以羊易牛——孟子的“不忍”思想探析

Trading the Goat for the Beef——the Non-enduring Thought of Mencius

通过对《孟子·梁惠王》篇章中记载的衅钟祭品的选择来展开讨论,"不忍"之心的萌发需要触"景"生情,也就是亲眼见到觳觫的牛而产生恻隐之心而不忍杀之,齐宣王"以羊易牛"从而解决这一问题。"不忍"之心进而扩充成为恻隐、羞恶、辞让、是非的"四心",成为实行"仁政"的理论依据。为了涵养本心孟子还提出了"求放心"来保存本然的"善端"。

Through the discussion of the selection of offering of the Bell ,it is suggested that the occurrence of the non - enduring feeling needs the scene by which it is stimulated ,that is the compassion occurring the moment when people saw in their own eyes the beef trembling before die .King Xuan of Qi traded the goat for the beef in order to solve the problem .The non - enduring feeling extends to four ends including the feeling of compassion , shame ,modesty and right and wrong ,which becomes the ground of policy of benevolence .Mencius proposed to preserve the origin of good to refresh the mind .