“人之将死,其言也善”:先秦儒家的死亡观与人性论  

“The Words of a Dying Man Are Good”:The View of Death and the Theory of Human Nature in Pre-Qin Confucianism

作　　者：杨欢 YANG Huan(School of Humanities,Southeast University,Nanjing,Jiangsu 211189)

机构地区：[1]东南大学人文学院,江苏南京211189

出　　处：《绍兴文理学院学报》2024年第9期78-86,共9页Journal of Shaoxing University

摘　　要：曾子有疾,言:“人之将死,其言也善。”此句因其深刻的现实意义而得以广泛流传。将其注解与曾子本人的品格相结合,可见曾子所代表的先秦儒家对死亡所持观念与人性论之间的微妙关系。儒家思想中存在着道德性的死亡观,且由于死亡的伦理意义及其对善恶判断的影响,使得儒者坚定自身德性。此外,死亡的存在影响了儒家人性论中的先验成分与现实的道德原则,产生善端并驱动善行,进而使将死之人能够遵循善道,发挥教化的伦理价值。这也成为“人之将死,其言也善”的伦理解释,体现了儒家以死立善、以言续道和以善为终的伦理精神。According to the Analects of Confucius,when Zengzi was seriously ill,he said,“As a man is about to die,his words are good.”This sentence is widely spread because of its practical significance.Combined with Zengzi’s personality and thought,it reflects the subtle relationship between the view of death and the theory of human nature from the Pre-Qin Confucianism represented by Zengzi.In Confucianism,there is a moral view of death.Because of the ethical significance of death and its influence on the judgment of good and evil,confucians can take a strong stand in their own virtue.In addition,the presence of death influences the priori component of the Confucian theory of human nature with the moral guiding principles of the reality,generating the consciousness of goodness and driving good deeds.In this case,the dying person can follow the good path,which exerts the ethical value of education.This serves as a philosophical explanation of the saying,“As a man is about to die,his words are good.”It embodies the Confucian ethical spirit of establishing goodness through death(yi si li shan),continuing Tao through words(yi yan xu dao),and taking goodness as the ultimate pursuit(yi shan wei zhong).

关 键 词：曾子 儒家 死亡观 人性论 生死 

分 类 号：B222[哲学宗教—中国哲学]