論敬－－對唐君毅〈說中華民族之花果飄零〉之反思

On Jing: Thinking Through Tang Junyi on Chinese Culture in Diaspora

唐君毅在〈說中華民族之花果飄零〉及〈花果飄零及靈根自植〉二文中，提及現代以西方為主導而忽視自身文化根源之心態。此一心態，於當代比較哲學研究中，呈現為以西方哲學概念來解釋中國傳統思想之趨勢。本文以早期儒者對「敬」之理解為例，指出此種研究方法，將導致對中國傳統思想之誤解。若要真正了解中國傳統思想之精義與洞見，我們應先從對經典作出審慎而細緻之研究著手，繼而將經典中之義理，以己身之生活經驗印證。最後，才對中西思想傳統作出對照及整合。

This study starts with Tang Junyi's observation about a certain mindset regarding Western superiority in areas in which such a view is not justified, a mindset that results in a failure to recognize what is distinctive and valuable within one's own culture. Such a mindset can be found in the tendency to approach Chinese thought from Western philosophical perspectives in contemporary comparative studies. Using the early Confucian conception of jing as an example, this study shows how assimilating jing to the Western concept of respect for persons can lead to a misunderstanding of the Confucian concept. What we need to do is to attend to the relevant texts on their own terms, relating the ideas in the texts to our own present day experiences to understanding their contemporary relevance, before we bring Chinese and Western traditions of thought alongside each other for mutual illumination.