First of all, talk about "the hub of literature", focusing on the general theory and theoretical system of the book "Wen Xin Diao Long"
( 1)
"Hub" is not equal to general theory, which should be made clear first. The long-standing debate about the subordination of Bian Sao mainly confuses the nature of "hub" and general review. The so-called general theory should be the basic argument running through the book, or the guiding ideology for establishing its whole theoretical system. From this understanding, not only Bian Sao, but also Zheng Wei does not have the nature of a general statement. The so-called "hub" is also the key issue in the book. If it is not solved first, it will affect and be unfavorable to the later discussion. Kevin·Z, for example, was confused by Shu Wei in the Eastern Han Dynasty. If we don't "Kevin·Z" first, it will affect the implementation of the basic viewpoint of "Jing Zong" in the book. Therefore, Kevin·Z only cleared the way for Jing Zong, and did not put forward any general arguments. On Sao style, distinguishing Sao is really the first of "essays". There are two important reasons why Liu Xie listed Bian Sao as "the hub of literature": first, there are 21 essays, which account for a large proportion in the whole book; The theoretical structure of the book is based on these twenty-one articles to summarize various problems in literary theory; In other words, Liu Xie first discussed the practical creative experience of various styles, and then extracted some theoretical problems. So the whole "thesis narrative" part is to lay the foundation for the second half. In this way, it can be said that these 2 1 narrative essays all have the nature of "hub" of the paper. However, it is impossible to include all 2/kloc-0 articles in the Literary Hub, and the inclusion of the first essay, Bian Sao, in the Literary Hub also shows that Liu Xie attaches importance to the whole "essay narrative" part. Secondly, The Songs of Chu is the earliest work after Confucian classics, that is, the so-called "post-Dong Xuan poet, former Fen Fei ci writers"; Moreover, "Songs of the South" is "taking the meaning of classics and casting big words", which plays a connecting role in the history of literary development. In other words, Songs of the South plays an important role between Confucian classics and later literary works.
It can be seen that Kevin·Z and Bian Sao are included in Wen Xin Diao Long, but they are not the general introduction of Wen Xin Diao Long. Only the original Tao, sanctification and Jing Zong belong to the general theory. Among them, sanctification and Jing Zong actually have the same meaning, that is, learning the works of Confucian saints. Therefore, Liu Xie's general remarks only put forward two basic propositions, namely "this way" and "Jing Zong".
The basic idea of "Original Tao" has been mentioned above. What needs to be further studied here is: What is the relationship between Liu Xie's intention of "the way of nature" and "sanctification" and Jing Zong? The last paragraph of The Way has already talked about this issue:
Therefore, since the wind surname, but in the Confucius family, Metaphysics created a book, book news; It turns out that there is nothing wrong with Taoist psychology, which is based on the application of rules and regulations, textual research on gods and teachings. ..... Old knowledge: the sage hangs down the text along the road, and the sage is Ming Dow because of the text; Bypass is not delayed, and daily use is not delayed. "Yi" said: "Those who drum up the world will keep their words." The reason why resignation can drum up the world is the text of the Tao.
In the discussion of the original Tao, someone once suggested: "Liu Xie's The Original Tao focuses entirely on the text." This opinion is good, and the commentator saw Liu Xie's real intention in writing The Original Road. As mentioned above, "The Way of Nature", as a basic viewpoint of Liu Xie's thesis, refers to the law that everything must have its natural beauty, which is the theoretical basis of Liu Xie's claim that all works should have a certain literary talent. He not only thinks that literary talent "coexists with heaven and earth", but even asserts: "The writings of sages are articles, but what is it if you don't take them!" ("Love") It can be seen that the article wants literature and art, which Liu Xie takes for granted. This is the purpose of Liu Xie's paper, and the topic is "the original road first". Although he worships Confucian saints, he believes that saints must also be based on "Heaven" in order to play their due role. Therefore, from Fuxi to Confucius, "there is no other way to teach except to supplement the chapter with the original heart and study the spirit and truth." "The justice here, that is, the mind of Tao, is the way of nature. Only by studying "the way of nature" can saints write articles and complete enlightenment. The reason why the works of saints can inspire the world, Liu Xie thinks, is because their works are "literature of Tao". This shows that there must be literary talent in line with the "natural way" in order to produce great artistic power in the works; The role of saints is only to master the "natural way" and give full play to the role of "natural way", so it is said: "The way depends on saints, and saints are Ming Dow because of literature." This is the relationship between "the way of nature" and saints.
