Abstract: Confucius' "Xin" can be comprehended from its performance in two aspects,i.e. private life and political life.As to its performance in private life, the general characteristic of "Xin" can be reduced to "zhi".It is not only a kind of fundamental code requirement which is suitable for such social interaction as of non-blood relationship and of equal status, but also a kind of personal moral levels. "Xin" can be categorized in order of from-lowness-to-height to three levels,namely, "yan-bi-xin, xing-bi-guo", "zhong-xin",and "xin-yi".As to its performance in political life,"Xin" is not only a kind of requirement that the government should implement reasonable policy to win the trust from people,but also that the governmental officials should cultivate the merit of credibility.Should it be communicated with the contemporary thoughts of credibility,we should not only reform the criterion of interpretation prevalent in our academic circles which originated from the Western Late Enlightenment Philosophy,but also differentiate as to the applicable domains and levels of code requirements,and properly define the responsibility of the person who carries out economic activities.

Key words: Confucius'"Xin", interpretation, applicable domains, ethical levels, credibility

摘要： 孔子之“信”可从个人生活和政治生活两方面来理解。个人生活中的“信”的总的特点可概括为“直”,它既是对于社会交往的一种基本要求,适用于非血缘的、身份大体平等的关系类型。也是一种个体的道德境界,这种道德境界的“信”由低到高大致可分为“言必信,行必果”、“忠信”和“信义”三个层次。政治生活中的“信”, 既是要求政府应通过合理的政策以取信于民,也是要求为政者须具备“信”德。要将孔子的“信”沟通到当代的诚信研究,既要求变革学术界流行的源自西方启蒙哲学的阐释规范,也应分清孔子之“信”的适用领域与层次,并恰当理解经济活动者在当代社会生活中的角色。

关键词: 孔子之“信”, 诠释, 伦理层次, 适用领域, 诚信