王国维《红楼梦评论》的佛家底蕴

The Essence of Buddhism in Wang Guowei's A Review of A Dream of Red Mansions

王国维写作《红楼梦评论》,并不仅仅是因为他接受了叔本华的悲观主义人生哲学;这篇论文的写成,是他早年人生困惑与佛教情结的自然延伸与继续发展。王国维早就用佛家眼光即"天眼"去看待人生。因此,《红楼梦评论》关于人生苦痛与解脱的哲学底蕴的核心观念主要源自佛家而不是叔本华。曾受东方佛教影响的叔本华厌世哲学使王国维进一步从理论上完成对人生的悲观看法,进而使他形成宗教化特别是颇具佛家倾向的美术观及文学观,以致把《红楼梦》几看成一部解脱人生苦痛的佛教文本。

This article argues that Wang Guowei＇ s A Review of A Dream of Red Mansions did not just come out of his adherence to Schopenhauer＇s pessimistic philosophical views, but rather Wang＇s Review was a natural and continuous development from his early year＇s confusion over the meaning of life and his sentimental attachment to Buddhism. For a long time he had been observing human life with a Buddhist eye, or the ＂divinely omniscient eye＂. Therefore, his views on human pains and their relief, which formed the very essence of his philosophy as was expounded in the Review, originated mainly from the Buddhist religion rather than from Schopenhauer. As Schopenhauer was at a time also influenced by the Oriental Buddhism, Schopenhauer＇s pessimistic doctrines provided Wang with an ideal theoretical basis for fully developing his pessimistic outlook on human existence. From that he further developed his outlook on fine arts and literature, which became highly religious with a strong inclination towards Buddhism. As a result, he regarded A Dream of Red Mansions almost as a holy book of Buddhism intended to alleviate human pains.