《论语·乡党》“问人不问马”之争议解读——从“怵惕之心、恻隐之情”谈起

Interpretation of the Controversy over“Asking About People but Not Horses”in The Analects of Confucius:Folks--Starting from“Apprehension and Compassion”

《论语·乡党》中孔子“问人不问马”一直备受争议,对于它的解释众说纷纭,其中主要以朱熹为代表的“贵人贱畜”一说法较为普遍,然而有一部分学者认为“贵人贱畜”这一说法不妥,不符合儒家的“咸慈万物”思想,因此他们在此基础上提出“有先后之别,无贵贱之分”的说法,并从人作为“类”的情感角度上来解释,借王夫之在《四书训义》中所说“怵惕之心、恻隐之情”这一角度来阐述孔子为何“问人不问马”这一行为。

The statement“asking about people but not horses”by Confucius in The Analects of Confucius:Folks has long been a subject of controversy.Various interpretations have been proposed,with the view of“valuing people and belittling animals”represented by Zhu Xi being the most common.However,some scholars argue that this interpretation is inadequate and inconsistent with the Confucian doctrine of“universal benevolence towards all beings”.Instead,they propose the idea of“prioritizing without distinction of worth”and explain it from the emotional perspective of humans as a“class”.They draw upon Wang Fuzhi’s explanation of“apprehension and compassion”in his book Interpretation of the Four Books to elucidate why Confucius prioritized asking about people rather than horses.