相較於社會經濟史研究，歷史學者對中國經濟思想的關注明顯不足。現有的中國經濟思想史著述，多由受經濟學訓練者撰作，主要利用經濟學的理論和術語，歸納、分析文本與思想家關於經濟行為的觀點，再從現代的眼光予以評價。這種作法往往難以避免時代錯置和理論先行的缺憾。具體至春秋時期的經濟思想，既有著述的不足尤其明顯。本文將重心放回文本，以論述的思想史取徑，透過《左傳》、《國語》說明春秋時期經濟觀念的性質及其表現方式。本文指出，「禮」是《左傳》和《國語》經濟論述的核心關懷，或隱或顯地見於諸般討論，包括資源生產與開發、環繞生計所見的政治社會理想、匱乏與資源分配問題，和個人層次的經濟追求等。在「禮」的構想下，《左傳》、《國語》經濟論述的內涵，是強調生計所需和資源、社會上的互惠關係。本文也嘗試透過其他材料，說明《左傳》、《國語》經濟論述對其後思想家和文獻的可能影響。要言之，經濟論述是古代中國思想的一個重要面向，歷史學者應盡可能減少各種現代概念的包袱，從文本及時空環境出發，探索、重建古人何以且如何考慮財富與物質資源。

Compared to the study of social and economic facts, historians have paid insufficient attention to the history of Chinese economic thought. Most of the existing scholarship on the history of Chinese economic thought is written by economists, who intend to apply modern concepts to examine early texts for views about “economic” matters, and thereby make expert judgments. Such a tendency has the pitfalls of being anachronistic and theory-driven. This problem becomes especially apparent when it comes to the study of economic thought during the Spring and Autumn period. Centered on the study of discourse, this article investigates the nature and representations of economic ideas seen in the Zuozhuan and Guoyu. It argues that ritual is at the core of the economic discourse in the Zuozhuan and Guoyu, as can be found in discussions on the production of resources, on social and political ideals that feature the significance of livelihood, on insufficiency and the distribution of resources, and on economic pursuits at an individual level. Under the notion of ritual, the fundamental concern of the economic discourse in the Zuozhuan and Guoyu is to secure livelihood and reciprocal relationships between different agents. This article also draws materials from other sources to demonstrate how this research may shed light on the intellectual history of early China. Economic discourse is an indispensable component in early Chinese thought and deserves further exploration.