南朝士人群体“幼属文”现象的流行与文论中“才主学辅”观念的确立

The Trend of Early Writing Training and the Establishment of the Priority of Talent in Literary Creativity during the Southern Dynasties

南朝士族子弟间兴起的"幼属文"之风,源于汉末以后"以名取士"的社会风气。晋宋之后,文章成为士人攫取名声,积累入仕资源的手段。在惧怕年命不永、以早达为高的社会风气下,南朝后期士族子弟出仕时间普遍提前,"幼属文"现象也逐渐向低幼化发展,学习属文甚至提到了学习《五经》和史传之前。在这种风气的影响下,社会中大量出现以"幼属文"成名的早熟作者,社会舆论也更倾向于用"天才"解释文才的来源。这些舆论深刻影响了刘勰、钟嵘等齐梁间主要文学评论家,使他们在论及文学才能时更倾向于使用"才主学辅"的解释结构,将天才视为结撰文章的主要能力。这种观念深深影响了此后中国文论中对天才的崇奉。

The trend of early writing training among aristocrats during the Southern Dynasties is derived from the concept of'selecting officials by reputation'since the late Eastern Han Dynasty.After the Jin Dynasty,the demonstration of literary skills had become one of the main methods of gaining reputation,and aristocrats thus had to get adequate training in writing skills since their childhood.Because of the fear of early death,aristocrats in the Southern Dynasties inclined to start their political career at very early age,so they could promptly rise to the positions high enough to enhance their family interests.To get a good start in political career,descendants of aristocrats had to advance the beginning of literary training,even before the studying of Confucian and historical classics.As a result,more and more teenagers showed their talent in literature before getting abundant knowledge,and literary theorists like Liu Xie and ZhongRong started to attribute the defining factor of literary ability to talent rather than learning.This opinion had been succeeded by later generations of literati and scholars,constructing the fashion of talent worship in ancient Chinese literary criticism.