又伤利器未逢时——陈季同手稿《学贾吟》读后

Sighs Over A Talent Under the Unlucky Star: A Reading of the MSS of CHEN Ji-tong's Xue Jia Yin

《学贾吟》是陈季同的中文诗集,记录了他1896年前往湘黔探矿的前后经过。践约与商业是他此行的直接动因,而强国梦则是他此行的根本原因。但陈季同对现实的估计过于理想,最终,他还是失望而归。一路途中他对回国后的个人遭遇进行了痛苦的回顾,将自己的不幸归结为个性因素。实际上他的悲剧性命运直接系于晚清政局的派系倾轧。他对时局的深层思考促使其将全部精力转向了兴办女学、创办维新报纸《求是报》、参与维新变法活动、向国人介绍西方法律及社会制度等。由于经济上的贫困和陈季同不修细行的才子作风,及两位法国夫人先后离他而去,不幸的婚姻限制了他进一步的成就。

Xue Jia Yin is CHEN Ji-tong＇s poetry collection written in Chinese. It recorded CHEN Ji- tong＇s exploration in Hunan and Guizhou in 1896. While appointment and business are the direct reason of this exploration, the dream of a powerful homeland is the radical reason. His realization of personal misadventure and the countercurrents of his time urged him to devote himself to the reform and enlightenment movement. But his fatale marriage restrained him from further achievement.