从《论语》到《人物志》: 知人与论人评论标准的"外在"化 = Orienting Toward The Exterior: Observation and Evaluation of Human Character from the Analects to the Renwu zhi

Abstract

Since the Analects, observation and evaluation of human character had focused on a personb s interior moral qualities. Confucian texts from the Warring States and early Han periods such as the b Wenwang guanrenb chapter in the Da Dai Liji (Book of Rites according to Elder Dai) and excavated bamboo texts continued this tradition. Despite significant variations in these later texts, the emphasis on inner virtues remained. A change in focus did not become apparent until Liu Shaob s Renwu zhi in the early third century. This study shows that observation and evaluation of human character tend to gear toward a person exterior talents and abilities in the Renwu zhi where human behavior is analyzed and classified in a new taxonomy of technical skills and capabilities. Viewed against the historical circumstances in late Han and early Wei-Jin times, when exemplary and peculiar behavior such as conversational skills and excessive mourning over oneb s parent attracted much public attention, as this study argues, the Renwu zhi is indeed a text that was informed by and reflected the actual practices and ethos of its time in putting a premium on the exteriority of human character.