論儒學的宗教性

On the Religiosity of Confucianism

二十世紀中國學者討論儒學之內涵，一般都認儒學不是宗教。近年來國內外學者對此一問題提出各種不同之看法。本文重新探討儒學的宗教性，作者強調儒學也許不是個組織型的宗教，但卻具有宗教性，這種宗教性可以用「超越的內在性」一語表達。超越的內在性同時在時間與空間的兩種向度上，表現出有機的整體性特色。就時間的向度而言，個人與傳統結合在一起，並以聖人為效法對象。就空間面向而言，個人不斷與天地人神交感，所以儒家具有徹底的宗教性。

Religion is the business of and with the beyond. In Confucianism, the beyond as elan to holism beyond the individual person co-resonants with a personal-experiential thrust. In the Confucian tradition, man experiences the pervading elan within the person beyond the person. This is a personal experience of transcendence from within which may be called 'transcendence in immanence.' The Confucian transcendent holism has two features-in time and in space. Temporal holistic transcendence is an organic complex, in personal educative-hortatory admiration-determination to follow the sages, the tradition, in a word, history. Spatial holistic transcendence is shown in the personal experience of interaction-interpenetration between the innate-depths of the self and the cosmic breath-power throughout the Heaven and Earth. All this can be summed up in one word, personal-communal 'reverence' that is religious, that renders a religion truly religious. Thus Confucianism is religious through and through.