从《红楼》少女形象看作品对儒家伦理观的承传

Continuities between the "Dream of the Red Chambers" and Confucian ethics seen through the young woman characters in the novel

历来在对《红楼梦》与儒家传统思想关系的研究方面 ,很少涉及这部大书与儒家传统思想的联系。而曹雪芹虽然显示出对传统的某种超越精神 ,但同时 ,作为中国几千年传统文化、主要是儒家文化孕育出的伟大作家 ,他又不可能脱离其文化土壤 ,必然受到传统思想和文化习俗的制约。《红楼梦》在人物形象的塑造 ,特别是贵族少女形象的塑造上 ,就呈现出对儒家传统伦理观的承传情况。具体地说 ,这些贵族少女在两性交往与自身修养方面 ,自觉不自觉地表现出对儒家传统妇德观念的恪守与张扬。对此 ,作家多给予了不同程度的肯定。

In studying the association of the 'Dream of the Red Chambers' with the Confucian thought, scholars have not paid much attention to the continuities between the two. Born in China's traditional cultures, mainly the Confucian culture of thousands of years, Cao Xueqin could not be completely cut off from this cultural background, and was surely constrained by the traditional thoughts and the related customs though he went beyond the traditional thoughts in some aspects. As one of Cao's masterpieces, the 'Dream of the Red Chambers' must embody his outlook on life, his values, and his view on women that involve many contradictions. Thus, the characterization in the novel, especially that of the aristocratic young women, shows many continuities with traditional Confucian ethical thought.