「外聖」而「内王」——李光耀與新加坡儒學

“Outer Sageliness” and ‘Inner Kingliness”: Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore Confucianism

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

1980年代新加坡大力推行儒家倫理教育。首先，在1982年時政府邀請了八位海外知名的儒家學者訪問新加坡，教育部又成立了「儒家倫理課程編寫組」，次年又成立了「東亞哲學研究所」，從事儒學的研究和推廣工作。這個儒學運動不但在新加坡本國內產生很大影響，同時也對亞太地區的國家和社會有所衝擊，甚至波及國際秩序與外交關係。

本文旨在分析新加坡領袖李光耀與這個儒學運動的關係。首先，文章分析李氏儒家思想的淵源，然後對李氏如何應用儒家倫理思想作了較為詳細的剖析。文章指出，李氏把儒家的「內聖•外王」的典範作逆反的運用，形成了「外聖」而「內王」的格局。所謂「外聖」，意指李氏在國際上和外交上應用「儒家倫理」與「亞洲價值觀」，與西方國家之大談人權、民主與個人主義抗衡；所謂「內王」，則指在新加坡國內樹立政治權威及由上而下的推行社會工程。

This paper attempts to analyze the Confucian Project promoted by Lee Kuan Yew in the 1980s and early 1990s. First it points out that Lee, with his “baba” background, educated in English at Raffles and Cambridge, had first adopted a negative policy toward Chinese education and Chinese culture. Then the paper analyzes in more detail the transformation of Lee and the change of policy with regard to Chinese language and culture. Specifically the paper examines the Confucian Project introduced by Lee since 1982. Using the paradigm of “Inner Sageliness-Outer Kingliness” (nei-sheng wai-wang) in Neo- Confucian thinking, the paper analyzes Lee’s Confucianism in two areas, domestic affairs and foreign relations. It is the assertion of the author that Lee, influenced by pragmatic and functional concerns, applied Confuciansim with a “paradigm shift” 一 “Outer Sageliness” and “Inner Kingliness”. The former capitalizes his stand on “Asian Values”, seeing Confucian ethics and morality as the cultural founda¬tion for Asian countries and that Western values of individualism, human rights and democracy should not be imposed upon Asian nations. The latter refers to his application of Confucian ethics in Singapore for political stability, authoritarianism, and social engineering.