人是一根有情感的芦苇——《诗经·蒹葭》与中华民族审美情感的历史源流

Human Being Is a Bulrush with Sensibility

西方人讲“人是会思想的芦苇”,它的意思是说:人与自然区别不在其他方面,而仅仅因为他多了一种思想的机能。而中华民族与之有很大的不同。人之所以不同于自然界的其他物种,主要是因为他比自然界的物质或生物多了一颗有情之心,即“人是一根有情感的芦苇”。“有情感的芦苇”,可以一直追溯到中国文明奠基时期的周代社会。《蒹葭》一诗,既是中华民族生命意识最早的流露,也把这种精神体验提到审美的高度。如何使每一根“有情感的芦苇”,内在地生产出属于他个体的理性机能,是中华民族在其现代启蒙中最重要的任务。

Western people say that a human being is a bulrush that can think. It means that man differs from nature in that he is able to think. But we Chinese people think that man differs from nature because man has a sensible heart. In other words, a human being is a bulrush with sensibility, which can be traced back to Zhou Dynasty, the foundation period for the formation of Chinese culture. The Poem, Jian Xia, not only shows the earliest life consciousness of the Chinese people, but also brings the spiritual experience to a much higher aesthetic level. Therefore, it is the most important task for the modern Chinese Enlightenment Movement to enable every sensible bulrush to produce its inner rational ability.