易简与体用——以“易简”诠释的思想变迁为中心

Yi-jian and Ti-yong:Focusing on the Change of Thought in the Interpretation of Yi-jian

在易学哲学史上,学者们对《系辞》中“易”“简”的思想诠释几经变迁。首先,汉唐注家往往将“易”“简”解为“无为之道”,并将其视作对乾坤体性的摹状;而朱子认为“易”“简”更偏向“动用”一端。从《系辞》本义来看,“易”“简”分说不能简单地从“静体”和“动用”的角度来理解,“易”指乾以动为本,但同时又兼虚静;“简”指坤以虚静为本,并兼动实。而“易简”合说又是对生生道体的摹状。其次,《易纬·乾凿度》提出了“虚无感动”说,易简的“道体”义被进一步强化。但此道体也不应以“体用”论之,所谓虚静、昭著只是易简之德的不同面向。最后,现当代新儒家对“易简”的讨论可视为易简诠释的新发展,其中蕴含着超越体用论并进一步推进“易简”讨论的可能。

In the history of Yijing philosophy, the interpretation of the thought of yi(plainness) and jian(simplicity) experienced several changes. First, commentators in the Han-Tang(206 BCE-907 CE) period used to interpret “yi” and “jian” as the way of non-action and regarded them as a simulation of the nature of Qian [■, The Creative, 1] and Kun [■, The Receptive, 2]. However, Zhu Xi(1130-1200) believed that “yi” and “jian” are more inclined to the side of dynamic and functioning. In the context of the original meaning in the Xici zhuan(Commentary on the Appended Phrases), the respectively discussed “yi” and “jian” cannot be simply defined as “static ti(conceptual body)” and “dynamic yong(function)”. “Yi” is attributed to Qian in regard to movement but it also connotes void and stillness at the same time;“jian” is attributed to Kun in respect to void and stillness but it also contains meanings of movement and substance. The combination of “yi” and “jian” is a description of the conceptual body of sheng sheng(ceaseless producing). Second, the “Qian zaodu”(Opening Up the Regularities of the Hexagram Qian) chapter in the Yiwei(Apocrypha of the Changes) puts forward the theory that “xu and wu(void and non-actuality) could initiate movement through stimulus and response”;thus the meaning of yi-jian as the “conceptual body of Dao” was further strengthened. However, the body of Dao should not be discussed in the dimension of “ti(conceptual body)-yong(function)” in that the so-called void, stillness and manifestation are but different aspects of the virtue of yi-jian. Finally, the discussion of yi-jian by modern and contemporary Neo-Confucians can be regarded as a new development of the interpretation of yi-jian, which contains the possibility of surpassing the theory of ti-yong and further promoting the discussion of yi-jian.