《庄子》对“礼”之真意的批判反思——质文辩证与伦理重估

Dialectics between Quality and Form and the Ethical Revaluation ——Zhuangzi’s Critical Reflection on the True Meaning of Rites

《庄子》一书,出现不少批评礼教的言论,以及违逆丧礼仪式的故事叙述,因此极容易被视为彻底反礼教,并崇尚礼教外的绝对自由之追求。这种平面简化式理解,并不能深入把握《庄子》治疗礼文僵化的别有用心。《庄子》式的具体自由,并不离开人文与伦理,但也不轻易直接肯认礼教伦理的形式合理性,反而认为唯有彻底意识到情与礼、真与礼、质与文、礼意与礼文之间的吊诡颉抗性质,才能在本于真情流出的存有活力下,对于礼文的形式僵固、虚矫等异化,保有最敏锐的感受力,并且在"质胜于文"的存在性坚持下,强调礼文应该容许保有更多美学性、差异性的自我风格之可能。如此才可能由真实存在感受而流溢出质朴形式,并且在"存在(礼意之真)"与"形式(礼文之貌)"之间,保持一种新鲜的吊诡张力关系,不致让"礼意"被"礼文"给掩蔽而遭致遗忘。同时在论证《庄子》的"才全而德不形"的礼意观基础上,尝试厘清它和孔子"文质彬彬"的细微重要之差别。

Containing quite a number of criticisms on ritual education and anecdotal stories in violation of funeral ceremonies, the Zhuangzi is very likely to be regarded as a book entirely against ritual education while wholly in pursuit of absolute freedom beyond such education. However, it is believed in this paper that such superficial understanding, which is akin to considering the Zhuangzi as just a book on the dualistic thinking of anti-humanism and pro-nature, cannot help readers thoroughly grasp the ulterior motives of the Zhuangzi, namely to heal the ritual rigidity. This paper aims to demonstrate that the Zhuangzi-style concrete freedom does not deviate from humanistic theory and ethics, but also does not easily recognize the direct rationality in ritual education and ethical formalities. However, according to the book, only through a complete awareness of the dualistic, antagonistic, paradoxical nature of emotions vs. rites, trueness vs. rites, quality vs. text, or ritual meaning vs. ritual text, can a person, with existing vitality from the outflow of true feelings, maintain the keenest ability to sense alienation from the formalities, rigidity and pretensions of the ritual text. With an insistence on the existence of "quality before text", the book emphasizes that the ritual text should be allowed to maintain more possibilities for the aesthetical, differential self style. This needs to be done so that a person may manifest his unaffected form(bearing) arising from the perception of his real existence, and maintain fresh, paradoxical tension between the "existence(trueness of ritual meaning)" and "form(looks of the ritual text)". Hence, the "ritual meaning" and "ritual text" may not fall into oblivion. In addition, on the basis of expounding the Zhuangzi’sritual view of "perfect talent without virtue", this paper also clarifiesits subtle and important differences from the idea "elegant and refined in manner" of Confucius.