《儒林外史》视野中的四类名士

Four Types of Celebrities in The Scholars

《儒林外史》第一回以不受名利拘牵的名士王冕来敷陈大义,而全书所写,则主要是追名逐利的冒牌名士,如杜慎卿、陈和甫、景兰江、丁诗、权勿用等。他们或以颠狂的方式暴得大名,或以"山人"而"飞来飞去宰相衙",或附庸风雅而酸态毕露,或自以为势利之极而其实"呆串了皮"。吴敬梓对这四类名士的调侃和讽刺,既表达了他对所生活的时代的失望,也表达了对理想的名士风度的期待和向往。《儒林外史》借以告诉读者:安贫乐道才是读书人最好的选择;安贫乐道的前提是完成基本的人生责任;而要完成基本的人生责任,必须具有正常的谋生能力。《儒林外史》所提倡的这一人生理念,看似平淡无奇,实则包含了深邃的哲理和丰富的人生体验。

The author offered Wang Mian, a celebrity not infatuated with fame and fortune, as a role model to give a principle of right and wrong in detail in the first chapter of The Scholars. Then the author mainly portrayed and satirized many fake celebrities such as Du Shenqing, Chen Hefu, Jing Lanjiang, Ding Shi and Quan Wuyong who all chased fame and gain. Through positive and negative contrasts, the author told the readers of The Scholars that the scholars should be willing to suffer poverty, while unwilling to leave the right track. Scholars should have the normal ability to earning a living and complete the basic responsibility of life. This philosophy of life that the author advocated in The scholars seems to be trite and insignificant, containing a profound philosophy drawn from the author＇s rich life experience.