北宋理學中的「格物、窮理、致知」之詮釋與流衍

Abstract

對宋明理學家而言，「天道性命相貫通」是各家學說的終極目的，而這目的可以延伸出兩個值得探討的問題：人如何才能「知」？人的「知」是屬於哪一種知？面對這些問題，北宋時期的理學家結合《大學》的「格物致知」，及《易傳》的「窮理」，並依據各自的思想特色，開展出各種獨特的詮釋。 因此，本文的目的與研究主軸有二：第一，探討北宋時期的理學家，如何詮釋「格物、窮理、致知」這組觀念，並考察這組觀念與他們自身的思想具有何種關聯？第二，在針對各家思想的探究中，也藉由「格物、窮理、致知」這組觀念，指出理學家之間的差異，當可以用一種「思想發展」的視角進行重探，並依此與當今的研究成果進行對話。 本文正文四章之討論，旨在提出「格物、窮理、致知」這組觀念，不只是伊川與朱子二人的核心，更是透過師弟子之間的傳授過程，由原先粗淺地認知和詮釋，一步步發展為理學家所共同重視的核心工夫。故本文以張橫渠為起始，指出他對「格物致知」與「窮理」已有所重視，而二程便將兩組觀念直接結合，並視為工夫的基礎。隨後，藉由上蔡與龜山對二程的吸收與融合，進一步完善了針對「形上之本體」與「形下事物之理」的兩端工夫架構。 如此，本文一方面能夠透過各章具體的專家研究，論證觀念之變化；另一方面也能對北宋理學各家之思想議題，以及對整體思想家的同異之區分等研究，提供不同的觀照路線。

For Neo-Confucian thinkers of the Song and Ming dynasties, the ultimate aim of philosophical inquiry lay in the integration of the Heavenly Way (tiandao) with human nature and destiny (xingming). This overarching objective gives rise to two fundamental questions: How is genuine knowledge possible? And what kind of knowledge does human cognition ultimately attain? In addressing these questions, Northern Song Neo-Confucian scholars drew upon the concepts of gewu zhizhi (“investigating things and extending knowledge”) from the Great Learning (Daxue) and qiongli (“exhaustively investigating principle”) from the Commentary on the Changes (Yizhuan), developing distinctive interpretations in accordance with their respective philosophical orientations. Accordingly, this dissertation pursues two principal objectives. First, it examines how Northern Song Neo-Confucian thinkers interpreted the interconnected concepts of gewu, qiongli, and zhizhi, and investigates the relationship between these concepts and the broader structures of their philosophical thought. Second, through a comparative analysis of different thinkers, it demonstrates that the divergences among Neo-Confucian scholars concerning these concepts may be reconsidered from the perspective of intellectual development, thereby facilitating a critical dialogue with contemporary scholarship. The four chapters of the dissertation argue that the conceptual triad of gewu, qiongli, and zhizhi should not be regarded merely as the intellectual core of Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi. Rather, through successive processes of transmission and reinterpretation among teachers and disciples, these concepts evolved from relatively preliminary understandings into a shared and central framework of self-cultivational practice within Neo-Confucianism. The study therefore begins with Zhang Zai, demonstrating that he had already attached considerable importance to both gewu zhizhi and qiongli. The Cheng brothers subsequently integrated these two conceptual strands more explicitly and established them as the foundational basis of moral cultivation. Furthermore, through the reception and synthesis of the Cheng brothers’ teachings by Xie Liangzuo and Yang Shi, a more comprehensive framework emerged that encompassed both the metaphysical investigation of ultimate reality and the inquiry into the principles governing concrete phenomena. By tracing these developments, this dissertation not only provides detailed textual and philosophical evidence for the transformation of these concepts across successive generations of Northern Song Neo-Confucian thinkers, but also offers an alternative interpretive framework for understanding both the distinctive concerns of individual philosophers and the broader similarities and differences within the intellectual history of Northern Song Neo-Confucianism.