"韦编三绝":孔子晚年的宗教诉求——孔子与《易经》关系新论

孔子晚年“读《易》,韦编三绝”,但是,孔子既没有像民问那样把《易经》看作是一部占卜之书,同时也没有像对待《诗》、《书》、《礼》、《乐》那样对它进行一定整理,以期从中发(?)出进行社会教育的资源并找到根治社会疾病的良方。孔子之读《易》只是为了使自己的个人生活合乎《天命》从而提升个己的生命品质。可以说,孔子的“读《易》”只是他个人的一种宗教生活,体现了他对《易经》的宗教诉求;相反,孔子之删定整理《诗》、《书》、《礼》、《乐》则是他面对社会公众的学者生活,体现了他对《诗》、《书》、《礼》、《乐》的学术诉求,换言之即,孔子与《易经》之间的关系是一种宗教关系,而孔子与《诗》,《书》、《礼》、《乐》之问的关系却是一种学术关系,两者不可同日而语。

Confucius' religious concern to the Yi jing in his old years

In spite of the fact that in his twilight years Confucius"was fond of the Yi and had read it so often that the thongs threading through the bamboo slips together broke three times", neither did he regard the Yi jing as a pure divination book as the commoners did, nor did he revise the Yi jing as he revised The Odes, The Documents, The Rituals, and The Music, expecting to explore out, from the Yi jing, the resources for social edification and an efficacious recipe to eradicate the social defects. Confucius' purpose of studying the Yi jing was to make his personal life be in consistent to the"mandate of heaven" so as to enhance the quality of his life. We may say that, his reading of the Yi only embodies his personal religious concern and represents his religious emotion to the Yi jing. On the Contrary, his revision of The Odes, The Documents, The Rituals, and The Music embodies his academic concern while he was facing the society and public, and represents his academic aspiration from these Classics. In other words, the relationship between Confucius and the Yi jing is that of religion, whereas the relationship between Confucius and other Classics mentioned above is that of academy. They are two much different approaches.