袁枚“性灵说”的文化意蕴

The Cultural Implication of Yuan Mei’s Theory of Temperament and Inspiration in Poetry

袁枚"性灵说"所蕴涵的基本思想是追求个性的显现和性情的张扬,重视天才而推崇灵性。"性灵说"消解儒家诗教论的极端思想,而注重个人情感的满足;消解高雅文化的权威性,而指向通俗文化的畛域;消解审美文化的崇高性,而欣赏世俗之美。既有人本主义的价值,又有其局限性。同时"性灵说"又附着了传统文化的因子:内含儒家诗学的抒情传统、自然本真的传统哲学观念以及传统审美文化的精神旨趣。"性灵说"的文化意蕴是新旧文化矛盾体的统一。

The basic thought of the Theory of Temperament and Inspiration proposed by Yuan Mei lies in its pursuit of the presence of individuality and the publicity of temperament. The theory is featured by its digestion of the extremism in the Confucian education but emphasis on the satisfaction of personal emotion, by its digestion of the authority of decent culture but the orientation toward popular culture, by its digestion of the nobility of aesthetic culture but the appreciation of the beauty of secular culture. It has its humanist value as well as its limitation. The theory has the factors of traditional culture, namely, the lyrical tradition of the Confucian poetics, the traditional philosophical concept of natural truth and the spiritual purport. Its cultural implication embodies the unity of the old and new cultures.