“微言”考论

On "Sublime Words" in Classical Chinese

微言是口语阶段流行的言说方式。微言源自仪式化语言 ,是人类进行独立语言思维的第一步。当人们用微言去表达自己的神权意识、等级意识、军事意识、文艺意识的时候就形成了神权微言、等级微言、军事微言、文艺微言。对于言者 ,微言要与舞乐结合才能完全达意。对于听者 ,微言的含义只有那些知言之谓者才懂得。在言意关系方面 ,微言提供了一种比兴、暗示、提喻、以少总多、以隐示显的表达方法 ,对文学写作影响很大。在文学特征方面 ,文艺微言以其虚拟性、情感性、游戏性奠定了中国文学的基础。认识了微言 ,我们才能更好地理解孔子在古代文学史上的意义 ,才能更准确地把握先秦文学的特质。

As a way of speaking, sublime words developed out of the rites and rituals in ancient China, marking the beginning of man's independent thinking with language. To express oneself clearly, one had to combine sublime words with dancing and singing together. To understand sublime words, one had to infer their profound meaning. The sublime words greatly influenced literary writing, and laid down the foundation of Chinese literature.