Emotional Attachment and Its Limits: Mengzi,Gaozi and the Guodian Discussions

Mengzi maintained that both benevolence (ren 仁) and rightness (yi義) are naturally-given in human nature. This view has occupied a dominant place in Confucian intellectual history. In Mencius 6A, Mengzi’s interlocutor, Gaozi, contests this view, arguing that rightness is determined by (doing what is fitting, in line with) external circumstances. I discuss here some passages from the excavated Guodian texts, which lend weight to Gaozi’s view. The texts reveal nuanced considerations of relational proximity and its limits, setting up requirements for moral action in scenarios where relational ties do not play a motivational role. I set out yi’s complexity in these discussions, highlighting its implications for (i) the nei-wai debate; (ii) the notion of yi as “rightness,” or doing the right thing; and (iii) how we can understand the connection between virtue and right action in these early Confucian debates. This material from the excavated texts not only provides new perspectives on a longstanding investigation of human nature and morality, it also challenges prevailing views on Warring States Confucian intellectual history.     

原始儒家德性政治思想的遮蔽与重光——《缁衣》郭店本、上博本与传世本斠论

By analyzing the author of Ziyi 缁衣 (Black Costumes) as well as Ziyi’s transmission and evolution by studying and analyzing the ancient text, one can see that Ziyi was a work of Zisi or the Zisi and Mencius School. Comparing the similarities and differences between the transmitted version of Ziyi and its Guodian 郭店 and Shangbo 上博 versions, one finds that the original version of Ziyi had been significantly revised by Confucian classics teachers in the unstable political and social climate during the Western Han Dynasty, specifically, the thought of moral politics of the original Confucians contained in the work was garbled and concealed, and the idea of law and the legal system was highlighted accordingly. The uncovered Guodian and Shangbo versions of Ziyi have removed the shroud that Confucians in the Han Dynasty had spread over it for 2, 000 years, revealing the thought of moral politics of the original Confucians. Translated by Huang Deyuan from Kongzi Yanjiu 孔子研究 (Confucius Studies), 2007, (1): 30–41     

The Problem of Moral Spontaneity in the Guodian Corpus

This paper discusses certain conceptual tensions in a set of archeological texts from the Warring States period, the Guodian corpus. One of the central themes of the Guodian corpus is the disanalogy between spontaneous, natural familial relationships and artificial political relationships. This is problematic because, like many early Chinese texts, the Guodian corpus believes that political relationships must come to be characterized by unselfconsciousness and spontaneity if social order is to prevail. This tension will be compared to my earlier work on the “paradox of wu-wei (effortless action),” and the Guodian corpus’ “solution” to the problem of teaching spontaneity—drawing upon the transformative power of music—will be placed within the landscape of early “Confucian” and “Daoist” theories concerning human nature and self-cultivation.

论郭店楚简"情"的内涵

通过对郭店楚简《性自命出》等篇中的“情”义内涵的分析,本文认为其中的“情”仍然是“真实”,而不是“情感”之义。“情”在不同语境中虽有多种分析的涵义,但它们之间是统一的,皆根源于性情论之“情”。这为我们重构性情论的真实内容打下了坚实的基础。从“未发”和“已发”而言。“性”与“情”二者在郭店楚简中并不具备相互对应的特性,这与宋儒的性情论并不相同。从先秦到宋明的性情论,朱熹等人利用先秦儒家的相关文献作了创造性的转化;而Chad Hansen和A．C．Graham对中国早期文献中的“情”字义的某些观点,是值得批评的。     

《大一生水》篇管窥

本文参证《淮南子》《春秋繁露》《(曷鸟)冠子》等书中的内容．说明了郭店竹简《大一生水》篇中简文由“大一生水”至“大一藏于水、行于时”,是叙述的“岁之主”的元阳之气在一岁中成终成始的运行过程。篇中“大一”即“太一”“太极”,而“天地”、“神明”、“阴阳”、“四时”等相辅相成的说法,正是卦气说的主要内容.     

Motivation and the Heart in the Xing Zi Ming Chu

In both content and historical position, the “Xing Zi Ming Chu” is of obvious significance for understanding the development of classical Chinese philosophy, particularly Confucian moral psychology. This article aims to clarify one aspect of the text, namely, its account of human motivation. This account can be divided into two parts. The first describes human motivation primarily in passive terms of response to external forces, as emotions arise from our nature when stimulated by things in the world. The second comes from the role of the heart, which takes a more active role in shaping our responses to the world. This article focuses on the role of the heart. At stake is the status of human agency, in particular, the degree to which the heart, through the formation of a stable intention, allows us to go beyond being simply pulled along by external forces.     

简帛《老子》思想研究之前缘问题报告--兼论楚简《太一生水》的思想

本文对简帛《老子》的文本存在状况作了简明的介绍,认为郭简《太一生水》无论从文本脉络,还是从思想的同一性来看,都不属于郭简《老子》的一部分,而《老子》在战国中期以前的文本分量,当远较郭简三组的总和为多,同时也认为《史记·老子传》有关老子其人其书的看法,应当还是较为可信的。此外,本文对《太一生水》的大量相关问题,作了结论性的观点陈述,集中表明了作者的最新研究成果。     

释“易，所以会天道人道者也”

《郭店楚简·语丛》"易,所以会天道、人道者也",大概是现存最早和最明确表达"天人合一"思想的命题。《易》的"所以会天道、人道",表明"天"、"人"之间的关系实为一内在关系,二者是不离相即的,而西方哲学则以"外在关系"立论。《周易》是中国最古老探讨"所以会天道、人道"的经典。