The above understanding of the relationship between "Tao" and "sage" is the relationship between "Tao of nature" and Confucian saints (mainly Zhou and Confucius). Recently, a new understanding has emerged: "Tao (Buddhism and Taoism) depends on sage (Confucius), sage (Confucius) depends on literature (Confucian classics), and Ming Dow (Buddhism and Taoism)." 74 "Tao" is not equal to "Buddhism and Taoism". This new theory about the relationship between Tao and saints is mainly based on the following new understanding of "Xuansheng's creation of scriptures and Wang Su's book news":
"Xuansheng" (Buddha) created Buddhist scriptures. Confucius said that the Buddhist scriptures created by Xuansheng were the six Confucian classics, so Confucius said "Xun".
The key to this statement lies in the interpretation of "Xuan Sheng". The commentator's "affirmation" means "undoubtedly pointing to the Buddha's words", but it is very suspicious. There are three main reasons for his theory: first, the "mysterious voice" in Answering He Hengyang's Letter and Sun Chuo's Poem on Visiting Tiantai Mountain refers to "Buddha"; Second, although Zhuangzi, Han Shu, Ban Gu, He Chengtian, etc. "Xuansheng" was used, but "home notes are unclear"; Third, Zong Bing, Sun Chuo before Liu Xie and Faring in the early Tang Dynasty after Liu Xie all called the Buddha "metaphysical", and Liu Xie in the middle was also a Buddhist, so he had to refer to the Buddha 75. These reasons are hard to justify. Zong Hesun thinks that "Xuansheng" refers to "Buddha" correctly, but it can't prove that "Xuansheng" mentioned by Liu Xie also refers to "Buddha". There is a simple reason. The word "metaphysical life" is not necessarily related to "Buddha" or "Confucianism", and all schools can refer to their ancient saints. As far as Liu Xie's family is concerned, the "Fakong Tijing" in Shi Chuanzhong is not a Buddha, but a Confucius. Even the same article "The Original Road" is "gorgeous and noble, gorgeous and filial", can we say that the "noble" who makes filial piety shine is "Buddha"? The above two examples can only refer to Confucius, but "Metaphysics" in The Creation of Metaphysics does not refer to Confucius, nor does it refer to "Buddha" (see below). "Xuansheng" of the same person and article still has different meanings. How to judge that Liu Xie's "Xuansheng" must mean the same thing according to the "Xuansheng" of Zong and Sun? As mentioned above, after the Buddha entered the East, he often borrowed some concepts and vocabulary from Confucianism and Taoism in order to publicize the effect. How did Zong and Sun use the word "Xuan Sheng" that Taoism and Confucianism have long used to disprove that the concept of Confucianism and Taoism originated from Buddhism?
Both Zhuangzi Tiandao and Ban Gu's Dian Yin used the word "Xuan Sheng", but critics think that "the family notes are unclear". Even if we can't get a definite solution, we can't prove that Metaphysics is Buddha, let alone get a definite solution. The "Xuan Sheng He" in Cheng Zhu's Zhuangzi is "the old gentleman and the rebellious husband", "Xuan Sheng" refers to the old gentleman, and ""refers to the rebellious husband. How can this be a general reference? How can it be inaccurate? As for the word "Xuan Sheng" in Ban Gu's Classic Citation and other articles, it is said that "it all means' the old gentleman and the father of the father'", so I don't know what the basis is. Shan Li notes "Classic Quotations": "Xuansheng, Confucius also" 76; Li Xian's Notes to the Book of the Later Han Dynasty recorded this classic quotation: "Xuansheng is also called Kong Qiu." Confucius' initials exist, and the dream was born in Hei Di, so it is called Xuansheng. ""77 this is very clear.
