重论“四始”

A Further Discussion on “the Setting of the Initial Poems of the Four Parts in the Book of Songs”

"四始"体现儒门早期诗论的深意。它不仅仅关乎技术层面的体例和编排,而且关乎篇意论定和典范作品的确立,关乎推崇说诗者的美学原则,使范例成为规范,由此而创生出一个关于诗的意识形态。这个关于诗的意识形态是深深植根于中国文明的土壤的。五四新观念传入,转而将"三百篇"看成民歌民谣,虽有合理性,但也遮蔽颇多。

The setting of the initial poems of the four parts in the Book of Songs （四始） embodied the profound meaning of the poetic theory in early Confucianism. It was not merely an editorial format and arrangement, but was also concerned with the establishment of a poetic theme and a model poem, and concerned with the aesthetic principles of the poem explainers, thus turning a model poem into a norm, and creating an ideology about poetry. This poetic ideology has been deeply rooted in the soil of Chinese civilization. With the introduction of the new concept caused by the May 4th Movement, the three hundred pieces from the Book of Songs were considered as folk songs and folk ballads. Although this view was somewhat reasonable, it had a lot of concealment.