「以德配天」是周代禮樂文明與儒家天人合德思想之核心概念，也是中國古代思想從神本走向人本之重要指標。但其所以形成與發展，卻是脫胎於祭祀，進而將具象之祭祀行為，轉化成對超越界之遙契。歷來對此項議題的研究，於祭祀部分著墨不多。本文所以從祭祀角度切入，蓋因祭祀相當於宗教行為，中國古代文化即始於宗教，而後發展至政治、倫理階段。如我們將祭祀分為形式與思想兩個層面，將發現祭祀儀典的外在形式，從商周已降大體不變，但所以祭祀之精神意義卻不斷轉化，無異是中國文明演進之縮影，也是前諸子學天人關係的某個重要面向。故本文先言「以德配天」寄居之外顯形式──配祭制度，再探析思想在春秋末期孔子以前之發展。相關論證
主要取材於《書》、《詩》、《左傳》、《論語》，最能反應當時思潮的經典。

The idea of “Matching heaven with virtue” is central to the
civilization of rites and music of the Zhou Dynasty as well as the
Confucian thought of the unity between man’s virtue and the virtue of
heaven, while it is also an important sign of the evolution of ancient
Chinese thought from being divine-based to humane-based. And yet the
formation and development of the idea of “matching heaven with virtue”
emerged originally from sacrifice rituals. The research on this topic so far hasn’t paid much attention on the part of sacrifice rituals. This article approaches from this very perspective because sacrifice rituals are equal to religious acts, which is the origin of ancient Chinese culture, politics and ethics. If separating sacrifice rituals into the level of form and the level of thought, it would be found that the outward form of sacrifice rituals have remained largely the same since the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, while their spiritual meaning has been transforming. This is without a doubt an epitome of the evolution of Chinese civilization as well as an important aspect of the various doctrines on the relationship between heaven and man in the Pre-Qin Period. Therefore this article first of all addresses the outward form of “matching heaven with virtue,” the system of sacrifice rituals, before analyzing the development of this idea during the late Period of Spring and Autumn before the days of Confucius, drawing examples form Shang Shu, Book of Poetry, Zuo Zhuan and Analects.