“顺题成文”与“因体立格”——明代八股文的结撰模式及创作空间

“Shun ti cheng wen”(顺题成文) and “Yin ti li ge”(因体立格)——The Writing Rules and Creative Space of Eight-legged Essay

就技术层面而言,八股文的创作是一个"拆分"、"重组"的过程:先将题文内容拆分开来,再按照八股文的体式要求调整、变化、结撰成文。"顺题成文"与"因体立格"是八股文最基本的两种结撰模式。"顺题成文"立足于题文内容,依据题文自身的叙述顺序安排文章的基本结构。"因体立格"则是根据文体格式的需要,对题文内容的顺序或逻辑结构加以调整,最终以规范的八股文体式完成表述。成功的八股文,务必兼顾题文与体式,既要准确、妥贴地阐述题文内容,又要突出八股文的文体特征。因此,如何在"顺题成文"和"因体立格"之间做选择,如何处理好题文与体式之间的微妙关系,便成为八股文作者首先要面对的难题。然而,也正是两者之间的张力关系,在"拆分"与"重组"的过程中,为八股文的写作提供了最重要的创作空间。

In terms of writing skills, composing an Eight-legged essay includes two parts of work, that is,split and reorganization. The writer splits the topic content first, and then makes adjustments and changes according to the form of Eight-legged essay. ＂Shun ti cheng wen＂ and ＂Yin ti li ge＂ are two basic writing rules of Eight-legged essay. ＂Shun ti cheng wen＂ is based on the topic content, which means arranging the basic essay structure according to the narrative order of topic itself. And ＂Yin ti li ge＂ means adjusting the order or the logical structure of the topic content according to the form of Eight-legged essay, so that the writer can finish the expression with a normative Eight-legged essay form. In order to create a successful Eight-legged essay, the writer must give consideration to both the topic and the form： the topic content must be expressed precisely and appropriately; the characteristic of essay form must be highlighted as well. Consequently, how to make a choice between ＂Shun ti cheng wen＂ and ＂Yin ti li ge＂ and how to manage the subtle relationship between the topic and form become the difficulties faced by the writer of the Eight-legged essay. However, the most important creative space can be supplied to the Eight-legged essay writing in the process of split and reorganization just because of the tensile relationship between the topic and form.