刘师培的文学史观

Liu Shi-pei’s Outlook on the History of Literature

由晚清走入近代的刘师培,基于精专的经史学识,在西学东渐的影响下,以传统文论和西方进化论为理论基础,以纯文学的观念考察了文学史,认为文学是一个不断发展的动态过程;留心文学史的变迁,并剖析了变迁的缘由;运用"穷源"和"竟流"的方法,探索了中国文学发展的规律,对中国文学史作了具有开拓意义的研究。这些研究建构了刘师培较为系统的文学史观,也体现出区别于旧学的时代特色。

From the late Qing dynasty to the modern times, Liu Shi-pei observed and studied the literal history in the view of pure literature; the theoretical bases of his study are the conventional outlook on the literature and the Darwinian concept, basing on his specialized knowledge of the classical works and historical works, under the influence of the Western learning. He held that literature was an ever changing dynamic process. He focused on the changes of literal history and found out the reasons for the changes. He explored the regular patterns in the development of Chinese literature, using the methodology of searching the ＂source＂ and ＂development＂, which is a great significance to the study of Chinese literal history. All these studies formed his systematic outlook on the history of literature, which reflects the features of the times distinguishing from the old Chinese learning.