仁礼互动的历史逻辑——儒家伦理思想的内在张力探源

The Dialectical Relationship between Benevolence and Ritual—A Study of the Inner Tension of Confucian Ethical Thought

摘要: 在儒家伦理体系的建构中，“仁”与“礼”的辩证统一构成了中国传统文化价值系统的核心范式。“仁”作为内在道德自律原则，通过修身实践彰显人性本善，强调个体对群体的温情关怀；“礼”作为外在制度规范，以差序格局为框架，通过冠婚丧祭等礼仪实践重构社会秩序。本文通过考察基层社会中仁礼思想的具体实践，发现仁为礼提供道德基础，礼则为仁的实践提供具体准则，两者相辅相成又相互制约。在传统社会，仁礼关系的张力对道德建设产生了深远影响。

Abstract: The relationship between ren and rites in the Confucian ethical system constitutes the core structure of the value system of traditional Chinese culture. As the principle of internal moral self-discipline, ren highlights the inherent goodness of human nature through the practice of self-cultivation and emphasises the warmth and care of the individual for the group; and as the external institutional norm, rites take the pattern of order as the framework and reconstruct the social order through the practice of rituals such as crowns, marriages, funerals and sacrifices. By examining the concrete practice of the idea of benevolence and rites in the grassroots society, this paper finds that benevolence provides a moral foundation for rites, while rites provide specific guidelines for the practice of benevolence, and the two are complementary and mutually constraining. In traditional societies, the tension in the relationship between benevolence and propriety has had a profound impact on moral construction. In the process of modern social transformation, this unique way of thinking about ethics still has important reference value and is of positive significance to the construction of a contemporary ethical value system.