國立臺灣大學哲學論評

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Under the stimulus of Western hermeneutics, Chinese scholars have begun to reflect upon the basis of their own tradition of hermeneutical interpretation. This paper discusses the hermeneutic basis of interpreting the Chinese classics with reference to the Chunqiu, in four sections: (1) Introduction, (2) Forms of interpretation, (3) Changes of direction in interpretation, (4) Aims of interpretation, (5) Methods of interpretation, (6) Conclusion. Hermeneutical studies of the Chunqiu raise the following questions: why and how Confucius composed the Chunqiu, was this a composition or revision of history, did he use events to reveal ethical meaning or did he record events faithfully, did he aim to revitalize the Zhou or simply followed the Zhou? These questions involve aims and methods of hermeneutical interpretation. Traditional works on the Chunqiumanifestly concern interpretation, forms of writing, criticism and evidence. These involve, respectively, meaning, literary form, origins of text and meaning, and accuracy of historical events. Thus, traditional interpretations are inseparable from aims and methods. Aims could be based on motive of use or application and methods could be based on analogical comparisons. However, these lead to subjective interpretations and misunderstandings. This gives rise to the thought that there is a need to go back to understanding original meanings. Thus, in terms of aims, we invariably find these two extremes of motive of use or application on the one hand, and understanding original meaning on the other. Similarly, in terms of method, there is the idea of preserving the truth of events on the one hand, and the motive of use or application on the other. This is the underlying basis of the problem of hermeneutic interpretation of the Chinese classics.