从古文到有用文字:《古文关键》之“关键”与经典重塑

From Ancient-Style Prose to Useful Writing:The Crux of The Key to Ancient-Style Prose and the Reshaping of Classics

吕祖谦在突破《精骑》片段选文的困境后,于淳熙元年完成选录古文经典的《古文关键》,成为评点类选本的开山之作。《丽泽文说》与《总论》互有出入,都是吕祖谦与弟子谈文之际见解的笔录,但与《古文关键》没有直接附属关系。《古文关键》之前所附的《要法》,则是《总论》的精简整理本,反映了弟子笔录的条目与《古文关键》相配合的过程。《古文关键》创造性地将标抹符号与文章剖析相结合,开创了要法、总评、尾评、夹评相结合的评注形式,提揭大量时文结构术语,引领了文章评点风气。其立柱一说,是“段子”文字在文章结构上的形式呈现,构成八股文“四比”体式的滥觞。吕祖谦根据科举应试需要,标举“关键”,强调格法,以评点的形式,将古文经典重塑为“有用文字”。狭义的“关键”为章句组织方面的紧要之处与其间奥妙之法,广义的“关键”即“文诀”。吕祖谦文章学思想的新锐性与系统性,使他成为文章学成立时期的中心人物。

After breaking through the dilemma in selecting passages from Elite Cavalry(《精骑》),Lv Zuqian(吕祖谦)completed the classic selection of The Key to Ancient-Style Prose(《古文关键》)in 1174,which became the pioneering work in the commentary category of selected works.Lize Prose Theory(《丽泽文说》)and General Theory(《总论》)differed from each other in some points,both of which were written records of the opinions by Lv Zuqian and his disciples during their discussions on prose,but neither of which had any direct affiliation with The Key to Ancient-Style Prose.Important Rules(《要法》)attached to The Key to Ancient-Style Prose was a simplified and organized version of General Theory,reflecting the process of matching the entries in his disciples'transcripts with The Key to Ancient-Style Prose.This book creatively integrated marking symbols with prose analysis,creating a form of commentary that combined essential elements,general comments,end comments,and inserted comments.It uncovered a large number of structural terms in imperial examination essays and led the trend of essay commenting.The theory of“setting up pillars”(立柱)represented the form of passage writing(段子)in the structure of prose,constituting the origin of the four-part style(“四比”体式)of the eight-part essay(八股文).According to the needs of the imperial examination,Lv Zuqian promoted the crux,emphasized the principles,and reshaped ancient-style prose into useful writing.The“crux”in the narrow sense refers to the crucial points and subtle methods in the organization of chapters and sentences,while the“crux”in the broad sense refers to the formulas of prose writing(文诀).The cutting-edge and systematic nature of Lv Zuqian's literary thought made him a central figure during the establishment of prose studies.