皆川淇園「開物學」架構與應用試析

Kien Minagawa's Kaibutsugaku

本文研究對象為日本江戶時代中期儒者皆川淇園之「開物學」，此為淇園融合《易》學與聲韻學，而建立的一套獨特系統，用以解釋字義。淇園在江戶時代以治《易》聞名，「開物學」實乃其用力最深之所在，也最能代表淇園學術之特色。然其過於艱澀，並未發揮多少影響力，旋即消失於歷史舞臺上，而這也是歷來的淇園研究中較少被觸及到的部分。本文根據淇園「開物學」相關的《易學開物》、《易原》、《周易繹解》等主要著作，說明其系統架構以及實際用來解釋字義的表現，並探討此系統本身的優劣，進而指出，開物學理論內部存在著先天上的限制，註定使其面臨窘境，但另一方面，淇園在此展現了一種從儒家立場出發而獨立於道德，且更深入的認知活動相關探討，以及將對象進行形式化分析的態度，值得肯定。

This paper explores Kaibutsugaku 開物學, a unique, systematic method of explaining the meaning of a Chinese character established by Japanese Confucian Kien Minagawa 皆川淇園(1734-1807). First, I analyze how Minagawa formed the foundation of Kaibutsugaku by establishing a relationship between the ”Yijing”易經and phonetics, and how he used his method to explain the meaning of a character. Second, I point out that, although Kaibutsugaku has fatal flaws that cause the method to break down, at the same time it displays both a deeper form of epistemological inquiry rooted in Confucian ideas yet independent of ethics and a formalized analytical approach to the subject matter, making it a valuable expression of Confucianism in East Asia.