宋明理學的義理奠定，周敦頤、張橫渠、程明道和程伊川四人思想有其關鍵性的影響，而位居四子之首的周敦頤尤其不可忽略。宋明理學相較於先秦儒學自有其不同之面貌，然其之所以謂之新儒學是否緣於它已參雜佛老之觀念而有別於孔孟思想之本色，如是之爭議素來亦為學界所熱烈討論，至今仍方興未艾，若究其實，此一爭議亦與周敦頤學術性格的不同認定息息相關，是以本文乃依第二序之反省而進行之，以求問題的再釐清。筆者首先呈現宋代以來對周敦頤其人其書其思想之肯定與質疑，重點則圍繞在《太極圖》和《太極圖說》性格之爭議及其與《通書》之義理關連，繼之宏觀考察當代學者方東美、牟宗三和勞思光三位先生對周敦頤之相關研究之成果並對比三人相互間之異同，最後則特別指出其所以產生判讀上之差異實由於詮釋者所依據的前理解或預見各有不同的緣故。

The foundation of Neo-Confucianism is composed almost of Zhou Dun-yi, Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi and Cheng Hao, and Zhou Dun-yi is beginner. Compare Neo-Confucianism with Pre-Chin Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism is different from philosophy of Confucius and Mencius, perhaps because Neo-Confucianism mixed with Buddhism and Taoism, and the issue came from the thinking style of Zhou Dun-yi. Therefore my thesis demonstrates three aspects: first, describing the debate of thinking of Zhou Dun-yi from Song Dynasty, which focus on 'The Tai Ji diagram' and 'Explanation of the Tai Ji diagram' and their connection with "T'ung-Shu" (通書). Secendly, contrast of Fang Tho-Me, Mou Tsung-San and Lao Sze-Kwang to their study of Zhou Dun-yi. Thirdly, I conclude that the difference of understanding the thinking of Zhou Dun-yi come from pre-understanding or prejudice (praejudicium) of interpretation.