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朋党论·节选

On Factions (Excerpt from the Pengdang Lun)

欧阳修

Ouyang Xiu

名篇Classic Work 论说Argumentative Prose 政治Politics

臣闻朋党之说，自古有之，惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已。
大凡君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋，此自然之理也。

I have heard that talk of factions has existed since ancient times; the only blessing is that the ruler can distinguish the gentlemen from the petty men among them.
In general, gentlemen form factions with other gentlemen because they share the same Way, and petty men form factions with other petty men because they share the same profit. This is the natural order of things.

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Meaning

In this opening passage, Ouyang Xiu reframes the charge of factionalism. He concedes that factions have always existed — the crucial question is not whether men band together but whether the ruler can distinguish gentlemen, who unite by the Way, from petty men, who unite by profit. This, he argues, is simply the natural order of like gathering with like.

臣下听说朋党的说法，自古就有了，只是希望君主能分辨其中的君子与小人罢了。大凡君子与君子，因为志同道合而结为朋友；小人与小人，因为私利相同而结为朋党，这是自然的道理。

Appreciation

[Plain Paraphrase] As a memorial to the throne, the essay opens by conceding that factions are no new thing — the only hope is that the ruler can tell gentlemen from petty men among them. Then comes the thesis: gentlemen form factions by shared Way, petty men by shared profit; this is the natural order of things. [Structure] The argument advances in three moves: concede the fact ('factions have existed since ancient times'), shift the issue (the question is not 'are there factions' but 'can the ruler discern them'), then define the categories with one balanced antithesis. [Imagery] No imagery is needed: the essay's power is definitional — Way against profit — and the closing judgment 'this is the natural order of things' seals the thesis with cosmic authority.

【白话串讲】欧阳修写《朋党论》：“臣闻朋党之说，自古有之，惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已”。“君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋”——“小人无朋，惟君子则有之”——他说小人以利相结，利尽则散；君子以道相合，“同心而共济，终始如一”——他劝皇帝分辨君子之党与小人之党。【意象与手法】政论文开门见山、旗帜鲜明：先以「自古有之」承认对方攻击的事实基础，再以「惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已」一转，把矛头从「结党」转到「辨党」；「君子以同道为朋、小人以同利为朋」的对举立论，以「道」「利」二字划界，纲举目张，逻辑严密，是「先立论、后展开」的论说文典范。【情感与主旨】此文写于庆历新政期间，欧阳修为范仲淹等改革派辩护：改革者同心为国并非营私结党，君主应辨君子小人之党而进贤退佞。字里行间是改革派的磊落与对君主的殷切期望，体现了欧阳修「以天下为己任」的士大夫情怀。【名句点睛】常考「大凡君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋」的立论——以「同道」「同利」四字划清君子小人之党的界限，是全文论证的基石，也是理解「朋党之辨」的钥匙。

Background

Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), courtesy name Yongshu, with the sobriquets Zuiweng and Liuyi Jushi, came from Yongfeng in Jizhou (modern Yongfeng, Jiangxi). One of the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song prose and the leader of the Northern Song literary reform, he served under Emperors Renzong, Yingzong, and Shenzong, rising to vice councilor (canzhi zhengshi). The essay was written in 1044, at the height of the Qingli Reform: when conservatives accused Fan Zhongyan's reform party of factionalism and Emperor Renzong himself suspected his ministers of cliquing, Ouyang Xiu, then a remonstrance official, answered with this defense. The excerpt gives the essay's programmatic opening; the full piece goes on to illustrate with history — the worthy factions of Yao and Shun, the corrupt court of King Zhou, the factional disasters of Han and Tang.

《朋党论》是北宋古文大家欧阳修（1007—1072）的政论名篇。欧阳修，字永叔，号醉翁、六一居士，吉州永丰（今江西永丰）人，天圣八年进士，历仕仁宗、英宗、神宗三朝，官至参知政事，是北宋诗文革新运动的领袖、唐宋八大家之一。此文的写作背景是庆历新政：宋仁宗庆历三年（1043），范仲淹、韩琦、富弼等人主持新政，改革吏治、整顿财政，欧阳修时任谏官，积极支持；守旧派指斥改革派「朋党」，宋仁宗亦疑大臣结党营私。庆历四年（1044），欧阳修作《朋党论》上奏，正面回应「朋党」之责，为改革派辩护：朋党自古有之，关键在于分辨君子之党与小人之党，君主当进君子之朋而退小人之朋。此文一出，论辩锐利、持理坚正，成为政论文的典范。此节选即《朋党论》的开篇立论：先承认「朋党之说，自古有之」的事实，再以「惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已」点出全文主旨，最后以「同道」「同利」的对举立下君子小人之辨的纲目。要之，此文生于政治斗争的激流中，是北宋士大夫「以道事君、以天下为己任」精神的直接体现。

