中国近代道德救世思想的萌蘖

第一次鸦片战争前后,志士仁人围绕提倡道德之“心”,以道德驭势、利、名,重“仁”德讲廉耻,崇尚忠、义、信、诚,推崇君子人格等阐述了比较系统的道德救世思想。并通过深刻揭露和批判士人道德堕落、社会风气正不压邪,官吏不学无术、懦弱无能,因循苟且、骄惰畏葸,贪图私利、廉耻丧尽,上下欺蒙、言而无信、误国害民与重视道德教育、“位”“德”统一、完善选官模式、道德法律结合等具体方法“以除积习而挽颓风”,进而达到“人心肃则国威遒”之目的。

Sprouts of Moral World-Saving Thought in Modern China

Around Opium War I,determined scholars and men of virtue fairly systematically expounded moral world-saving thought.Focusing on the moral "mind",they advocated bringing power,influence and fame under the control of morality.They attached importance to the "benevolent" virtue,laid stress on sense of honour,exalted paithfulness,righteousness,sincerity and honesty,and highly praised the personality of a noble-characted man.By exposing and criticizing such evils as moral corruption of scholars,inability of good to prevail over evil in social tendencies,ignorance and incompetence,weakness and uselessness,following the old nut and muddling along,arrogance,laziness and timidity,greed for private gains,being utterly devoid of sense of shame,deceiving those above and deluding those below,keeping no promise,and harming the country and injuring the people,and by attaching importance to the specific practices of moral education, unification of "office" and "virtue",perfecting the mode of official selection,and the combination of morality and law,the tried to get rid of the old habits in order to retrieve degenerate practices and further to attain the aim of "when people are solemn-minded,the power of the country will be forceful."