论《文子》的礼学思想

《文子》具有丰富的礼学思想，对礼的起源、本质、作用及礼的弊端、制礼的原则等都有独到的思考，其礼学思想上承老子，下启庄子，是先秦道家礼学思想发展的重要一环。《文子》认为礼是人类社会发展到末世的产物，其本质在谦和敬。礼与德、仁、义一起构成圣人治理天下、统御万物的四种手段，但道德是本，礼是道德派生出来的，对于治理天下来说，是末之又末的手段，其作用仅及于一乡的范围。末世不可缺少礼，但礼破坏了人美好淳朴的天然本性，礼的出现带来了诈伪。制礼应该遵循简单易行的原则，因人情而制，因时变而制。

On the Thoughts of Rites in Wenzi

There demonstrate abundant thoughts of rites in Wenzi,which involve the nature, the origin, the effect and the disadvantage of ritual, as well as the principle when setting up rites. The ideology of Wenzi played such an important role in the development of Taoist propriety ideology in pre-Qin period that it was exactly the middle tache between Lao Zi''s and Chuang Tzu''s. Rite is the terminal product of social development, the essence of which lies in modesty and worship. Rite, virtue, benevolence and righteousness compose the four governance tools of the saint, in which virtue occupies a kernel position. Rites were derived from virtue and were the very last approach of governance which simply functioned within certain villages. Rites were indispensable in the last phase of the society. However, rites destroyed the beautiful simple instincts of human beings and directly brought in cheating. Thus, ritual-making should follow the principle of simplification and feasibility, which centers around human feelings and social development.