“以民为本”解析（上）

林巍

[1] “民为贵”的思想最早由孟子提出来，胡适对此解释道：该“政治学说很带有民权的意味”，“不仅尊重个人、尊重百姓过于君王，还要使百姓享受乐利”。

[2] 新文化运动的另一领袖陈独秀也指出：中国“自古以来，就有许行的‘并耕，孔子的‘均无贫……种种高远理想可以证明我们的国民性里面，确实有许多社会经济的民治主义成分。”

[3] 我们知道，五四运动时反对旧礼教、旧道德和封建文化传统确实对中国社会的进步起了十分重要的作用。但是当时很少人对中国传统的“民本”思想做出认真的分析批判。相反地，当时反传统的领袖们把它或是视为有价值的“民权”思想，或是应发扬的“民治”思想。然而，如此看法是否正确？

[4] 据《尚书·五子之歌》载：“民可近，不可下，民为邦本，本固邦宁”。这是“民本”思想之所出。即是说，老百姓能否安居乐业对于统治者巩固其统治地位非常重要，因为“民可覆舟，亦可载舟”——“民”是载舟的工具或覆舟的力量。

[5] 可以说，在中国传统思想文化中没有什么真正的“民权”，只有绝对的“君权”，这一点甚至连中国的大思想家朱熹也看出来了。他说：“天下事，须是人主晓得通透了，自要去做，方得。如一事，八分是人主要做，只有一二分是为宰相了做，亦做不得。”宰相如此，老百姓就更不必说了。

译 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.

译 注

关于“以民为本”，有不同的译法，如human-based principle， the people-center consideration， the man most precious principle， people-center approach等，此处加以综合考虑。

在[1]中，“带有民权的意味”，其中的“意味”容易译成 have some meaning / significance， have some implication， cause a sensation等，这里不妨从其间的相互关系着眼，译为has a lot to do with...；而对于“不仅尊重个人、尊重百姓过于君王，还要使百姓享受乐利”，若按其递进、转折关系，则显得死板、呆滞，如 not only respect individuals and populace more than kings and lords but also let them enjoy their rights...，因此不妨将其整合、释译为 ...to put people as individuals above rulers to enjoy their maximum benefits等。

在[2]中，所谓“并耕”全称为“并耕而食”，指战国时代许行提倡的统治者应当和农民一起参加劳动的主张，如《孟子·滕文公上》所记：“贤者与民并耕而食，饔飧而治”，不妨译为coordinated cultivation of the nobles and the populace；“均无贫”为孔孟的一种理想，可为equalizing wealth；而“有许多社会经济的民治主义成分”在英文里可理解为“在社会经济方面的民治成分”，故可为 …ingredients of “rule by the people” in terms of social economy等。

在[3]中，“五四运动时反对旧礼教……很少人对中国传统的“民本”思想做出认真的分析批判”，此两句，在意思上有内在关联，可并为一句翻译，以连词but相连接：…had played an active role in criticizing…but very rarely…。值得指出的是，这里的“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，在引述有关《尚书》记载时，需考虑其中的连贯性，故用了the root of the “people-orientated thought” may be traced back to…； “民可近，不可下，民为邦本，本固邦宁”在原文中本为一句，在译文中则可按其意断开，即Rulers should... The foundation of...； once the people…，以更贴切。“老百姓能否安居乐业对于统治者巩固其统治地位非常重要”， 这里的“非常重要”对于统治之道是非同小可，故加入了a golden rule of governance；“民可覆舟，亦可载舟”，其原意为：在水上，水可以载着舟行驶，同样也可以让舟覆灭；对于天下而言，黎民百姓好像是众多水滴汇成的大海，天子就如海上的一片舟——以此比喻一种事物往往存在两面性。南朝·宋史学家范晔在《后汉书·皇甫规传》中注引《孔子家语》：“孔子曰：‘夫君者舟也，人者水也。水可载舟，亦可覆舟。君以此思危，则可知也。”特别是唐代宰相魏征说“水能载舟，亦能覆舟”，于是唐太宗李世民常用此话告诫众人，成了其“名言”，影响后世。此处的翻译，未完全按其字面意思，而是脱离开“水”与“舟”， 径直翻译引申义：Once people are living and working in peace and contentment… determining the fate of governance等。

在[5]中，“民权”英文里一般有civil rights， civil liberties， democratic rights等。后二者多用于现代西方社会，而“君权”一般为monarchical power等，这里没有采用是因考虑到是统治者和被统治者之权，故用了rulers rights。而“晓得通透”，此处为仔细审查，故可选scrutinize等。