Art

The excerpt is a compact lesson in Song argumentative prose. First, the yielding advance: 'I have heard that talk of factions has existed since ancient times' grants the accusation its ground, defusing the charge that factions are a novelty; then 'the only blessing is that the ruler can distinguish the gentlemen from the petty men among them' transfers the entire question from whether factions exist to whether the ruler can tell them apart — a move of pure debate craft. Second, the balanced definition: 'gentlemen with gentlemen by shared Way, petty men with petty men by shared profit' — one antithesis draws the line of the whole essay in four words. Third, the cosmic seal: 'this is the natural order of things' closes the passage with a judgment sentence, reason and confidence in one. The prose is plain and conversational — no ornament, no parallelism for its own sake — the 'plain yet lawed' style that became the model of Northern Song argument.

《朋党论》的艺术特色，首在论说结构的严密与论辩手法的巧妙。其一，开门见山、纲举目张：开篇「臣闻朋党之说，自古有之」先以「臣闻」起笔，谦抑而不失分量；「自古有之」四字轻巧地承认了朋党现象的客观存在，堵住了论敌「朋党为今日新事」的攻击；「惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已」一句中的「惟幸」二字，把全部问题归结为「辨」字——不辨有无而辨邪正，论题一转，立即占据主动。其二，对比立论、以简驭繁：「君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋」两句对举，以「同道」与「同利」四字划界，道是义理、利是私欲，一字之差而高下立判；「此自然之理也」以判断句断言收束，理直气壮。其三，先立后破的章法：节选部分立论，正文再引尧舜、商纣、汉唐史实正反论证——引历史为证，是宋代政论「以史证论」的通行法式。其四，语言的平易晓畅：欧阳修提倡古文，反对骈俪浮华，此文语言明白如话、纡徐委备，读来如与长者对谈，却句句在理、字字有力。总之，节选虽短，已尽显欧文「简而有法、纡徐流畅」的独特风神。

Allusions

The passage stands on the whole tradition of factional history and Confucian ethics. 'Factions' (peng dang) evokes the disasters that made the word feared: the proscription of partisan scholars under the Eastern Han, the Niu-Li factional wars that consumed the late Tang, and the fresh charge against the Qingli reformers. 'Gentleman' and 'petty man' are the core categories of Confucian ethics: the Analects — 'the gentleman is versed in rightness, the petty man in profit' and 'the gentleman seeks harmony, not sameness; the petty man seeks sameness, not harmony' — is the direct source of the Way-against-profit distinction. And 'the natural order of things' quietly echoes the Book of Changes' teaching that things gather by kind: like gathering with like is a law of heaven and earth, so gentlemen gathering by the Way is as natural as petty men gathering by profit. In a few dozen words the essay fuses the Analects' rightness-versus-profit teaching, the Book of Changes' law of kinds, and the whole history of factional strife.

此节选虽短，其典故与思想渊源却极深。其一，「朋党」之说——朋党之争是中国政治史的老问题：东汉桓灵之际有党锢之祸，士人被宦官集团迫害；唐代中后期有牛李党争，绵延数十年，政事日非；北宋庆历年间，范仲淹等又被指为朋党。欧阳修「自古有之」四字，正是对这一历史谱系的概括，下文更以尧舜之朋、商纣之朋、汉唐党祸为例展开，皆承此而来。其二，「君子」「小人」之辨——这是儒家政治伦理的核心范畴，《论语》「君子喻于义，小人喻于利」「君子和而不同，小人同而不和」，正是「同道」「同利」之辨的源头：道即义，利即利欲，欧阳修以「道」「利」代「义」「利」，语更切于朋党。其三，「自然之理」——此语暗承《易·系辞》「方以类聚，物以群分」的思想：物以类聚是天地自然的法则，君子聚于道、小人聚于利，也是人性之自然，故下文「故为人君者，但当退小人之伪朋，用君子之真朋」的主张由此立根。要之，节选短短数十字，融《论语》之义利辨、《周易》之类聚观与历代党争史实于一炉，是儒家政治智慧的高度浓缩。

Commentary

The essay is a landmark in both literary and intellectual history. As prose, it became the model of Song argument — plain speech, watertight structure, unforced authority — influencing Su Xun, Su Shi, and Wang Anshi, and a fixture of anthologies from the Guwen Guanzhi to modern textbooks. As political thought, its thesis that gentlemen too may have factions broke with the older taboo that 'the gentleman does not clique,' shifting the question of factionalism from existence to character: a true faction of gentlemen united by the Way is to be used, a false faction of petty men united by profit is to be dismissed. Written amid the failure of the Qingli Reform, the essay did not save Fan Zhongyan's party, but it fixed in words the dignity of the reform generation's 'take the world as one's own duty' spirit — and its distinction between cliquing for profit and gathering for principle still speaks to any argument about parties and causes.

