东海西海,心理攸同——以文学为例试论中西文化的大同性

On the Grand Commonality of Chinese and Western Cultures

中西文化相同？相异？如果是相同，那是全同还是大同小异？如果是相异，那是迥异还是大异小同？这些问题极为复杂，极难作答。学问渊博、通晓多种西方语言的钱钟书，综览中西文化后，认为“东海西海，心理攸同”。他在《管锥编》等著述中，博引中西典籍为例，证明其说，笔音在本文中，加添几个例证：（1）中西诗学的抒情说和摹仿说，名目不同，而实际相通；（2）比喻与对比之运用，为中西修辞论所重视，为中西作家所认同；（3）17世纪英国作家所写的一篇文学批评，竞与中国古代文评相通。这是另一个“心理攸同”。教十年来，笔者观书阅世，深然钱钟书说法，认为中西文化虽有形形式式的歧异，二者却是“心同”、“理同”的，是谓“大同”。本文也略论亨建顿所谓的“文明冲突”。

Are Chinese and Western cultures the same or different？ Are they coalpletely identical, generally identical, generally different or completely different？ These are extremely complex and difficult to answer. The late Qian Zhongshu contends that ＂the hearts and minds of peoples by the East Sea and by the West Sea are the same. ＂ Qian in his works including the voluminous Limited Views： Essays on ideas and Letters has provided us with hundreds of pieces of evidence to demonstrate his view. In this article, the author adds more： （1） anaffinity underlying the superficial contrast between lyricism and mimesis in Chinese and Western poetics; （2） the universal usage of metaphor and antithesis in Chinese and Western rhetoric ; （3） a work of literary criticism by a 17^th century English poet sharing the same ideas with Chinese poetics, and thus showing a close similarity between Chinese and Western criticism. In his many years of study and observation, this author has shared Qian＇s view that despite the existence of various differences there are affinities between Chinese and Western cultures ; he calls these the Grand Commonality （ or ＂Datong＂ ） of Chinese and Western cultures. In this article, the author also touches upon a hotly debated issue of ＂the clash of civlizations＂ as initiated by Samuel Huntington.