湯賓尹與晚明制藝八股文的流行及傳說

Tang Binyin and the Tradition and Trend of the Eight-Legged Essay in the Late Ming Dynasty

明中期有心學運動與文學復古運動，而大約到萬曆朝以後，則漸有制藝（即八股文）風潮的興起，直迄明亡才止，但長期以來，學界對這一波的制藝風潮的研究較少。制藝的缺席，讓我們很容易錯過某些視角，以及在某些討論中疏忽掉一些關鍵。湯賓尹（1568-1628）是萬曆年間的制藝名家，而且在明末江西豫章社及江南復社興起以前，主領制藝文壇數十年之久，所以本文選擇從湯賓尹切入，擬討論以下幾點：一、湯賓尹與宣城，以及他從宣城到京師，成為制藝文壇的代表人物的過程變化。二、湯賓尹的制藝主張及見解。三、湯賓尹與元脈、元脈衣之的流行。四，後續的效應：以江右四大家為首的江西派對湯賓尹的攻擊，以及清初錢謙益（1582-1664）、呂留良（1629-1683）等人的批評，皆凸顯出湯賓尹的重要性──批評越多顯示其越重要。

Two movements of study prevailed in the mid-Ming dynasty, namely, Yangmingism (or the School of Mind-Heart) and the literary restoration movement, and from the Wanli Emperor onwards, a wave of the eight-legged essay gradually rose, which subsided at the fall of the Ming. There is a dearth of research on this trend, however, making it easy for us to miss certain perspectives and neglect key points within specific discussions. As its point of interest, this article has chosen to begin with Tang Binyin 湯賓尹 (1568-1628), who was famous for eight-legged essay writing during the reign of the Wanli Emperor and led the above wave for decades prior to the rise of the Jiangxi Yuzhang Society 江西豫章社 and the Jiangnan Restoration Society 江南復社 in the late Ming dynasty. The present paper intends to discuss the following points: first, the processes that transformed Tang Binyin into a representative figure within the world of eight-legged essay writing in Xuancheng and even to Beijing; second, Tang’s propositions and opinions on the eight-legged essay; third, the relationship between Tang and the trend of yuanmai 元脈 (also known as famai 法脈 or jifa 機法), which was the practice of analyzing specific master essayists such as Wang Ao 王鏊 (1450-1524) and Tang Shunzhi 唐順之 (1507-1560); and fourth, the subsequent effects. Regarding the fourth point, the Jiangxi school’s attack on Tang Binyin led by the “four masters of Jiangyou”江右四大家 as well as the criticisms by Qian Qianyi 錢謙益 (1582-1664), Lü Liuliang 呂留良 (1629-1683), and others in the early Qing dynasty highlight the importance of Tang Binyin, which can be considered immense seeing the amount of censure.