中国古代文论中“书不尽言”之辩

A Debate on “Writing Can not Fully Express Everything” in Ancient Chinese Literary Theories

"书不尽言"是中国古代关于书面表达和口头表达的一个重要命题,它是"言不尽意"的前提。《周易》中的"书不尽言"只是提出问题,真正表达的意思是"书能尽意"。区分"书""言""意"三者的等级关系,能够有效批驳"汉字工具论",并有助于树立汉字在文字史上的独特地位。

Astract:"Writing can not fully express everything" is an important proposition in the Chinese ancient times about written and oral expression. It is the premise of "writing can fully express everything", and also the blind spot of the previous studies. In Zhouyi, the statement "writing can not fully express everything" only raises questions, which really means "writing can fully express everything". To distinguish the hierarchical relationship between "writing","speech" and "meaning" may effectively refute the "Chinese character instrumentalism" and be conducive to the establishment of the unique position of Chinese characters in the history of Chinese characters.