春秋戰國可以視為中國詮釋傳統的萌芽時期，當時《詩》、《書》等書已漸有定本，而在孔門弟子與其後學的筆記與論文當中，這些經典的章句詮釋往往成為其論說的核心所在。此時期亦為百家爭鳴的時代，各個學派皆分營立旗，而為了能與孔門分庭抗禮，則不得不對儒者所視為權威的先王之言論及經典，加以自己的說法與詮釋。然而其中所採用的方法與手段則有數種。本文擬針對當時的一項熱門命題，即禮教與刑罰之辯，分析各派是如何應用前人之言論來為其本家之說立論，以便探討先秦時期詮釋學的發展過程如何。通過此種對歷史傳記及諸子百家的有關記載之分析，應該將有助於使中國詮釋學史的基本發展路線更加清晰一些。

The Chunqiu / Zhanguo period can be viewed as the formative stage of China's hermeneutic tradition. At that time, such texts as the Odes and the Documents had already begun to take set form , and interpretation of passages from these classics often became the focal point for discussion within the records and essays of Confucius's disciples and later-day followers. The period was also the era of competition between the "hundred schools." wherein each faction set up its separate camp; in order to stand on equal footing against the Confucians, they had no choice but to establish their own explanations and interpretations of the sayings and classics of the "former kings" deemed authoritative by the latter. There were, however, several different methods by which they went about this. By focusing on one of the heated issues of the day - the debate over ritual education versus punishments - the present essay attempts to analyze the ways each faction sought to argue for its own position through various applications of the words and writings of former worthies, and thereby explore the process of hermeneutical development in the pre-Qin period. Through such an analysis of the relevant records from early historical commentaries and philosophical works, the basic line of development in the history of Chinese hermeneutics as a whole should become somewhat clearer.