日本明治启蒙思想家西周的语言文字观考述

An Overview on the Language and Character View of the Japanese Enlightenment Thinker Nishi-Amane in the Meiji Times

明治时期是日本历史进程中的一个重要时期。此时的日本知识分子醉心于学习先进的西洋文明,因而形成新的外来思想和旧的传统思想的对立。在新旧文化的激烈碰撞中,曾深受中国儒家文化影响的日本传统文化转变成为一种既混杂中西两种文化因素又保留有本国传统的独特文化形态。为适应西方新的科学技术和文化思想的引进,日本自古使用的文字也随之变化,日本大批启蒙思想家纷纷对日本文字提出改革意见。西周也在众多的著作中也提出了改革日本文字的主张,体现出其顺应时代潮流、勇于改革创新的鲜明的语言观。

The Meiji Times is an important period in Japanese history when the Japanese intellectuals were engaged in studying the advanced western civilization and forming the conflict between the new foreign thoughts and the tra- ditional thoughts. In the conflict between the new and old cultures, the Japanese traditional culture, which was greatly affected by the Chinese Confucianism, had been changed into a distinct culture type that integrated the east- ern and western cultural factors and reserved the traditions of its own country. In such a complicated period, the Japanese characters that had been used since ancient times also changed in order to be adapted to the introduction of western new technologies and culture. A lot of enlightenment thinkers proposed opinions on reforming Japanese language. Nishi-Amane also proposed such opinions in his works, which represented his bright language percep- tions that were creative and conform to the times.