“民可使由之，不可使知之”辨析
Discrimination of “The People May Be Made to Follow a Path of Action, But They May Not Be Made to Understand It”

孔子“民可使由之，不可使知之”似有的“愚民”倾向一直为历代学者所诟病，引发人们的争论与思考。从孔子思想的整体脉络以及孔子对孟子及后学的影响来看，他不可能赞同“愚民”；从“民”之角度来看，每个人资质、所求各有不同，圣人不可能对所有民众“一视同仁”；而圣人化治天下，不落形迹，不需要人们对其感恩戴德，人们只需将圣人对他们的影响落实行动、影响他人；出土文献郭店楚简又为非“愚民”提供例证。
The tendency of Confucius that “the people may be made to follow a path of action, but they may not be made to understand it” has been criticized by scholars of the past dynasties, which has caused people to debate and think. Judging from the overall context of Confucius’ thought and the influence of Confucius on Mencius and his posterity, it is impossible for him to agree with “obscurant”; from the perspective of the “people”, everyone has different qualifications and requirements, and it is impossible for a saint to treat all people equally; and the saints teach everyone in the world, do not fall in shape, do not need people to be grateful for them, and people only need to take the influence of saints into action and influence others; the bamboo slips (Chu state) unearthed in Guodian provide examples for “Non-Obscurant”.