孔子诗学思想的两种面向——《论语》与《史记·孔子世家》的比较.pdf

49Two Versions of Confuciuss Poetical Theory:A Comparative Study of the Accounts in the Analects and the Hereditary House of ConfuciusXu Chunhua Abstract:Comparing the accounts of Confuciuss work on the Book of Poetry and the Book of Music in the Analects and the“Hereditary House of Confucius”in the Records of the Grand Historian,we can find different versions of Confuciuss poetical theory.First,with regard to the structure of the Book of Poetry,according to the Analects,the functions of the Book of Poetry are to“give the spirit an exhortation,”to give“the mind keener eyes,”to“make one better adjusted in a group,”and to“make one more articulate when voicing a complaint,”which fully addresses the meaning of life.On the other hand,the“Hereditary House of Confucius”adopts the theory of the“Four Opening Poems,”which emphasizes the principles of human relations and the didactic application of the Book of Poetry to politics.Second,in terms of the function of the Book of Music,the accounts in the Analects focus on cultivating the moral and aesthetic character of a superior man,while those in the“Hereditary House of Confucius”attach importance to maintaining the political and ethical order of all under Heaven.Third,in terms of the discussions on the Book of Poetry between Confucius and his disciples,the Analects focuses on the philosophical interpretations of the Book of Poetry,showing a distinct humanistic coloration,while the“Hereditary House of Confucius”highlights Confuciuss commitment to cultivate himself for all under Heaven,displaying characteristics of political philosophy.These two versions of Confuciuss poetical theory as shown in the two works provide a poetic perspective for understanding the different purposes of the Confucianism of Confucius and Han Confucianism.Keywords:Confuciuss poetical theory,Analects,“Hereditary House of Confucius,”version The“Hereditary House of Confucius”孔子世家 in the Records of the Grand Historian 史记 is an official biography of Confucius.It is an important text for people to learn about the teachings of Confucius.The text contains ample statements about Confuciuss work on Xu Chunhua is professor and doctoral supervisor in the School of Philosophy and Sociology at Hebei University.He also serves as visiting scholar of the Institute for Advanced Humanistic Studies at Peking University.E-mail:xu-50the Book of Poetry and the Book of Music.In this paper,these accounts are classified into three groups,with those of a similar nature grouped together.The first group deals with Confuciuss work on the Book of Poetry,the second deals with Confuciuss work on the Book of Music,and the third deals with the dialogues between Confucius and his disciples on particular poems.A close examination of these accounts with reference to the Analects reveals that some of them come directly from the Analects,while a substantial proportion does not appear in the Analects.Questions ensue as to how to construe the similarities and differences between the accounts in the Analects and those in the“Hereditary House of Confucius,”how to determine the roles they play in Confuciuss poetical theory,and whether they are of a similar nature or show different versions of Confuciuss theory.In an attempt to answer these questions,this paper makes a comparative study of the relevant passages from the two works.Hopefully,it will reveal the different versions of Confuciuss poetical theory,and add a new poetic perspective to research on the different purposes of Confucius and Han Confucianism.The Structure of the Book of PoetryRefer to page 44 for Chinese.Similarly hereinafterThe“Hereditary House of Confucius”relates Confuciuss editing of the Book of Poetry as follows:There were more than three thousand ancient poems,but Confucius rejected those which were repetitious and retained those which had moral value,beginning with poems about the ancestors of Shang and Zhou,going on to descriptions of the good reigns of both dynasties and thence to the misdeeds of King You and King Li.He put the poems about marital love first,starting the“Lessons from the States”风 section with the“Song of the Ospreys”关雎,the“Lesser Odes”小雅 with“The Deer Cries”鹿鸣,the“Greater Odes”大雅 with“King Wen”文王,and the“Hymns”颂 with“The Temple of Purity”清庙.After that the old rites and music became widely known,to the enrichment of the kingly culture,and the Six Classics were established.Confucius taught his disciples the old poems,documents,rites,and music.In all he had three thousand disciples,of whom seventy-two were versed in the Six Classics.1Confuciuss work on the old poems was essential to his becoming the founder of Confucianism,during the age of“philosophical breakthrough”when different schools of philosophy appeared.According to the words quoted above,Confuciuss editing and its significance can be divided into four layers.First,Confucius“rejected those that were repetitious.”There are two main reasons that the ancient poems have duplicates.One reason