of cultural "global unity" to "marginal unity".