The third reason need not be discussed. He Chengtian, the author of The Legend of the Dove, and Ye Fan, the author of The Book of the Later Han Dynasty, are both descendants of Sun Chuo, contemporary with Zong Bing and a little earlier than Liu Xie. Ye Fan's "Xuan Yu Sheng's Family" in The Biography of Wang Chong cannot be interpreted as "Yu Shi". "Can we say that Liu Xie, who happens to be in the middle, doesn't use" metaphysical life "to refer to" Buddha ",which is very clear.
The meaning of "Xuansheng" in the sentence "Xuansheng creates a canon" depends on Liu Xie's specific intention. His exact words are very clear:
Therefore, he took the wind as his surname and created a code name and book news in the name of Kong Shi and Xuan Sheng.
If the "mysterious voice" in these sentences is interpreted as "Buddha", what about the last two sentences? If you don't cut off the last two sentences, you can only understand that "Xuansheng" refers to "Feng's surname" and "Wang Su" refers to "Kong's family", so it will be logical and you won't bother to search for evidence. If you want circumstantial evidence, you should also ask in the original way:
You praise the gods, Yi Xiang comes first. Sacrifice painting begins, and Zhongni wing ends.
Aren't these four sentences the best footnotes for the last four sentences? "Wind surname" means sacrifice. According to legend, it is easy for Fu to draw gossip, and Confucius wrote ten wings to explain it. This is the end of wings, "chanting" refers to the end of Confucius' wings, and "creation" is the beginning of Fu's painting. Therefore, The Creation of the Xuansheng Canon is not a Buddhist creation, but a sacrificial creation. In this way, what Confucius wants to "explain" is not Buddhist scriptures, and the relationship between "holiness" and "Tao" is not the relationship between Confucian saints and Buddhism.
(2)
As for the relationship between the two basic viewpoints of "Original Dao" and "Jing Zong", we must first understand the two viewpoints of "Ji Sheng" and "Jing Zong" before we can explain them.
The Collection of Sages mainly focuses on the collection and examination of sages, which is worth learning by future generations, that is, the so-called "Confucius is the master of literature." Jing Zong emphasized the greatness of Confucian classics and was "the originator of articles and opinions". Therefore, the rhetoric of making suggestions must be based on Jing Zong. Many of them flatter Confucian works, and most of them are exaggerated. What is meant by "those who study Confucian classics are forever supreme, and great teachings are not published" is completely idealistic and metaphysical; It is believed that Confucian classics are a model of "emphasizing elegance and neglecting reality". Except for some excellent works in The Book of Songs, most Confucian classics are full of praise.
However, we can't help but notice why Liu Xie emphasized "sanctification" and "religious classics" and what was his intention. "General Compilation" said: "It is superficial to correct mistakes, and it is also living in the patent." This intention is also clearly stated in Jing Zong: "The words of advice are a good example for Jing Zong; Therefore, Chu Yan is extravagant, and the evils are not returned. In the end, return to the truth, don't lose it! " In view of the increasingly extravagant style of writing after Chu and Han Dynasties, Liu Xie shouted "gathering saints" and "keeping classics" in an attempt to achieve the goal of "returning to the original". From this perspective, the views of "sanctification" and "adherence to scripture" have their limitations, but they are also understandable.
Starting from the idea that literature should be conducive to feudal rule, Liu Xie tried to make literary works play a role in rectifying the way of monarch and minister and the whole military. At that time, he was bound to oppose the flashy style of writing that was "very divorced from the original" and emphasized that "the end returned to the original". The reason of "leaving the source" is "living in the holy land for a long time", while the way of "returning to the source" in literary creation is "gathering saints" and "passing on classics". The only weapon that Liu Xie could find from the ideological arsenal at that time was Confucian classics to save the creative tendency of "abuse" at that time. No matter how popular Buddhism and Taoism are in Qi and Liang Dynasties, there is no theoretical proposition about literary creation, and there is no solid foundation for "deeply rooted" Confucianism. The most fundamental reason is that only Confucianism questions the secular world and holds a positive attitude towards China's entry into WTO. Only Confucian classics are more conducive to serving feudal rule. As Sun Chuo said before, "Kong Zhou saved the worst, and Buddhists knew it." Fan Tai and Xie Lingyun also said this: "Six scriptures to help the rule of Shu Ren; You must seek spiritual truth, and you must not take Buddhist scriptures as a guide! " Buddhist scriptures are guided by "saving all beings" and "saving human souls". As for "helping Shu Ren govern", dealing with secular politics and how to govern the people, most Buddhists have no intention of asking, but take it for granted that it is a matter of Confucianism. This also shows that although Confucian classics are touted by Zheng Sheng and Jing Zong, Liu Xie, who believes in Buddhism, is not contradictory.
