中国散文学视野中的司马迁

Si Majian: From the Viewpoint of Chinese Essays

司马迁将文章的价值推崇到了无以复加的地步,在他心里文章就是历史与社会的命脉与维系,文章的写作乃是生命的目的。这种认识与选择对于后世文人自然是永远的激励。《史记》的实录奠定了中国散文学最为基本的品质:真实。而由事到人的变化,在文学序列中也是一场看不见的革命。作者自我的投入,观点、情感与忧愤的抒发,更是使史传真正赋予了文学的性质,使得"史家之绝唱"同时也成了"无韵之离骚"。不仅如此,《史记》以散为主,散中有骈;叙言引言,参差变化;文白相融,雅俗自适;有长有短,屈伸自如;文质彬彬,不腴不枯;有条有理,但又兼具情致。这些特点使得它成了中国古代散文的崇高典范,后世散文永恒的追求。

Si Maqian holds that literary works are invaluable, that literary works are the lifeblood of history and society and the link between them, and that writing literary works is the purpose of life. Secondly, real records in Historical Records give Chinese essays a basic characteristic： authenticity. Thirdly, it is an invisible revolution in literature from events to man. It is the writer＇ s own involvement and his expression of his own ideas and feelings （like sadness and anger） in Historical Records that provide it with a real quality of literary works and turn this ＂perfect song of all historians into an unrhymed epic of national charm. ＂ Lastly, Historical Records possesses some characteristics： essays with some couplets; mixed narratives with quotations; common and refined language in classical Chinese and modern Chinese; short and long sentences to make the length suitable; being polite but not flattering; being ordered but full of wits, which make it become a sublime model of classical Chinese essays, which essayists of later generations strove to follow.