河工、光線與視覺有限性：論《老殘遊記》的景物描寫

River Engineering, Rays of Light and Visual Limitations: On Scenic Descriptions in The Travels of Lao Can

在劉鶚的《老殘遊記》以前，白話小說中不重寫景，或多襲用詩詞套語。《老殘遊記》以散體聚焦景物描寫，而此一與過去小說不同的寫景方式也標誌著小說寫景語言形式的轉變。本文即試圖將《老殘遊記》中散體寫景技術的出現，置於晚清世界知識網絡的交匯以及知識分子對傳統及當代學術的實踐與反省的脈絡中，以重新理解《老殘遊記》景物書寫的意義。劉鶚在《老殘遊記》中的景物描寫是被19世紀末、20世紀初的河川工程學、光學、天文學以及佛學等知識範疇所形塑。劉鶚拋棄章回小說慣用的詩詞駢文套語而改以細膩的散體寫景，其牽涉的不只是修辭美學或文字技巧的突破，同時也意謂著對於自然景物認識方式的重大轉折，以及傳統儒學在劉鶚所處的晚清知識網絡中的位置的重新思考。

Prior to The Travels of Lao Can, a novel by Liu E, Chinese vernacular novels did not pay much attention on descriptions of natural scenery or landscape. Instead, they used set phrases and rhymed verses borrowed from prior literary works. Differing from previous vernacular novels, The Travels of Lao Can depicts scenery in vernacular prose, a significant change symbolized in the form of language used to describe landscape. The techniques Liu E uses to describe the natural scenery are shaped by his knowledge of river engineering, optics, astronomy, and Buddhism. In this essay, I attempt to re-examine the beginning of scenery description in in the form of vernacular prose in the backdrop where global knowledge convergence took place and where Chinese intellectuals learned to reflect on the convergence and put it into practice. In The Travels of Lao Can, Liu E discards the prior techniques used by chaptered novels, which are to use quotes and poems from previous works to describe the natural scenery. His use of vernacular prose to describe landscapes is not only a breakthrough, a departure from past convention, but also marks a new way of observing nature. Most importantly, such change in the techniques used in describing landscape elucidates the role of Confucianism in the new matrix of knowledge where Liu E were being exposed to in the late Qing period.