历史隐喻中的生命探求——生死之议与明遗民的生存抉择

The Search of Life in Historical Metaphor——Remarks on Life and Death as Well as the Survival Choice of Adherents of Ming Dynasty

在清初明遗民这一特殊群体中,"生"与"死"成为他们的核心话题之一。面对异族的新政权,死者长已矣,而生者却感觉到前所未有的生命压力:在"出"与"隐"的抉择面前,如何才能做到"不苟活",显然是困扰他们的主要问题。于是,一方面要以桀骜的姿态守护他们最后的一片精神家园——气节,另一方面又要不忘世事,积极实现他们的经世理想,在这样的生存悖论中,明遗民以其特有的思路探寻着生的意义。

In early Qing Dynasty, life and death became one of their core themes among this special group of adherents. Facing a new power of a different race and the dead forever in the past, the living had an unprecedented pressure of survival： to be a hermit or not and how not to idle away their lifetime were clearly the main problems troubling them. As a result, on one hand, in haughtiness they guarded their last spiritual home-integrity ; on the other hand, they should not give up their social responsibility to practice their statecraft. In such paradox of survival, the adherents of Ming Dynasty explored the significance of life in their own way.