毛澤東對孔子評價的轉變及其原因

春秋戰國時期，百家爭鳴，儒、墨、道、法並行於世。秦始皇統一天下後，焚書坑儒，以法家治國，結果二世而亡。漢初崇尚黃老，與民休息，至漢武帝罷黜百家，獨尊儒術，儒家思想一直為統治階級所提倡。二千多年來，儒家經典一直是國人的啟蒙讀物，對中國社會的影響至鉅。儒家思想的創始人孔子在國人的心目中更有十分崇高的地位。孔子和中國儒學對毛澤東一生的價值取向，對毛澤東思想的形成和發展有著十分重要的影響。在他的著作講話中，經常引用孔子的話，並對他進行評價一方面，孔子對毛氏的影響十分深刻，另一方面毛氏對孔子評價的轉變又決定了孔子及其儒學在當代中國的地位。然而，學術界至今對此尚無作系統而深入的研究，故筆者不揣冒昧，試圖對此進行探討，欲以野人獻曝之誠，收拋磚引玉之效。本文將毛澤東對孔子的評價分為三個階段；（1） 尊崇期，（2） 批判繼承期，（3） 全面否定期。透過勾勒毛氏的心路歷程，可以幫助我們了解毛氏對孔子評價轉變的原因。

In the Spring and Autumn (770-476 BCE) and Warring States (475-221 BCE) periods, a hundred schools of thought contend. Confucianism, Mohism, Taoism and Legalism flourished at the same time. When Qin Shi Huang conquered all other states, he became the first emperor of a unified China. He ruled the country by Legalism and burned books and buried Confucian scholars alive in gully. After the death of the emperor, the empire of Qin Er Shi was overthrown within a very short period of time. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the emperors believed in Taoism of Yellow Emperor and Lao Tzu and let their subjects rest and recuperate. When Emperor Han Wu came to power, he carried out a policy of proscribing all non-Confucian schools of thought and espousing Confucianism as the orthodox state ideology. Since then, the governing class always advocated Confucianism. For more than two thousand years, Confucian classics were the early learning materials for all children, which brought a huge impact to the society. The founder of Confucianism, Confucius, attained a high position among the public. Confucianism had a tremendous influence on Chairman Mao. It also affected the forming and developing of Mao Zedong Thought. Mao often quoted the Sayings of Confucius in his works and speeches and commented on them. With the changes of his evaluation of Confucius, Mao belittled the position of Confucianism in modern China. The proposed research is aimed to discuss how and why Mao changed his evaluation of Confucius. This research consists of three sections: (1) The Adoration Period (2) The Criticism and Inheritance Period (3) The Total Denial Period. Through the exploration of Mao’s mental experiences, we will have a deeper understanding as why Mao changed his attitude towards Confucianism.