從近年對宋初三先生的研究談到三先生對宋代理學的影響

A Review of Recent Studies on the Three Masters in Early Sung: The Influence of the Three Masters on Sung Neo-Confucianism

黃富榮(Wong Fu Wing)

《中國文化研究所學報》 22卷 (1991/01) Pp. 323-334

https://doi.org/10.29708/JCS.CUHK.199101_22.0020

並列摘要

It was firmly believed that the Three Masters in early Sung, i.e., Hu Yüan, Sun Fu and Shih Chieh, had greatly influenced Sung Neo-Confucianism. Nevertheless, to call them the pioneers of Sung Neo-Confucianism is a misnomer The Three Masters can only be taken as precursors of the Ch'eng-Chu School. In recent studies attempts have been made to explore the relationship between the Three Masters and Neo-Confucianism. The findings can be summed up as follows: (1) The Three Masters stressed the importance of elaborating on the Cardinal Principles of Confucianism instead of the explanation of terms. (2) They advocated the tao t'ung (apostolic succession). (3) They were anti-Buddhist and anti-Taoist. (4) They promoted the traditional Confucian social order. (5) They touched on the concepts of hsing, ch'ing and ch'i which were central to Neo-Confucianism. These findings are somewhat over-exaggerated and misleading, First, the promotion of Confucian social order was confined to the Three Masters but was common to followers of Confucianism. It cannot be concluded that the Three Masters were the sole source inspiration for the Neo-Confucians in this respect. Second, theinteachings about the tao t'ung were different from those of Ch'eng and Chu. Ch'eng and Chu's tao t'ung was philosophical in nature, whereas the Three Masters stressed the importance of historical lineage. Third, the Three masters failed to purge Buddhist and Taoist ideas from Con- fucianism while the scholars in the Ch'eng-Chu School tried to combat the two alien religions by their theories of hsin and hsing, which the Three Masters hardly touched on in their teachings. Thus, they made little direct impact on the Neo-Confucians. The major contribution of the Three Masters to Sung Neo-Confucianism was their new approach in interpreting the Confucian Classics. They did not follow traditional commentaries and tried to interpret the Classics in their own way. They freed themselves from the bondage of traditional interpretations and laid the foundation for new developments in Neo-Confucianism.