“以民為本”解析（上）

林巍

[1] “民為貴”的思想最早由孟子提出來，胡適對此解釋道：該“政治學說很帶有民權的意味”，“不僅尊重個人、尊重百姓過于君王，還要使百姓享受樂利”。

[2] 新文化運動的另一領袖陳獨秀也指出：中國“自古以來，就有許行的‘并耕，孔子的‘均無貧……種種高遠理想可以證明我們的國民性里面，確實有許多社會經濟的民治主義成分。”

[3] 我們知道，五四運動時反對舊禮教、舊道德和封建文化傳統確實對中國社會的進步起了十分重要的作用。但是當時很少人對中國傳統的“民本”思想做出認真的分析批判。相反地，當時反傳統的領袖們把它或是視為有價值的“民權”思想，或是應發揚的“民治”思想。然而，如此看法是否正確？

[4] 據《尚書·五子之歌》載：“民可近，不可下，民為邦本，本固邦寧”。這是“民本”思想之所出。即是說，老百姓能否安居樂業對于統治者鞏固其統治地位非常重要，因為“民可覆舟，亦可載舟”——“民”是載舟的工具或覆舟的力量。

[5] 可以說，在中國傳統思想文化中沒有什么真正的“民權”，只有絕對的“君權”，這一點甚至連中國的大思想家朱熹也看出來了。他說：“天下事，須是人主曉得通透了，自要去做，方得。如一事，八分是人主要做，只有一二分是為宰相了做，亦做不得。”宰相如此，老百姓就更不必說了。

譯 文

[1] The “people-oriented” thought， firstly put forward by Mencius （372—289 B.C.） in ancient times， was elaborated by Hu Shi （1891—1962） in this way： “This political concept has a lot to do with todays civil rights， that is to put people as individuals above rulers to enjoy their maximum benefits.”

[2] Another prominent figure during the New Cultural Movement， Chen Duxiu （1879—1942） also argued that “Since ancient times， there has been advocation of coordinated cultivation of the nobles and the populace by Xu Xing and Confucius ‘equalizing wealth …all these lofty ideas have proven that in our national character there have been no lack of ingredients of ‘rule by the people in terms of social economy”.

[3] As we all know， under the banner of anti-old feudal ethics and traditional morality， the May Fourth Movement had played an active role in criticizing the old ethical code， old moral and feudal traditional culture， but very rarely people have seriously analyzed the “people-orientated thought” in its own right of traditional Chinese culture. On the contrary， leaders of anti-traditionalism have either treated it as the thought of civil right or that of governing the state by the people. Are they correct？

[4] The root of the “people-orientated thought” may be traced back to the “Song of Five Masters” in the Book of History： “Rulers should be intimate with the people without losing their status. The foundation of a country is its people； once the people are properly treated with respect， the country will be at peace”. It states actually a golden rule of governance： Once people are living and working in peace and contentment， sovereignty will be consolidated， since among the people there is a mighty force or tool determining the fate of governance.

[5] The truth is that there is no such thing as civil rights in traditional Chinese culture， only rulers rights. As the great Chinese thinker Zhu Xi （1130—1200） pointed out， “Everything has to be scrutinized by the emperor himself 100 percent and then can be carried out， not even if 80 percent and 20 percent left to the prime minister”， let alone to common people.

譯 注

關于“以民為本”，有不同的譯法，如human-based principle， the people-center consideration， the man most precious principle， people-center approach等，此處加以綜合考慮。

在[1]中，“帶有民權的意味”，其中的“意味”容易譯成 have some meaning / significance， have some implication， cause a sensation等，這里不妨從其間的相互關系著眼，譯為has a lot to do with...；而對于“不僅尊重個人、尊重百姓過于君王，還要使百姓享受樂利”，若按其遞進、轉折關系，則顯得死板、呆滯，如 not only respect individuals and populace more than kings and lords but also let them enjoy their rights...，因此不妨將其整合、釋譯為 ...to put people as individuals above rulers to enjoy their maximum benefits等。

在[2]中，所謂“并耕”全稱為“并耕而食”，指戰國時代許行提倡的統治者應當和農民一起參加勞動的主張，如《孟子·滕文公上》所記：“賢者與民并耕而食，饔飧而治”，不妨譯為coordinated cultivation of the nobles and the populace；“均無貧”為孔孟的一種理想，可為equalizing wealth；而“有許多社會經濟的民治主義成分”在英文里可理解為“在社會經濟方面的民治成分”，故可為 …ingredients of “rule by the people” in terms of social economy等。

在[3]中，“五四運動時反對舊禮教……很少人對中國傳統的“民本”思想做出認真的分析批判”，此兩句，在意思上有內在關聯，可并為一句翻譯，以連詞but相連接：…had played an active role in criticizing…but very rarely…。值得指出的是，這里的“民本思想”是就其本身而言的，故不妨加入in its own right of … 等。

在[4]中，在引述有關《尚書》記載時，需考慮其中的連貫性，故用了the root of the “people-orientated thought” may be traced back to…； “民可近，不可下，民為邦本，本固邦寧”在原文中本為一句，在譯文中則可按其意斷開，即Rulers should... The foundation of...； once the people…，以更貼切。“老百姓能否安居樂業對于統治者鞏固其統治地位非常重要”， 這里的“非常重要”對于統治之道是非同小可，故加入了a golden rule of governance；“民可覆舟，亦可載舟”，其原意為：在水上，水可以載著舟行駛，同樣也可以讓舟覆滅；對于天下而言，黎民百姓好像是眾多水滴匯成的大海，天子就如海上的一片舟——以此比喻一種事物往往存在兩面性。南朝·宋史學家范曄在《后漢書·皇甫規傳》中注引《孔子家語》：“孔子曰：‘夫君者舟也，人者水也。水可載舟，亦可覆舟。君以此思危，則可知也。”特別是唐代宰相魏征說“水能載舟，亦能覆舟”，于是唐太宗李世民常用此話告誡眾人，成了其“名言”，影響后世。此處的翻譯，未完全按其字面意思，而是脫離開“水”與“舟”， 徑直翻譯引申義：Once people are living and working in peace and contentment… determining the fate of governance等。

在[5]中，“民權”英文里一般有civil rights， civil liberties， democratic rights等。后二者多用于現代西方社會，而“君權”一般為monarchical power等，這里沒有采用是因考慮到是統治者和被統治者之權，故用了rulers rights。而“曉得通透”，此處為仔細審查，故可選scrutinize等。