談八股文如何詮釋經典

Discussion on the Interpretation of the Ba-Gu-Writing Rewriting theChinese Philosophical Classics

明清時期盛行五百多年的經義文（八股文），其文體定制於明初，風行於清代。這種新興文體後來不但發展出繁複的寫作技法，其解經時所重新萃取、建構之義理層面，也具有經典詮釋學的研究價值。
八股文之重構經義，一方面固是揉和了寫作者個人對於章句的理解，另一方面也可以見到後世經史子集日漸融涉、互相發明的理趣。就八股文如何詮釋經義的作法上，本文從兩個層面來觀察：其一，是對於經註的依循理解；其二，是如何將切身體會加以表述的過程。
就前者而言，八股文對於經註之依違，文中揭出三點：（一）對於經註的恪遵；（二）由多讀書到「以經解經」的保留；（三）釋義上從「背經」到「聖賢意中所必有」的開拓。
而針對八股文「代聖立言」的詮釋進路，筆者也提了三點說明：（一）指出代言寫法與理學攸關；（二）代言書寫建構了儒學信仰共同體；（三）如此代言實寓有「以意逆志」之主體呈現。

The Ba-Gu-Writing that had been popular over 500 years was established in early Dynasty Ming and became popular in Dynasty Ching. This new writing had not only developed sophisticated techniques, the re-construction of doctrine when interpreting the classics had also its academic value. The re-construction of Ba-Gu-Writing, on the one hand, it had blended into the writer's personal understanding of the chapters, on the other hand, it showed the rationality of the various classics gradually joining and forging each other. This paper reviews the method of how Ba-Gu-Writing interprets the meaning in classics from two dimensions. The first part is to understand the hermeneutics by following the customs. The second part is the process of how to interpret according to personal appreciation. The author has pointed three points about the Ba-Gu-Writing's sequence of interpretation: 1) the “Daiyan” writing was close related to docrine; 2) the “Daiyan” writing constructed the complex of Confucian theology; 3) the Daiyan bears the representation of “by the Meaning against the Will”.