人心道心之分，說明了個體逐物與體道的關鍵之處，也使個體與本體得以互相溝通，因而成為理學家心體論的重要討論焦點。但道心之說，是否如閻若璩所言，出自《荀子》，魏晉時被竄入《偽古文尚書》，之後沈埋七八百年才被程朱所重新發現？其實在先秦文獻、漢晉佛教譯經、以及南朝隋唐的道教典籍中，都可以見到對道心的相關討論，但其對人心／道心的關係卻有著不同的理解。先秦兩漢的帝心、天心甚至道心之說，與人心是兩種不同的層次。個體可以通過危懼、精一、執中等方式來管理心術，以體察道心之微，但並非與道心同一，屬形上的思維方式。佛教引入心之本體意涵，而以「道心」一詞翻譯代表始覺的「菩提心」，但仍未契「真如心」。六朝以降的道教、以及唐宋的儒學復興運動者，受到佛教心體論的影響，但以道心作為本體，以貞定世界的意義及其實在性，從而使道教與儒家的心體論得以成立，並與佛教有所區別。藉由考察理學之前的道心說發展脈絡，可以對「心體義」在中國古代思想中逐漸展開的過程有更進一步的認識。

The distinction between human mind (renxin) and Tao mind (daoxin) was a crucial thesis of Neo-Confucianists on the question of mind. Nevertheless, did this antithesis between human mind and Tao mind start from the Neo-Confucianism? Actually, we can already observe relevant discussions on Tao mind in earlier literatures such as Pre-Qin literature, Han-Jin Buddhist sutras and Taoist texts during the Six Dynasties, but these literatures contained divergent views on the relationship between human mind and Tao mind. In Pre-Qin and Han era, the theories of heaven mind and Tao mind had a different level from human mind: an individual can conduct the human mind by means of self-cultivation and then perceive the Tao mind, but still cannot unite with the last since it remains a metaphysical thinking. Afterwards, the Buddhism introduced the concept of mind with ontological meaning and translated “Bodhi-citta (putixin)” in sutras with the term of “Tao mind”, which was not, however, considered as the upmost level. Under the infl uence of Buddhist mind ontology, the Taoists during the Six Dynasties and the Neo-Confucianists during the Song Dynasty established respectively Taoist and Confucian mind ontology and both, distinguishing from the Buddhism, took Tao mind as the noumenon. Our historical and contextual study of the theory of Tao mind before the Neo-Confucianism provides meanwhile a further understanding of the development of the concept of mind-in-itself in ancient Chinese thought.