惻隱、羞惡、辭讓（恭敬）、是非四端之心是孟子性善論得以成立的理論基石，此即所謂「即 心善以言性善」。然此四端之間的内在關聯如何，或者說孟子思想中道德心的内在結構如何？過 去的儒者多從形上學的框架對此加以解釋，如將其與元亨利貞四德或春夏秋冬當四時加以比配， 或以仁義禮智信比配金木水火土五行。當代孟學研究者對此少有論及，唯唐君毅先生對此有極為 細膩而深入的詮釋，在唐氏的詮釋系統中，以道德自我為中心，惻隱、羞惡、辭讓（恭敬）、是 非四端體現為次第展開的内在結構。本文即嘗試以唐君毅先生的論述為中心，結合《孟子》中相 關文獻，對孟子四端之心的内在結構作一初步的梳理。
To support his claim that human nature is good, Mencius presents numerous arguments, the most famous is the theory of Four Beginnings. The key issue is what the relationship is between these Four Beginnings, or what the inner structure of the heart-mind is according to Mencius. There are many discussions about this question in Song-Ming Confucianism, but these discussions were connected with some particular metaphysical theory or onto-cosmology, which is very different from Mencius’s basic position. Among contemporary scholars, only Tang Jun-yi examines this question deeply. According to Tang’s interpretation, in the four aspects of the Moral Self, these Four Beginnings unfold in turn. In this paper, we will examine the following issues: first, the meaning of Beginning, second, the inner structure of the heart-mind in Mencius. The discussions are based on Tang’s interpretation.
