王陽明的經典觀與理學的文本傳統

Wang Yang-ming’s Attitude toward the Classics and the Neo-Confucian Textual Tradition

本文探討明代王陽明如何在其心學立場之下來擺放儒家經典的位置，並探討其對經典的看法與理學文本傳統的關係。全文分成四個部分，第一個部分揭明本文主旨，及回顧學界相關成果。第二個部分說明王陽明如何從不同方面來論述自己的學術宗旨與儒家經典的關係；這些方面包括：1）與聖人著作經典相關的問題、2）與經典做為一種文本相關的問題、3）與士人學習經典相關的問題。第三部分在於敘述王陽明經典觀的理學傳統背景及論證理學與心學經典觀背後的共同基點。第四部分則是本文的結論，亦即從不同方面對於本文的研究成果加以引申，以說明宋明理學的獨特性，既不同於之後清代的樸學，也不同於之前的先秦儒學，而這種獨特性可以從宋明理學與儒家經典的關係得到證明。

This article discusses Wang Yang-ming’s(1472-1529) efforts to bridge the gap between the main idea of his thought and the authority of the Confucian Classics. It then argues that Wang's attitude towards the Classics is in accordance with the Neo-Confucian agenda as a whole, which is to ground human values in the natural world instead of the Classic texts created by the sages. This article includes four sections. The first section reviews the current scholarship and lays out the main issues. The second section addresses Wang's proposals to soften the tension between his philosophical idea and the Classics. As Wang believed that, 'Nothing exists outside the mind; and no principle exists outside the mind,' he asked people to seek moral guidance from within their own minds instead of in the Classics written by the sages. However, the Classics, owing to their great status within the tradition, occupied a very influential position among the literati that was hard to shake. Thus a literatus who wanted to follow Wang's doctrine had to reconstruct the relationship between his own learning and the Classics. Wang then tried to ease the tension by arguing that: 1) the purpose of the Classics is to manifest the mind; 2) the history of the Classics shows the existence of the Classics is not necessary; 3) learning the Classics might lead one astray. By arguing that the positive side of learning the Classics is in accordance with the learning of the mind and the negative side of learning the Classics can be cured by it, Wang found a way to protect his doctrine from the damage of opposing the authority of the Classics. The third section examines the famous Neo-Confucian scholars' attitudes toward the Classics. Even though the Neo-Confucian scholars constructed their philosophical systems through reinterpreting some glossaries in the Classics, the contents of their philosophies installed the authority of moral guidance in the natural world, whether it is the ontological Principle (li 理) or the human mind (xin 心). Thus, Wang's attitude toward the Classics in terms of the intellectual practice is different from that of the most influential Neo- Confucian before him, Chu Hsi (1130-1200). On the other hand, Wang is in agreement with Chu that the ultimate standard of human actions does not reside in the Classics. The fourth section concludes this article by arguing against Yu Ying-shih's proposal to consider that the development of the Ch’ing scholarship of evidential learning is a continuum of the internal struggle between the Zhu learning and the Wang learning. It also argues against Lao Ssu-kuang's proposal to use Confucius’ and Mencius’ doctrines as standards to evaluate different Neo-Confucian schools.