成德之事，在孔門稱為「修己」或「修身」。個人一己之身的言行動作如果不合於道德準則，亦即非「禮」而視、聽、言、動，那麼，其行為便有不善。孟子將人的身體稱為「形色」，而謂「形色天性」，又有「踐形」之說，認為人的身體具有道德的意涵。性、心、氣、形可一貫而下，但也一路日益受到定型、限制，所以身體名為「小體」；而通於性、天的心官則名為「大體」。人的現實生命有心志之氣與形體之氣兩者的糾葛，道德實踐就必須「持其志無暴其氣」，以大體主宰小體。在宋明理學中，「身」或「形色」稱為「氣稟」。在心、身關係的看法上，陽明與孟子的觀點相同，而朱子學則強調以「禮」來規範己身，多少有強調道德標準在外的意味。本論文討論王船山有關心、身貫通的工夫論，分別從持志與養氣交相輔、心之制與事之宜交相維、博文與約禮交相盡等三方面，加以開展。闡述船山之說，既重視內在本心的存養，也不忽略外在禮文的習行，乃是一內、外相生相成的工夫論。

According to Confucianism, moral accomplishment is called “cultivation of morality.” If a person’s speech and actions, including seeing,hearing, speaking and acting, are not out of “courtesy,” his/her behavior is deemed improper. Mencius regards human body as physical nature, which is Heaven-bestowed. Besides advocating the idea of “putting physical nature into practice,” he believes that human body carries moral implications.For Mencius, human nature, mind, energy (or Qi, 氣) and form are intermingled with one another, but they have also been stereotyped and restricted in a person step by step in his/her life time. Human body refers to “small body,” whereas the mind, corresponding to both Nature and Heaven,is “big body.” Mencius considers that the life of human beings entangle in reality both the energy of mind and that of body. Ethical practices exist in “holding on to the will and not exposing the energy;” that is, the small body should be dominated by the big body. In Neo-Confucianism, body,or physical nat re, is also called “being obtained from energy.” As far as the relationship between mind and body is concerned, Wang Yang-Ming’s viewpoints are basically similar to Mencius’. Nevertheless, Zhu Xi emphasizes the importance of disciplining oneself by “courtesy;” ethical standards are therefore extrinsic. This paper deals with Wang Chuan-Shan’s theory on the efforts to perform communication between mind and body from three aspects: first, both holding will and cultivating energy are complementary;second, restricting mind and appropriately handling things are keeping up each other; and third, engaging in erudition and constraining oneself by courtesy are mutually helpful. When elucidating the doctrine of Wang Chuan-Shan, we should not only pay attention to the intrinsic cultivation of mind but also notice the extrinsic gentle habits and acts—an endeavor to achieve propriety both from outside and inside.