《論語》「物語」化──近代日本文化人之讀《論語》法及其省思

Storytelling Confucian Analects: The Reading Strategy of Modern Japanese Literati on Analects

本文將近代日本的《論語》「誤讀史」，從通俗化這一視角作一分析，探討當時的日本文化人從「『讀』《論語》而不知《論語》」、「『人』重於『言』」、「美感感動的道德訓示」、「栩栩如生之人間印象的處世教訓」、「我輩凡人之《論語》」等角度重新解讀《論語》，不約而同地都將《論語》朝「物語」化的方向改寫、詮釋，遂將古來日本對《論語》的認識，從《論語》乃「論」語的理解，發展成《論語》乃孔門人物之「物」語（故事）的重新理解。而就在《論語》解讀一路往通俗「物語化」發展的同時，「句讀訓讀不可廢」的呼聲也再次被提出。本文藉由近代日本這一《論語》「物語化」的通俗讀《論語》法，除了說明其如何使得《論語》成為日本人之古典的發展過程，更試圖說明除了「注」經以外的任何形式的經典詮釋，基本上不僅是一種接受和鑑賞的文化傳播活動，其更是一個反映、再現、移動、改變、充實並豐富經典的過程。又讀經的目的不一，則注釋或者詮釋的意義也就有所不同，而既然目的、意義有異，則有關注釋的假設、條件、形態也會有其差異。同時注釋、詮釋形態也會隨詮釋者所追求的目的、所預設的假定，以及其所具備的條件而有不同的表現形態。最後本文指出近代日本文化人的體認式「物語」化讀《論語》法，其或許違背了中日歷來主流的傳統解經「正」法，但若從對日本文化傳統繼往開來這一面向而言，則其不僅未破壞其固有傳統，相反地，近代日本文化人喜歡就「人物」以解《論語》的特色，其實不僅是江戶古學派以來「重人」的傳統，其恰又凸顯出日本人重視眼目可視、耳朵可聽聞之眼前即今之「事物」的感受思維特質，而此乃江戶時代以還，古學派所謂「人外無道」的學問基調，亦即對「人」的終極關懷。

This paper will discuss how modern Japanese literati “misread” the Chinese Classic Analects, which is actually a ways of its “popularization”. Their reading strategy concerns more on its “stories” than “words”, “characters” than “essays”; consequently their reading is transformed to the process of revising, reinterpreting, and fictionalizing Analects as “a set of tales of Confucius' students”. However, there were also some literati who balanced proposed the importance of “punctuation” and “word meaning”. Through the analysis of “storytelling Analects”, we discover that the interpretation of the Classic, except the work of annotation, is not only a cultural transmission and acceptance, but also a running process which reflects, represents, and refills the Classic continually. At a result, from the Edo period to now, the crucial concern of Japanese intellects is still “human beings” based on the “context of Japanese history and cultural heritage”, and Chinese researchers of Japanese Confucianism have to treat it more deeply.