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《大學》「明明德」辨析
A Critical Analysis of《Ta Xue》's ＂Ming Ming-de＂
摘要
關於《大學》的討論，通常聚焦於「格物致知」，詮釋者或主張向外窮究萬物之理，或主張發揮本心正物之功，而一直無法取得共識。如果回歸《大學》之作的原初目的，明白它是要教育貴族子弟成為未來的統治階級，而格物致知只是八項修養條目中的前兩項，那麼或許可以找到比較合理的解釋。但是問題的焦點還是要回到「大學之道」所謂的第一目標「在明明德」應如何理解。「明德」一詞是指「天生本有的光明德行」，還是指「長期修養的高明德行」？本文將詳細分析「德」、「明德」與「明明德」等語詞，說明在《大學》成立的時代，其意應在於強調統治者應培養「高明德行」以善待百姓，並由此推衍至「親民」與「止於至善」。為了修養高明德行，首先需要藉由「格物致知」去了解「言行規範」，也即是對善惡有明確的知識，由此可以接上後續的「誠意、正心、修身」等工夫。
並列摘要
The focus of discussion concerning《Ta Xue》has been on ＂Ge-wu Zhi-zhi＂ and reached no consensus. For Zhu Xi, it means to research all things and understand their principles. For Wang Yang-ming, however, it means to rectify all things according to the principle of mind. The present article clarifies this problem by showing that《Ta Xue》was designed to be the textbook for teaching the young generation to be good statesmen in the future. The strategy is to change the focus to ＂Ming Ming-de,＂ the first purpose of Ta Xue (the Great Learning), which literally meaning the University. The key point lies in the proper meaning of Ming-de. Through a careful study on the relative texts, the answer is that Ming-de designates the elevated virtue of the ruler rather than the inborn virtue of all humans. In other words, the ruler must cultivate his virtue incessantly to respond to his mission as a good statesman.