百年来的“新诗”与“旧诗”问题平议

A Centennial Issue in China’s History of Poetry:New Poetry vs.Old Poetry

1917年,胡适提出“白话诗”这个新名词,用以革“文言诗词”的命;旋即又将写得自然的“白话诗”标举为“新诗”,将所有文言诗称之为“旧诗”,并将两者认定为革命与被革命的关系。在当时的潮流中,这种关系又很快与思想上乃至政治上的革命与被革命扭合在一起,以致百年来诗歌史的书写,大都是不分何人、何时,用何思想、何形式写的白话诗都认作是“新诗”,而将所有文言诗,几乎不分青红皂白地都视为“旧诗”。期间,一些有识之士已开始不愿接受给白话诗与文言诗戴上带有价值判断的“新”与“旧”的帽子,且坚持写文言诗。特别是近40年来,越来越多的学者陆续提出要给现代的“旧诗”与“新诗”正名。回头看,现代“新”“旧”诗的提法,并不符合现代诗歌发展的历史真实,其理论基础是并不科学的进化论,而且对当前发展具有中国特色的诗歌极易产生不良的影响,故亟须通过认清百年来的“白话诗”与“文言诗”的共存、共济、共荣的历史事实,为“新诗”与“旧诗”正名,对中国百年的诗歌史进行实事求是的书写。

In 1917,Hu Shi introduced the novel concept of“vernacular poetry”to challenge the dominance of clas⁃sical poetry.He subsequently designated naturally-expressed vernacular poetry as“new poetry”and categorized all clas⁃sical poetry as“old poetry”,establishing a revolutionary dichotomy between the two:revolutionary and revolutionized.This dichotomy quickly became entangled with ideological and political revolutions,shaping a historical narrative where vernacular poetry,irrespective of its temporal,authorial,ideological,or formal attributes,was uniformly regarded as“new poetry”,while classical poetry was almost universally relegated to the status of“old poetry”.Over time,some discerning individuals began to reject the value judgments associated with vernacular and classical poetry,opting instead to continue the tradition of classical poetry composition.Particularly in the last four decades,an increasing number of scholars have advocated for a more nuanced understanding of“old poetry”and“new poetry”in contemporary contexts.Upon reflection,the characterization of modern“new”and“old”poetry does not accurately reflect the historical trajec⁃tory of poetry development.Its theoretical foundation,rooted in an unsound evolutionary framework,may have detri⁃mental effects on the development of poetry unique to Chinese culture.Therefore,it is imperative to recognize the histori⁃cal coexistence,mutual support,and mutual enrichment of vernacular and classical poetry over the past century,properly delineating“new poetry”and“old poetry”,and undertaking an objective and truthful recounting of the history of Chi⁃nese poetry in the past 100 years.