論荀子的禮和法後王 ——以“禮義統類”槪念分析

Abstract

Xunzi’s 荀子 all ideas can be synthesized into a single word, “ritual” (li 禮). Through Xunzi’s concept of “a consistent principle of ritual” (liyi tonglei 禮義統類), which reveres ritual and emphasizes knowledge, we can find the concept of “the Later King” (hou wang 後王) to have independent, special meaning. Xunzi insisted on external social norms all the way. By emphasizing “verification through people’s lives,” he asserted that human nature is essentially evil; by focusing on “understanding based on the present,” he asserted following the Later King. What Xunzi, who puts stress on objectivity and reality, tried “to follow”(fa 法) was the way of the Earlier Kings (xian wang 先王). However, he could not follow the way as it was because it was too old and had not been transmitted in detail. Only “the constitution of ritual” (lixian 禮憲) can be followed after the Later King’s institutional reform. This is the temporal reason that Xunzi asserted following the Later King. Xunzi’s “consistent principle of ritual” was to find common principles out of ritual’s development process. The opinions such as “See the far things through the close; see ten thousand things through one thing” were the bases to explain the concept of “following the Later King”, in other words, “following Zhou 周.” Zhou’s way, institution, culture, and ritual should be followed. The temporal and spatial concepts of “the constitution of ritual” and “a consistent principle of ritual” were all relevant to Duke of Zhou. The Later King who Xunzi referred to was not King Wen, nor King Wu, nor the lord of those days, but Zhougong.