以往學界雖曾就《鹽鐵論》一書，對漢代經濟及國家專賣制度進行熱切討 論，然而，對於在廷議上與桑弘羊相互詰難抗衡的賢良文學之士，則少有討 論。《鹽鐵論》文本眞實地紀錄了漢昭帝六年的廷議，其中民間代表的賢良、 文學，多達六十人對策，此乃是漢廷開放公共討論權限的一次重大事件，屬於 漢代最大規模的法律公共討論空間案例。這個文本使昭帝一朝的法律公共討論 空間，如何開展的來龍去脈，得以展現於後人目前，因此十分値得重視。當中代表儒家價値的賢良文學之士，承繼了不少來自董仲舒等先賢的價値 主張，《鹽鐵論•刑德篇》所謂「春秋之治獄，論心定罪。志善而違於法者 免，志惡而合於法者誅」，更可謂直接源自董仲舒《春秋》學對漢代法律公共 討論空間的開拓。因此，本文以《鹽鐵論》爲中心，回溯董仲舒開發的法律公共討論空間，尤其關注賢良文學之士對公共事務討論傳統的開展。本文上承董仲舒開拓兩漢 法律公共空間之權限的討論，下開漢代知識分子對法律公共空間討論的開拓與 深化，對西漢儒家於言論自由的拓展狀況，當有較爲全面的探討。

The Discourses of Salt and Iron is an authentic record of the debate held in the imperial court of the Western Han Dynasty, between Sang Hong-Yang and over 60 scholars from the whole country. Reflecting the public sphere of the Han, this book is very important for studying the public sphere of ancient China. Scholars in modern times lively discuss the Discourses of Salt and Iron on its contents of the Han ’ s economy and national monopolization, but they seldom investigate the Confucian scholars that Sang Hong-Yang debates with. Most of the scholars are affected by their predecessor Dong Zhong-Shu, who has opened the public sphere of the Han Dynasty by furnishing information and advice about the law. Based on the conventions of public discussion developed by Dong and the Discourses of Salt and Iron, this article shows the complete public sphere and the liberty of speech in the Han Dynasty.