张岱对“四书”的佛学解读——以《四书遇》为中心的考察

Zhang Dai's Buddhist Interpretations of the Four Books: Focusing on Encounter with the Four Books

张岱所著的《四书遇》是一部以引用佛教,特别是禅宗的话语解释儒家四书的著作。他引用佛教和禅宗话语解释《大学》传文;将《中庸》解释成为心体光明的展现,方便法门的施设;又把《论语》视为破除执著的良方,展现圣衷的宝典,教化弟子的记录;在解释《孟子》时则较少引用佛语,唯论性善处有数条。与当时盛行的理学家的高头讲章相比,张岱对四书的如此解释显得比较亲切、自然,富有情趣。《四书遇》成书于明末清初,因此有着非常深刻的明清鼎革的社会和思想根源。

Zhang Dai 张岱(1597–ca. 1685, also known as Tao'an) was the son of a government official, born in Shanyin or present-day Shaoxing City of Zhejiang Province. He was a versatile man with interests ranging from various pastimes to academic pursuits, such as sightseeing, painting, writing of poems, historical compilations, appreciation of classics, and practice of meditation.1 Upon the collapse of the Ming dynasty(1368–1644), he was so grieved that he retreated to the mountains along the Yanxi River, where he led a thrifty and simple life with disheveled hair, and died as a Ming adherent. Zhang Dai was prolific and productive. Among his best known works are Collected Works of the Emperor of Heaven's Library [琅嬛文集], Continued History of the Ming Dynasty [石匮书后集], and Dream Memory of Tao'an [陶庵梦忆], whereas his Encounter with the Fo ur Books [四书遇] and Commentaries on the Righteous and the Strong-Willed [义烈传] remain unknown to the general public due to the fact that no print copies have ever been made. Fortunately, Zhejiang Library bought in 1934 the manuscript of Encounter with the Four Books, which was originally preserved in Gefeng Study owned by the Changshubased Zhou's descendants in Yuhang. The manuscript was appraised as the authentic Qing version of Encounter with the Four Books that Zhang Dai revised and finalized in person, awaiting to be printed. Later in 1984, Professor Zhu Hongda 朱宏达 of Zhejiang University made detailed comments on the manuscript, which was published by Zhejiang Ancient Books Publishing House in the year that followed. This was the first time that the public was able to have a look at Zhang Dai's Encounter with the Four Books.2 Encounter with the Four Books is a collection of observations and annotations of the four classical Confucian books, namely, the Great Learning, the Doc trine of the Mean, the Analects, and the Mencius. In his book, Zhang Dai quoted the scriptures of Buddhism, especially Zen Buddhism, for clearer explanations. Compared with the scriptures with wide line spacing popular among Neo-Confucians, Zhang's interpretations of the Four Books seem more amiable, natural, and interesting.Zhang Dai mentioned in the 'Author's Preface' of Encounter with the Four Books that, As a child, I followed my father's advice—not to follow the commentaries and annotations of Zhu Xi 朱熹(1130–1200) while reading cl assics. Without any commentaries of previous famous scholars in mind, I was ready to make my own interpretations whenever I read the classics. I would sit square and read aloud the text of aclassic dozens of times before its meaning dawned upon me. Sometimes I failed to understand some of the text, which would be harbored in my mind for reflection for a year or two. In quest ofits meaning, I chose to expose myself to other books, to listen to people's discussions, to enjoy the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers, or to take a look at dif ferent species of fauna and flora. What I saw and experienced would sometimes bring to my mind what the text revealed all of a sudden. That's why I named the book Encounter with the Four Books.3 From the a bove, it can be drawn that Zhang Dai broke away from the conventions(i.e., following previous annotations) in interpreting the Confucian classics. The present essay focuses on the key concepts and entries where Zhang Dai used Zen scriptures to annotate the Four Books, thus showing how Buddhist thoughts af fected his interpretations.(1) The key concept in the Great Learning is the enlightenment stage of Zen. There are altogether eleven chapters in the Great Learning, of which the first chapter is referred to as jing(经) or Confucius' s remarks and the rest ten as zhuan(传) or Zengzi's notes and interpretations. The Buddhist and Zen scriptures Zhang Dai quoted in the 'Great Learning' in Encounter with the Four Books were mainly employed to explain zhuan. For example, Investigation belongs to the mengjue 梦觉(awakening) stage of not being ignorant while sincerity belongs to the rengui 人鬼(escaping) stage of not being hypocritical. Passing these two critical stages, things will become easier and easier. As for governance, one will feel even freer to run his country and maintain world peace so long as he is adaptable and conscious of the blueprint and priorities. Will everyone dawn upon this? Only those