格致說的認識論與治平之道

On the Interpretation of ke-wu and Its Implications in the Theories of Knowledge and Governance

「格物致知」是大人之學的基本功夫，但是《大學‧首章》「致知在格物」這句話歷來眾說紛紜。其所以如此，正因為大人之學實不足以解決小學問題。本文試圖先檢查前人的解釋，然後遵循語言學的蹊徑，詳考「格」字的音讀跟語法的關係、及其與「誠正修齊治平」等平行的語法地位，以探究「格物」一語應如何解釋才接近經文的原義。經學史很長，「格物」一語自有理學以來又是各家爭論所在，在這一篇短文裡不可能從歷史或思想的觀點逐一論述，也不可能循訓詁的成規逐一檢查。下文先由比較入手，汰去「格」字的邊際意義，然後取徑構詞與語法以論證「格物」的原義是「使事臻完善」。試以通讀全文，似無扞格。《大學》主「明明德」，又主「格物致知」，主「自修」，又主「道學」；而且合內外為一事，融孟、荀為一理。文中臚列處人、處事各端，以為舉凡個人修為、社會倫常、與政治庶務都是格致的對象。這許多對象，分屬「明明德、親民」兩範疇。其格意念身心，以格致的知識為道德勇氣的源泉，以道德的自覺行解蔽的功夫；格倫常，以禮為節；格庶務，以義為利。禮與義都不是一成不變的教條。禮義之知行都須基於天生的明德，循絜矩之道，自發地寔事求是以求止於至善。是之謂「格物」。文中諸概念相互連鎖糾結，卻又脈絡有條不紊，一以「止於至善」為核心。這一緊密的結構，或可助成「格」為「使臻完善」這一新解。為求經文的原義，本文另闢方法，其意圖也在嘗試訓詁的新途徑。以中古聲調為上古詞綴脫落的遺跡，結果在文中論列的幾個動詞裡發現加後綴確實也是上古動詞衍生之法。在上古構詞法的探索上，這或者也是一個初步收獲。

No word has been interpreted in more divergent ways than the word ke in the sentence ''chih chih tsai ke wu'' in the Great Learning. Furthermore, these divergent interpretations underline the development of different schools of Neo-Confucianism. Since interpreting the line is first and foremost a linguistic task, in this paper the author advances a new reading through a morphological as well as etymological approach. A new interpretation of the Great Learning is thus made possible by demonstrating that verbs of locomotion can have two meanings: (1) to cause their objects to move, and (2) to cause their objects to reach a perfect state. The paper makes the case that the second reading will prove more fruitful for the interpretation of this important text. In the course of testing this reading, the nature of the object wu is also examined. The paper identifies the text's object to be the various kinds of human relations and government affairs, such as personnel and financial administration. Understanding ke-wu in this way helps us to see the text's fundamental philosophical imperative: One must actively and autonomously perfect oneself and these objects through practical experience in light of the conventional social norms rationalized by Confucians. Only in this way can one acquire perfect knowledge of the objects and thus become effective in self-cultivation and the governing of the world. The key notion of the whole text is thus to strive for perfection in two areas: illustrating one's innate morality and good deeds and improving the conditions of others' lives. The new reading of the word ke fits well in this context. In addition to providing a new interpretation of the Great Learning, this paper has important implications for the study of Archaic Chinese grammar. The morphological approach adopted sheds light on the broader study of archaic morphology by showing that suffixation is actually a derivational process for verbs of locomotion.