汉武帝追求长生的心路历程

The Psychological Changing Process of Emperor Wu in his Persuit of Immortality

目前学者大多侧重分析汉武帝迷信神仙的原因和弊端,却很少有人关注他追求长生的复杂心态及其变化。在任用方士希求长生的过程中,汉武帝尝尽希望和失望交替的痛苦;在亲临海上求仙或派人到海上寻仙的过程中,汉武帝深谙寻觅失败的滋味;在追求长生的道路上,汉武帝鲜明地体现出屡求屡败,败而不馁的执著;汉武帝晚年终于认识到神仙的虚妄,不再祈求长生,伴随醒悟而来的是些许失落和无奈。

So far many scholars have placed special emphasis on the causes and the abuses of the practice when analyzing the superstitious worship of deities of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and few have paid close attention to his complicated sychological states and his changes of mind in his persuit of immortality. In his long course of using the technical specialists called fangshi to seek immortality, Emperor Wu had experienced the excitement of hope and the bitterness of loss of hope. In the pracices of his looking for gods on the sea by himself or by sending his men, he had met with constant failures. In the long process of seeking immortality, he distinctively showed his perseverance and dauntlessness despite all the failures. In his senectitude, the emperor realised the delusiveness of immortals and stopped his persuit of immortality, and in company with his awakening is some kind of loss and disappointment.