with great perseverance and determination like loneliness-and bitter-beaten Buddhists can.4 There has been a wide spectrum of opinions on what gaining knowledge by making investigations and achieving sincerity by changing attitudes mean in the Great Learning among the Confucian scholars through the ages, but two Neo-Confucian schools were the most inf luential, namely, the school of principle represented by Cheng Hao 程颢(1032–1085), Cheng Yi 程颐(1033–1107), and Zhu Xi, and the school of the heart-mind represented by Lu Xiangshan 陆象山(1139 –1193) and Wang Yangming 王阳明(1472–1528). Judging from Zhang Dai's quotations of the three enlightenment stages of Zen(禅家三关) and the three marks of existence in Buddhism(佛教三法印), his opinions most resembled those of Lu and Wang, which testifies that the Neo-Confucian school of the heart-mind has more Buddhist af finity.(2) The supreme realm of the Doctrine of the Mean is flexibility. With thirty-three chapters, the Doctrine of the Mean was proclaimed as 'the teaching methodology of Confucianism' by the Song Confucians.5 Zhang Dai's imbedding of the Doctrine of the Mean into the interpretative texture of Zen Buddhism in his Encountering with the Four Books might be considered as a convenient approach to Confucian teachings or a full presentation of the sincere and smart image of the Confucian sages. Zhang Dai thought the f lexibility of enlightenment and cultivation by Confucianism was demonstrated in the Doctrine of the Mean, as he wrote in the chapter of 'Inquires into Governance' [问政] that,Extensive learning, careful reflection, detailed interrogation, and constant practice are all the convenient approaches to enlightenment. However, they are of no use if one has become intelligent and capable. Th at explains the saying, 'Have no medicine when the illness is cured; ask not about the journey when one has reached home.'6Buddhism attaches great importance to the disruption of obstinacy. Hence, if one is preoccupied by the Buddhist doctrine, he is bound to suffer from it. Zhang Dai's interpretations not only give full play to the solemnity of Buddhist teachings, but also display the f lexibility of enlightenment, thus conducive to breaking the mindset of treating the Doctrine of the Mean as rigid creeds. 'A man of noble character pursues studies to cultivate moral integrity, probes into the minutest to achieve erudition, and abides by the golden mean to exercise wisdom,' mentions Doctrine of the Mean. Those words of fer readers perspectives to explore the book. Zhang Dai obviously stressed the methodological significance and broadened the realm of the heart-mind(substance) in his Buddhist interpretations of the Doctrine of the Mean, virtually leading to a partial understanding that the Doctrine of the Mean tends to maximize the importance of morality, erudition, and wisdom.(3) Zhang Dai believed obstinacy blinds one's eye to see the sage's real intention, as implied in the Analects. Among the Four Books, the Analects is not the biggest in terms of textual length and word numbers. However, Zhang Dai devoted more than half of Encounter with the Four Books to its interpretations, which verifies his love and respect for the book. By citing Buddhist and Zen scriptures, he interpreted the Analects as a panacea to obstinacy, an encyclopedia of the sage's ideas, and a record of enlightening disciples. Confucius said, 'I'm so old and feeble that I haven't met Duke of Zhou in my dreams for long.'7 In Zhang Dai's eyes, to meet Duke of Zhou in dreams means Confucius was still stubbornly haunted by the physical self and dharma, from which he would not be ultimately freed until he completely stopped meeting Duke of Zhou in his dreams.8 Confucius also claimed, 'Everyone is to be educated equally.'9 For this, Zhang Dai explained with ingenious metaphors from Saddharmapundarikasutra [法华], 'The teachings of sages are like the Heaven-sent rain and dew, in which people are unexceptionally nourished regardless of their ability, aptitude, appearance, et cetera.'10 Although Zhang Dai did not treat Confucianism as equivalent to Buddhism, his interpretations of the Analects did enrich the Confucian xin-xing(mind–nature) philosophy and highlight the practical quality, thus diverting the focus of Confucianism to the purification of the mind and soul.