借禪詮儒：袁宗道之四書說解——以「性體」、「致知格物」為中心

Interpretation of Confucianism by Means of Zen: Explication of the Four Books by Yuan Chung-Dao in the Late Ming Dynasty

晚明袁宗道為「公安派」之代表人物，不只以提倡文學新風氣著稱於世，也曾積極探究性命之學而有獨到的見解。為導正晚明士子高揚禪理而蔑視儒學之風潮，乃著《海蠡篇》一書，借禪學之觀念闡釋四書中隱藏不顯的奧義。
本文首先說明《海蠡篇》之寫作目的與背景，其次分別探討袁宗道如何借用禪學詮解儒家之「性體」，以及《大學》之「致知格物」，最後做一整體的評價，以了解該書之特色。
袁宗道之說解四書具有融會儒釋的色彩，但其目的在於借由禪學重新認知儒家之地位與價值。在晚明三教調和論盛行之際，具有重要的代表性。同時可知當時在理學與心學系統外，崇尚儒學者對四書之理解方式，值供今日研究四書與儒家思想之參考。

Yuan Chung-Dao in the late Ming Dynasty was an exponent of Kung-An Faction. He was not only noted for his advocating new literary style but also having peculiar vision on Nature by delving into study on the subject. In order to rectify the trend of advocating heavily on the conceptions of Zen as despising Confucianism, he wrote a book entitled “Sea Ladling” to explicate the covered arcane meaning of the Four Books by means of the conceptions of Zen.
The first part of this article introduces the purpose and background of the book Sea Ladling. Secondly, examining the way Yuan Chung-Dao explicated the “Nature of the Being” of Confucianism and the conception of “such extension of knowledge laying in the investigation of things” of the Great Learning respectively, and finally, concluded with a comprehensive evaluation of the book as to grasp its characteristics.
Yuan Chung-Dao’s Explication of the Four Books had the appearance of harmonizing Confucianism and Buddhism, but his aim was to re-discern the status and value of Confucianism by means of Zen. It was of great significance during the late Ming Dynasty when the dominant idea was of harmonizing the Three Disciplines, namely, the Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism.