论《文选》荐贤表——兼论表类的文体意义

On Articles Recommending Talents in Wen Xuan(Collectanea): Also a Discussion of Stylistic Meaning of Recommending Articles

表的文体义由其物体义演化而来,到汉代形成固定格式,成为察试诸生的重要文体。《文选》收表文19篇,数量之多彰显其地位之高。其中的荐贤表事关君国根基,或一表荐一人,也可以一表而荐数人;表文以举荐者自撰为主,以他人代笔为辅。从动因看,可有主动和被动两种。荐贤表的内容由歌颂君上、褒荐贤才、自表衷曲三部分组成。用典故比拟荐贤对象和内容,是荐贤表作者习用的修辞手法。荐贤表的荐人有自荐的成分在内。一是荐才本身必须是才识兼具,方能慧眼识人;在表文中大量使用典故以颂圣颂贤,也有自炫其才学的用意。二是荐才为君为国,可以表忠。

The stylistic meaning of the article form ＂biao＂ stems from its substance meaning, and in the Han Dynasty, the form of biao was fixed and became an important writing form to select and exam candi-dates. Wen Xuan （Collectanea） consists of 19 biao articles, showing the signigicant status of such articles. The articles recommending talents in the Collectanea are closely related with the rulers and the foundation of the country. One recommending article （biao） may recommend one or several talents, written by the talents themselves or by other people. From the perspective of motivation, biao is composed of three parts： praising the emperor, recommending the talents and praising the authors themselves. Using allu- sions to compare with the talents is a regular rhetorical device. The writers of recommending articles also have the goal to recommend themselves. On one hand, the writers themselves must have the capability to find out talents and using large numbers of legends of sages and wise men is also a method to show off tal-ent and learning. On the other hand, recommending talents for the country also indicated loyalty to the rulers and the nation.