十八世紀中國社會中的情欲與身體──禮教世界外的嘉年華會

Desire and Body in Eighteenth Century Chinese Society: Carnival beyond ''Civil'' Society

一般的說法都認為十六世紀初葉以後到十七世紀中，商品經濟的蓬勃發展，為明末的文化帶來全面的解放，各種以情欲為主題的著作也紛紛出現。但隨著清政權的建立，這種頹廢、解放的文化風貌，產生劇烈的變化。十八世紀主流思想界對禮學的重視，被解釋成道德保守主義重新掌控文化風貌的最佳表徵。在這篇文章中，我並不試圖全面否認這種說法的有效性。士大夫對禮學的重視，自然會對一般人的價值觀產生一定程度的影響，但我認為不能過份高估「禮教論述」對士大夫和庶民文化的壓制效應。因為除了士大夫的禮學著述外，十八世紀的中國，還同時存在著各種各樣和嚴肅的「禮教論述」相抗衡的文本或聲音。在這篇文章中，我就試圖用《霓裳續譜》、《白雪遺音》和《綴白裘》三種作品，來說明十八世紀中國社會中「情欲論述」的繁複和多樣性。

Ushered in by a prosperous commodity economy from the early sixteenth to the mid-seventeenth centuries, late Ming culture is commonly characterized as liberated, exemplified by the appearance of diverse writings, with 'desire' as their core concern. With the establishment of the Qing, however, this liberated and decadent culture underwent radical changes. The focus on the study of ritual behavior (li) in mainstream eighteenth century thought is seen as symptomatic of a revival of moral conservatism. In this article, while not completely denying the validity of this argument, I suggest that we should not over-emphasize the restraints ''li-chiao discourse'' placed upon either elite culture or the general public. The emphasis on the study of ritual behavior among the gentry-literati class could, of course, influence to some extent the value system of the general public. However, contemporary with the massive writings on ritual by eighteenth century literati, there was a large variety of texts which conflicted with the solemn ''li-chiao discourse.'' In this article, I shall use A sequel to the Ni-ch'eng Tune, An Extant Version of the White Snow Tune and Patching a White Fur to demonstrate the richness and diversity of ''desire discourse'' in eighteenth century Chinese society.