“高宗谅阴,三年不言”说解试析——兼论孔子对《书》的阐释

On Interpretation of "When Kao Tsung was in the Shed of Mourning,he did not deal with government affairs for three years"

《论语·宪问篇》:子张曰:"《书》云:‘高宗谅阴,三年不言。’何谓也?"子曰:"何必高宗,古之人皆然。君薨,百官总己以听于冢宰三年。"对于"高宗谅阴,三年不言"的解释,主要集中在三方面,一是对"谅阴"的解释,一是对"不言"的解释,一是对"三年之丧"的解释。从汉至于清代,"谅阴"之义,存在两种主流的解释,一是指居丧之处,一是指信默。"不言"之义,亦有两种不同的解释,一是指不言政事,一是指不说话。对于"三年之丧",则多无异议。由于今古文家所作的结论均有其文献依据,目前史料尚不能断定何者正确。相比较而言,《尚书大传》"高宗居丧时,三年不言政事"的说法显得更合情理。这与孔子的解说相一致,并且也有文献的依据。

Yuan Ssu in The Analects：Tzu-chang said,The Books say,＂＇When Kao Tsung was in the Shed of Mourning,he did not speak for three years.＇ What does this mean？ ＂ The Master said,＂Not Kao Tsung in particular,all the men of old did this. Whenever a prince died,the ministers（of the last prince） all continued in their offices,taking their orders from the Prime Minister,and this lasted for three years（Arthur Waley）＂. About the interpretation of ＂When Kao Tsung was in the Shed of Mourning,he did not speak for three years＂ ,there are three main aspects：＂liang-yin（谅阴）＂,＂not speak＂,＂three-year-mourning＂. From Han to Qing Dynasty,about the interpretation of ＂liang-yin＂ ,there are two main opinions among the scholars：one is ＂a penthouse set up for the habitation of a mourner against the wall of a tomb＂ ,and the other is ＂keep silent devoutly＂. About ＂not speak＂ ,there are two main opinions too：one is ＂not talk about government affair＂ ,the other is ＂talk with others＂. As for ＂three-year-mourning＂ ,the scholars have the same opinion. Relatively the interpretation of ＂When Kao Tsung was in the Shed of Mourning,he did not talk about government affair for three years＂ in The Books＇ Annotation is reasonable. That was coincident with the Confucius＇ explanation which was based on some certain literatures.