也论《语林》之散佚

On the desertion of Woods of Words

《语林》在东晋曾经十分受欢迎,但是在被谢安指责描写不真实之后,此书就不再流行,至唐初便散佚了。学界一般认为它的散佚是谢安否定的结果。其实,谢安的批评只是使之不再盛行,并没有使其散佚。南朝宋时便有学者揭露谢安为泄私愤而否定《语林》的真相。当时的许多学术著作也引用《语林》的内容作为佐证,可以看出,南朝人对其内容的真实性是认可的。而导致它散佚的根本原因是《世说新语》的出现及流行,因为《世说新语》与《语林》的内容相似,而在艺术性、作者社会地位上又具有优越性。

Woods of Words was very popular in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but it was abolished after being criticized by Xie An for its being untrue, and was deserted until the early Tang Dynasty. Generally, the reason for its desertion has been considered to be Xie An＇s negation. The author believes that Xie An＇s negation could only make it unpopular, but could not make it being deserted. Some scholars in Song Period of Nan Dynasty had revealed the truth that Xie An negated the works for the venting his own angry. And some literatures had quoted the content of that works for reference. So, the truth value of the content was recognized. The real reason for its desertion is the appearance of New Terms in the Worldly Talks which has the similarity to that works in content but it owns its superiority in artistic quality and the author＇s social status.