本文緊扣宋明儒「天道性命相貫通」之共識，通過釐清「思辨理性」與「實踐理性」、「思辨形上學」與「道德形上學」之分判，確立宋明儒學和張載(橫渠)的本體與工夫之要義，即由道德工夫實踐以證天、理、性、命之實踐意義，確立成德必通過心性的工夫實踐來完成，不但是由工夫實踐以成聖成賢，更糾正許多由「思辨理性」或「知識進路」論述之不切合張載(張橫渠)義理之弊，或只論其天道論、氣論等之不諦和不相應之處。本文由工夫的進路詮釋和回應橫渠「窮理盡性至命 」之工夫次序、與由早期有感於「盡性」而不能「定性」，中晚期轉向「心能盡性」、「大心」與「知禮成性」之「變化氣質」以成德、成聖之工夫問題，重新衡定橫渠之義理系統，旨在證成張載學和宋明儒者之形上學，正如牟宗三先生所洞見的，是以孔子為「以人體法」的聖人境界所體證的與天合德的最高道德人格的表現，是「成德之教」之「道德的形上學」。本文認為張載把「太虛即氣」之「氣」帶入天道性命的「論域」，從氣化流行中說明宇宙以天道之誠為體、建立物與無妄之真實性，在破「二氏崇虛之見」中所扮演的重要角色。橫渠以「太虛」回應和修正佛老說「空」、說「無」，正是橫渠對抗佛道「空」、「無」之學的利器，亦是橫渠重構儒家的心性論與「道德形上學」之特色，值得持續關注與深入研究，但不能以「氣論」來解讀橫渠之義理。若純為宇宙論的建構，如楊儒賓之以氣學為一詮釋宇宙實相之學，或附屬於宋明儒學之道德形上學，以補儒家之「論性不論氣不備」之缺，自可自成一派，但不可以視為儒學之本義，更不可以橫渠之學為「氣學」，因其工夫論仍然是以儒家的心性論（特別是心之工夫實踐之能力）之工夫以成就道德人格，最高自是由孔孟易庸而來的聖人之義。由於氣論不能建立成聖之工夫，即可證一切詮釋橫渠哲學為「氣學」之說都不相應，也無法成立。;This Dissertation follows closely the consensus of Song-Ming Confucianism on the thesis of " The Dao of Heaven and Xing-Ming are One” and by the clarification of the distinction of theoretical reason and practical reason, as well as the discursive metaphysics and moral metaphysics, I try to explicate clearly in this dissertation the meanings of ben-ti and kung-fu for Song-Ming Confucians, (for Zhang Zai as well), the practical meanings of Heaven(tien)、Li(Reason)、Xing(moral Nature) and Ming(Mandate). And by this way, we realize not only that the one and only way to cultivate our moral personality must take the moral practice or kung fu through the operations of our xin (moral Mind) and xing within our daily moral practice, but reject as impossible that many of the suggestions to interpret the philosophy of Zhang Zai(Chang Heng-qu) by theoretical or epistemological approaches as invalid. For those that interpret Zhang Zai’s philosophy based only upon his sayings on the theories of Heavenly Mandate, and/or Qi is false and invalid. Our approach of moral cultivation or kung fu has the merits in its validity in the explications of Zhang Zai’s main thesis of the order of moral cultivation implied in the saying of “investigation of Reason to the ultimate, realization fully our Heavenly invested Nature and recovering of our Heavenly Mandate within our lives,” as well as his earlier puzzle in the “indeterminacy of moral providence” in our moral practice and his diverse ways of moral practice in his middle and final stages that changed to “(only)xin could extend our xing to the full”¸ moral practice is “ the expansion of our xin (moral mind) to the full” and “the transformation and transcending of our inborn material bodily desire and limitations with the moral practice of “aligning with li so as to realize to the full meaning of our xing”. In such moral explications we renew our understanding of Zhang Zai’s Confucianism. In a word, my dissertation if a justification of Zhang Zai and Song-Ming Confucian moral metaphysics. This falls squarely what Mou Sung-san’s insightful indications that Confucianism takes that Confucius is the sage that embodies the Heavenly Dao with his live, and reach the peak of a sage whose live is one with Heaven in morality. and his teaching is a teaching of a moral metaphysics built upon moral practice. And, I regard Zhang Zai’s introducing of the concept of qi into the exposition of” tien Dao and xing ming is One” in his creative thesis of “tai-xu (pure emptiness) is qi” is an attempt explicate how the cheng (sincerity) of the Dao of Heaven realizes itself in the material evolution of the cosmos so as to consolidate the reality of matter and the refutation of “the unfounded praising of the emptiness and unreality of the world uphold by Buddhism and Taoism.” Such theory of qi could be a different kind of metaphysics proposed by Chinese philosophers such as Yang Yu-ben, and it has its own value, but it could not be used in the explication of the philosophy of Zhang Zai nor Song-Ming Confucianism in general. For, the core ideas and foundation of Confucianism lies with the moral practice of our daily lives and its goal is to upgrades our lives to the highest moral personality of a sage, while theories of qi could not provide practitioners such a goal. It means that theories of qi have no proper validity in the explication of Confucianism and the goal for the practitioners to be a sage.
