《左传》,《国语》中的“性”“人性”思想考释

Abstract

There had been many arguments on nature and human nature in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Confucian ideas on the nature and human nature were recorded and discussed in many of the pre-Qin Confucian classics. Zuozhuan and Guoyu, which were the classics written in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, will be the main objects of study in this article. The implication of the Chinese character “Xing” (nature) mentioned in the Zuozhuan and Guoyu will be studied, and the philosophical implication of it will be further derived. The Zuozhuan contains the Chinese character “Xing” (nature) which refers to man’s heaven-conferred nature, for example, the Chinese character “Xing” (nature) in “nature of heaven and earth”, “nature of the people”, “nature of mean persons”, “gratify the nature”, “preserve the nature”, “enjoy the nature”, etc. The Guoyu also includes the Chinese character “Xing” (nature) which means man’s instinctive nature, for instance, the Chinese character “Xing” (nature) in “human nature”, “cultivate the nature”, “nature for rich food”, “realize the nature”, etc. The connotation of the nature and human nature mentioned in Zuozhuan and Guoyu had gradually changed from the connotation of the natures of heaven, earth and man to the connotation of the instinctive nature and further to the connotation of human nature, which was an evolution. However, these classics only had concepts or thought pieces on human nature. They had neither the systematic discourse on human nature nor systematic and theoretical systems on human nature.