本文所企圖揭示者，為中國古代歷史中，「學術」概念尚未具體成形前之一種與思想發展相關之文化基礎。此一基礎，一方面言，係由更早之文化背景所形塑，有其歷史；另方面言，則是具有某種足以驅釀出文明「突破」之條件，有其創造之潛能。中國之最終成為「中國」，成為一世界性文明，此一驅釀期樞為重要。現今對於此一與中國學術起源有關之問題，所以尚未形成大體相近之主流意見，而顯現極度分歧，主要乃因傳世文獻之真偽及其著成年代，既多爭議，七十餘年來之考古典古史研究，亦常引發極為複雜之文化詮釋問題。而在此討論過程中，論「思想 J 者與考「古史」 者，雙方常各就本身所熟悉之議題立論，而未能照看全局。論「思想」者，常將中國系統性哲學之起源，推之過早，因而與現今對於當時文化之評估差距過大；而以考古資料與古文獻為研究基礎之考古學者、人類學者乃至古史學者，則又不易純就經濟與社會演化條件，清楚將中國人文思想之展演脈絡與其基本性質闡釋無疑。大體而言，本文所欲表現者，非在描繪周初有關人倫與宗教方面思想之整體狀況，而在依據文獻之考訂與詮解，確切指出：殷、周之政治文化中，確實存在一種延續發展之「治術」思想， 與日後中國學術之肇興直接相關。此種「治術」思想之內衷包含一種極具特色之「人文觀念」， 且在其發展之歷程中，最終乃以若干具有展延性、思辨性之特殊語辭加以表述，並逐漸成為導引群體思惟之工具。此種高度涵括性之抽家思惟之具體形成，於後代雖屬學術作為中所常有，然於文明初期，其出現則殊屬不易。周代之統治核心、權力分享者，以及主要政務之承擔者，其主觀意識中正是具有此一種思惟發展之脈絡，可以鑑別。中國學術思想之起源，雖非即是而起，然此一思想背景，關係極為重大，實為論者所必論；本文亦以是而擇要論之。

　　　　　 This article explores the cultural foundation of thought that appeared before the formation of "scholarship" in ancient Chinese civilization. This particular foundation, on the one hand, was shaped by its earlier cultural heritage, and on the other, had the potential to push Chinese civilization to a great breakthrough. The period from the late Shang through the early Western Zhou was of great importance to how the Chinese would become Chinese in later times. Scholars have not yet reached a consensus on the genesis of Chinese scholarship. Their disputes relate to these problems: there have been numerous debates about the dates and authenticity of the so-called "classical documents and writings"; and during the past seventy years there appeared many new archaeological findings that unsettled the foundations of previous historical interpretations. In their respective studies, those concentrating on thought and those examining ancient history have each specialized in their own practices, failing to achieve a more holistic perspective. Those who had expertise in philosophy often over-estimated the antiquity of the origins of systematic philosophy; their results do not match those of the more recent researchers of ancient culture. On the other hand, archaeologists, textual historians, anthropologists, and historians of antiquity, based on the evolution of socio-economic conditions, could not offer an adequate understanding of the fundamental character and contexts of Chinese thought. This paper, drawing on the insights from both camps, offers a new interpretation. It asserts that there did exist a great intellectual innovation in the form of statecraft from late Shang to early Western Zhou, and that the conceptualization of those ideas was crucial to the subsequent philosophical achievements and the development of scholarship. In order to analyze these processes, the multifaceted relations between politics and religion in Shang and Zhou times and the ideological changes embedded therein are carefully examined and discussed.