More noteworthy is the specific content of sanctification and Jing Zong. Liu Xie's paper, of course, is not only the banner of Confucianism, but also his attitude of actively joining the WTO when writing Wen Xin Diao Long, which determines that he really comments on literature with strong Confucian thoughts. But Liu Xie is a literary critic after all, not a missionary; Wen Xin Diao Long is, after all, a literary criticism, not a theory of "praising the imperial edict". Therefore, even in Wen Xin Diao Long, the most concentrated and respected Confucian saints and their works Zheng Sheng and Jing Zong did not specifically advocate Confucius and Mencius. In the book Wen Xin Diao Long, Liu Xie also has some heartfelt affirmation and admiration for loyalty, filial piety and benevolence. For example, "Cheng Hao" affirmed "Qu Jia's loyalty" and "Huang Xiang's filial piety"; The article "Pointing at Defects" says, "Thinking from left to right is ironic, filial piety is not obeyed, and disobedience is not obeyed." Zhuzi commented on Shang Yang and Han Fei's works, such as "Abandoning benevolence and filial piety, the disaster of medicine is not empty" and so on. This shows that Confucianism and Taoism occupy an important position in Liu Xie's literary criticism, which makes him form a certain prejudice and seriously affects his literary view. But this aspect is not the main task of Wen Xin Diao Long. Liu Xie doesn't start from the viewpoint of maintaining Confucianism on all issues, nor does he regard literary works as tools of Confucius and Mencius, but advocates "literature carries Taoism".
Give a concrete example. At the beginning of the Warring States Period, Mohism prevailed, and "Yang Zhu's words prevailed in the world", even reaching the severity of "Yang Mo's way is endless, and Confucius's way is beyond reach". There is a sharp and fierce struggle between Confucius and Mo. Liu Xie didn't know this important struggle, which was related to the life and death of Confucius and Mohism. What's his attitude towards this struggle? The article "Playing Qi" has been discussed:
Mo Zhai is not Confucian, dumbfounded; Monk despises ink more than other animals. ..... is based on the world as a text, arguing for the big and the small, nitpicking, and violent, but also like being good at scolding, losing more and compromising. If you can open the ceremony door and hang up the rules, mark the planting time of the righteous road, and then those who climb the wall will break their ankles and those who take shortcuts will lose their toes, why bother to make ugly comments and criticisms!
Liu Xie is extremely disgusted with "the world is a text", and scolding is a phenomenon of skill. He advocated "opening the door of ceremony" and "marking the way of righteousness" and making rules. His hands and feet will be cut off for articles that violate the "gate of ceremony" and "the way of righteousness" This is the face of a fierce defender. "Ritual Gate" and "Righteousness" are from Mencius 80. The teaching of propriety and righteousness is also the main doctrine of Confucianism, which seems to explain Liu Xie's attitude towards Confucianism. However, from the specific examples of his "impetuous ugly sentences" and the specific background of the dispute between Confucianism and Mohism, Liu Xie's intention is worth studying. The most typical example of that kind of "complex like swearing" is the swearing words of Confucius "Ya Sheng" Monk and Mo Zhai. Mo Zhai called Confucianism a pig and Mencius called Mo Zhai an animal. Where is Liu Xie? I think that these are "nitpicking" and "rash remarks and ugly sentences", and they are all to be criticized. In this great war related to the fate of Confucianism, he not only failed to criticize Mohism from the standpoint of Confucianism, but also believed that neither school should curse and criticize Mencius with Mencius' words. It is hard to think that this is the negligence of Liu Xie's argument and the wrong criticism of Mencius. What's more, this is Liu Xie's intention to ridicule Mencius. Liu Xie's exposition can only prove that he started from a paper, not a sect; What he opposes is the swearing in Wei Wen, and he cares about the quality of words, not the Confucian sects.
