胡适与梁启超的白话文学因缘

Cause of Hu Shi and Liang Qichao's vernacular Literature

胡适提倡的“文学革命”,乃是在晚清梁启超的“文学改良”止步之处向前推进。比起梁氏提倡的“俗语文学”,胡适提出的“文学工具的革命”对旧文学的破坏更彻底,因其从根本上颠覆了文白高下的传统价值认定,“白话”因此与“国语”划上了等号。梁氏高度肯定宋代以后的俗语文学为祖国文学之大进化,但其俗语文学进化史观仅仅成为一种设想,未能充分展开论述。胡适则认为,“白话文学史就是中国文学史的中心部分”,此说对后来的文学史书写产生了至为深远的影响,塑造和奠定了现有中国文学史的基本面貌。

Literature Revolution advocated by Hu Shi is the further development of Liang Qichao＇s Literature Reform in the late Qing Dynasty. Compared with Liang＇s Common Saying Literature, Hu＇s idea, the revolution of literary tool, ruined the old literature more thoroughly. Vernacular equates with national language because it fundamentally subverted the conventional belief of value that classical Chinese was superior to vernacular. Liang affirmed highly that common saying literature after Song dynasty was great evolution of Chinese literature. But his idea is only an assumption which he did not completely elaborate. Hu, however, thought that the history of vernacular was the center of Chinese literature, which has a far-reaching effect on later literary history and moulds the present one.