“辞,达而已矣”——孔子“仁”本言意论探微

On Benevolence as the Basis in Confucius Word and Meaning Theory

先秦儒家的代表孔子,处于"礼坏乐崩"的社会变革时期,他以救世为己任,知其不可而为之,充分地信任和使用语言来推行自己的仁学主张,将语言在表意、在社会政治生活及修身中的作用提高和发挥到无以复加的地位。在言对于仁的功能方面,阐述了言为仁之表、言为礼之教、言为行所依的主张;在仁对言的要求上,则表露了言之专对性、明确性、信实性、慎重性和修饰性的观点,与以老庄为代表的先秦道家的语用观形成了鲜明的对照。

Confucius is the representative of the Pre-Qin Confucianism who regarded saving the world as his responsibility. Although it was a social transitional period that the moral was on decline, he still spared effort to realize his dream. He used language confidently and completely to promote his Benevolent thought and raised the role of the language overwhelmingly in expressing meaning and self-cultivation. In terms of language function that conveys the meaning of Benevolence, Confucius conveyed that is capable to reveal Benevolence, etiquette and guide behavior. In addition, Confucius manifested Benevolence thought can cause the use of language more professional, explicit, trustworthy, cautious and decorative which is in sharp contrast to that of Taoism.