明儒陳白沙雖是中國歷史上唯一得以從祀孔廟的粵人，但在宋明理學的研 究中卻並未獲得足夠的重視。這或許是與白沙那強調實踐自得而不重視思辨著述的學問風格 有關。然亦因此使得白沙思想的旨歸和精神難於索解。但黃宗羲在 << 明儒學案 >> 中說「 有明之學，至白沙始入精微」，可見實不容忽視白沙對明代中葉理學思想的轉變的開創之功 。本文希望通過辨析白沙思想中的重要觀念如覺悟、虛靜、靜坐、自然等之實義來全面掌握 白沙學的面貌。並且由之進一步釐清白沙與象山、陽明的思想因緣及對各種評論白沙思想的 觀點作一再省察。

　　　　　Although Ming Confucian Ch'en Pai-sha was the only cantonese who was enshrined in the Confucian Temple, his thought has not drawn enough attention from scholars in the field of Sung Ming Neo-Confucianism. This oversight, perhaps, owes to Chen's special academic style, that emphasized acquiring insights for oneself (tzu-te) rather than theorizing the complexities of book-learning. This indeed made the theme and spirit of his thought more difficult to understand adequately. However, in The Philosophical Records of Ming Confucianists (Ming-ju hsueh-an), Huang Tsung-hsi said, "With Ch'en Pai-sha, Ming learning started to become precise and subtle." So we should not neglect Ch'en's contribution and the significance of his teachings, as a forerunner in the transformation of Confucianism in the mid-Ming. This article aims to get a comprehensive and appropriate understanding of Ch'en's philosophy by analyzing its major concepts such as chueh-wu (enlightenment), hsu-ching (vacuity and tranquillity), ching-tso (quiet-sitting) and tzu-jan (the natural, or spontaneity). Moreover, this inquiry tries to bring further clarification about the academic relationships between Ch'en, Lu Hsiang-shan and Wang Yang-ming, as well as to reexamine various criticisms of Ch'en's thought.