父愛與重像：《紅樓夢》中“父親”的文化意義與家族繼承人的使命

A New Study on the “Double” and the “Second Master”: The Cultural Meaning of the Father and the Generational Inheritance in The Dream of the Red Chamber

Abstract

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

本文納入“父親”的概念重新探討“男性成長”的啓蒙議題，進一步抉發《紅樓夢》中以賈政爲主、包括寧榮二公這兩位“地父”在内的父親群，是如何共同擔任了寶玉之成長儀式的引導者，於作者種種精密的特殊安排下微妙展演出一個家族繼承人的培養狀況。賈寶玉這個角色並非孤立的單一個人，而是置諸家族整體網絡、尤其是榮府世代軸心羣之建構中的存在，做爲玉字輩的承祧者，作者在他身上刻畫了父愛與母愛截然不同的表現特色，並通過血脈遺傳設計了顯性的重像關係，更安排了“地父”從冥界現身籌辦一場成年禮，以將之“規引入正”而達到“成爲父親”的終極目標。尤有甚者，自賈政、賈寶玉擴延出去，可見書中諸多男性同具“二爺”的稱呼而帶有特殊隱喻，其中的道理安在？而所謂“二爺”的排行應如何計算，又該如何定義？如此種種，皆顯示男性成長深刻而豐富的象徵意義。

This article explores the idea of Father to reconsider the “male growth” in The Dream of the Red Chamber. It analyzes how the Jia’s “Father” group — chiefly Jia Zheng, and also the Earth Fathers (the Dukes of Ningguo and Rongguo) — act as the initiators at the “coming of age” ritual of Jia Baoyu. In the novel, Jia Baoyu is not only a particular individual but also a generic heir of a generic Family — the inheritance bearer of the Jade (yu) generation in the lineage of the Rong Family generation axis. It also clarifies the meaning of the “Second Master”, a common code for the Rong family’s generational inheritance. The article further discusses the ethical issue of Second-Master-as-family-hesitator, and the cultural phenomena of secundogeniture from a historical perspective. All these discussions are focused on “male growth” in the novel, showing its deep and rich symbolic meanings.