《管锥编·杜预序》“尽而不汙”及“五情”说辨析

Examining the Concept of “Five Modes(wu qing)” and the Meaning of “Jin er bu wu” in Qian Zhongshu's study of Du Yu's “Preface to The Commentary of Zuo”

钱钟书先生《管锥编》考释杜预"《春秋左氏传》序"所述"五情"(微而显、志而晦、婉而成章、尽而不汙、惩恶而劝善)之说。其再释"尽而不汙"意在修正杜预注,然于"汙"字之训诂,却移甲就乙,误采"夸大"之义,有乖"汙"之本意。其于"五情"逻辑关联之理解亦似过单一;而其将"尽而不汙"与英文表达the whole truth,and nothing but the truth相等同,并称"‘五例’者实为‘史家之悬鹄’,非《春秋》所树范",则忽略中国经史交叉的传统与西方以客观事实为基础的不同史观间之差异,颇有架空东西方思想史脉络之嫌。从钱先生此则考证或可得出以下三点启示:其一,为文小题大做以炫博,而所提问题未必是真;其二,广列群书而失精审,所引之文似未详核原书;其三,中西对比宽泛而欠确切,驰想象而缺反思。

In his Limited Views:Essays on Ideas and Letters,Qian Zhongshu provides an interpretation of the concept of'Five Modes'in Du Yu’s'Preface to The Commentary of Zuo'.The'Five Modes'as summarized by Du Yu refer to five modes of narration:namely,(1)subtle yet emphatic,(2)indicative yet implicit,(3)euphemistic and properly written,(4)exhaustive and not distorted,and(5)chastising evil and encouraging goodness.Qian Zhongshu’s explanation of'jin er bu wu'sets out to correct Du Yu’s annotation,but he misinterprets the character'wu'as'exaggeration'based on partial evidence.His understanding of logical connections among the Five Modes of historical writing is insufficient.More significantly,Qian assumes that'jin er bu wu'is the Chinese equivalent of English expression'the whole truth,and nothing but the truth',claiming that the'Five Models(wu li)'actually set the standards for later historiography instead of taking The Spring and Autumn Annals as its model.This assumption indicates a failure to understand the differences between traditional Chinese Confucian and certain modern Western European and Anglophone traditions of history—as the former tends to merge history with moral doctrines,and the latter is founded on empirical fact—illustrating a tendency to overlook the genealogies of thought undergirding specific ideas.We may learn from Qian Zhongshu’s explanations on the'wu qing'the three following lessons:1)Overstating a small issue to showcase one’s erudition may generate false'problems';2)Reading extensively but not intensively easily leads to ungrounded arguments as well as inaccurate quotations;3)Drawing connections between Chinese and Western European ideas should be based on meticulous research rather than primarily expressing one’s own freeranging imagination.