管志道『從先維俗議』の政治思想

Abstract

The Donglin party (Donglindang 東林黨) has been a main theme in the study of the political history of the later Ming era. The process of formation of the Donglin party was largely influenced by the dispute between Gu Xiancheng 顧憲成 who advocated xing shan shuo 性善説 (the theory that human nature is fundamentally good) and Guan Zhidao 管志道 who advocated xing wu shan wu e shuo 性無善無惡説 (the theory that human nature is neither good nor bad). In this paper, the author hypothesizes that their opposition came from differences not only of philosophical definition of human nature, but also from their images of the ideal world, using Guan Zhidao's Congxian weisuyi 從先維俗議, explains his political thought, which has never been given much attention. First, Guan Zhidao worshipped Emperor Hongwu, placing him as a xiannjin 先進 (senior exemplar), and regarding Emperor Hongwu's Liuyu 六諭 as the ju 矩 (rule) to be followed. This leads to the conclusion that that Guan Zhidao's ju was more thoroughly external than the ju as defined in Zhuzixue 朱子學, naturally much far from the ju of Yangmingxue 陽明學, which sought the ju within one's own mind. Guan Zhidao also regarded Emperor Hongwu as the successor of the daotong 道統 (tradition of the way). He opposed the Zhuzixue and Yangmingxue scholars, who recognized their own capacity to carry on the way of Yao and Shun, and sought it only in the external existence of the Son of Heaven. Moreover, Guan Zhidao had a strong sense of the need to reform contemporary society of the Wanli era in which he lived. He criticized confusion in the social order and excessive expression of political opinions, hoping to reproduce the regime of Emperor Hongwu. This would be a world, based on the mi 密 (thick) law, in which the Son of Heaven was placed at the apex, and officials and commoners would occupy suitable places below and obey rules, "each living peaceful lives, and not doing evil." As seen above, Guan Zhidao's political thought differed greatly from that of the Donglin party, such as that of Gu Xiancheng. The Zhuzixue scholars, i.e. those who believed in the idea of xing shan shuo, thought that they must act independently and take political action themselves as scholar officials. On the other hand, Guan Zhidao thought that only the Son of Heaven, the successor of the daotong, could assure the revival of the regime of Yao and Shun, and scholar officials must not exceed their authorities and should act as subordinates, obeying laws enacted by the Son of Heaven.