本文主旨在於探討中國傳統「休閒」的觀念內涵，檢視其之所以並不與「工作」相對立的緣故與情境。相對於西方以與「工作」對立的觀點構思「休閒」的傳統，中國傳統反而賦予「休閒」及其相關活動以積極的意義與價值。據此，本文以「休閒美學與功夫論」為題，分析形構休閒觀念的一個重要語彙：「功夫」或「工夫」，分析此一語詞所隱含的弔詭含義：一方面意指「空閒的時間」，另一方面則意指「賣力」、「本領」或「造詣」。本文首先考察中國傳統思想中「休閒」與「藝」的緊密關係，其次特別檢視與「功夫」（工夫）有關的美學活動，並分析「工夫」與「功夫」一詞的字源意義，及其語用含意等，第三，本文將進而探討「功夫」（工夫）在「休閒」活動中所特別強調的道德修養的含意，並指出這種功夫修養活動的實踐，同時兼備個人、與社會全體的價值與作用。最後本文檢視「功夫」的當代意義，尤其與身體、運動的相關性，藉以試析中國文化重視休閒之實踐工夫的美學意義。

The paper focuses on the content of "leisure" in Chinese tradition, in order to examine why and how "leisure" does not oppose to "work". By contrast with Western tradition, in which "leisure" is conceived through its opposition to work, Chinese tradition insists on the positive meaning of leisure and of all related activities. Therefore, the paper analyses an expression that, paradoxically, signifies both "to have free time" and "effort, merit", and that constitutes an important part of leisure content: the gongfu. The paper first examines the tight link Chinese tradition establishes between leisure and art, then it studies more specifically the aesthetic activities related to gongfu instead of the artistic ones. After having recalled the etymology of the expression and its evolution, the paper then scrutinizes the moral content of leisure activity that gongfu stresses, and it insists on the importance together individual and social of its practice. Finally, the paper examines the aesthetic and ideological meaning in China of what Westerners call "sports" in their relationship to leisure.