《朋党论》在文学史与政治思想史上都有重要地位。文学史上，此文是宋代政论散文的典范之作：欧阳修继柳开、穆修之后领导北宋诗文革新运动，以平易流畅的古文取代浮靡的时文，《朋党论》正是这场运动中的名篇，其「简而有法」的语言、严密的逻辑、从容的气度，为后世（如苏洵、苏轼、王安石）的政论文树立了范式，明清古文选本（如《古文观止》）亦多收录。政治思想上，此文提出的「君子有党」论是对传统「君子不党」观念的突破：欧阳修公开承认君子亦可结朋，只要以道相聚，便是「真朋」，这一主张为改革派争取了理论依据，也把「朋党之辨」的焦点从「有无」转向「邪正」，影响了此后历代关于党争与结社的讨论。就现实影响而言，此文写于庆历新政的激流中，虽未能阻止范仲淹等人的去位，却以其论辩的坚正成为改革者精神的见证；庆历新政虽败，而欧阳修、范仲淹「先天下之忧而忧」的士大夫气象，经此文而愈显。今日读之，节选所立「辨君子小人之党」之纲，仍能启发我们对「结党」与「聚义」、「营私」与「为国」的思考，其价值远超一时一地的党争。

Prosody

Form Classical prose — a Song dynasty memorial of policy argument (zouyi), written in ancient-style prose free of parallel ornament.宋代政论散文（奏议体）

Rhyme Prose is unrhymed; rhythm is built from sentence cadence. The opening 'I have heard that talk of factions' begins level, 'existed since ancient times' checks; 'the only blessing is that the ruler can distinguish the gentlemen from the petty men among them' draws out like a plea; the two balanced clauses 'gentlemen with gentlemen by shared Way / petty men with petty men by shared profit' ring like struck stone; 'this is the natural order of things' closes with the finality of a verdict.散文不押韵，而以句式的整饬与顿挫构成节奏：「臣闻朋党之说」起于平缓，至「自古有之」一顿；「惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已」一句拖长，如恳谈之语；「君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋」两句对仗整饬，音节铿锵；「此自然之理也」以判断收束，斩钉截铁。

Tone pattern The syntax is loose, with a design of parallelism within it ('gentlemen with gentlemen / petty men with petty men'). The voice moves from the humility of 'I have heard' to the diffidence of 'the only blessing' to the gravity of 'in general,' ending in the flat assertion 'this is the natural order of things' — step by step, unhurried, the tone of a minister pleading in court.句式以散句为主，间出对偶（君子与君子／小人与小人）；语气由「臣闻」的谦抑，转「惟幸」的委婉，再转「大凡」的庄重，终以「自然也」的断言，层层递进、不疾不徐，尽显奏议文「从容奏对」的声情。

Reading note The music of the excerpt lies in its dispatch of the 'plain yet lawed' cadence. Ouyang Xiu championed ancient-style prose against ornate parallel writing, but he does not refuse parallelism — he uses it to enter looseness and looseness to govern it: the opening is loose, the tone of a memorial beginning; 'the only blessing is that the ruler can distinguish the gentlemen from the petty men among them' lengthens the line, with 'only' and 'and that is all' answering each other, the tone of a tactful remonstrance; the two balanced clauses are the passage's rhythmic climax; the closing 'this is the natural order of things' returns to looseness and seals it with 'ye.' This loose-parallel-loose design lets the rhythm breathe — flowing where it flows, standing like a pillar where it must. It is the miniature of Ouyang Xiu's 'unhurried completeness,' the sound-model of Song argumentative prose, reason first and breath second.《朋党论》节选的音律之美，在其「简而有法」的句式调度。欧阳修提倡古文，反对骈文的浮华，但并非不用偶句，而是以偶入散、以散驭偶：开篇「臣闻朋党之说，自古有之」用散句，语气谦缓，如奏对之始；「惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已」句加长，虚词「惟」「而已」前后呼应，语气婉转，正合「进谏」的身份；「君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋」则纯用偶句，「君子与君子」「小人与小人」「同道」「同利」两两相对，音节整齐，读来朗朗上口，是全段的声律高潮；末句「此自然之理也」回到散句，以「也」字断言收束，声情归于庄重。这种「散—偶—散」的结构，使全文节奏张弛有度：散处如流水，偶处如砥柱，虚词（臣、之、惟、而已、大凡、也）穿插其间，语气从容不迫。欧文素以「纡徐委备」著称，此节选的音律正是这一风格的缩影——不事声张而自有节奏，不求铿锵而自有顿挫，是宋代政论散文「以理为主、以气为辅」的声情典范。

