孔子在《論語》中極少談論人性，使其弟子無可傳述。在儒家傳統中，孟子才明確肯定性善，並對後來產生極大影響。本文討論傳統評注家解釋《論語》所用的闡釋策略，以彌縫孔孟之間可能存在的差異，並建立起儒家傳統中哲學倫理的人文主義。本文將指出這種制約性的評注在建立儒家人文主義中的作用，並從東西文化比較的角度，約略考察這種人文主義的意義。

　　　　　Confucius remains vague on the exact nature of human nature and says precious little in the Analects for his disciples to record. In the Confucian tradition, it is Mencius who defined human nature in essentially positive terms as good. I propose to look at the interpretive strategies that traditional commentators employed to read the Analects in order to eliminate any possible discrepancies between Confucius and Mencius, and to establish the Confucian tradition of philosophical and moral humanism. I shall discuss the significance of such manipulative commentaries for the making of a Confucian humanism, and situate Confucian humanism and its ramifications in the larger context of East-West comparative studies.