《论语》“利”概念的多维解读：词汇、思想与文化意蕴
A Multidimensional Interpretation of the Concept of “Li” (利) in the Analects: Lexicon, Ideas, and Cultural Significance

Summary/Abstract: The concept of li (利) in the Analects of Confucius has long been read through the lens of the righteousness-versus-interest opposition, yet this binary obscures as much as it reveals. A closer reading shows that Confucius’s stance on li shifts significantly depending on context. When addressing personal moral cultivation, li figures as unchecked private desire to be examined and overcome. When the subject turns to governance, li is reframed as the material welfare of the people and a concrete expression of benevolent rule. At the level of ultimate values, li is neither condemned nor merely tolerated; placed within an ethical hierarchy, whereas it is regulated by yi (义) and directed toward ren (仁). These positions together reveal an ethical architecture designed to hold individual desire and social harmony in productive tension, deepening our understanding of Confucian ethics and offering constructive resources for contemporary debates on interest and moral life.

• Details
• Contents