“耿耿不寐,如有隐忧”——再论王维《竹里馆》

“Sleepless Night with Painful Worries”-On Wang Wei’s Poem of“The Lodge in the Bamboo Grove”again

《竹里馆》一诗中,王维以“弹琴”“长啸”于“幽篁里”的阮籍自况,其中“独坐”“幽篁”“弹琴”“长啸”以及“月下”“不寐”等意象,源于对《诗经》《楚辞》以及汉魏六朝相关诗歌意象之传承,蕴含的是王维对现实政治之忧思,其中不无孤独与忧愤,而非“隐士”“高人”之悠闲自在。以往对《竹里馆》一诗的“误读”,不仅仅严重误解了王维,而且也严重割裂了相应的文化历史传统。

Wang Wei compared himself to Ruan Ji(one of the Seven Sages in the Bamboo Grove)in his poem of“The Lodge in the Bamboo Grove”,playing the stringed instrument and howling to the sky in the deep bamboo grove.In his little poem,the images of“sitting solitarily”,“in the deep bamboo grove”,“playing a stringed instrument”,“howling to the sky”,“in the moonlight”and“sleepless night”can be traced back to The Classic of Poetry,Chu Ci,and the related poetic images in Han,Wei and Six dynasties,demonstrating Wang Wei’s worries and meditation about realpolitik.The tone of the poem is of loneliness,worry and indignation,rather than leisurely life of“solitudinarian”and“talented person”.The misreading of“The Lodge in the Bamboo Grove”in the past not only seriously misunderstood Wang Wei,but also deviated from the corresponding cultural and historical traditions.