聖人之學即眾人之學：《鄉約鐸書》與明清鼎革之際的群眾教化

“Learning of the Sages” as “Learning of the People”: A Newly Uncovered Text on the Community Covenant and Mass Confucianism during the Ming-Qing Transition

中央研究院歷史語言研究所庋藏三十餘萬件的明清內閣大庫檔案中，有一部從未被學界運用的《鄉約鐸書》，該書於順治年間由江西興屯道副使翟鳳翥（1608-1668）呈進朝廷，這部《鄉約鐸書》的發現適足以彌補研究明清鄉約宣講與群眾教化的關鍵空缺，為過去學界僅能一筆帶過的許多重要課題，提供了重新檢視的具體線索：包括清初戰後秩序的重建問題、順治九年頒布〈聖諭六言〉之後鄉約宣講如何落實，以及明清交接之際群眾教化的傳承與轉折。這部呈進本《鄉約鐸書》，不僅反映翟鳳翥個人對鄉約理念的規劃，更隨著他調升遷轉的仕途軌跡，亦步亦趨地付諸實踐，不啻是瞭解明清轉折之際地方教化的一塊重要拼圖。就其內容而言，《鄉約鐸書》對〈聖諭六言〉進行逐條的演繹與解說，其安排結構依序可概分為三：首先闡明諭意，其次徵引律文，末尾結以詩歌。本文試圖透過相關資料的比對與檢覈，對該書進行文本分析，探討《鄉約鐸書》於闡釋聖諭時，如何運用俗語故事就近取譬，進而摘錄相關法律條文，以明王法懲惡與王道勸善乃相輔互補，最後更藉由詩歌的吟詠，令參與者在耳濡目染中心領神會。眾所周知，清初范鋐的《六諭衍義》因緣際會從琉球輾轉流傳到東瀛，並對十八世紀江戶的平民教育產生極為深遠的影響。但經過仔細校勘對比，其實《六諭衍義》不僅內容與形式仿照《鄉約鐸書》，就連作者范鋐的跋文也幾乎抄襲翟鳳翥的序文。因此在對江戶幕府平民教育的型塑上，翟鳳翥的《鄉約鐸書》實有無名之助功。翟鳳翥在推廣《鄉約鐸書》的同時，不斷強調「講約」即「講學」、「聖人之學」即「眾人之學」的理想，此實與明中葉以降儒教走向群眾的「文化轉向」有密切的關係。尤其當「聖諭」與「鄉約」進行有機的結合之後，〈聖諭六言〉成為貫通「聖人之學」與「眾人之學」的接榫環節。士大夫儼然扮演著接引儒教信眾的角色，而翟鳳翥的《鄉約鐸書》代表了當時部分士人仍持續試圖融講學與講約於一爐的努力。正因人人皆有聖根賢種，人人皆可成聖成賢。講學既同講約；儒學即是儒教。勃興於明中葉以後的「群眾儒教」，並未隨著明朝的覆亡而銷聲匿跡。即就翟鳳翥懷抱的信念與付諸的實踐而言，「群眾儒教」的推行，在清初亂後地方秩序的重建過程中，曾經發揮正面積極的功能。隨著康熙九年〈聖諭十六條〉的頒布、復經雍正二年〈聖諭廣訓〉逐漸普及之後，一方面士大夫講學受到政治的箝制與禁抑，一方面聖諭宣講流於官方照本宣科的形式，士人修業的「道問學」與群眾教化的「尊德行」逐漸各自分途、越行越遠，終成陌路。

Among the over three hundred thousand documents in the archives of the Grand Secretariat of the Ming and Qing imperial governments preserved at the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, is a hitherto unexamined document titled Xiangyue duo shu (Textbook on the Community Covenant, hereafter XYDS), which was initially presented by Zhai Fengzhu (1608–1668), a vice circuit intendant in Jiangxi, to the Shunzhi Emperor. The discovery of XYDS sheds light on the promotion of the community covenant and mass education in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and allows historians to explore in rare detail such topics as the reconstruction of order in early Qing society, the functioning of the community covenant following the proclamation of the Shunzhi Emperor’s “Six Edicts” (1652), and both continuities and changes in mass education during the Ming-Qing transition. XYDS not only reflects Zhai’s personal ideals regarding the community covenant, but considering he implemented those ideals during the course of his official career, XYDS is invaluable evidence that elucidates local mass education during the period of time in question. XYDS offers a line-for-line explication of the “Six Edicts” promulgated by Shunzhi. It is divided into three major sections: the first explains the motivations and meanings behind the edicts; the second cites legal provisions regarding penalties for related offenses; and the third concludes with rhymed didactic ballads and poems. In comparing and examining relevant materials, this article analyzes the strategies employed by XYDS in interpreting the sacred edicts. More specifically, it investigates how popular stories and folklore are integrated to illuminate the teachings of the imperial edicts, how legal articles are chosen and cited in further support of imperial law as both punishing vice and rewarding virtue, and how poetry is used as a vehicle to convey the creeds in a form that can be easily memorized. It is generally held that Fan Hong’s Liuyu yanyi (Elaboration on the Six Edicts), passing through Ryukyu, was transmitted to Japan and influenced the formation of the commoners’ education during the late Tokugawa period. Through detailed comparison and contrast, we find that it bore strong resemblance to XYDS in terms of content and format. Most significantly, Fan Hong’s postscript stating his mission evidently plagiarized Zhai Fengzhu’s preface without any acknowledgement. Thus, in a way, the education of Tokugawa Japan actually benefited from the uncredited influence of XYDS. While promoting XYDS, Zhai constantly claims that lecturing on the covenant (jiang yue) is equivalent to lecturing on Confucian thought (jiang xue) and upholds the notion that “the learning of the sages” is “the learning of the people.” This position is clearly aligned with the “cultural turn” of Neo-Confucianism, namely its orientation towards popular audiences, which was evident from the mid-Ming period. Following the formation of the sacred edicts and the community covenant into an organic whole, the “Six Edicts” became the hinge point linking the learning of the sages and the learning of the people. Scholar-officials thus led the mass Confucian community, and Zhai’s XYDS epitomizes the continuing endeavors of the time to unify the intellectual discourse of Confucian thought, as well as preaching the ethical covenant among local communities. It is precisely owing to every individual being equipped with the innate capacity for moral perfection that everyone is entitled to the exercise of cultivating sagehood. Operating under the presumption that lecturing on Confucian thought is identical to lecturing on the covenant, no disparity exists between Confucianism as a form of higher learning and as a teaching for the general populace. It can thus be inferred from Zhai’s philosophy that the mass Confucianism which had been thriving since the mid-Ming dynasty did not vanish with the demise of the dynasty. At the very least, it exerted a positive influence on the reconstruction of social order after the chaos of the early Qing dynasty. Following the reigns of the Kangxi and Yongzheng emperors, political fetters were imposed on the speech of scholar-officials and the promotion of sacred edicts was reduced to empty, formal announcements, marking the bifurcation and distancing of the intellectual pursuit of learning on the one hand and mass moral cultivation on the other.