论朱熹《太极图说解》的两种五行次序

On the Two Order of the Five Agents in Zhu Xi’s Commentary on the Tai Ji Tu Shuo

朱熹的《太极图说解》,以“质而语其生之序”“气而语其行之序”阐释周敦颐《太极图说》“阳变阴合,而生水、火、木、金、土”的五行次序。朱子后学对此多有不同解释。现代学者的解释皆未能越出叶采之说,然叶采亦未理解朱熹两种五行次序的义理结构。朱熹阐释阴阳五行循环错综的义理时,始终将太极置于本源之理的绝对性地位,阴阳五行化生万物之所以然是由于太极生生之理。通过对《太极图》图像及《太极图解》义理的分析,两种五行次序的义理结构和内涵可以得到更加直观、更加深刻的展现。

Zhu Xi’s Commentary on the Tai Ji Tu Shuo explained the Five Agents of Zhou Dunyi’s Tai Ji Tu Shuo, illustrating the transformation of Yang and its union with Yin, with the Five Agents of Water, Fire, Wood, Metal, and Earth, by means of "using matter to illustrate the order when it arises" and "using Qi to illustrate the order when it runs". Zhu Xi’s disciples had various explanations, and modern scholars haven’t been able to explain it beyond the scope of Ye Cai’s interpretation. But Ye Cai didn’t understand the philosophical structure of Zhu Xi’s explanation about two order of the Five Agents. When Zhu Xi explained the intricate meaning of the cycle of Yin and Yang and the Five Agents, he always placed Taiji in the absolute position of the original principle, for Yin and Yang and the five elements are transformed into all things is because of the recycling principle of Tai Chi. Through the analysis of Tai Ji Tu and Commentary on the Tai Ji Tu, the two order of the Five Agents is presented visually and profoundly.