由《左傳》交際涵養與外交辭令論「禮」──兼論交際失敗之例

On the Ritual Revealed in Envoy Qualities and Diplomatic Language of “Zuo Zhuan”: A Case Study in Communication Failure

在《左傳》中，「禮」的重要性可從交際時交際雙方的涵養及外交辭令上窺知一二。「禮」是維繫周代社會的重要支柱，但隨著周文衰敝，「不知禮」所引發的紛亂，在外交表現上尤為明顯，失禮往往導致了交際的失敗。本文先論及身為外交使者，在周文化下本應有的典範，可分為「交際之信」、「交際之儀」及「交際之貞」，以《左傳》正反例印證這些交際涵養之禮，再以外交辭令中失敗的例子，談論「不知禮」的狀況。這些「不知禮」的行為可分為「不能專對」和「無禮僭越」，前者係指無法有效地運用交際語言回應交際對象，後者係指交際時超出了周代禮法中應有的本分，從這幾個面向呈現「禮」的失落，以及因而對「禮」所產生的自主維護。

In “Zuo Zhuan”, the importance of “Ritual” can be revealed from the diplomatic language and the envoy qualities. “Ritual” is an essential pillar to sustain the community of the Zhou Dynasty. With the deline of Zhou institution, various troubles arose, stemming from the “Rudeness”, The phenomenon is evident in diplomacy, that the rudeness often causes a communication failure. In this article, I claim that one should possess the qualities as a diplomatic envoy in the Zhou culture, which can be divided into “envoy's good faith', “envoy's manner” and “awareness of the propriety”. The significance of such qualities is shown in “Zuo Zhuan” through both positive examples or counter-examples. Then, we dicusss the “Rudeness” in the diplomatic failure cases, which can be divided into “ignorance of the Ritual” and “overstepping the Ritual”. The former is being unable to effectively respond in formal diplomatic language to communication object, while the latter is exceeding the proper etiquette in the Zhou Dynasty. In sum, the decline of “Ritual”, and the maintenance of “Ritual” are examined.