虎关师炼《济北集》所见中国观念

The Concept of China Revealed through Kokan Shiren's Saihokushū

五山禅僧虎关师炼的汉诗文集《济北集》深耕中国典籍并予以取譬发挥。他推崇"圣人"周公与孔子,但他汲汲以求的"道"更接近《太平经》等所宣扬的突出教化功用、带有谶纬色彩的"道"。他在诗文评点中秉持"舍疵取醇"的自主批判意识,诗尊盛唐,文重韩愈,还将文之散俪与国之治乱结合起来。品藻中国历史人物时瑕瑜互见,有过分夸大帝王与宰辅的功用之嫌,对陶渊明"介士"与"傲吏"的定位有失偏颇。他在佛学与儒学间自如出入,但当二者出现博弈时取抑儒扬佛的态度,对不少中国文人的批驳有观念先行的痕迹。

Saihokushu is a well-known collection of poems and essays written by Kokan Shiren, a poet and Gozan Zen sect monk from the late Kamakura period of Japan. This collection took much of its material from the classical works of China. Kokan held the greatest esteem for the Duke of Zhou and Confucius, and pursued a ＂dao＂ that was similar to that manifested in Taiping Jing （＂Scripture of the Great Peace＂） which emphasizes the enlightenment function and divination combined with mystical Confucian belief. In his literary criticism, he obeyed the rule of ＂keeping the essence and discarding the waste＂ and revealed a consciousness of independent criticism. As for poetry, he thought highly of poets from the glorious age of the Tang dynasty; where essays were concerned, he valued the work of Han Yu. He also combined literary style prose with times of peace and prosperity while connecting parallel prose with turbulent days. He had both insight and misconceptions in judging and commenting on Chinese historical figures. Somehow he overestimated the functions of kings, emperors, and prime ministers. He considered Tao Yuanming, a famous Chinese poet as ＂upright and incorruptible to the extreme＂ and yet ＂typical of an arrogant official.＂ Apparently, this was a faultfinding criticism. He had mastered both Confucianism and Buddhism very well. But in the case of a divergence, he would always deliberately belittle Confucianism and elevate Buddhism. In some of his refutations of Chinese literati, he clearly showed bias and preconceptions.