今本《老子》第三十八章疑義試釋

Three Questionable Issues in Chapter 38 of the Laozi: A Critical Investigation

今本《老子》第三十八章，在秦漢古本中位列首章，重要性不言而喻。察其大旨，在推崇「上德」，貶抑「下德」，並主張道、德失喪後的仁、義、禮之治，乃一倚恃外力、捨本逐末，終致適得其反，使「求治」反成「失治」之作為。此一大旨，古今論者理解類近，殊少異說。唯當中若干枝節問題，因經文版本不一，面貌各異，論者之間，歧見紛呈。例如「上德無為而無以為」和「上德無為而不為」孰者近理，「下德為之而有（無）以為」一句當有與否、「無以為」和「有以為」差別何在等，自漢迄今，爭辯未嘗稍止。尤其是1973年長沙馬王堆帛書《老子》和2009年北京大學藏西漢竹書《老子》的出土，使前述問題益添疑義。這些歧見未必動搖學界對第三十八章本旨的共識，但對所涉疑義予以疏通，當可促進對該章及老子哲學的整體理解。

It is no doubt that chapter 38 of the book of Laozi, which is deposited as the first chapter in ancient versions during Qin and Han dynasties, is of great importance. Apart from the common view that Laozi is making a distinction between the highest and the lowest virtue, and that the lowest virtue, including benevolence, rectitude, and rite, is self-defeating in the sense that its positive management must paradoxically be a step toward failure instead, several issues in the chapter, despite excavated texts such as Changsha Ma Wang Dui manuscripts and the Western Han bamboo slip complied by Beijing University are textually valuable, still remain questionable, which include: 1) Which phrase, wu yi wei or wu bu wei, is the very ending of the sentence sheng de wu wei or“a man of the highest virtue acts without acting?”2) Is the sentence xia de wei zhi er you (wu) yi wei original? 3) What is the difference between wu yi wei and you yi wei? Certainly these question marks are insufficient to challenge the consensus of the theme of chapter 38 made by scholars, but a critical investigation of the points just mentioned will be expected to deepen the understanding of the chapter and even Laozi’s philosophy.