东晋南朝士庶用语之“北化”与“吴化”问题——陈寅恪《东晋南朝之吴语》补论

On the“Bei Hua”and“Wu Hua”of the Dialects Used by the Shi and Shu Groups of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties:An Additional Remark on Chen Yinchieh’s On the Wu Dialect of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties

陈寅恪先生《东晋南朝之吴语》一文曾提出"江左士族操北语,而庶人操吴语"之重要论断,而造成这种现象的原因值得进一步挖掘。除了陈先生指出的政治变迁之外,导致东晋南朝士庶用语不同的原因尚有三端:一是中原文化占据优势地位,诗词写作须合乎中原正声,北人南渡以后的清谈和文会,更是引发了吴地士族的兴趣和追随;二是士庶生活环境不同,庶族置身南方之后,能够快速融入当地的吴语环境,而士族多居住在自给自足的庄园,接受着世代传承的家族教育,存有相对完整的北语环境;三是士族多文人而庶族多武将,后者很少参与赋诗清谈活动,仅以功勋而显达,不必在文化上征得士族之认同,故其语言但图便利、不求雅正。

In his book On the Wu Dialect of the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties,Chen Yinchieh put forward an important view,which was that"the Shi group(aristocrats)spoke northern dialect while the Shu group(civilians)spoke Wu dialect in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties."The reasons behind this phenomenon are worth further exploring.Apart from the political element proposed by Chen,there are three other causes.First,the culture of the Central Plains always held a dominant position,and thus people tended to use the language of that area in writing.The activities including idle talks and literary gatherings after the southward migration of the northern people greatly aroused the interest and imitation of the Shi group in the Wu area.Second,the living environments of the Shi and Shu groups were quite different.After the settlement in the Wu area,the Shu group quickly integrated into the local language environment,while the Shi group lived in self-sufficient manors and received family education inherited from generation to generation,thus being able to keep the relatively intact language environment of northern dialect.Third,there were more literati and fewer warriors in the Shi group than in the Shu group.The warriors rarely took part in activities like idle talks and literary gatherings.Prominent for their military exploits,they didn’t need to seek approval from the Shi group in literature.Therefore,they pursued convenience in life rather than grace in language.