“大道之行”与原初秩序经验：《礼运》“大同”新解

The common understanding of the concept of “Datong”(大同) in Liyun is a specific stage in the history of order, or a specific ideal-type of order. “Datong” is regarded as the ultimate perfect order. Under the ancient regime of historicity, “Datong” was placed in the past, but under the modern regime of historicity, it was placed in the future. In terms of the deep logic of thought, the understanding of “Datong” under the two regimes of historicity both mistook the Great Dao(大道) which was associated with “Datong” in Liyun as the Ultimate Dao(至道). This orientation of understanding has led to the overcoming of rituals and the return of “Datong”, and has been mistaken for the purpose of Liyun, which is quite far from the overall ideological structure of Liyun. This orientation has led to the following misunderstanding: the overcoming of rituals and the return of “Datong” is the purpose of Liyun; however, there is a considerable distance between this understanding and the overall ideological structure of Liyun. Based on the overall ideological context of the text of Liyun, we try to give a new explanation of “Datong”,that is, “Datong” is the experience of the original order, and its understanding cannot be separated from the tension structure between “the movement of the Great Dao” and “ the absence of the Great Dao”. However, this tension structure seems to have always been forgotten in previous studies of Liyun.