《呂氏春秋》和《荀子》「類」與「染」之相應思想

Correlative Thinking Represented by the Terms “Lei”(類) and “Ran”(染)Found in the Xunzi and the Lüshi Chunqiu

本文是筆者對《呂氏春秋》和《荀子》思想的比較研究之一環。對如下三項問題進行探討：（l）《呂》《荀》兩書中的r類」概念。尤其是以「同類相應」呈現的思維方式：（2）《呂氏春秋》「染」概念《荀子r漸」概念；以及（3）兩書論述中由「同類相應」的思維方式所呈現出的「禍福」觀，以及其在兩書的「天人關係」架構中的特點和思想意義經過討論，筆者提出的論點是：第一，《呂》《荀》兩善的「同類相應思維原來應該獨立於所謂的「感應」思想；第二、《呂》《荀》兩書由於引進「同類相應」的例子來論證他們的主張：善惡問題和禍福問題也應由同類相應」的原則來發生及展開。不過《呂氏春秋》的重點止於敘述在「同類相應」和善惡或禍福之間的必然；而荀子則動用全部的比喻之用例來極力證實士人要學習和修身的重要。第二、《呂》《荀》兩書一方面都強調人類對善行的主動努力，但某種程度接受自然世界回應人類世界所為之善惡結果總而言之，在《呂》《荀》，兩者的政治哲學中，均以涵蓋全部人類，甚至宇宙的設計和r同類相應」的思維方式為共同的思想成分。而且這樣的思想特質成為了有助於建立之後的大一統國家並且能夠治理（超過一國的）全人類的政治理論之思想基礎。

This article is a part of the author's comparative study of the political philosophies found in the books Xunzi and the Lüshi chunqiu (LSCQ), which is also known as Mr. Lü's Spring and Autumn Annals. The author assumes that there are some key ideas that facilitated the common socio-political discourse during the unification of the Chinese world. This article focuses upon three of these ideas: (1) the way of argumentation known as “correlative thinking”; (2) the concepts of “lei” (類) which means “kind” or “category”, “ran” (ߖ (which means “to dye”, and “jian” (漸) which means “to soak”; and (3) the idea that “the same kinds of creatures/things/phenomena attract each other”, and “the happenings of auspicious and inauspicious events” from the perspective of a correlative relationship between the heavenly and human spheres. From the basis of comparative conceptual analysis, this article aims to persuade readers with regard to the following three points. Firstly, in many past studies, the correlative thinking in the Xunzi and LSCQ was previously understood as a kind of mutual affection, or “ganying” (感應). However, from the perspective of correlative thinking, the term “gan” (感), meaning “sense” or “to feel”, is not used in these two texts. Secondly, these books explain the reason why there is retribution for good and bad deeds, as well as the sources of good and bad luck via the principle: “the same kinds of creatures/things/ phenomena attract each other.” While there was no further development of this argument in the LSCQ, the Xunzi explained that self-cultivation is imperative for living a better life in a world determined by such a principle. Thirdly, although the Xunzi and the LSCQ both admit that there are situations in which individuals are prone to be affected by this principle of attraction, these two books also suppose that it is nevertheless human effort that decides whether a course of events will turn out to be good or bad. In sum, the way of thinking characterized with the principle “the same kinds of creatures/ things/phenomena attract each other” permeates the worldview found within both of these books, and this became the foundation for the idea that human beings are all the same. It is this element that had facilitated the discourse for the construction of a “world-wide empire” which would theoretically embrace all of humankind.