「文」的發源──從「天文」與「人文」的類比談起

“Wen”文and “Ming”明: Based on the Analogy of “Tian Wen” and “Ren Wen”

當代重寫「文學史」，重點應該是一個「文學史」的歷史，亦即是談如何構成「文學」的歷史，談論的焦點是“history of literary history”，而不是所謂的“history of literature”。而當我們是要談「文學如何構成」的歷程，背後必然牽涉龐大的意義認定體系，這當中最重要的莫過於所謂「文」的意義發源，以及在什麼樣的概念架構下，所謂「文」、「人文」乃至於「文學」會呈現完整的意義圖式，而這顯然又必須從「文學史」進一步拓展到「文學文化史」的領域。本文因此將結合過去數年探討的成果，為所謂「文學文化史」提供一個初始架構，尤其關注上古所謂「文」，如何發源於一個既垂直又平行的「譬喻」運作體系。首先將從《易傳》中「天文」與「人文」的類比談起，討論「人文」的宇宙視野，主要聚焦在連類與氣感說；其次討論重複與譬喻如何標記這全幅宇宙視野的「人文」；最後，呈現在「文」（不論天文或人文）的建構史上，還應該是一個原型意象的召喚行動，也是與一場場概念理解活動的往來拉鋸與相互促進。「意象」與「概念」兩極之間相對又相關的拉引編織，如跨類的聯繫或重複的標記，都是這些引力相互作用的蹤跡，而最後所謂「文明」也許就可以視作這兩極之間的會通狀態，那發端於一個光明整體，也是完成後的整體光明。

In a contemporary rewriting of “Literary History”, the focal point should be a history of “Literary History,” that is it discusses the history of “Literature” formation. In other words, the focus of discussion is the “History of Literary History,” rather than a “History of Literature,” as it is called. Moreover, as we mean to discuss the process of “Literature Formation,” an enormous system of meaning signification will inevitably be implicated, within which nothing is more important than the derivation of the meaning of “wen” as well as its conceptual frameworks, which will situate “wen,” “renwen,” and even “wenxue” and embody a comprehensive signification schema. Beginning with the analogy, found in the Yi zhuan《易傳》, between “tian wen” (“the pattern of heaven”) and “ren wen” (“the pattern of people”), the paper will first discuss the worldview of “ren wen”, primarily focusing on “categorical association” (“lian lei”) and “energy correspondence” (“qi gan”). Next, it will discuss how verbal repetition and figural language mark this ren wen worldview. Finally, this worldview will be placed in the history of the construction of “wen” (both heavenly and human), where it should be seen both as calling forth archetypal images, and at the same time as an interplay with distinct conceptual domains. The interweaving of opposed yet related polarities (as in cross-categorical connections and repetitive illustration) are the traces of this interplay. In the end, what is called “wen ming” (“patterned brilliance”) is perhaps the condition in which these polarities achieve total interpenetration. In which case, that which began as a brilliant whole is also a whole brilliance after completion.