《平心论高鹗》:林语堂对大陆红学家的反驳

Towards An Objective View of Gao'e: Lin Yutang's Counterarguments against A Dream of Red Mansions Studies in China's Mainland

林语堂《平心论高鹗》中有不少文字是反驳大陆学者俞平伯、周汝昌等红学家的,可谓"挑战典范红学",尤其是"攻高鹗主观派之批评"一节从多方面对俞平伯《红楼梦辨》的论点进行逐条反驳,以证成其认为《红楼梦》后四十回的作者是曹雪芹而非高鹗,高鹗只是依据曹氏残稿进行"整理补订"而非"续作"的观点,同时对周汝昌及其《红楼梦新证》做了批评大于肯定的评价。林语堂之反驳俞平伯、周汝昌,议论不够平允,词气不够谦和。作为一家之言,林语堂的红学观点瑕瑜互见,某些论点还可进一步商榷、辩论,但不害其在红学史上应有的重要地位。

A large part of Lin Yutang's work Towards An Objective View of Gao'e is devoted to counterarguments against A Dream of Red Mansions scholars such as Yu Pingbo,Zhou Ruchang,etc.This is regarded as a challenge against classical studies of A Dream of Red Mansions.In the part 'Criticisms against Subjective Views on Gao'e',he counter-argues against Yu Pingbo's An Examination of A Dream of Red Mansions and proves that the last forty chapters of A Dream of Red Mansions were actually written by Cao Xueqin instead of Gao'e who only revised Cao's remaining manuscripts.Lin Yutang also holds a negative view of Zhou Ruchang's New Investigation into A Dream of Red Mansion.Lin Yutang's criticisms of these scholars appear to be sharp and a bit biased.Lin Yutang's views,though with their weaknesses,and with some parts open to debate,contribute greatly to the studies of A Dream of Red Mansion.