《左傳》“心則不競”“德則不競”新釋

The new interpretation of “xin ze bu jing”(“心則不競”) and “de ze bu jing”(“德則不競”) in Zuo Zhuan( 《左傳》)

《左傳·僖公七年》的"心則不競"依《風俗通·十反》篇可作"心敬不競",《成公九年》的"德則不競"也可同義换讀爲"德敬不競"。"德"與"敬"複詞同義,"德敬不競"與"心敬不競"意思大致相同,都是講在道德修養上、在誠信上做得不好。這兩"則"字都是實詞,相當於"敬"。將它們當成虚詞,訓爲"既"或"若",都是不可信的。

“xin ze bu jing”(“心則不競”)in The Seventh Year of Duke Xi in Zuo Zhuan (《左傳·僖公七年》)can be considered as “ xin jing bu jing” (“心敬不競” )because of Shi Fan of Feng Su Tong (《風俗通·十反》). “de ze bu jing”(“德則不競”)in The Ninth Year of Duke Cheng in Zuo Zhuan (《左傳·成公九年》)can also be considered as “de jing bu jing”(“ 德敬不競’,). In that sentence “de”(“德’)and “jing”(“敬”)are compound words which have the same meaning. Therefore “de jing bu jing”(“ 德敬不競”)as well as ‘‘xin jing bu jing”(“心敬不競’’)have a similar meaning which it is not good on moral cultivation and honesty. These two words “ze”(“則”)are notional words which can be considered as “jing” (“敬 ’).It is unreasonable to consider “ ze ”( “ 則 ”)as a function word and interpret “ze” (“則”)as “ji” (“既”)or “ruo” (“若’,).