程明道〈定性書〉、〈識仁篇〉所示之道德實踐工夫——依唐君毅先生之觀點詮釋

The Theory of Moral Cultivation in Cheng Mingdao's dingxing shu and shiren pian–An Interpretation According to Tang Chun-i’s Reading

本文從程明道圓頓之一本論出發，先借用牟宗三先生之詮釋，說明明道之思想義理必然涵蓋了「道德理性三義」之全幅意義，也就是說，它必包含著道德實踐之工夫，接著根據唐君毅先生對明道代表作〈定性書〉與〈識仁篇〉之詮釋，詳予剖析，以見其道德實踐工夫之理路所在。首先，就〈定性書〉而論，比較橫渠與明道的學思，唐先生認為橫渠合天人思想之所歸，即明道思想之所始。由橫渠之學以彰顯明道之思有更進者，其更勝之處在於明道主張吾人當以內外兩忘為工夫，直至澄然無事、既定且明之境，而不是先「是內」而「非外」。再者，究〈識仁篇〉之義：明道說「學者須先識仁」，如以聖人境界示之，就是在「仁者，渾然與物同體」之「感通義」上所呈現的「仁者情懷」。而仁者有「憂」、「樂」兩方面的表現，唐先生認為由「憂」之「疾痛相感」說「仁」最為貼切；仁者與萬物「一氣相貫，疾痛相感」，雖在深憂中，卻也有安靜之至樂。識仁之後，繼之以「誠敬存之」之工夫。誠敬之所以能存仁，乃在於「誠」以真實情感「真實化」所觀所思之天地萬物，由是以上達天德；而「敬」能使此一「真實化」無間斷，這正是吾人日常生活中道德修養可用力之所在。由此誠敬存之的實踐而開展出不同的應用之方，可知明道講定性與識仁，皆自人之道德工夫上說的。 This paper starts with an explication of Cheng Mingdao’s doctrine of yiben (One-Source). According to Mou Zongsan’s interpretation of Song-Ming Confucianism, Cheng Mingdao’s philosophy embraces the “three significance of moral rationality”, that is, it must contain a piece of moral cultivation. Hence I give an analysis of Cheng Mingdao’s theory of moral cultivation, according to Tang Chun-i’s interpretation of dingxing and shiren. He regards Mingdao’s theory in dingxing shu as a further development of Zhang Hengqu. In his dingxing shu, Mingdao refutes the distinction of inner and outer and the separation of self and others. Instead Mingdao takes the dissolution of inner and outer as a starting point for moral cultivation, neither a preference of the inner against the outer, and with such a dissolution in practice all the way through and through without any such disruption in distinction and separation till we reach a clear and stable state of mind. In shiren pian, Cheng Mingdao emphasizes that we must first realize the meaning of ren, as it is manifested in the state of sage, it means that “being ren as unification with all as one” is a compassion with all others. Such a state of mind of being ren could have concerns of others in worries and happiness. Tang thinks that the worries of “compassion with sufferings of others” would better show the meaning of ren. But in such a compassion with others though with deep concerns is also a state of extreme wellbeing in tranquility. After the realization of ren, we have to follow up with the moral cultivation with cheng (sincere) and ching (reverence). Cheng is the sincere realizing of the oneness and compassion with others and ching is the respectful practice of such a realization without interruption. This is a way of moral cultivating workable in our daily live. From these, we could have a smooth response to events in the most appropriate way. We may conclude that, in his two master pieces, Mingdao is taking a moral cultivation approach in presenting his ideas of how to realize ren and consolidating the state of xing.

This paper starts with an explication of Cheng Mingdao’s doctrine of yiben (One-Source). According to Mou Zongsan’s interpretation of Song-Ming Confucianism, Cheng Mingdao’s philosophy embraces the “three significance of moral rationality”, that is, it must contain a piece of moral cultivation. Hence I give an analysis of Cheng Mingdao’s theory of moral cultivation, according to Tang Chun-i’s interpretation of dingxing and shiren. He regards Mingdao’s theory in dingxing shu as a further development of Zhang Hengqu. In his dingxing shu, Mingdao refutes the distinction of inner and outer and the separation of self and others. Instead Mingdao takes the dissolution of inner and outer as a starting point for moral cultivation, neither a preference of the inner against the outer, and with such a dissolution in practice all the way through and through without any such disruption in distinction and separation till we reach a clear and stable state of mind. In shiren pian, Cheng Mingdao emphasizes that we must first realize the meaning of ren, as it is manifested in the state of sage, it means that “being ren as unification with all as one” is a compassion with all others. Such a state of mind of being ren could have concerns of others in worries and happiness. Tang thinks that the worries of “compassion with sufferings of others” would better show the meaning of ren. But in such a compassion with others though with deep concerns is also a state of extreme wellbeing in tranquility. After the realization of ren, we have to follow up with the moral cultivation with cheng (sincere) and ching (reverence). Cheng is the sincere realizing of the oneness and compassion with others and ching is the respectful practice of such a realization without interruption. This is a way of moral cultivating workable in our daily live. From these, we could have a smooth response to events in the most appropriate way. We may conclude that, in his two master pieces, Mingdao is taking a moral cultivation approach in presenting his ideas of how to realize ren and consolidating the state of xing.