《孟子·梁惠王下》首章“王变乎色”的现象学考察

A Phenomenological Investigation into the‘Change of Countenance’in Mencius 1B:1

孟子见于齐王(齐宣王),问询齐王是否“尝语庄子以好乐”,齐王听闻此语瞬间“变乎色”。这一强烈的身体反应,是一种值得关注的“现象”。东汉赵岐等认为齐王的“变乎色”是一种“怒”,“愠恚庄子道其好乐也”;南宋朱熹认为是一种“羞惭”,“惭其好之不正也”;元人陈天祥认为惭、怒兼而有之,“惭者,惭己所好之不正而为孟子所知;怒者,怒庄暴不为己隐辄以告孟子也”。从羞怒心理的产生来看,一是缘于齐王有基本的道德心,“好之不正”给他带来了强大的精神压力;二是因为庄暴的告知,使孟子作为“他者”登场,造成齐王在孟子面前产生羞愧心理;三是孟子作为外国嘉宾及贤者身份,使齐王经由“回返自身”而感到羞怒。从“王变乎色”这一现象,既可以看出齐王作为一国之君的政治品性,又可以看出政治生活中公理与私欲之间的张力,还可以看出古典政治观念中的“王道之阶”之所在。“好乐”之“乐”字,宋人陈善、清人阎若璩等读作“悦乐”之“乐”,但孟子所谓“今之乐由古之乐”属于对齐王的开导诱掖,是权变之辞,属“救时之急务”,其根本的政治追求依然是劝导国君与民同乐,推行王道。

When Mencius visited King Xuan of Qi,he asked,“Have you ever liked music?”Upon hearing this question,King Xuan’s face changed.Zhao Qi of the Eastern Han saw the king’s change of countenance as a sign of anger;Zhu Xi of the Southern Song saw it as an expression of shame;and Chen Tianxiang of the Yuan dynasty argued that the change of countenance contained both shame and anger.As for the feelings of shame and anger,first,the king’s change of countenance resulted from his possession of basic morality,so his“love for worldly music”brought him a great spiritual burden;second,Mencius was informed by Zhuang Bao,and his appearance as the Other brought shame to the king;and third,Mencius’s identity as a foreign guest and a worthy prompted the king to think back to himself and to feel ashamed and angry.From this anecdote,we can infer the political qualities of King Xuan as the ruler of the kingdom,the tension between public interest and private desire in political life,and how the“step to the kingly Way”unfolded.The yue乐character in haoyue好乐(the love for music)was interpreted as the le乐character in yuele悦乐(joy and pleasure)by both Chen Shan of the Song dynasty and Yan Ruoqu of the Qing dynasty.Although Mencius’s notion that“contemporary music is derived from ancient music”was instructive and of heuristic value for the king,serving as“a means for addressing the current crisis,”his political goal was still to persuade the ruler to share happiness with the people and practice the kingly Way.