The Time when Han Yu Wrote the Five Articles on “Tracing the Cause” and the Developing Procedure of Han’s Confucian Orthodoxy Theory

韓愈文集中，以「原」名篇者五：〈原道〉、〈原性〉、〈原人〉、〈原鬼〉、〈原毀〉，朱熹謂其篇目相同，當是一時所作，且皆作於量移江陵以前。近今學者則多謂作於被貶陽山時，然亦有謂作於郴州，或作於元和八年以後者。究竟何者較為可從？是否一時之作？有無其他可能？前賢所論，多乏鐵證，難以釋疑。因此，本文先就相關詩文、思想脈絡進行探討，指出五原脈絡相通，應是一時之作，且應作於貞元十九年左右，在京任官時；再就前人不同說法加以檢視，指出其中疑、誤；最後據以考察韓愈道統說之發展時程，指出〈原道〉乃韓愈學問成熟，火力最旺之壯年所為，絕非晚年定論。透過此一探討，不唯可使韓愈創作五原之時間、地點得以釐清，心態、處境得以重現，亦當有助於了解五原在韓愈畢生倡為古文、興儒排佛的進程中，具有怎樣的樞紐地位。In the complete works of Han Yu, there are five article titles started with the word “yuan” (which means “tracing the cause”): “Tracing the Cause of the Tao”, “Tracing the Cause of Human Nature”, “Tracing the Cause of Human Beings”, “Tracing the Cause of Ghosts”, and “Tracing the Cause of Slander”. Since the titles of these articles are similar, Chu Xi presumed that they should be written at the same time, before Han was remitted and transferred to Jiangling. But most of the scholars nowadays believe that they were written when Han was banished to Yangshan, or when he was in Chenzhou, or after 813 A.D. Which statement is believable? Were they written at the same time? Are there any other possibilities? As a matter of fact, former scholars did not have any irrefutable evidence. Investigating Han’s poems, articles and sequence of ideas, this paper first confirms that the five articles were written at the same time, around 803 A.D., when Han secured an official position in the capital of the country. The second part examines the various arguments of our predecessors and points out their questionable aspects and errors. The third part proves that “Tracing the Cause of the Tao” was not written in Han’s remaining years but in his prime of life, according to the developing procedure of Han’s Confucian orthodoxy theory