一位偉大的教師、倫理學家、充滿用世熱忱者可概括近現代人對孔子的定位，者已經與古有別，因為古代將孔子視為道德完美的典型：聖人。其實，早在孔子生前他的聖人地位已被部份人認定，然而當時人心目中的聖人是否還有別的指涉呢？以文獻根據這部分來說，近現代人對孔子的定位乃延續北宋以來的傳統，主要來自被視為聖人語錄的《論語》，但早先編撰者如何看待他們這份工作，似乎未見人論及。《論語》乃孔門弟子、後學的編撰成品，相傳孔子本身精心之作是《春秋》，用意在?後王立法，唯《春秋》對當時人而言是否還有別的性質，同樣未聞。除了《春秋》，相傳《詩》、《書》這些先王典籍也都經過孔子刪述，不少學人雖對這種說法持保留態度，卻未見追究它背後蘊含著什麼觀點。竊以為：上述現象可都是因為在建構孔子形象時遺失了一重要環節所致，筆者希望將它補回。

　　　　　In the modern ear, Confucius is often viewed as a great instructor, a philosopher in ethics, and an enthusiastic secular humanist. These images of Confucius are extremely distinct from images in the ancient ear, when he was seen as a perfect role model in terms of morals and virtues-that is, as a saint. As a matter of fact, his status as a saint was already recognized by some people of his time. However, did people living in Confucius’s time have other images in mind? Concerning this question, we learn form the past studies that modern people’s viewpoints on Confucius are carrying on the tradition from the Sung Dynasty. The Analects of Confucius was esteemed as a saint’s words, but the viewpoints of its editors and composers were seemingly neglected. The Analects of Confucius was collected and edited by Confucius’ disciples and his junior generation and it was said that The Spring and Autumn Annals was a masterpiece written by Confucius with an intention to set up regulation for emperors in later times. Nevertheless, were there any other attributes in The Spring and Autumn Annals for people in that age? Questions like this have, to date, hardly been discussed. In addition to The Spring and Autumn Annals, classics like The Book of Odes and The Book of Records wee also said to be edited and written by Confucius. Although many researchers retain a conservative attitude towards what had been said, few researchers really dig further into these questions. This essay assumes that in constituting the existing images of Confucius, an important link has been missing. This missing part is what we would like to address in this essay.