“民心是阵”:战国儒家兵学思想演变考论——兼论清华简《天下之道》学派属性与学术价值

清华简《天下之道》以攻守的兵学概念和言说方式讨论以民为本的儒家思想,文意清晰,在兵儒融合以及先秦儒学史中具有非常重要的地位。孔子思想是开放和多元的,其兵学思想暗含了孟子和荀子等孔门后学对待战争、兵学的态度。其中,以孟子为代表的先秦主流儒者强烈抨击战争,缺乏战争常识,反对兵家思想,否定战争在历史进程中的客观作用。而《天下之道》提出"民心是阵",以兵学概念来表达儒家的民心思想,显然这并非孟子或孟学的作品。战国后期,荀子秉持儒家思想,积极了解战争,主动研究各国兵制、武器等。尤其是荀子主动充分吸收兵家思想,如重视将帅作用、讲究作战时机、治军崇尚赏罚等。荀子兵学理论中谈到如何取胜的具体操作层面,其思考丝毫不亚于当时的著名兵书。在此基础上,荀子将这些兵家之术作为实现儒家兵道、政道的重要方式,《议兵》正是在他以儒家思想为本、充分吸收兵家思想而完成儒家论兵的集大成之作。从先秦儒学史来看,《议兵》的出现并非偶然,《天下之道》等文献正是荀子之前的先秦儒者试图融合兵家思想的具体努力,是荀子论兵的先声。先秦儒者融合兵家思想的线索一直以来隐而不显,而《天下之道》的发现使得这条暗线为学界所认识,并且可能激活了长期以来误读的一些儒家论兵的文献,对丰富儒家的认识具有非常重要的学术意义。

Popular support as the tactical: a study on the evolution of confucian military thought during the warring states period: on the attribute and academic Value of the Law of existenceand extinction of a state

The Tsinghua Bamboo Slips The Law of Existenceand Extinction of a State discusses the Confucian thought of popular support through the concept of military science and ways of speaking. The text is clear and very important in the integration of military and Confucianism, as well as in the history of pre-Qin Confucianism. Confucius'' thought is open and diverse, and his military thought implies the attitudes of Mencius and Xunzi,also and other Confucian scholars'' attitude of war and military science. Among them, the mainstream Confucian scholars in pre-Qin period, represented by Mencius, strongly criticized war, lacked common knowledge of war, opposed military thought and denied the objective role of war in the historical process. The The Law of Existenceand Extinction of a State proposes that "Popular Support as the Tactical" and uses the concept of military science to express Confucian thoughts on popular support. Obviously, this is not a work of Mencius or Mencius. In the late Warring States period, Xunzi adhered to Confucianism, actively understood war, and actively studied the military systems and weapons of various countries. Especially Xunzi actively and fully absorbed the military thought, such as valuing the role of generals, valuing the timing of battles, and valuing the value of rewards and punishments in military governance. In Xunzi''s military theory, the specific operational aspects of how to win are no less than the famous military books at that time. On this basis, Xunzi regarded these military techniques as important ways to achieve the Confucian military and political doctrines. It was precisely through his full absorption of military ideology that he completed the culmination of the Confucian theory of military. From the perspective of the history of pre-Qin Confucianism, the emergence of On Military Affairs of Xunzi was not accidental. Documents such as The Law of Existenceand Extinction of a State were the concrete efforts of pre-Qin Confucians before Xunzi to integrate military ideology, and were the precursor of Xunzi''s discussion of military. The clue of the fusion of military thought by pre-Qin Confucianism has always been hidden and not obvious, and the discovery of The Law of Existenceand Extinction of a State has made this hidden line known to the academic community, and may have activated some Confucian literature on military that has been misunderstood for a long time, which has very important academic significance for enriching the understanding of Confucianism.