尊体:严羽“本色”理论及其四大要素

Esteeming the Poetic Style:Yan Yu's Theory of Bense and Its Four Elements

严羽针对宋代以文字、才学、议论为诗的创作态势,用"本色"一词言说诗体特质,标明诗体界限,根本目的在于推尊诗体。而究其"本色"内涵,实与四大要素相关:"吟咏情性"乃其主旨追求,"妙悟"为其修习方式,"兴趣"是其表达特点,"入神"则为终极归趋。此四者既相互分立又紧相关合,其中"情性"最为基础,"兴趣""妙悟"乃由此升进之两大要项,"入神"则是以李杜诗歌为主要标准的诗之"至境"。此一"本色"理论,为宋诗破体实践所生流弊提供了疗救良方,使诗之为诗的本质特点得到凸显,由此达到正本清源、返古开新的目的。同时,它也一定程度地阻滞了一味破体导致的诗越来越非诗化的进程,并在文学史发展之肯定——否定——再否定的逻辑链条中,形成不可或缺的重要一环。

Unlike the literary trend in the Song Dynasty that good poetry is believed to consist in good diction, the poet＇s talent and learning, and ideas, Yan Yu＇s employment of ＂bense＂, or the fundamental quality, to define the nature of the poetic style and the boundaries of poetry so as to esteem the poetic style. The connotation of hence is related to four major elements, namely, the expression of xingqing （disposition） as the main pursuit, miaowu （subtle enlightenment） as the way of realization, xingqu （the evocation of interests） as the character of expression, and rushen （entering into a realm of supremacy or divinity） as the ultimate purport. Among these four elements, xingqing is the basis for xingqu and miaowu, and rushen is the top criterion of poetry as pursued by Libai and Dufu. The theory of bense is a cure for the disadvantage of the Song poems＇ tendency to poti, or diverge from the poetic style, thus clearly defining the essence of poetry. Through this, YanYu has managed to help people understand what poetry is by returning to canon. At the same time, his theory also offsets the inclination toward extreme divergenee fi＇om the poetic style, which demonstrates the law of affirmation-negation-the negation of the negation.