經權說源於《春秋﹒公羊傳》桓公十一年：「權者，反於經然後有善者也」，後世的經權說，乃是截取「權者反經」一語而開展的。由於「經」字和「反」字的意思不確定，所以「權」的涵義亦變得含糊不清。本文首先分析「經」、「權」二字在《論語》和《孟子》二書中涵義，進而闡釋《春秋公羊傳》「權者，反於經」的本源意義，確定「權」必以「善」為目的。董仲舒本其公羊家的立場，在《春秋繁露》提出「前枉後義」觀點，暗示「權」與「經」是相反的，忽略了「反」亦可解作「返回」、「歸返」。董仲舒對「經權說」的演繹，幾成定說。及至宋代，程頤首先反對這種習說，認為「權」必須合「義」，主張「經權合一」。至於朱熹，由於把「禮」視為「經」，認為「經權有辨」，無形中又回到漢儒的舊說中。其實「經權說」爭論，乃是如何把道德原則付諸實踐的問題，所以必須結孔孟的仁義原則一起討論。本文除綜述歷代學者對經權說的看法，更藉著分析經、權、禮三者與仁義的關係，為爭論不休的經權說提供一個可能的解答。

The idea of “Jing Quan Shuo" was first found in “Chun Qiu Gongyang Zhuan". Though its origin was identified, but the idea was not well defined. The unclear definition made scholars difficult to understand “Jing Quan Shuo", which led to different interpretations and arguments for more than one thousand years. In the Han dynasty, Dong-Zhongshu considered “Jing" as an opposition of “Quan". In order to achieve “Quan", one must abandon “Jing". However, in the Song dynasty, Cheng-yi believed that “Jing" and “Quan" share the same principle and should be practiced together. “Jing Quan Shuo" is an issue of application of moral principles. The aim of this paper is to first define the meaning of “Jing", and then investigate “Quan" in a systematic manner. By analyzing the relationship between “Jing" ,“Quan" ,“Li" and “ Yan Yi", this paper strives to give a reasonable interpretation of “Jing Quan Shuo".