晏殊“明哲保身”辨正

Reconsidering Yan Shu’s “Worldly-wise and Self-preserving” Personality

欧阳修评价晏殊'富贵优游五十年,始终明哲保身全'。其中'明哲保身'一词历来被曲解为欧阳修对乃师的批评,并以此作为对晏殊一生之定评。而事实上,在欧阳修以及当时的文化语境里,'富贵''优游'与'明哲保身'一样均无贬义。'明哲保身'最早出现于《诗经·大雅·烝民》,'既明且哲,以保其身'是朱熹充分肯定的一种修养。'明哲保身'者,不仅要尽心国事,犯言直谏,而且还要大公无私,这与后世理解的所谓圆滑处世、自私自利没有丝毫关系。以此解读'明哲保身'一词,才能破除过去对晏殊'居官油滑'等的不当评价,还晏殊以'刚俊''鲠峭敢言'之本来面目。

Ouyang Xiu once evaluated his teacher,Yan Shu,with a verse,'Fifty years of affluence and leisure,always worldly-wise and self-preserving.'However,the expression of'worldly-wise and self-preserving'has been misinterpreted as a criticism and further regarded as Ouyang Xiu’s final evaluation of Yan Shu.In fact,neither'affluence and leisure'nor'worldly-wise and self-preserving'has derogatory meaning back then.On the philological level,'worldly-wise and self-preserving'(mingzhe baoshen)originates in The Book of Songs and is recognized by Zhu Xi as an accomplishment.In its original sense,people who are worldly-wise and self-preserving not only devote themselves to state affairs but also possess positive characters such as disinterestedness and selflessness.This reference is substantially different from the expression’s current significance of being tactful and selfish.Only by clarifying this semantic discrepancy can we rectify the distorted image of Yan Shu and unveil his true personality.