儒家之前的人性世界

The Thoughts on Human Nature Before Confucianism

儒家产生之前中国就有系统的人性学说,其建构者是从商朝末年到春秋时期的政治人物。总体上看,儒家之前的人性学说涉及人性的本质、内容、根据、价值指向等人性学说的所有主要方面;儒家之前的人性学说的建构者认为人性是人先天具有的内在本性,人性的内容要么是"德",要么是情欲,人性的根据是天,人性的价值要么指向"善",要么指向"恶"。这么看,儒家之前的人性学说的建构者把人性问题理解为道德问题,或者说,从道德的维度理解人性问题。这对于儒家无疑具有深刻影响。

Before the emergence of Confucianism, China had a systematic theory on human nature, which was constructed by political figures from the late Shang dynasty to the Spring and Autumn period. The pre-confucian theory on human nature generally involves all the main aspects of human nature, such as the nature, content, basis and value orientation of human nature. The constructors of the pre-confucian theory on human nature believed that human nature is the innate intrinsic nature of human beings, that the content of human nature is either "virtue" or lust, that the basis of human nature is Heaven, and that the value of human nature is either "good" or "evil". So, the constructors of the pre-confucian doctrine of human nature understood the human nature as a moral issue, or in another word they understood it in a moral dimension, which undoubtedly had a profound impact on Confucianism.