器物比德与中国文学批评——以《文心雕龙》为中心的考察

Utensils as Metaphors for Morality and Chinese Literary Criticism—Focusing on The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons

道德、器物与文学之间存在着精神上的契合。器物作为中国古代物质文明和精神文明的结合体,承载着深厚的道德内蕴。人们以器比德,通过赋予器物精神内涵来表达对“德”的思考。刘勰深受儒家思想的熏陶,《文心雕龙》以“器物比德”的方式来论说理想的文学与文人。首先,刘勰继承了儒家明慎辨物的传统,以辨器比识德,认为明辨器物的正色与间色就是推崇道德与文章的雅正之美。其次,刘勰以器质比德质,以治木砌墙时的先质后文来论说理想的文人人格,以玉器的以质为文来论说文章之美。再者,刘勰以制器比修德,以金属冶炼对质料的重塑、律管定律对器物的规范,来喻指人修身正己的过程,并将其引申至文体的规范性。最后,以器用比德彰,借圭璋等玉器之用比君子德行和文章之美,又以木材喻人才,论说文德以器用为本。《文心雕龙》的“器物比德”传统建立在“天人合一”的哲学观念和“器以藏礼”的礼法观念基础之上。

There is a spiritual fit between morality,utensils and literature.As a combination of ancient Chinese material and spiritual civilization,utensils embody the ancient Chinese cultural spirit and carry profound moral connotations.The ancients expressed their thoughts on“morality”by giving the spiritual connotation to the object.Liu Xie(刘勰)was deeply influenced by Confucianism,and in his The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons(文心雕龙),he used utensils to metaphorize morality to discuss ideal literature and literati.First of all,Liu Xie inherited the Confucian tradition and used the identification of objects to metaphorize the identification of morality.He distinguished different colors of utensils to advocate the beauty of morality and elegance of articles.Secondly,Liu Xie used the quality of the utensils to metaphorize the moral quality.He discussed the ideal literati personality by using the metaphor of making furniture and building walls with wood,and used the quality of jade to explain the beauty of the ideal article.Thirdly,Liu Xie used the manufacturing of utensils to metaphorize the cultivating of morality,such as reshaping of metal materials,making pitch-pipes,to refer to the process of self-cultivation,and extended it to the standardization of article style.Finally,Liu Xie used the function of utensils to metaphorize the beauty of gentleman s virtue and the beauty of writing.He also used wood to metaphorize talents and argued that an article s virtue was based on its usefulness.The tradition of using utensils as metaphors for morality in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons is based on the ancient philosophical concept of“the Union of Nature and Man”and the concept of rituals being“utensils used to hide ceremony”.