近代以來的經典詮釋兼具「懷抱文化認同」與「向西方尋求真理」的雙重張力。因此，將《左傳》襄公 31 年，子產從民所欲，不毀鄉校一事，比之為民主憲政下對言論自由的尊重。而昭公4年，子產堅持「禮義不愆，何恤於人言？」「民不可逞」的態度，則甚少被提及。本文首先就此兩則看似相反的事例，從歷史背景，提出一貫的解釋：春秋時代，是「宗教人文化」的世紀，「天」的意涵從神秘的存有，轉化為人間道德法則的投射。「敬天」同時意味著「明德愛民」，以「禮」、「經國」、「序民」即可「承天之休」。政治秩序的最高依據，雖源自「天」的絕對性、一元化的價值預斷，但「天」、「禮」已從原始的祭祀意義轉化為理性的人文精神。之後，本文一改過去以「制衡」（check and balance）之有無區判傳統「民本」與西方「民主」之不同，改由文化、思想脈絡指出：兩者之差異在於價值之一元／多元；絕對／相對。最後，本文梳理西方法理學由絕對性之宗教價值走向相對性的「言論自由市場」（marketplace of ideas），以及納粹德國「多數民意」不等於「實質正義」的教訓，企圖將視野擴大，在近現代才出現的民主框架之外，另尋傳統經典之時代價值。

The modern classic interpretation has both the characteristics of identifying with tradition and seeking truth from the West. Therefore, the historical event that Zichan did not close the school for Xiang Gong 31 years in Zuozhuan has been regarded as the respect for freedom of speech under the Western democratic system. However, in the 4 of Zhao Gong, the matter of Zichan’s disregard for speech was rarely mentioned.
The paper first comes up with a consistent explanation for these two seemingly contradictory events, based on historical facts. The Chun Qiu Period was a century in which religion evolved into humanities. The meaning of God has become the moral law of the human world. Caring for the people and governing the country according to “Li” was an act of respecting God. Although political order originated from the unified and absolute value of God, God has transformed from a religious meaning to a rational humanistic spirit. After that, this paper changes the diff erence between traditional people-based and Western democracy based on the presence or absence of a system of checks and balances in the past, and diff erentiates the two from the unity and pluralism of values or relative and absolute values. Finally, this paper proposes that western jurisprudence has changed from absolute religious value to relativistic marketplace of ideas, as well as the lesson that the majority public opinion in Nazi Germany was not equal to substantive justice. This paper hopes to expand the fi eld of vision and explore the value of traditional classics in addition to the democratic modle that only appeared in modern times.