is that in Confuciuss time there was no standard version of poems in written form;instead,various copies of the poems had been circulated orally among people.It was probable that when Confucius read the poems,he found many repetitions of words and passages.Another reason is that,as the“Hereditary House of Confucius”has it,the poems Confucius collected spanned several dynasties,so repetition was inevitable.The two reasons explain that Confuciuss work on the poems began with organizing the poems and removing the duplicates.21 The English translations of the“Hereditary House of Confucius”in this paper are based on Yang Xianyi 杨宪益 and Gladys Yangs 戴乃迭 version,with some alterations.2 This case of taking out the duplicates was not unique in the Qin and Han dynasties.In the Han dynasty,Liu Xiang 刘向(776 BCE)was entrusted with the task of organizing the circulated versions of the Xunzi kept in the imperial library.Lius deletions reduced the original book of 322 chapters to the final version of 32 chapters.See Liu Xiang,preface to Xunzi,quoted in Wang Xianqian 王先谦,Collected Commentaries on the Xunzi 荀子集解,eds.Shen Xiaohuan 沈啸寰 and Wang Xingxian 王星贤(Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company,1988),557.Confucian Academy Vol.9,No.4(2022)51Second,Confucius“retained those which had moral value.”This task is of vital importance.It means to select poems and read into them new meanings in accord with morality.“The Book of Poetry and the Book of Documents which were the basis of spirit and values informed the politics and lives of the aristocracy.They had shaped the age and were its mainstay.”3 It is the ideas it contains rather than the text itself that make the Book of Poetry the fountainhead of moral values.Of the ideas,the concept of rites(li 礼)is central to Confucian values.4 Confuciuss main work on the Book of Poetry can be summarized as ensuring that“the Book of Poetry and the Book of Documents retain rites”(Analects 7:18).The“rites”Confucius speaks about as embodied in the Book of Poetry are essentially different from the“rites”in the Spring and Autumn period(770476 BCE)in that the former illustrate human-heartedness(ren 仁).When rites and rightness(yi 义)are combined to form the phrase liyi 礼义,the phrase is not a compound,meaning“rites and rightness”;it means“the rightness of rites”or specifically“the justification for maintaining rites and practicing rites.”This justification lies in human-heartedness.Therefore,human-heartedness is the inner spirit of rites and the essential basis of rites.The line of thought going from the Book of Poetry to rites(that is,the rightness of rites)and then to human-heartedness locates the inner spirit and essential basis of Confuciuss poetical theory in human-heartedness.Third,the theory of the“Four Opening Poems”establishes the structure of the Book of Poetry.Selecting and organizing the old poems involves establishing the structure of the book.Confucius sets up the structure by deciding the beginnings of the four groups of poems:the“Lessons from the States”begins with the“Song of the Ospreys,”the“Lesser Odes”begins with“The Deer Cries,”the“Greater Odes”begins with“King Wen,”and the“Hymns”begins with“The Temple of Purity.”This idea does not appear in the Analects,so it provides an important perspective for comparing Confuciuss poetical theory in the Analects with that in the“Hereditary House of Confucius.”Confuciuss discussion with his disciples on the Book of Poetry as recorded in the Analects reveals another structure.Confucius says,My young friends,why do you not study the Book of Poetry?The poems can give the spirit an exhortation,and the mind keener eyes.They can make us better adjusted in a group and more articulate when voicing a complaint.They teach you the humane and the right way to serve those who are as close to you as your parents and as distant from you as your ruler.They also let you become familiar with the names of birds and beasts,plants and trees.5(17:9)This new structure is based on the inner logic of Confuciuss poetical theory.“Giving the spirit an exhortation”and“giving the mind keener eyes”mean the Book of Poetry can awaken the mind to the moral meaning of life.“Making one better adjusted in a group and more articulate when voicing a complaint”shows the didactic application of the Book of Poetry for moral and social purposes.