孔子“仁者寿”发微

An Elucidation of Confucius′"Renzhe Shou(The Virtuous Live Long)"

孔子提出的“仁者寿”命题,包含着德福一致的伦理蕴含。然而,他的另一条“死生有命”的训诫,看起来却与此命题相矛盾。颜渊、冉伯牛等有德之人的夭折,也加剧了人们对“仁者寿”可靠性的怀疑。后儒在历史上对“仁者寿”进行了多种多样的解释和辩护,但其中的许多解释和辩护歪曲甚至否定了这一命题本身。从这些解释中,可以看到后儒是如何背离孔子所创立的儒学传统的。“仁者寿”命题,其言也微,其义也大。它的本义与天地生生之道相契合,是对儒者初心的扩展;同时,它也是对中国德寿一致文化传统的继承和发挥,有其恒久的合理性。只有了解“仁者寿”的真义,才能避免偏离孔子所提倡的儒学真精神。

Confucius′proposition of"Renzhe Shou"or"the virtuous live long"comprises the ethical implication of the unity of virtue and blessing.However,his other admonition"life and death are decreed by fate"seems to contradict this proposition.The early deaths of virtuous people such as Yan Yuan and Ran Boniu also exacerbated people′s doubt about the credibility of"the virtuous live long".Post-Confucian scholars have made various explanations and justifications for"the virtuous live long"in history,but many of them distorted or even negated the proposition itself.From these explanations,we can see how Post-Confucian scholars deviated from the Confucian tradition established by Confucius.The proposition of"The virtuous live long"is subtle in words and deep in meaning.Its essence is in accordance with the way of Heaven and Earth,which is the expansion of the original belief of Confucianism.At the same time,it is also the inheritance and development of the consistent cultural tradition of Chinese virtue and longevity,which has its eternal rationality.Only by understanding the true meaning of"benevolent longevity",can we avoid deviating from the true spirit of Confucianism advocated by Confucius.