論「虞廷賡歌」的文化傳統及其在台灣古典詩學中的意義

Abstract

「虞廷」指帝舜在位的朝廷。「賡歌」此處特指君臣唱和的吟詩行為。在《尚書•皐陶謨》、《尚書大傳》中可見相關記載。歷來文人多將此一歌詩行為視為較《詩經》更早的詩歌典範，並藉此體現、彰明心中理想的政教樣態。對於向來位居中原，雄視八方的漢民族而言，這是一個表徵政教清明的文化傳統。然而，一旦時代劇變，或是外族入主中原，或西方民主政體傳入，如何回應「非我族類」的統治，或是新政體，便成為漢族文士必須思考的問題。在此一情境下，「虞廷賡歌」的傳統，曾被提出做為因應新政權、新政體的論述依據，因此其涵義便有了偏重的方向。過去，台灣曾經歷清人、日人等外族的統治，在這段時期中，有若干文人重提「虞廷賡歌」的文化傳統，去回應時代變易，以及由當權者所提倡的中國古典詩歌創作。這當中涉及了如何看待詩歌之社會功用的課題，以及「用夏變夷」的政治思考，值得深究。

“Yu Ting Geng Ge” (虞廷賡歌)is an ancient Chinese metaphoric saying to describe a specific type of tradition, whereas the first two characters “Yu Ting” stands for court of Yu Dynasty and the latter two characters “Geng Ge” particularly refers to interactive behavior of singing in chorus and poem chanting amongst monarchs and subjects. One can find relative information regarding “Yu Ting Geng Ge” in the Gaoyao mo (皐陶謨)"The counsels of Gaoyao" of the Shangshu (尚書) "Documents of the elder" also in Shangshu dazhuan (尚書大傳), a parallel tradition of Shangshu. In the past, literary figures see this song singing and poem chanting behavior as an earlier example of poetry than that of the Shijing (詩經), the “Book of Songs or Poetry” through which to express and reflect the ideal political, educational state that they had in mind. To Han people that are proudly watching over other ethnic groups, coming from central plains dominant part of China, this is a tradition that stands for integrity. However, factors such as the changes that occurs throughout time, other ethnic groups conquered and takeover the central plains, influence of western democratic political regime, how to respond to the rule of “foreign tribes” or a new political regime became a necessary issue for Han people to think about. Under these circumstances, the tradition of “Yu Ting Geng Ge” was proposed as the theoretical reference on how to respond to new political powers and regimes. Therefore, importance attached to the meaning of this tradition became a guideline of what directions to follow. In the past, Taiwan has experienced the rule of foreign tribes such as Qing’s people, Japanese colonization and so on. During these periods, many literary figures once again brought up the tradition of “Yu Ting Geng Ge” as the theoretical reference to follow in responding to the era of changes as well as reacting to the type of Chinese classic poetry creations that ones in power support and uphold. It is also important to look into the social functions of poetry and the political thinking of Yong Xia Bian Yi (用夏變夷), which means reforming foreign tribes using Chinese Principles.