姚鼐《述庵文钞序》与乾嘉之际的考据、辞章之辨

Yao Nai′s"Shu′an Wenchao Xu"and the Discussions Concerning the Issue of"Verification and Rhetoric"During the Qian-Jia Period

姚鼐是乾嘉时期著名学者、桐城派三祖之一。《述庵文钞序》是姚鼐阐释“义理、考证、文章三者兼收”说的重要文献,但长期以来由于直接文献的阙如,对该《序》的撰写时间,学界尚存较大的分歧。通过对新见姚鼐致王昶书札的考释,并结合相关文献进行重新梳证,可以确定《述庵文钞序》应是作于嘉庆三年五月至八月八日之间。同时,透过王昶、姚鼐对《序》中阐发的“三者兼收”说的不同态度,可以反映出乾嘉之际考据与辞章的异趣和分途。

Yao Nai,was a famous scholar during the Qian-Jia period and one of the three ancestors of the Tongcheng School,"Shu′an Wenchao Xu",was an important text for Yao Nai to expound the theory of"integration of principle,verification,and rhetoric".Due to the lack of primary sources,there had always been a major disagreement among scholars as to when this text was written.Through the textual research of the new-found letters from Yao Nai to Wang Chang and the reexamination of related documents,it′s safe to say that this text was written between May and August 8 of the 3th year of Jiaqing Reign.Furthermore,from Yao and Wang′s different attitudes towards the"integration"theory,we can perceive the different interests and different paths concerning the issue of"verification and rhetoric"during the Qian-Jia period.