2019歲末發生的新冠肺炎，蔓延全球，至2021年9月的今天仍有為數不少的國家疫情方興未艾，民眾什麼時候才可以覺得「完全安全」？對於想要恢復到疫情爆發前的「正常生活」的希冀，大多數人抱持著悲觀的想法，誰都沒有把握。近兩年疫情流行的期間，綜觀全球的態勢，我們驚恐地發現小小的病毒卻造成人類社會鉅大的衝擊，此衝擊是全面性的，涵蓋了人類政治、外交、社會、經濟、教育、生活方式等等各個層面。
雖然老子《道德經》曾說：「天地不仁，以萬物為芻狗；聖人不仁，以百姓為芻狗」，然而依儒家之言，則天地化育萬物，天地中何物不有？天地豈嘗有心揀別善惡，一切涵容覆載，但君子處之有道爾。天地有憾，而人間有情，北宋儒者程明道嘗謂：「仁者以天地萬物為一體，莫非己也，認得為己，何所不至；若不屬己，自與己不相干。如手足之不仁，氣已不貫，皆不屬己。故博施濟眾，乃聖人之功用」。這就是說，仁者與人疾痛相感，見人之啼飢號寒與世間疲憊殘疾、鰥寡孤獨之可憐無告者，必生惻隱之心，更進一步由此惻隱之心發展而成「為天地立心、為生民立命」之宏願。
本文首先分析此疫情對人類社會與生活方式上帶來的影響與改變，與對治疫情時造成的「道德兩難困境」；再進一步由儒家的人文關懷的角度反思此一災禍對人性的嚴峻考驗，依循宋明儒者所闡發之「天地萬物為一體」的思維，以較為宏觀的角度去回應新冠疫情對世界的衝擊，並試圖得出一較為適切的待人與自處之道。在疫情中，一體之義即「為己即為人」、「為人即為己」，人己實不可分，推而廣之，疫症流行全球，也表示，在全球疫症未被解除之前，眼前所見，病毒已經從第三第四世界回傳到先進國家來了，人們實在難以獨善自身。對於一波波接踵而至的疫情，我們必須站在全球一體，世界一家的角度來反省和回應此一疫情，如此才是最佳對治之策。

The COVID-19 pandemic occurred at the end of 2019 and has spread all over the world. By year 2021 almost all countries are affected. Experts declare
pessimistically that this epidemic will continue until the autumn of 2021. It is not sure when the public will feel “completely safe”. Looking around the world, we are shocked to find that a small virus has caused such a huge impact on human society. The impact is widespread and covers all levels of politics, diplomacy, society, economy, education, lifestyle, etc.
Though Lao-tzu（老子）’s Daode Ching（《道德經》）says “Heaven and Earth is non-benevolent, making the ten thousand creatures as sacrifice and the rulers making the common folks as sacrifice,” Confucians look at Heaven and Earth as nurturer, creating all ten thousand creatures and making them
flourishing without predilections. It depends on how the virtue persons respond to it. Nature looks defective but the world is full of compassion and warm. As the great Song Neo-Confucian Cheng Mingdao（程顥，程明道）said, “the person of ren（仁）is one with the ten thousand creatures. If one takes everything as one with oneself, one will do everything for every other. If one takes others as others and not with oneself, then one will take others as irrelevant. It is like one’s hands and feet are separated, there is no mutual feeling between them. To salvage all is the duty of a sage–king.” It means that a person with ren（仁）is one who feels compassion with the sick, and will responds with the heart/mind of compassion when hearing the cries of hunger and cold, and when seeing the sick and deformed, the widower and widow, the orphan and the old and will rise up for the saving and comforting of such unfortunate people.