“辞尚体要”说与宋代文风的嬗变

The Theory of“Maxim of Appropriateness”and the Transformation of Writing Style in the Song Dynasty

"辞尚体要"一语最早出自伪古文《尚书·毕命》篇,是指文辞表达的旨趣切实完备且抓住要领。"辞尚体要"说的文章理论价值经刘勰《文心雕龙》揭橥之后,对宋代的文风产生了重要影响。有宋一代帝王和文人臣子经常利用"辞尚体要"说批评、纠正当时浮华的文风,使"辞尚体要"说一直回荡在宋代的文坛上,可谓不绝如缕。宋代的古文革新能取得成功,"辞尚体要"说在其中发挥了不可忽视的作用。在宋代,"辞尚体要"说作为遏制浮华文风的一剂良药,能否被付诸实践,有诸多因素制约,其中帝王与朝廷的好尚,实乃有力之提倡。宋代重视"辞尚体要"说,与宋人好议论、崇尚夏商周三代的文风、普遍重视文章的实用性和《尚书》学的兴盛等方面有关。

“Maxim of Appropriateness”originated from the pseudo-classic Bi Ming in Shang Shu(Book of Documents),which meant that proper prose expression should aim at completement and the main points.After the theoretical value of“Maxim of Appropriateness”was revealed by Liu Xie in the famous literary classic The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons,it exerted much influence on the writing style of the Song Dynasty.In the Song Dynasty,the emperors and the literati and ministers often used the theory of“Maxim of Appropriateness”to criticize and improve the writing style at that time,which made“Maxim of Appropriateness”very popular in the literary world.The reform of classical prose in the Song Dynasty was a success,in which the theory of“Maxim of Appropriateness”played an important role as a good means to curb the flashy writing style,whose practice was under the influence of many factors in that period,such as the preference of the royal family,the popular trend of literary criticism and the preference for the practicality of the writing style of the Xia,the Shang and the Zhou dynasties as well as the influence of Book of Documents.