从刺客、游侠看先秦两汉侠形象变迁

Assassins and Paladin and the Image Change of Chivalrous Swordsman in the Pre-Qin Period and Han Dynasty

春秋战国时期,《韩非子》所载的"侠"是一个群体性名词,它包括了勇士、私剑、刺客和游侠等多重角色,其中刺客凭借"以武犯禁"的特征,成为这一时期"侠"的典范代表。秦末汉初,太史公《史记》中所论述的游侠,不仅具有周急救穷的侠义,还有高尚的道德修养,是这一时期"侠"的典范代表;班固《汉书》中新增加游侠,暴力凶杀特点突出,虽有济危救困的侠义,然而却缺少德性修养,游侠沦为豪暴之侠,成为威胁国家君主权威和正常社会秩序的异端群体,刺客和游侠成为侠的两种重要典范形态。

In the Pre-Qin Period, chivalrous swordsman was a mass-word including warrior, private swordsman, assassins, paladin and played multiple roles in the society. Among the group, the assassins due to their characteristics of sword became the typical role model of chivalrous swordsman in this period. While in the period between the end of Qin and the beginning of Han, the paladins according to Historical Records not only had chivalrous character of aiding the poor, but also had noble morality, so they became the role models of the chivalrous swordsman in that period. In The History of Han Dynasty, Ban Gu mentioned some new paladins, who had prominent violent features and lacked morality and became a threat to the national monarchy and the normal social order, so assassin and paladin became the two important typical images of the chivalrous swordsman.