《黃帝四經》王術之研究

The Ruling Art of Huang ti si ching

《黃帝四經》之王術即是論究君王對國家、政治、君臣的統治技術。其王術理論的根據即是人君要效法道、天地、地道、人道。以建法制、以立政策，以駕御臣民之技術，以達致富國強兵之效。君主在王術上，效法道所具之性徵：一、虛、無為。君主道執一，以行統一、一貫、總要、以收一以統多，以簡御繁之要。修養上，人主虛靜無為，恬愉清靜，不為情緒、私欲所援，以求清明公正。無為上，人事不繁，清靜無為。此為人主之法道以行王術之要也。道之體，虛而無形，其用則實。道之發用與落實者即在天道，地理，人行之道上也。人主法天合德，法天之規律而置法，法天之陰陽以行賞罰，法天之公道無私以臨臣民，取效地理以事生產以收地利之效。人主察民情以利民、養民、保民、此為治術之目的也。人主於治術上，要具有認識與思考，則處事得當，決斷正確，文武並用，逆順有秩，先後有序，正奇化變，雌節雄節並持，以道於治國用兵之用也。此為王術之大要也。

The ruling art in Huang ti si ching《黃帝四經》refers to the art of ruling over the state, the subjects, and the political affairs in the state. The ground of the theory is the ruler's imitation of Tao together with the Tao of heaven, the Tao of nature, and the Tao of man. Under the guidance of Tao, the state's laws are established, the policies are formed, the subjects are governed, and, the state is prospered and strengthened. The characteristics of Tao that a ruler should imitate are oneness(i), emptiness (hsü), and non-interfering (wu wei). The ruler embraces the oneness to unify the diversity from a simple, comprehensive viewpoint of Tao. In self-cultivation, he avoids all the unnecessary actions and refrains from being obsessed by personal desires and emotions in order that he can be unbiased and clear in mind. In non-interfering, he does not make things complicated and remains in serenity. These are the main aspects that a ruler imitates Tao to practice in his ruling art. Tao is itself incorporeal while nevertheless actual in its manifestations, i.e., the Tao of heaven, the Tao of nature, and the Tao of man, where its effects can be and actualized and perceived. The ruler follows the example of the laws of heaven to legislate, the negative (yin) and positive (yang) aspects of heaven's deeds to punish and award, the impartiality of heaven to reign over his subjects. He also utilizes the nature in accord with its own principles. The ruler achieves the goal of ruling only if he conceives people's needs so as to benefit, nourish, and protect them. The ruler is expected to be competent to conduct reasonable thinking, to cultivate himself, to make right decisions, to adopt means both of political strategies (wen) and warfare (wu). He needs to be sure of the proper order of actions, to be unpredicable and flexible, and to act in proper balance of passive (tsi) and active (hsung) manners. In sum, the imitation of Tao in practicing politics and warfare is the core of the art of ruling.