西学相遇中的章太炎“引申”概念新解——与其文论、语言思想的关联

Zhang Taiyan's New Interpretation of the Concept of“Yinshen(Extension)”in His Encounter with Western Learning

晚清硕学章太炎的小学主张蕴含着其语言文学思想,从小学主张入手,重点讨论章太炎对于“引申”(引伸)概念新解,在小学史上定位章太炎解释的同时,也致力于展示章太炎解释的“新”之所在。章太炎的“引申”新解在继承乾嘉小学精髓的同时,亦融入了欧洲比较古典语文学大家马克斯·穆勒的语言思想。章太炎与西学的相遇多为透过明治日本进行,其对穆勒理论的关注亦不例外,尤其拜明治学者姉崎正治的译介、阐发所赐。章太炎不仅受到马克斯·穆勒语言思想的直接影响,更重要的是与乾嘉学术传统以及晚清语境的关联。章太炎认为小学层面上语词的过度引申正是文学失朴趋华的“表象之病”之根本所在,这一语言与文学的美学主义对伦理性、政治性构成了某种威胁,因此,其语言、文学思想也必须在晚清革命的语境中去理解。章太炎的小学主张、语言、文学及政治理论,四者之间可谓息息相关。

Zhang Taiyan(Zhang Binglin,1868-1936)was one of the most accomplished Chinese philologists,linguists,philosophers and revolutionaries alive at the turn of the twentieth-century.This paper deals with Zhang's reinterpretation of yinshen(引申),a traditional linguistic concept that denotes the figurative extension in meaning in Chinese characters.This paper positions his reinterpretation within the history of traditional Chinese linguistics and philology.In particular,this paper throws light on European scholar Max Müller's influence upon Zhang's understanding of yinshen via AnezakiMasaharu's(姉崎正治,1873-1949)concept of“representation”(hyōshō表象)in Meiji Japan.This is therefore the first attempt of study of the direct influence of Max Müller's linguistic philosophy on Zhang.For Zhang,the overextension of linguistic metaphoricity in Chinese characters is a kind of linguistic aestheticism that is central to the literary aestheticism present in Chinese literature.Zhang's concern with linguistic and literary aestheticism ultimately stems from his view that aestheticism threatens ethics and politics.His linguistic and literary thoughts also should be understood within the context of the revolutionary late Qing period.