Line by line

臣闻朋党之说，自古有之，惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已。

I have heard that talk of factions has existed since ancient times; the only blessing is that the ruler can distinguish the gentlemen from the petty men among them.

臣下听说朋党的说法，自古以来就有了，只是希望君主能够分辨其中的君子与小人罢了。

Your servant has heard that the doctrine of factions has existed since antiquity; I only hope the ruler can distinguish the gentlemen from the petty men within them.

此句是全文立论的总纲，四两拨千斤。「臣闻」二字以臣子口吻起笔，谦抑有礼，符合奏议文体；「朋党之说，自古有之」——欧阳修不否认朋党存在，反而承认其古已有之，这一「以退为进」的写法极为高明：论敌攻击改革派「结为朋党」，欧阳修坦然承认朋党自古就有，先卸掉对方的攻击力；随即「惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已」陡然一转——问题的关键不在「有没有朋党」，而在君主能否分辨君子之党与小人之党。「惟幸」二字委婉而恳切，把责任从「结党者」转到「辨党者」的君主身上；「而已」收得轻巧，语气不迫而立场坚定。全句的论辩机关在「辨」字：一旦把焦点转向「辨君子小人」，下文为君子之党辩护便顺理成章。短短一句，承认事实、转移论题、立下纲目，三步一气呵成，尽显欧阳修政论文「简而有法」的功力。

This line is the whole argument's outline, the four-ounces-moving-the-thousand-jun. The two words your servant has heard open in the minister's tone, restrained and courteous, fitting the memorial style; the doctrine of factions has existed since antiquity — Ouyang Xiu not denying the factions' existence, but admitting its antiquity, this retreat-as-advance writing the masterstroke: the opponents attacking the reformers as forming factions, and Ouyang frankly admitting the factions' antiquity, first unloading the opponents' attack; immediately the I-only-hope-the-ruler-can-distinguish-the-gentlemen-from-the-petty-men suddenly turning — the key not in the whether-there-are-factions, but in the ruler's ability to distinguish the gentlemen's faction from the petty men's. The two words I only hope, courteous and earnest, moving the responsibility from the faction-formers to the faction-discerning ruler; the closing light, the tone unpressured and the position firm. The whole line's argument mechanism in the word discern: once the focus turns to discerning the gentlemen and petty men, the below's defense of the gentlemen's faction follows naturally. A short line, the fact admitted, the topic shifted, the outline set, three steps in one breath, fully showing Ouyang's political essay's simple-and-yet-method power.

大凡君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋，此自然之理也。

In general, gentlemen form factions with other gentlemen because they share the same Way, and petty men form factions with other petty men because they share the same profit — this is the natural order of things.

大凡君子与君子，因为志同道合而结为朋友；小人与小人，因为私利相同而结为朋党，这是自然的道理。

In general, gentlemen with gentlemen form factions through a common way; petty men with petty men form factions through a common interest — this is the natural principle.

此句亮出全文的核心论点，以「道」「利」二字划清君子小人之党的界限。「大凡」二字总起，有放眼古今的气概；「君子与君子以同道为朋，小人与小人以同利为朋」两句对举，结构严整——「君子与君子」「小人与小人」同型相对，「同道」「同利」以「道」「利」对举，义利之辨的儒家立场凝于四字；「以……为朋」的句式，把「朋」定义为「因什么而聚」，为后文「君子之真朋」「小人之伪朋」的论断埋下伏笔。末句「此自然之理也」以判断句断言收束，「自然之理」四字把这一划分提升为客观法则——不是谁的规定，而是人性与天理的必然，理直气壮，不容置辩。全句立论之稳、对仗之工、语气之坚，堪称政论文立论段落的典范。此节选的精髓尽在此句：承认朋党存在，又为之划定正邪，改革派的磊落与论辩的锋芒俱在其中。

