中國古典文學的存亡

The Life and Death of Chinese Classical Literature

我以為現今中國古典文學正面臨「四重苦難」：第一，同樣屬於文科，但和社會科學不同，人文學科正處於苦不堪言之境。其次，在人文學科裡，與歷史、哲學相比，文學則在衰退之中。再者，文學領域之中，東洋文學又比西洋文學更冷門。最後，同樣是東洋文學的範疇，相較於近、現代作品，古典文學不受重視。可見，中國古典文學不論如何分類，都處在衰亡的困境之中。文學處在衰亡的困境，意味著形成文學的文化共同體正持續崩塌瓦解。因此，讀者無法透過作品內容，進入作者所述的情境中，並共享此一意義世界。李斯的故事與管仲、鮑叔牙的友情佳話，時至今日，竟有人不能理解，或不被全盤接受，我以為這才是文學真正的危機。然而，無論如何，文學給人力量，文學可以超越時空，產生多重意義的可能；因此，我相信，文學絕對不會消失。我們正處在一個文學巨大變動的時期，並且努力摸索、試圖建構新的文化根基；此外，中國古典文學內在本蘊含強大的力量，是以使其延續至今。

Chinese classical literature is now faced with four levels of adversity. First, in the field of liberal arts, the humanities are falling out of favor compared with social sciences. Second, in the scope of the humanities, literature has been losing ground and declining in comparison with history and philosophy. Moreover, within the field of literature, oriental literature is less popular than western literature. Last, as far as Oriental literature is concerned, classical literature is not valued as much as modern literature. It is thus evident that Chinese classical literature is in the adversity of declination no matter how it is categorized. The declination of literature indicates the decomposition of the culture that sustains it. As a result, readers find it difficult to integrate into the world created by the author, nor do they find the world meaningful. For instance, the story of Li Si could strike a chord, while nowadays, he is hard to be identified with. Another example is that the story of Guan Zhong and Bao Shu-Ya, which used to be a much-told tale and regarded as a model of ideal friendship, can’t be realized now. I believe that as long as language continues to be used and treated with deep affections, literature will never disappear. We are living in a time when literature changes drastically. The inheritance and development of literary texts suggest the inter relationship of the text and its readers. Readers interpret the literary work through personal experiences and endow it with new meanings. Thus, with its intense power, Chinese literary classics live and last until today.