文明與暴力共存的弔詭︰從蹴鞠、擊鞠與捶丸的興衰管窺華夏文明的文明化歷程

The Paradoxical Coexistence of Civilization and Violence: An Exploratory Study of the Chinese Civilizing Process Illustrated with the Rise and Fall of the Ball Games

本文旨在研究華人社會的文明化過程，進而藉與西方的現代文明化歷程對照，嘗試從比較文明研究的視角對兩者不同的軌跡進行探討與反省。秉持暴力係社會建構的觀念為指引，本文採取結構類型學的進路，探究暴力的各種表現形態及組合如何與社會結構有關，釐清暴力係與文明共生的弔詭事實，反駁愈文明就愈不暴力的迷思。藉由探討蹴鞠、擊鞠與捶丸等球戲的興衰，本文從社會分化模式的轉變來釐清華人社會文明化的關鍵轉折，將其定性為文人化，並解釋這與習稱的唐宋變革有何關連。在彰顯仕紳社會的世界史意義後，本文將分析在此為陰陽二元結構支配下的特定社會形態裡，文明與暴力表現出怎樣的共存樣貌，說明為何在文化上向來重視和諧、譴責暴力的華人，在日常生活中卻不時地流露出暴力的言行。

This article aims at studying the civilizing process in the Chinese society. By contrasting it with the modern civilizing process in the West, I will discuss what the different paths means from the perspective of comparative study of civilizations. Guided by the idea that violence is socially constructed, this research adopts the approach of structural typology to investigate the relevance between the performances of violence and the societal structures, to clarify the paradox of the coexistence of civilization and violence, and to refute the myth that civilization will dispel violence. By way of exploring the rise and fall of the ball games of jiju, cuji and chuiwan, I will identify a decisive shift in the civilizing process in the Chinese society and call it literatization. I will explain why this shift had to do with the so called Tang-Song transition. I argue that this shift resulted from the change of the forms of societal differentiation. Then, I will highlight the world history’s significance of the gentry society that was governed by a yin/yang dual structure, and explain why the coexistence of violence and civilization expressed such a particular configuration under this specific social formation to give a persuasive answer to the following puzzle: why do the Chinese that have a culture of condemning violence and emphasizing harmony display so frequently violent sayings and behaviors in daily life.