跨越徵聖與宗經的門檻─從《論衡》之歷史意識論王充的書寫概念

Abstract

東漢思想家王充所撰作的《論衡》，在歷代獲得的評價十分歧異，原因之一為全書各篇章呈現出來的觀點與立場看似相互牴觸，批判的力度亦時強時弱。過去的研究者曾由時代的限制、個人品德的缺陷或王充的知識特質等不同面向，來闡述《論衡》內部的衝突，本文則嘗試說明，《論衡》各種見解之間其實貫穿著一致的精神底蘊，那是將主要讀者群設置於遙遠的未來，一再以後世的視角審鑑前朝與當代圖像的待考掘史觀。此種獨特的歷史觀使王充特別強調「古」與「今」的對峙關係，尤其憂慮「經」、「聖」對兩漢之新典範所產生的排擠效應。因為如此，「書寫」被形塑成帶有顛覆意義的創造行為，是用來和傳統相頡頏的利器，並且具備了兩種極端的走向，其一為迫切而充滿反抗意識的詮釋概念，另一為以歷史作為陌生化之條件，藉著時間的延遲來取代藝術手法的美學策略。

Over the past dynasties, there have been different evaluations of Eastern Han thinker Wang Chong’s Lunheng, and one reason for it is that the viewpoints of the chapters seem to contrast with one another, and that the author’s criticism is sometimes severe and sometimes weak. To interpret the inconsistencies of the book, past researchers have probed into various aspects, such as Eastern Han values, Wang’s personality defects, and Wang’s personal knowledge. Dissimilarly, this paper is of the opinion that there is a consistency among the different viewpoints in the Lunheng: a historical viewpoint set up for later generations to examine the images of the Eastern Han and its previous dynasties. In this unique historical viewpoint, Wang especially emphasizes the confrontation between the past and the present and worries about the exclusive effect caused by the policy of adopting sages and classics as the new model for the two Han Dynasties. Therefore, to fight against traditions, Wang bestows on his writings a subversive creativeness that contains two extremes: an interpretive concept that is urgent and full of rebelling thoughts, and an aesthetic strategy that replaces artistic methods by delaying time.