儒家道德思想的实践——董仲舒“仁义法”的人我内外之别

The Practice of Confucian Moral Thought: Differences Between Self and Other, Inner and Outer, in Dong Zhongshu's “Law of Benevolence and Righteousness”

董仲舒对先秦儒学的继承,除了内在心性仁义之外,并强调"仁"与"义"的实践情境,董仲舒提出"仁义法"的主张,实承袭荀子由伦理身份的"分辨"去谈"义",亦从"道德典范"的建立,具象呈现"仁义"道德的实践样貌。董仲舒论仁义,是由《春秋》即事取义而来,他对于仁义道德的描述,不止于心性的探求,而是诉诸"外显行为"该如何落实仁义而作观察和检讨当事人行仁义却"不得其效"的症结,这是董仲舒对于先秦儒学以道德属性统言"仁义"所做的反省,也可见汉代经学入世用事的思潮特质。

Besides the notion of benevolence and righteousness as being internal attributes of mind, Dong Zhongshu’s inheritance of Pre-Qin Confucianism also emphasizes the practical circumstances of “benevolence” and “righteousness”. He put forward the “law of benevolence and righteousness”, which not only actually inherits Xunzi’s idea of “righteousness” in the ethical perspective of “discrimination” but also concretely shows the practical nature of “benevolence and righteousness” in the perspective of the establishment of “moral paragons”. His theory of benevolence and righteousness originates from the idea of being righteous according to current circumstances in Spring and Autumn Annals. His description of benevolence and righteousness is not only the exploration of mind, but also the observation and analysis of the reasons why one behaves in a benevolent and righteous way but the result is ineffective by implementing benevolence and righteousness through “explicit behaviors”, which is Dong Zhongshu’s reflection of the use of moral attributes to define the notion of “benevolence and righteousness” in Pre-Qin Confucianism and, from which one can also see the ideological characteristics of the studies of classics on how to behave in the society in the Han Dynasty.