《孟子》与出土文献两则

Two Examples of How the Unearthed Literature Can Help Us Understand Mengzi

《孟子·离娄下》"由仁义行,非行仁义也"之第二个"行",当训为"言""说"。此句意为"要依仁义行事,不能只说说而已"。孟子反对的不是"勉强施行仁义",而是只说不做的"假仁假义"。清华简《厚父》第五简"古天降下民……惟曰其助上帝乱下民"与《梁惠王下》引《书》相似,此之"乱(治)下民"即彼之"宠之","宠"读为"用",训为"治"。故赵岐以"宠之"断句,"四方"归下读正确;孙奭、朱熹"宠之四方"断句不能成立。

The word“行”should not be interpreted as“pursue”or“practice”in the sentence“非行仁义也”from Mengzi.Li Lou II,but as“say”or“talk”.This sentence actually means“One should obey benevolence and righteousness not only in words but by deeds”.What Mengzi did not appreciate is not“to practice benevolence and righteousness reluctantly”,but hypocrisy(to harangue without any practical effort).There is a sentence in the No.5 slip of Hou Fu in The Tsinghua Bamboo Slips s aying that:“Heaven having produced the inferior people,...with the purpose that they should be assisting to God”is similar with what is quoted from Shangshu in Mengzi.Liang Hui Wang II.The meaning of“乱(治)下民”in Hou Fu equals to“宠之”in Liang Hui Wang II.“宠”equals to“用”,which means to govern.So Zhao Qi’s way of giving a comma and pause between“宠之”and“四方”is correct,thus the way of Sun Shi and Zhu Xi in reading this sentence is inaccurate.