本文之作，主要是從青銅器銘文、竹簡，結合傳世文獻，追溯孔子思想之根源。這一根源的追溯，主要是以周代的思想文化價值為主，過去總是以「仁」追溯「禮樂之制」，但對於孔子何以重視「中庸」，雖然都指出了道德實踐的重要，至於其思想根源則無所悉。今則因考古器物銘文以及楚簡等資料，讓我們可以對孔子思想之源有一更清晰之輪廓。這一思想之源，主要是以殷、周文化之變革開其端。殷周之際，既有王國維所言制度之變革，也應有因政權轉移而有的文化思想土的變革，過去學界總以「天命有德」作為周文化之表徵。今則因清華簡《保訓》、山西襄汾陶寺遺物，以及「□公盨」銘文這三類出土資料，加上傳世文獻之記載， 可以發現這一變革主要體現在兩方面：一是「帝」、「天」之間的互用乃至替代；「天」之替代作用，除了整合了「帝」之神性、主宰性，也強化了「天」的自然科學性，同時也賦予「天命」之「德」義。二是將殷商以來古天文中用於觀測「天」之「立中」說， 轉向文化價值之「中」的意義。「天」與「中」二者的共同點，除了與政權相關外，其永保天之命的內容依據，則在於「天」與「中」之內容終將返歸於文化、文明之價值的確立。若依周代而言，則是以「德」為依歸，而周公之制禮作樂， 即是結合宗法之制，確立有敘、有秩之內容，將「禮」展現於人文之制中，作為國家禮儀與制度儀式之規範，此即《禮記﹒樂記》所言「禮樂皆得，謂之有德」。

This paper is to trace the origin of Confucius's thought through bronze inscriptions, bamboo slips and ancient documents. This tracing revolves around the philosophical and cultural values of the Zhou Dynasty. In the past, it was always about tracing the "institutions of rites and music" through "Benevolence." However, as for why Confucius put so much emphasis on "Zhong"(中) while the importance of moral practice was pointed out, the philosophical origin of such emphasis has been unknown. Now, thanks to the inscriptions on the archeological artifacts and Chu bamboo slips, we can get a clearer picture about the origin of Confucius's thought. The origin of Confucius's thought was geminated by the revolution of culture during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. At the turn of the dynasties, due to the transfer of regimes, not only the institution but also the culture and thought were revolutionized. The academic circle used to characterize the culture of the Zhou Dynasty as "the virtuous being the principle of the mandate of Heaven." Now, thanks to the unearthed documents of "Baoxun" from the Qinghua Bamboo Slips, the Tao Si relics at Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, and the Bingong Xu inscriptions, complete with the ancient documents, it's discovered that this revolution was embodied in two ways: first, " God" and "Heaven" could be interchanged and inter-replaced as "Heaven" integrated the divinity and dominance of "God," reinforced the scientific nature of "Heaven" and bestowed the "virtuous" meaning of "the mandate of Heaven;" second, the astronomical sense of "Zbong" of the Shang Dynasty was giving way to the cultural sense of "Zhong."Other than the connections with the regime, what "Heaven" and "Zhong" have in common and the reason why they can sustain permanently the mandate of heaven is that the content of "Heaven" and "Zhong" would eventually return to the confirmation of the value of culture and civilization. In the case of the Zhou Dynasty, they returned to "virtue." And the establishment of rites and music by the Duke of Zhou incorporated the patriarchal clan system and manifested "rites" in the system of humanism as the state's norms of protocols, systems and rituals, which is noted in "Record of Music," The Book of Rites as "He who has apprehended both rites and music may be pronounced to be a virtue".