略论儒家关于终极关切的话语

Confucian Philosophy's Ultimate Concern

儒家的终极关切话语即为不朽的观念。其义有三:一是今世的作为不会随着个人的死亡而消失,在身后留下了传世的影响,个人生命就在绵长的历史记忆中获得了与日月同辉的不朽性,这是君子或圣贤追求的卓越人格。二是子子孙孙的生命延续突破个人生命的存在限度,实现千秋万代的家世承传,此为一切个人都享有的平实而基本的久远关怀。三是透过天人合一、与万物一体的生存体会,超脱个体存在的有限束缚而进入无限自由之境,这彰显着亦人文亦宗教的性质。不朽作为借助于社会历史的途径而具有道德人文性,世代相传借助于宗法血缘而具有人伦自然性,天人合一通过生存之境的成就而具有审美存在性。

Immortality is the ultimate concern of Confucian philosophy. Its meaning is threefold. First, what one does in life does not disappear with death, but continues to impact posterity; an individual＇s life can be as immortal as history, which is the noble character sought after by sages and men of virtue. Second, the continuation of the family line through children breaks free of the limits of a single person＇s life, which is the plain and fundamental teleology of any individual. Third, the pursuit of the unity of Heaven and man transcends the shackles of individual existence, leading to an unlimited freedom and revealing a humanistic and religious nature. In other words, the Confucian concept of immortality is imbued with moral humanism by adherence to a socio-historical perspective, with human relations by emphasis on the continuation of the family line, and with aesthetic existence through the unity of Heaven and man.