杜甫天災詩析論

Interpretation of Du Fu's Poems on the Topic of Natural Disasters

杜甫描寫天災的詩篇計有水災、旱災、酷暑、風災、冰凍、疫瘴，共六大類61首。本文從四方面析論：一、將杜甫天災詩分類表列，並探討其詩、史互證的特性。二、分析其天災與人禍密切相關的書寫，包括描述天災中暗喻人禍，上言天災而下興人禍，諷天災由人禍所召，嘆人禍甚於天災四種情形。三、探討杜甫天災詩中的救災書寫，包括「防災」中水利工程「版築」的興建；「賑災」中開倉廩，實施減價、和糴、出糶、薄稅斂、偃甲兵等制度；「弭災」中反映傳統「天人感應」內「災害天譴論」的觀點，論述祈禳、鞭巫、焚巫、焚山擊鼓、報祀、謝天的習俗，然亦強調君王要勤政愛民，赦天下、減軍用、省賦稅、行儉修德，方可弭災。四、闡明杜甫於天災中自覺產生出災害的憂患意識，包括憂慮災難對民生經濟的影響，諷諭政治當局；從親歷親證災難而己飢己溺，自嘆傷人；保有士的風骨，憂慮不頹廢以超脫災難。杜甫藉災情表達他民胞物與、厚生愛物的仁者情懷，讀之常令人感到一種不可抗拒的審美崇高感、嚴肅感與悲劇情調，大大提升了他詩作的藝術感染力。其論述天災與人為的關係中，或過於迷信，然強調人為於天災中具有關鍵影響的論點，對現今推動生態保育，減少天災肆虐，仍具有一定的啟發與省思。

Du Fu composed sixty-one poems on the topic of natural disasters. They were classified into six categories, including (1) floods, (2) droughts, (3) heat waves, (4) strong winds, (5) cold storms and (6) infectious diseases. In this article, I analyzed these poems from four perspectives. First, by carefully categorizing them, I applied the method of cross-interpretation between poetics and historiography to depict their unique characteristics. Secondly, I extracted the key messages from those poems that connected natural disasters and human faults, in particular the metaphors which implied the causes from human actions leading to seemingly natural disasters. Thirdly, I found the precious information embedded in the poems that described the rescue efforts and preventable plots against the damages caused by natural disasters. This part of study led to a few major findings, such as the constructions of dams, release of food stocks from the government, deduction of taxes for affected people, behaviors for thrifty of the emperor after the impact of natural disasters, and ritual ceremonies conducted by the emperor in a hope to cease the damage and to accelerate the recovery. Fourthly, I illustrated the self-awareness of Du Fu in response to such natural disasters, primarily focusing on his worrisome and sympathetic greetings toward the suffering of ordinary people. By expressing his own experiences to witness the pains, Du Fu not only criticized the incapable politicians when facing the disasters but also indicated the philanthropic treatment being the most important character of human beings under such circumstance. Collectively, the findings from aforementioned four perspectives of in-depth analyses highlight the impressive value of aesthetics in Du Fu's poetry. Clearly, the tragic theme of these poems established Du Fu as a great poet due to the charm that touches readers' hearts. On the other hand, in the argument of human influences on natural disasters, Du Fu's mind was still somewhat confined by superstitions. Nonetheless, such weakness was overridden by the conceptual breakthrough from the natural writing point of view. Even in the modern age, the legacy of those poems sustains and provides a solid foundation to unravel the responsibility of human beings on the edge of ecological crises.