“Serving ones parents”and“serving the ruler”address typical human relationships.And“becoming familiar with the names of birds and beasts,plants and trees”highlights the role of the Book of Poetry in enhancing peoples cognition of the world.These words not only disclose the ideological structure of the Book of Poetry but also summarize the value of Confuciuss philosophy and its significance to living a good life.3 Wang Bo 王博,History of Confucianism in China:The Pre-Qin Period 中国儒学史先秦卷,eds.Tang Yijie 汤一介 and Li Zhonghua 李中华(Beijing:Peking University Press,2011),37.4 Xu Fuguan thinks the Spring and Autumn period was an age of humanism centered on the concept of rites.The meaning of rites shifts its focus from ceremonies in the early Western Zhou dynasty to morality in the Spring and Autumn period.See Xu Fuguan 徐复观,History of Chinese Philosophy of Human Nature 中国人性论史(Shanghai:East China Normal University Press,2001),2931.5 The English translations of the Analects in this paper are mainly based on Annping Chins version,with some alterations.Two Versions of Confuciuss Poetical Theory52A further investigation shows similarities and differences between the“Four Opening Poems”theory in the“Hereditary House of Confucius”and the four-function theory in the Analects.The“Four Opening Poems”theory focuses on human relationships,and orients the Book of Poetry toward its didactic application for political and moral purposes.This is an important feature of Han Confucian poetical theory.The preface to Maos Version of the Book of Poetry 毛诗,as the foundation of the poetics of Han Confucianism,begins by saying:“The Song of the Ospreys sings the praise of the virtue of the Queen.As the beginning of the Lessons from the States,this poem sets up a model for the world and rectifies the relationship between husband and wife.”6 According to the Han Confucians,the relationship between husband and wife is the basis of human relations,so the“Lessons from the States”begins with this poem to illustrate the principle of this relationship.The opening poems of the“Lesser Odes,”“Greater Odes,”and“Hymns”also embody the Confucian vision of order in human relationships.In this connection,Qian Mus 钱穆(a.k.a.Chien Mu,18951990)comment is to the point:The Book of Poetry begins with the“Song of the Ospreys”to illustrate the relationship between husband and wife,which is fundamental to the order of human affairs.This account of the first poem in the“Lessons from the States”is clear and appropriate.“The Temple of Purity”and“King Wen”illustrate the relationship between Heaven and the human,and clarify the distinction of function between ruler and minister.“The Deer Cries”in the“Lesser Odes”makes the feelings of those above and below to harmonize.The“Song of the Ospreys”in the“Lessons from the States”rectifies marital love to establish the foundation of human relations.Therefore,the Duke of Zhous Way of governing the country is said to be complete in the Book of Poetry.7 The four-function theory in the Analects also attaches great importance to the principles of human relations and the idea of moral cultivation embodied in the Book of Poetry.As to the function of the Book of Poetry to“make one better adjusted in a group and more articulate when voicing a complaint,”Zhu Xi 朱熹(11301200)comments:“One can be better adjusted in a group without following what everyone else is doing.One can be more articulate when voicing a complaint without getting infuriated.”8 Therefore,“being better adjusted in a group and more articulate when voicing a complaint”is not only to express ones personal feelings and emotions but also to follow the principle of equilibrium and harmony in making adjustments.Therein lies the realization of the didactic function of the Book of Poetry.Confucius also speaks about“serving ones parents”and“serving ones ruler,”which are the foundation of human relations in Confuciuss theory.9 In this 6 Mao Heng 毛亨 et al.,eds.,Commentaries on Maos Version of the Book of Poetry 毛诗传笺(Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company,2018),1.7 Qian Mu 钱穆,“Reading the Book of Poetry”读诗经,in book 1 of Collected Papers on the History of Chinese Academic Thought 中国学术思想史论丛(Beijing:SDX Joint Publishing Company,2009),118.8 Zhu Xi 朱熹,Collected Commentaries on the Analects 论语集注,vol.9,in Collected Commentaries on the Four Books 四书章句集注(Beijing:Zhonghua Book Company,1983),178.9 In the Analects,Confucius attaches importance to the relationship between ruler and minister and the relationship between father and son,which he thinks are the foundation of the order of human relations.Confucius says,“Let the ruler be a ruler,the minister be a minister,a father be a father,and a son be a son”(Analects 12:11).Confuciuss poetical theory in the Analects calls attention to“serving ones parents”and“serving the ruler.”For example,Zixia says,“To serve his parents with the utmost effort and his lord with no self-interest”(1:7).The Han Confucians highlight the relationship between husband and wife,and regard it as the foundation of the order of human relations.Commenting on the“Song of the Ospreys,”the preface to Maos Version of the Book of Poetry says,“The Song of the Ospreys sings praise of the virtue of the Queen.As the beginning of the Lessons from the States,this poem sets up a model for the world and rectifies the relationship between husband and wife”;“There is no more effective way than using the Book of Poetry to regulate the relationship between husband and wife,to promote filial piety and respect for elders,to improve human relations,to educate people with moral excellence,and to change peoples customs and habits.”The Han Confucian poetical theory ma