杜甫五絶别論

A New View of Du Fu’s Penta-syllabic Quatrains

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

杜甫絶句在詩歌批評史上毁譽參半，反映了杜詩學中不同的審美標準以及對絶句表現功能的不同認識。本文將五絶分出别論，根據五絶的表現原理，對照該種體式的創作傳統，分析杜甫在30餘篇五絶中不同的表現方式。認爲杜甫既有合乎傳統審美標準的名作，更有題材、結構和藝術表現等方面的“創調”，尤其是在寫景方面的獨創突破了五絶傳統的表現程式，並開發出更深的審美感覺層次，爲後人探索五絶的表現潛力篳路藍縷，其實驗意義不容低估。

In the history of Chinese poetic criticism, Du Fu’s (712-770) penta- syllabic quatrains have been praised and criticized. This phenomenon reflects the diverse aesthetic standards and views of the representation functions of quatrains in the scholarship of Du Fu. If we focus only on penta-syllabic quatrains and trace the conventions of this poetic form according to its theory of representation, we may find among the 30-plus poems penned by Du some that meet the traditional aesthetic standards of penta-syllabic quatrains and some “innovative tunes” in the respects of theme, structure, and artful representation. This innovation is especially evident in scenic depiction, which saw a breakthrough from the traditional formula of representation in penta-syllabic quatrains. It also explored a deeper level of aesthetic feelings and thereby opened up for later generations new exploration in the genre’s potential of representation. Therefore, the significance of Du’s experiment must not be underestimated.