What Liu Xie said in Zheng Sheng and Jing Zong is consistent with Liu Xie's attitude towards Confucianism mentioned earlier. Although these two books are touting Confucian works, they are both from the perspective of writing. Liu Xie emphasized that the works of Confucian saints are worth learning. For example, the sage's article "or concise to achieve the goal, or blog to express feelings, or three-dimensional understanding, or hidden meaning to use", or "rich in meaning, near things and far things" and so on. , all have various advantages in writing, which can be regarded as a model for future generations to learn. The most concentrated embodiment of this thought is the "six meanings" put forward by Jing Zong:
Therefore, literature can be used to study classics, which has six meanings: first, it is deep but not complicated; second, it is bright but not complicated; third, it is loyal but not birthday; fourth, it is straight but not back; fifth, it is not vulgar; and sixth, it is literary but not obscene.
This is the whole value of Liu Xie's theory of Confucian classics, and also the whole purpose of his advocacy of "gathering saints" and "observing Confucian classics". Learning Confucian classic writing, he thinks there are six advantages: deep affection, clear style, faithfulness, righteousness, style and elegance, which are the "foundation" for his return. The "six meanings" are also very clear, that is, strangeness, miscellaneous, birth, response (evil), filth and lewdness, which are the "end" of Liu Xie's meaning. Therefore, Liu Xie's thoughts of "canonization" and "canonization" are mainly aimed at correcting the formalistic tendency in literary creation at that time and making it "return to nature".
(3)
By clarifying the basic viewpoints of "sanctification" and "adhering to the classics", we can further explore their relationship with the viewpoint of "the original way". "Original Tao" is a kind of sculpture that pays attention to natural literary talent and opposes excessive, mainly in form. "The Original Road" has no claim in content and cannot constitute a comprehensive literary view. At that time, there was nothing we could do about the creative trend of "feather decoration is more important than painting, and embroidery is more subtle" (preface to Historical Records). As far as the style of writing at that time was concerned, "respecting the saints" and "following the classics" were mainly put forward for the purpose of "returning to the original", emphasizing the contents of "deep affection", "clear style" and "faithfulness", while opposing the disadvantages of "strangeness, miscellaneous, longevity, response, slander and obscenity". For the writing of general articles, we can take "sanctification" and "Jing Zong" as the guiding ideology; Wen Xin Diao Long, as the guiding ideology of literary creation, has written the General Theory of the Five Classics from the viewpoint of "seeking for the saints" and "keeping the classics" without giving any definite opinions on the characteristics of literature and art or providing some theoretical basis for the necessary literary talents. This is the reason why Liu Xie's thesis focuses on the "original Tao" and emphasizes "gathering saints" and "observing classics", and it is also the explanation that his general remarks only have these two basic viewpoints. The combination of "Original Tao" and "Jing Zong" constitutes a complete basic viewpoint in Wen Xin Diao Long.