(4) Zhang Dai takes the goodness of human nature as the dharma-ra^ja(法王). In a contrast to his interpretation to the above three books, the 'Menciu s' in Encounter with the Four Books quoted Buddhist and Zen scriptures least, which are largely attributed to such focused topics of the book as benevolent governance, the kingly Way, and the social relationships between the monarch and subjects, between father and son, all of which have little to do with what Buddhism concerns. Only when it comes to the topic of xin-xing did he quote Buddhist scriptures about eight or nine times.Mencius regarded it his own duty to refute Yang Zhu's 杨朱 and Mozi's thoughts. He hoped to see the elites 'breaking away from Mozi's school turn themselves to converts of the Yang Zhu's school, and the latter, in turn, to converts of Confucianism. ‘Turn oneself to' here means to convert oneself from an old faith to a new one.'11 In this way, Confucianism shall prevail. Zhang Dai praised Mencius highly for this and he even regarded him as 'the supreme dharma-ra^ja(大法王)'12 acting like the patriotic and loyal general Yue Fei 岳飞(1103–1142),who conquered the invaders of non-conformists in the Song dynasty. Therefore, Zhang Dai was actually comparing the thought struggle between Confucianism and Yang Zhu's and Mozi's thoughts to the religious war where the Buddhists subdued all the demons and monsters. Zhang Dai's Encounter with the Four Books was deeply rooted in the social and ideological changes of that time. The succession of the Ming dynasty to the Qing dynasty had a great impact on Zhang Dai both physically and mentally, which drove him to inquire into the academic causes of such an upheaval. Since the Southern Song dynasty(1127–1279), Zhu Xi's Commentaries and Interpretations on the Four Books [四书章句集注] were so popu lar that they became the authoritative textbooks for the country to select, train, and foster talents as well as the compulsory reference books for the scholars to prepare for the imperial examination with the purpose of gaining fame and wealth. However, Zhu Xi advocated the dichotomy of the heartmind and things, which actually undermined the moral enlightenment of the Confucian classics. As a result, Wang Yangming's philosophy of the heart-mind began to rectify such ill tendencies by emphasizing on extending intuitive knowledge and the unity of knowledge and action, which, on the contrary, somewhat went out of control in its later stage of development. Some Yangming scholars even stored the books unread and upheld the intemperate satisfaction of human desires. As a follower of Wang Yangming, Zhang Dai knew well the defects of Zhu Xi's school of principle. He hence made annotations and observations to the Four Books, expecting to eradicate the sectarianism existing between the school of principle and the school of the heartmind, and between Confucianism and Buddhism at large. By doing so, Wang Yangming's philosophy of the heart-mind was exclusively advocated as the orthodoxy, which had been deprived of the dogmatization, formalization, and utilitarianism of Zhu Xi's teachings as well as the unscrupulousness and willfulness of the later Yangming followers, paving the way for fostering the talented who could keep themselves morally cultivated, their family harmoniously regulated, their country well governed, and the whole world resting in peace and tranquility.Unfortunately, Encounter with the Four Books came out in the wrong era regardless ofits contributions. First of all, Zhang Dai's eminent position and wealthy life were reduced to nothing af ter the fall of the Ming Empire and he became a down-and-out scholar, which means he was unable to popularize his own ideas in the book. Second, the philosophy of the heartmind prevailed in the late Ming dynasty, rendering so much empty talk. Scholars then became aware that the empty talk did nothing good to save the empire from dying and they gradually resorted to more pragmatic ideas; thus, Encounter with the Four Books did not conform to the trend of the times as well. Third, the Qing dynasty exercised stricter control over people's minds and thoughts since its succession to the Ming. A case in point was the rampant rise of literary inquisition. Under such circumstances, Encounter with the Four Books, which aimed at lessons drawn from the fall of the former dynasty, would never be allowed to spread. In addition, in his later years Zhang Dai still claimed to be an adherent of the previous Ming dynasty. More likely, he wrote it for self-amusement and reference, rather than for seeking fame the world over. However, it is really exciting for the well-preserved manuscript of Zhang Dai's Encounter with the Four Books to be found, published, and explored by interested scholars af ter all these 300 years. It is predictable that more in-depth research into Encounter with the Four Books will be carried out from varied perspectives and points of view, and correspondingly, more attention will be focused on Zhang Dai's Buddhist interpretations on the Four Books.