“有德者必有言”考辨

Textual Research on “AVirtuous Person Must Have Good Speech”

韩非称"上古竞于道德,中世逐于智谋,当今争于气力","上古竞于道德"吟咏于歌谣,记载于《诗》《书》。春秋战国时期,古典道德规则的崩溃,诸如用兵之道由"仁义"而"势利""变诈"以及"仁义用于古不用于今"等。在礼崩乐坏下,君王、卿大夫、士阶层,都有着"立言"以制定新的社会制度、新的行为规则的自觉。孔子提出"有德者必有言",提出在新时代还应坚持"为政以德";他高扬"有德者"的社会责任,力图以"道德"拯救颓世,其对"言"也有自己的要求,如"辞达""亿中"等。孔子提出的"德"为古代德政定下基调,其"德""言"结合,对古代文章品格影响极大,其"温柔敦厚"的气度、注重社会现实的责任感等,都自此而来。

As Han Fei said：＂People competed for moral in ancient times, for wisdom in the middle ages, and for force today.＂ ＂People competed for moral in ancient times＂ has been intoned by ballad and recorded in the Book of Songs and the Book of History. The classical moral rules collapsed during the Spring and Autumn Period, for example, people had transferred benevolence to snobbish- ness as well as deception while using military strategies, and some people believed that ＂the benevo- lence can only be used in the past＂.With the breakdown of rites and music, the kings, all the senior officials and the intellectual stratum wanted to convey ideas by writing to establish new social systems or new standards for conducts.Confucius proposed ＂A virtuous person must have good speech.＂ And he put forward that the rulers should insist the principle of ＂governing by morality＂. He also praised highly the social responsibility of the virtuous persons, in order to use ＂virtue＂ to save the bad social ethos. He had his own requests about ＂speech＂, such as ＂expressing ideas with proper words＂, ＂prophet＂ etc. Confucius＇ thought of virtue＂has become the keynote of ＂governing by morality＂ in feudal society of China. The combination of his ＂virtue＂ and ＂speech＂ has great influence on ancient articles.