“卿可谓鬼之董狐”新解

New Interpretation to "You are Really a Biographer for the Ghost"

刘惔是东晋清谈的领袖,但并不像有的学者断定的那样只是一个清谈家。刘惔的清谈是其进入仕途的途径,刘惔实际上和干宝一样,都是谨守礼法,维护皇室威权,勇于自任的。作为学贯儒道的清谈宗主,刘惔不仅读懂《搜神记》鬼神世界所贯穿的孝、德、仁、礼的儒家观念,而且面对着建武中的时政格局,刘惔洞察干宝欲借古今神祗灵异人物变化以见吉凶、察时变,明国家政治得失的良苦用心。

Liu Tan was a leading figure of the metaphysical talk of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, however, he was not totally a master in this art as judged by other scholars. To him, the metaphysical talk was in a sense a way to his official career. Like Gan Bao, Liu was also a tradition-abiding loyal subject of the emperor. As a great master in metaphysical talk and Confucianism, he not only understood perfectly the Confucian concepts of filial piety, virtue, benevolence, and proprieties contained in Sou Shen Ji, but perceived the intention of Gan Bao＇s to use the stories of the ghost to imply the losses and gains of the contemporary politics.