论晚清易学之转向

On the Late Qing Turn in Yixue

随着晚清的社会剧变和西学的持续传入,中国学术也在发生着深刻的变化。其中,晚清时期的易学家,本着救亡图存的宗旨,以其宏大的学术视野和渊博的文化知识,建立了饱含现实关切的易学体系。他们在检讨汉宋易学尤其是历代象数学和吸纳西学知识的基础上,提出了“以世界之眼光观其象”的易象论;从象数、义理和道器关系的角度论证了象数在易学和科技发展中的地位,力图从《周易》象数中开显出物质文明;又用西方进化论学说比附《周易》,以此宣扬变法革命等先进思想。这些新方法、新内容,深刻改变了易学研究的旧有形态,实现了易学范式转换,开启了新语境下易学系统的重建。尤其是晚清以杭辛斋为代表的易学实为古代易学向现代易学过渡的标志性成果。既宣告了晚清易学的终结,也标志着现代新易学的开端。然而,他们为了达到救亡图存目标而急于求成,缺乏严密论证,用《周易》简单地比附西学,故其研究成果仍然存有不严谨或牵强之嫌,这不得不令人深省之。反思晚清易学有重要的现实意义。同时应当指出,当时仍有相当一部分易学家,漠不关心现实,仍然坚持传统的研究理路治《易》。

Accompanying the late Qing social upheaval and the continuous inroads of Western learning were profound changes in Chinese scholarship.In particular,yixue researchers(studying the Book of Changes and its derivatives)used their broad scholarly vision and profound cultural knowledge to build a systemic yixue charged with immediate concerns and directed toward achieving national salvation.On the basis of their acceptance of Western learning and study of Han and Song yixue,especially the image-numerology handed down through the generations,they put forward the theory of“yi images”i.e.,“observing phenomena from the standpoint of the world.”They argued for the role of image-numerology in both yixue and scientific and technological development from the perspective of righteousness and principles and of the Way and concrete entities.In doing so,they endeavored to open up material civilization through the image-numerology approach of the Zhou Yi(Book of Changes)by using analogies between the Western theory of evolution and the Zhou Yi to promote progressive ideas such as reform and revolution.The new methods and new contents wrought a profound change in the form of previous studies of the Zhou Yi,transformed the yixue paradigm,and started the reconstruction of the yixue system in the new setting.In particular,the yixue scholarship represented by Hang Xinzhai in the late Qing was indeed a landmark achievement in the transition from ancient to modern yixue;it not only proclaimed the end of late Qing yixue,but also marked the beginning of the new yixue of modern times.However,these scholars were so eager to achieve success and thereby attain the goal of national salvation that they did not put forward rigorous arguments,but simply mined the Zhou Yi for analogies to Western learning.Consequently,their research results were far-fetched and lacked rigor,which cannot but give one cause to think.Reflection on late Qing yixue has great practical significance,but at the same time,it should be noted that not a few of these researchers were out of touch with reality,and preserved the traditional way of studying the Zhou Yi.