中古詩學——文章學的思辨形態和理論架構——從《文心雕龍》到《詩式》

The Speculative Forms and Theoretical Framework in Poetic Study of Literary Composition in Medieval China: from Wenxin Diaolong to Shishi

Abstract

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

本文旨在以中古詩史爲背景，以劉勰《文心雕龍》與《詩式》爲中心，梳理中古詩學的兩個發展階段：八代詩學與唐人詩學的理論體系及發展軌迹。由於所面對的詩史情狀與文化背景，尤其是思辨形態有所不同，唐人詩學對於八代詩學實表現爲於反撥中承傳發展的形態。二者共同體現了中古文學自覺的兩個交互爲用的本質特點：個性化的生命力的愈益高揚與對文學語言性質的逐步深化的體認。對意、象、言三維關係的探討，是中古詩學關注的焦點與兩個體系中一以貫之的紅綫，而由意辭爲研討中心而及於象與由意象爲研討中心而及於言的側重點不同，又成爲唐人詩學在反撥中承傳並發展八代詩學的出發點。要之以“文章”爲研究本位，討論如何以詩人之心創造性地運用言語組織以表現個性化的情意，是中古詩學兩個階段的共同特徵，因此名之曰“詩學文章學”。本文著重由《文心雕龍》與《詩式》兩書的内在結構梳理論析它們的理論架構、統系與思辨理路——玄化的與禪化的——以及它們對於漢以前傳統詩論重意主旨的正、反、合關係，從而在展示中古詩史、詩學史的發展過程中，論證了中古詩學文章學是一種以渾淪性、實踐性爲特徵，包含本體論、創作論、鑒賞批評論等在内的富於語言批評品格的詩學理論體系。中古詩學文章學上承漢以前詩學，標志著中國古典詩學的成熟，其本質精神與基本理路更啓迪了後世詩學的發展，也因此“詩學文章學”也可以視作對整個中國古典詩學系統的描述。

The present essay aims to reconstruct and examine the theoretical framework by looking into the two stages of development in medieval Chinese poetics, namely the Eight Dynasties (i.e., Han to Sui, 206 BCE-618 CE) and the Tang (618 CE-907 CE). The two central texts for investigation are: Liu Xie’s (ca. 465-ca. 522) Wenxin diaolong (Carving the Dragon with a Literary Mind) and Jiaoran’s (8th century CE) Shishi (Forms of Poetry).

The advent of Tang poetics was marked by a mixture of reversing while inheriting the legacy of the Eight Dynasties poetics. The reasons for this ambivalence include: the different milieus in poetic history, the different cultural backgrounds, and above all, the different speculative forms. Reversal and inheritance constituted a reflection of the reciprocal relationship between literary traditions. This had been the case ever since the “consciousness of literature” was formed and literature became an independent art form in medieval China. During this long-term “movement”, there was a realization process of the nature of language in literature, which was gradually moving toward profundity. The move was propelled by the elevating idiosyncratic power of human life.

In medieval poetics, there was a common concern or threat linking up the Tang and pre-Tang poetic systems. This concern was the three-dimensional relationship between “ideas,” “images,” and “words.” However, there were shifts of focus in the discussion of these components in Tang poetics. These focuses became points of departure in Tang poetics in its inverse as the legacy of the Eight Dynasties poetics was inherited. In Tang poetics, “ideas” and “words” were the center of investigations, where “images” were secondary. In other cases, however, “ideas” and “images” were central, while “words” were secondary. In both pre-Tang and Tang poetics, the core subject for discussion was “literary composition.” These theorist-critics explored ways in which one might use a poet’s mind to express idiosyncratic sentiments in creative language structures. This objective was common to the two stages in medieval poetics. For this reason, it is termed in this essay the “study of poetic literary composition.”

Through an analysis of the internal structure of the Wenxin diaolong and Shishi, the present study aims to sort out the theoretical framework, pattern, and speculative forms of these two books, which respectively represent a fusion of poetics, the study of the mysterious and a fusion of poetics and Chan Buddhism. This essay also discusses the theoretical framework of these featured poetic thoughts in the two books which incorporated the pre-Han tradition of stressing “idea” and “gist” as well as the relationship between the representation modes of “order,” “inversion,” and combination. As such, in their discussion of the history of poetry and poetics, they sum up some important features of the medieval poetic study of literary composition. The significant characteristics of these poetics are comprehensiveness and practicality. It was a system in which a number of focuses may be observed, such as ontology, creative writing, appreciation and critique. Its theoretical framework also featured characteristics of linguistic criticism.

A continuation of pre-Han poetics, the study of literary composition marked the maturity of classical Chinese poetics and its philosophy and basic structure inspired the development of later poetics. Therefore, the term “poetic study of literary composition” outlines a comprehensive picture of classical Chinese poetics.