“山木人心,其理一也”--《歧路灯》与理学修养观

Qilu Deng and the conception of self-cultivation in Neo-Confucianism

《歧路灯》屡次引用“平旦之气”“夜气”等概念,且多次运用“树”这一意象,皆与《孟子·告子上》“牛山之木”章相关。朱熹认为,牛山之木譬人之良心,山本有生木之性,如人固有仁义之心。牛山之若彼濯濯,在于迭遭斧斤之伐、牛羊之牧。人之违禽兽不远,在于放失其本然之良心,旦昼之所为,又将放失之余发见至微之良心梏亡殆尽。孟子由旦气、夜气收归到良心,工夫进路在于操存其心。《歧路灯》浪子回头、改过迁善的主题体现了“牛山之木”章的主旨:仁义之心人所固有,当时时处处用力做操存收放之工夫。谭绍闻翻来覆去之失足、改志又堕落的情节,是对“梏之反覆”理论要义的具体呈现。李绿园自觉吸纳程朱理学之修养观念,作为《歧路灯》主题表达与结构设置之理论背书。

Throughout the process of storytelling,Qilu Deng appropriates many important concepts such as the calm morning qi and the evening qi,and the image of tree from Mencius 6A8.As Zhu xi’s interpretation,Mencius makes an analogy between the trees of Ox Mountain and the innate good mind in this chapter.The mind of humaneness and rightness is definitely possessed by all men alike,just as the trees of Ox Mountain were beautiful originally.The mountain is now bare because its trees were chopped down day after day and its plants were overgrazed.Accordingly,a man’s presently bad behavior is the result of losing the innate good mind and the“repeated fettering”during the day.For Mencius,the task of self-cultivation is to preserve the innate good mind and to develop and extend the moral sprouts of the mind.This essay offers a close reading of Qilu Deng,exploring one of the major themes of this novel,i.e.the awakening of a prodigal son,and its relationship with the conception of self-cultivation in neo-Confucianism,which is established through interpretation of above-mentioned concepts in Mencius.The conclusion emphasizes that the conception of self-cultivation has a great effect on the themes and structure of this novel.