曾子之聖學造詣管窺

A Shallow Understanding of Zeng Zi's Attainments on the Sages' Studies

10.30091/JCDNCHU.201006.0002

劉錦賢(Chin-Hsien Liu)

篤實 ； 戒慎 ； 省察 ； 仁 ； 孝 ； Honest and sincere ； cautious ； self-examination ； Ren benevolence ； filial piety

興大中文學報

27期（2010 / 06 / 01）

31 - 65

繁體中文

曾子乃孔子弟子中，繼顏淵之後，惟一能得聖學之傳者。其與孔子之道德慧命實能相感通、相呼應，是以能融攝、申述孔子之學思，並出以己意，而多見警策透闢之言。其所以尊師，主要在孔子人品之高潔與道德之明著。抉發曾子之學行造詣，可以看出先秦正宗儒學發展之軌跡，及其對宋明儒者之啟發與影響。 曾子所以顯魯鈍之相，乃因其謹厚誠信之性格使然；宋明諸儒即多作如是觀。曾子當下一唯，便悟入聖人之道，故陽明以為曾子實超乎狂狷之上，而為中行之稟。彼具堅貞之志節，其臨終之易簀，最見養之有素。曾子篤行孝道，以為生前之奉養較死後之祭享為重要。養親除養口體外，重在養志。孝子須有順有諫，始是真正愛敬父母。以為此身來自父母，須全生全歸，故當戒慎守護，求其肢體之完好與品格之完美。 孔子以仁立教，由之以言一貫之道，曾子則合盡己之忠與推己之恕以理解之。曾子深造自得於仁，道德意識特深，是以有弘毅以踐仁之擔當。反求諸己乃聖學之緊要工夫，曾子特致力於此，而有三省之說。彼一生專做慎獨之工夫，是以能維繫聖學之血脈於不墜。曾子以慎獨故，凡事秉義直行，孟子謂之守約；其要在心純氣正，氣與道、義融合無間，以表現大勇。曾子實能將孔子之聖學體貼入微，並躬行實踐。有曾子之善紹，乃有後來孟子對聖學之高度弘揚。

Among the disciples of Confucius, Zeng Zi was the sole successor of sages' studies after Yan Yuan. Zeng Zi could have mutual understanding with and communicate with Confucius, and sense and respond to Confucius' wisdom on morality; therefore, he could achieve mastery through a comprehensive study of the subject, extend to expound Confucius' erudition and thought, use his own way to express, and have a profound opinion. The reason why he respected his teacher so much was because Confucius had a noble and virtuous character with obviously high morality. From Zeng Zi's attainments on scholastic and moral performance, the developmental traces of orthodox Pre-Qin Confucianism as well as the enlightenment and influence on the Confucian scholars of Song and Ming Dynasties can be observed. The reason why Zeng Zi had a gawky image was because of his conscientious, careful, benevolent, generous, and sincere personalities, and most Confucian scholars of Song and Ming Dynasties had same point of view. With the voice of approval at the moment, Zeng Zi grasped the way of sage; therefore, Wang Yangming thought Zeng Zi actually surpassed those radicals and ultraconservatives, and was a person of the golden mean of the Confucian school. He had ambition and moral fortitude for inflexible virtue, and insisting on changing the bamboo bed mat at his deathbed was the best example of his self-restraint cultivated at ordinary times. Zeng Zi carried out the principal of filial piety conscientiously, and he thought supporting and waiting upon the parents during their lifetime is more important than offering sacrifice to them after they die. Besides material supply, the crucial point to support and serve the parents is to follow their intentions to satisfy them. Being obedient but with euphemistic admonishment is a dutiful son that truly loves and respects his parents. He thought that our bodies come from our parents, and we must return our bodies back to our parents completely when we die. We must protect our bodies carefully to keep our bodies in good condition and to pursue the perfect character. Confucius established his doctrine with Ren (Benevolence), and used Ren to explain the consistent principles; Zeng Zi combined the rules of ”Trying one's best to achieve oneself and others” and ”Do not do to others what you don't want to be done to you” to comprehend Ren. Zeng Zi himself grasped Ren profoundly, and had especially deep moral consciousness; therefore, he shouldered the responsibility of living up to Ren with liberal-mindedness and perseverance. To make self-examination is a critical practice of sages' studies; Zeng Zi devoted his energy to it, and thus there was the theory of frequent reflection on three matters. All his life, he focused on the practice of exercising caution about his personal life; hence, he could maintain the spirit of sages' studies stably. Because working on being cautious when he was alone, he could act directly in accordance with justice for everything, and Mencius called that keeping the crucial part; the key point is pure heart, and Qi's fully blending with Dao (Tao) and justice, in order to manifest the greatest bravery. Zeng Zi not only truly understood the sages' studies of Confucius deeply, but practiced them personally. With Zeng Zi as the successor, there was Mencius later that highly disseminated the sages' studies.

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