This line putting forward the whole text's core argument, using the two words way and interest to draw the gentlemen-and-petty-men-factions' boundary. The two words in general opening, with the breadth of the ages; the gentlemen with gentlemen form factions through a common way, petty men with petty men form factions through a common interest two lines set in parallel, the structure rigorous — the gentlemen-with-gentlemen and the petty-men-with-petty-men same-form counterparts, the common way and the common interest set in way and interest, the right-and-interest distinction's Confucian position condensed in four characters; the form through ... as faction, defining the faction as the gathered-for-what, storing the ground for the below's the gentlemen's true faction and the petty men's false faction judgments. The final this is the natural principle closes in the judgment, the four words natural principle raising this division to the objective law — not someone's ordinance, but human nature and heaven's way's necessity, the argument straight, beyond dispute. The whole line's argument's steadiness, the parallelism's craft, the tone's firmness, the model of the political essay's argument paragraph. This excerpt's essence all within this line: admitting the factions' existence, and yet drawing the right-and-wrong boundary, the reformers' openheartedness and the argument's edge both within.

Study

Word focus

惟幸 'The only blessing': the pivot of the whole sentence's debate craft. 'Only' limits the ground of discussion, 'blessing' is at once hope and trust — together they mean 'the only thing to hope for,' humble in tone yet heavy in intent: responsibility is shifted gently onto the ruler's discernment, and beneath the courtesy lies the warning that failure to discern brings calamity. Paired with 'and that is all,' the phrase asks little while holding everything. 「惟幸人君辨其君子小人而已」之「惟幸」二字，是全句论辩艺术的枢纽。「惟」表「只、只是」，限定了谈论的范围；「幸」表「希望」，兼有「幸而」的意味——二字合言，意为「只是希望」，语气委婉谦抑，正合臣子奏议的口吻。但委婉之中有深意：其一，它把朋党之辨的责任轻轻推到君主身上——问题不在结党者，而在「辨」者，这为下文为君子之党辩护预留了全部空间；其二，「幸」字暗含对君主的期望与信赖，也暗含「不辨则有祸」的警示，绵里藏针；其三，与「而已」配合，「惟幸……而已」的句式收束得轻巧从容，仿佛只提一个微小请求，实则以退为进，将论题牢牢握在自己手中。若改作「惟望」「但愿」则少一分「幸」字的机锋，二字不可移易，是欧阳修奏议文「婉而多讽」风格的缩影。

同道 'Shared Way': the essay's key term. The Way is rightness, principle, a common ideal — gentlemen gather because they serve the Way, so their faction is a true one; set against it, 'shared profit' means private gain, by which petty men gather and scatter when the gain ends. The word lifts 'faction' from personal attachment to moral union, giving the reformers their theoretical charter. 「君子与君子以同道为朋」之「同道」二字，是全文立论的关键词。「道」在儒家语境中指义理、正道、共同的理想与原则（如《论语》「道不同，不相为谋」），「同道」即志同道合——君子因共同的道义理想而相聚，其朋是「真朋」；与之相对的「同利」，指共同的私利，小人因利而聚，利尽则散，其朋是「伪朋」。「同道」一词的深意在于：它把「朋」从「人情的聚合」提升为「道义的联合」，为君子结党提供了正当性——君子之党非为私，而为道为国，这正是欧阳修为改革派辩护的理论核心。就语言传统而言，「同道」承《论语》「道不同，不相为谋」而来，又与下文「同利」对举，义利之辨凝于一词，是儒家「义以为上」价值观在政论中的精炼表达。

自然之理 'The natural order of things': the highest ground of the argument. 'Natural' means so of itself, not by anyone's decree; 'order' means principle and law. Declaring that gentlemen gather by the Way and petty men by profit is natural and inevitable — not a matter of anyone's preference — the judgment both forbids argument and, echoing the Book of Changes' teaching that things gather by kind, raises a political dispute to a cosmic law. 「此自然之理也」之「自然之理」四字，是全句论证的收束，也是全文立论的最高依据。「自然」指天然如此、不假人为，「理」指道理、法则——欧阳修断言君子聚于道、小人聚于利，是客观的、天然的道理，不是出于谁的主观好恶。这四个字的妙处有三：其一，它以「断言」代替「论证」——既然这是「自然之理」，便无需再多费唇舌，判断句的斩截本身即是力量；其二，它上承《易·系辞》「方以类聚，物以群分」的天道观，把人事的朋党之争纳入天地万物「类聚群分」的大法则中，赋予论点以宇宙论的高度；其三，它为下文展开铺平道路——既为自然之理，则君主只能「辨」而不能「禁」，只能进君子之真朋、退小人之伪朋，「但退小人之伪朋，用君子之真朋」的结论便水到渠成。四字论断，举重若轻，尽显欧文「简而有法」的宗师手笔。