論《淮南子》的因循之道

The Philosophical Implications of the “Yin-Xun” in the Huai-Nan-Zi

因循之道為先秦道家或黃老道家在治道層面的核心關注，《淮南子》作為先秦以來黃老思想的集大成之作，對於因循之道更有著深入的闡論。本文嘗試探討《淮南子》因循之道的相關意涵，首先將對於先秦道家因循之說的基本意義作出討論，接著將指出，《淮南子》的因循之道，至少包含三方面的意義：一是憑藉事物特質及既有條件以發揮最大政治效能，前者尤其指向臣民的情性好惡；後者則包含時間、空間以及人才等條件，尤以人才條件為重要；二是未來時間性及變化向度下的核心統治原則，展現為因應時機及變化而作出靈活調整、應變的要求。這一層的因循觀，同時含蘊著應變與常則之間的關係。三是「保其精神、偃其智故」的養生、修身要求，以及與前述二種政治作為間的關聯。 The concept of “yin-xun” (following, 因循) is a great concern in the employment of Dao for the pre-Qin Daoists, and therefore there is an abundant description about it in Huai-Nan-Zi, as we know, which is an important collection of pre-Qin Daoism. The article tries first to discuss the possible explanations of “yin-xun” in Huai-Nan-Zi, and then we can find that there are at least three dimensions of it to discuss. First, “yinxun” means to get the greatest political efficiency by making good use of the characteristics and conditions; the former especially points to the official and the ruled people's temperament and their likes and dislikes. The latter includes the situations of time, space, talent, etc, and the talent is particularly very important. Second, “yin-xun” is the main principle of ruling in the condition of future and tide, so the ruler has to adjust and react to the situations with good flexibility. At last, the third aspect is about one's cultivation of “keep (ing) the nature and put (ting) away the wisdom,” which is much related to the political behaviors we mentioned above.