士人治生与《儒林外史》创作的思想表达

On the Livelihoods of Confucian Scholars and the Thematic Expression in The Scholars(儒林外史)

士人治生是《儒林外史》创作关注的重要思想主题。传统社会的士农工商有着明确的社会分工和职业属性,但赋予士的社会责任以及“食于官”的制度设计仅是一种“政策合理”。《儒林外史》通过艺术再现士人扭曲的治生观念、塑造典型人物揭示深刻社会现实、文学表达叩问科举制度等手法,深刻揭示了科举制度在制度设计和运行中存在的问题:其不但未能有效解决士人本业治生,反而削弱了士人的治生能力,形成了士人治生这一社会问题,而士人治生社会问题又影响了国家治理效能。吴敬梓对士人治生问题的关注,不但有其自身生活经历的原因,也与颜李学派思想影响密切相关。

The livelihoods of Confucian scholars were an important theme running through the creation of The Scholars(儒林外史),also known as Unofficial History of the Scholars,written by Wu Jingzi and published in 1750 during the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911).According to traditional Chinese classification of occupations,ancient Chinese people were put into four categories,namely,the shi(Confucian scholars),the nong(peasant farmers),the gong(artisans and craftsmen),and the shang(merchants and traders),each having distinct social division of labor and occupational attributes.However,the social responsibilities bestowed upon Confucian scholars and the institutional arrangement for them to‘seek officialdom for a living’were more of a kind of‘policy expediency’.The Scholars(儒林外史)is a satirical novel that vividly portrays the distorted concepts and pursuits of various Chinese Confucian scholars obsessed by the fame and glory of civil service.By recreating the farces of Confucian scholars,Wu Jingzi indirectly criticized the civil service examination and education system under the Qing Dynasty,revealing profound social realities and deep problems inhering in the institutional design and operation of the imperial examination system.That is,the imperial examination system not only failed to effectively solve the livelihood plight of Confucian scholars,but also debilitated their ability to seek livelihoods,thus making the livelihoods of Confucian scholars a prevalent social malaise which in turn had a negative impact on the capacity of state governance.Wu Jingzi’s attention to the issue of Confucian scholars seeking livelihoods was not only due to his own life experience,but also closely related to the influence of the Yan-Li School of Philosophy(颜李学派),founded by Yan Yuan(颜元)and expanded by his disciple Li Gong(李塨)during the early Qing Dynasty(1644-1911).