魏晋哲学对“言不尽意”的两种回应——以王弼和僧肇为例

Two Responses in Wei-Jin Philosophy to“Meaning Is Beyond Words”:A Case Study of Wang Bi and Seng Zhao

汉末名教之治的崩塌令名与实的对应关系在魏晋哲学中遭受猛烈批判,其中主流观点认为语言作为一种传情达意的有限手段无法完整呈现具体而丰富的思想意涵,更无从接近超越一切具象形式的实在或真理。王弼与僧肇二人作为魏晋时代玄佛二家的代表,均承认封闭而排他的名言将阻碍人认知世界的真实状貌,且在语词构筑的有限视域内通达无碍的道或实相无法被确定或说明。然而二人均以为“言不尽意”这一论题本身即源自人对语言与现实的错误理解,破除言意之隔的关键在于扭转追寻确定性的认知模式。在此共识下,王弼认为有形的语言是道对自身的呈现与说明,僧肇则在破除名相的真实性后,指出超越二元对立的思维重新运用语言,“不动真际为诸法立处”的可能性。

The collapse of the Confucian ethical code in the late Han Dynasty caused the correspondence between language and reality to be fiercely criticized in Wei-Jin philosophy,in which the mainstream view was that language,as a limited means of expressing feelings and meanings,could not fully present concrete and rich ideological connotations,let alone attaining reality or truth that transcended all concrete forms.Wang Bi and Seng Zhao,as representatives of Taoist and Buddhist scholars in the Wei-Jin dynasties,both admitted that closed and exclusive words would hinder people’s understanding of the real state of the world,and that the unimpeded Tao or reality could not be determined or explained within the limited field of vision constructed by words.However,both Wang Bi and Seng Zhao believed the thesis that“meaning is beyond words”resulted from a misunderstanding of the language-reality relationship,and that the key to bridging the gap between language and meaning was to change the cognitive mode of pursuing certainty.With this consensus,Wang Bi believed that the tangible language was the presentation and explanation of the Tao itself,while Seng Zhao,after deconstructing the reality of names,pointed out the possibility of thinking beyond binary opposites to reuse language and of“setting a place for all existences with the Dharma remain untouched”.