孔子辨名怪兽——试筑一个儒家博物学传统

Confucius’s Rectification of Monster Names: A Confucian Convention of Natural History

辨名是博物学中重要的知识分支,早期文献记载中,孔子表现出辨名怪兽的能力。从辨名对象来看,孔子辨名应视为早期巫师辨名物怪传统之延续,后者是一种知名劾鬼巫术,在"由巫至王"的历史进程中,辨名表现出权力象征意义。同时,孔子辨名呈现模式化叙事特点,可能借鉴了春秋战国时期常见的"博学者为君辨物"母题。孔子辨名虽为建构,但秦汉以降固化为"真实"历史记忆,其形成以孔子本人博物洽闻为前提,并特别与先秦两汉时期流行的圣人"独识万物""物来而名""不学自知"等观念有关,而孔子逐渐成为辨名者之典型,又与其圣化进程密不可分。孔子辨名同巫师辨名在辨名对象及形式上均表现出继承性,但孔子辨名消解了"名"之巫术内涵,侧重以"名"为万物立法。在后期演变中,孔子辨名故事细节不断调整而渐与巫传统分化,呈现出重要的思想史转型意义。

The present paper contends that Confucius’s rectification of monster names might be an extension of the early Shamanism and was related to the later apotheosization of Confucius.It particularly points out that the Confucian endeavor finally eliminated the Shamanistic connotations existing in the rectification of monster names and herein lay a significant intellectual metamorphosis.