错位的同情——评伊沛霞《宋徽宗》

Misplaced Compassion:On Emperor Huizong by Patricia Buckley Ebery

伊沛霞的《宋徽宗》是自《万历十五年》之后,西方汉学家为读者呈现的又一部可观的中国帝王传记。作者以同情的态度从文化视角重新讲述宋徽宗的生平事迹,这对于长期以来将宋徽宗置于政治话语和道德史观的评价体系之中而言,无疑是一次颠覆式的书写。然而,传记中所表现的"同情"史观却暗含了个人意图与西方价值观念的叠合,导致作者对于宋徽宗充满同情却缺乏理解,史料详尽却释读失恰,主观重塑却客观失实。最终,在《宋徽宗》中产生了传主形象构建、传主政治身份以及传主历史真实三个方面的缺失感。故而,这部传记虽则视角新颖,但对于宋徽宗的重述却是从一种政治话语的极端滑向了另一种文化话语的极端。

Since The 15 th Year of Wanli,Emperor Huizong by Patricia Buckley Ebery is another impressive biography of the Chinese emperor presented to readers by Western sinologist.With the sentiment of compassion permeating the biographical narration,the author tries to retell the life story of Huizong from a cultural perspective.This is undoubtedly a subversive writing for the past long-term evaluation system that put the Emperor Huizong into political discourse and moral history.However,the historical outlook of compassion expressed by Patricia Buckley Ebery in her biography implies the combination of the author’s personal intention and Western values,which leads to her full of compassion for Huizong without understanding,detailed historical materials with misinterpretation,and subjective shaping with misrepresentation.Finally,in this biography,Emperor Huizong’s image construction,political identity and historical reality are absent.Therefore,although the perspective of this biography is innovative,the representation of Huizong moves from the extreme of political discourse to the extreme of cultural discourse.