"Original Tao" and "Jing Zong" are actually unified and inseparable basic literary viewpoints in terms of content and form. Although "the heart of the Tao is subtle" and the way of nature is very profound and subtle, "the sage is outstanding", so it can be "Ming Dow because of the text". Confucian classics are worth learning by future generations, and Liu Xie believes that the main reason is that it embodies the way of nature. This is obviously to find a theoretical basis for his thesis. Kong Zhou's Confucian works are not necessarily the embodiment of the natural way; It can be seen that Confucian classics may not have the exemplary significance mentioned by Liu Xie. What we want to see is that Liu Xie's remarks, besides emphasizing the necessity of "canonization" and "canonization" at that time, at least reflected some of his own views, if not only under the banner of Confucianism: or, the Confucian classics beautified by Liu Xie did, in his view; Or he thought that to put forward a more powerful and comprehensive literary view at that time, we must emphasize these two aspects. What we should pay attention to is the latter meaning, that is, Liu Xie's basic ideas about literature and art expressed by the combination of "the original way" and "Jing Zong". Because he actually did this, and realized it in the book Wen Xin Diao Long. From here, we can clearly see that the standard of Confucian classics first established by Liu Xie is based on the way of nature, which can "suit both refined and popular tastes" and only serves his own literary views. "Elegance over reality" is the core viewpoint put forward by Liu Xie in "Three General Comments": the original way, sage and Jing Zong. Therefore, he said, "However, if you aim high and keep your word, your writing is smart, which is a rule-based jade and the golden rule to grasp the writing." The combination of rich content and skillful form is the golden rule of literary creation, which is the highest criterion of Liu Xie's literary criticism.
This basic view runs through the book Wen Xin Diao Long. In the part of "Essay Narration", in the prose style, it is put forward that "consider the strangeness without losing one's virginity, play the fancy without falling into reality" (a distinction between Sao); When commenting on poetry, it emphasizes that "Wen Shu is in poetry" ("Ming Poetry"); On Ci Fu, it is advocated that "although the style of writing is new, the color is rich and there is a foundation" (interpretation of Fu); Affirm and advocate works such as Love and Fragrance (Praise), China and Reality (Zhang Biao), Chigo and Wen Wei (Secretary), Embrace China and Eat Reality (Philosopher); Criticize the works that are "either elegant or refined" (essays), "without substance" (secretaries) and "with substance more than substance" (meditation).
As for the part of creative theory and criticism, Liu Xie summed up its general content with the word "analyzing emotion and mining", which further showed that he intended to establish his own literary theory system with the cooperation of China and reality, emotion and mining. In the part of creation theory, such as combining "style" and "sex" (style), "wind" and "bone" (style), "emotion" and "picking" (emotion), "melting" and "cutting" (melting), these topics are all discussed. Liu Xie believes: "The only way to establish a text is words and meanings." He also said: "I can write all kinds of interesting things and I won't leave my feelings." "Love" and "righteousness" refer to content, while "word" and "word" refer to form. This work includes these two aspects. The specific task of creation is how to "Shu Hua" and how to arrange the content and form. Therefore, in the article Emotion, Liu Xie called correctly handling the relationship between content and form "the foundation of writing". Although there are many rhetorical techniques in the theory of creation, they all focus on how to use various means of expression to serve the content. If we say duality, we must be "reasonable and confidential" (Li Ci); On metaphor, he advocates "cutting to the extreme is the most important" (Bi Xing); On exaggeration, it is required that "although the words are heavy, the meaning is harmless" (exaggeration).
Literary creation is that the author has a certain emotion and then expresses it in the form of words; Literary criticism is to examine the ideological content expressed in the works through form. According to this principle, Liu Xie established his literary criticism theory: "Writers write with emotion, and readers write with emotion." Therefore, he believes that the basic way of literary criticism is to "go with the flow and seek its source", that is, to examine the content of the work from the aspects of genre, wording and sentences, and whether these forms can express the content well. This is completely consistent with Liu Xie's basic viewpoint on creation, which is still based on the unity of content and form, and requires that the work should have both substantial content and perfect performance. Therefore, Liu Xie's theory of writers is also a writer who affirms his ability of "matching literature with quality" and "cultivating China with reality" (Cai lue), but is not satisfied with "writing without quality" (Cheng Hao) and "unreasonable" (Cai lue).
The above situation not only shows that the basic idea of combining "the original way" with "Jing Zong" runs through Wen Xin Diao Long; At the same time, it also shows that the topic of stone is the backbone of all Liu Xie's theoretical systems. The book "Wen Xin Diao Long" is based on the general theory of "emphasizing flowers and reality", which is also used by "essay narration" and based on "analyzing emotions" to establish its creative theory and criticism. This is an overview of the theoretical system of Wen Xin Diao Long, and it is also the basic feature of its theoretical system.