本文以孟子“恻隐之心”为主要论题，旨在说明“恻隐之心”的情感意向、道德意涵、理论基础，并在此基础上对“恻隐之心”与其他道德情感的关系进行探讨。本文首先对“怵惕恻隐之心”的情感意向进行辨析。开头部分，对先秦文献中“怵”“惕”“恻”“隐”的字义进行了梳理，指出“怵”“惕”的基本的情感意向是“敬畏、恐惧”，“恻隐”的情感意向是“伤痛”。其次对《孟子·公孙丑上》中的“怵惕恻隐之心”表达的情感内涵进行探讨，指出“怵惕”表示一种“惊恐”的感受，其中“惊”是一种心灵状态，“恐”是具体的情感意向；“恻隐”表示一种持续性的伤痛情感，并且“恻”强调痛感的切身性，“隐”强调痛感的强烈性。总体看来，孟子在在基本继承了先秦对怵惕恻隐字词用法的基础上，为“怵惕”附加了“惊动”的含义。其次探讨了“怵惕恻隐之心”在“乍见孺子将入于井”情境中的普遍性及其产生机制。孟子通过“乍”强调情境的突发性，排除了因私欲或生理本能而产生的行动动机，实际上是排除了后天经验性、特殊性的干扰，从而突出本心直接产生道德行动的“直接性”。通过对《孟子》中齐宣王“见牛未见羊”事例的分析，我们指出，“见”的亲临性让本心与对象的生命形成联通，激发了恻隐之心。第四章探讨了“恻隐之心”的道德意涵及其理论基础。本章借用耿宁“为他感”的概念，指出“恻隐之心”是一种为他人而产生的感受，且内在要求目标明确的行为，因而有别于一般情感。之后，本章进一步探讨了“为他感”的本体论根基，指出指出其源于“万物一体”的仁体观念，本质上是对他者“生意”的感通。最后，本章指出，“恻隐之心”的道德意涵的本质并不是“为他感”所暗示的“利他”属性，而是在于超越“小我”、与“仁”的价值相通。第五章探讨了“恻隐之心”与其他道德情感的关系，指出恻隐是慈爱的特殊呈现形式，是具有突发性的负面情感，利于指认性善；同时，恻隐之心是四端之情的生发基底，代表一种“醒觉”的能力，具有“惊动”的感受特性，是“仁之觉”的现实呈现。

This paper takes Mencius' concept of "the heart of compassion" as the main topic, aiming to elucidate the emotional orientation, moral connotations, and theoretical foundation of "the heart of compassion," and on this basis, to explore the relationship between "the heart of compassion" and other moral emotions.The paper begins by analyzing the emotional orientation of "the heart of compassion and trepidation." In the initial section, it combs through the meanings of the characters "chù" (trepidation), "tì" (alarm), "cè" (sympathy), and "yǐn" (hidden sorrow) in pre-Qin literature, pointing out that the basic emotional orientation of "chù" and "tì" is "awe and fear," while that of "cè yǐn" is "sorrow." It then explores the emotional connotations of "the heart of compassion and trepidation" in "Mencius: Gongsun Chou I," noting that "trepidation" indicates a feeling of "alarm," where "alarm" is a mental state and "fear" is the specific emotional orientation. "Cè yǐn" represents a continuous emotional state of sorrow, with "cè" emphasizing the immediacy of the pain and "yǐn" highlighting its intensity. Overall, Mencius, while essentially inheriting the pre-Qin usage of these terms, added the connotation of "being startled" to "trepidation."Next, the paper investigates the universality and mechanism of the emergence of "the heart of compassion and trepidation" in the context of "suddenly seeing a child about to fall into a well." Mencius uses "suddenly" to emphasize the suddenness of the situation, excluding motivations arising from selfish desires or physiological instincts, effectively eliminating the interference of acquired, particular experiences, thereby highlighting the "directness" of the moral action generated directly by the innate mind. Through the analysis of the example of King Xuan of Qi who "saw the ox but not the sheep" in "Mencius," it is pointed out that the immediacy of "seeing" creates a connection between the innate mind and the life of the object, thereby arousing the heart of compassion.Chapter Four explores the moral connotations and theoretical foundation of "the heart of compassion." Drawing on the concept of "feeling for others" by Geng Ning, this chapter argues that "the heart of compassion" is a feeling generated for others and inherently demands clear and directed action, thus distinguishing it from ordinary emotions. Subsequently, the chapter delves into the ontological basis of "feeling for others," pointing out that it originates from the concept of "the unity of all things" in the idea of benevolence, and is essentially a resonance with the "vitality" of the other. Finally, the chapter concludes that the essence of the moral connotations of "the heart of compassion" is not the "altruistic" attribute implied by "feeling for others," but rather the transcendence of the "small self" and the connection with the value of "benevolence."Chapter Five examines the relationship between "the heart of compassion" and other moral emotions, noting that compassion is a special manifestation of loving-kindness, a sudden negative emotion that facilitates the recognition of innate goodness. Moreover, the heart of compassion serves as the foundation for the emergence of the four beginnings of virtue, representing a capacity for "awakening," with the characteristic of being "startled," and is the actual manifestation of the awakening of benevolence.