清末民間教派人士光月老人之《四書說約》研究

A Study of 'The Brief Interpretation of Four Books' by Guangyue Laoren, A Popular Religious Leader in Late Qing China

本文主要探討清末光月老人的《四書說約》，這是一本民間教派解讀儒家思想的典型作品。由於光月老人將《四書》視為傳教救世的作品，因此他以宗教修煉的角度詮釋《四書》。《四書說約》對《四書》的解讀，強調部分與整體的關係，這種詮釋循環的關係，可由全書之內容安排得知。〈總論四子書〉是主體，〈太極統說〉是目標，〈總結性命不二心法〉則是實踐目標的境界，以修道的角度看待《四書》的內容，使得〈總論自子書〉的主體內容，緊扣目標與境界而開展。《四書說約》最大的特色乃以解讀《孟子》思想為主，特別是以「氣」的思想解讀《孟子》，並發展出以「養氣」為主的宗教觀。他將「氣」區分為「先天之氣」與「後天之氣」，而以涵養「先天之氣」為修道的目標。他認為只要人人肯酒養「先天之氣」自然可以拯救世人免於因濁氣太盛所形成的集體劫難，因此，「養氣」在光月老人的詮釋中，除了具有修煉意義外，更具有宗教上的救劫意義。

This study is about researching The Brief Interpretation of Four Books (《四書說約》) written by Guangyue Laoren in late Qing China. The commentary is a typical work for interpreting Confucianism by a popular religious leader. He regarded The Four Books as a work of Salvation, so he interpreted The Four Books from a religious view. The Brief Interpretation of Four Books focuses on the relationship of part and whole. The main feature of The Brief Interpretation of Four Books is to interpret Mencius, especially Qi (氣). He developed the religious concept of 'Cultivating Qi' (養氣) to interpret Mencius. He classified Qi into two models: one nature (先天) and the other nurture (後天). He thought that people could get the salvation by cultivating natural Qi. The meaning of cultivating Qi by Guangyue Laoren includes constant practice and salvation.