阮元刊刻《古韻廿一部》相關故實辨正──兼論《經義述聞》作者疑案

On the Origin of the Publication of Yuan Juan's Ku Yün Er Shih Yi Pu (The Twenty-One Rhyme Categories of Ancient Phonology); Also on the Authorship of Ching Yi Shu Wen (Report of the Interpretations of the Classics That Were Heard)

《昭代經師手簡》二編所收阮元與王引之手翰九通，其中二通為討論刊刻《古韻廿一部》之事；阮元文集、遺文中亦有專文言此。顧歷來於阮氏刊刻此書始末及其年代，多莫能詳。本文所欲考論者，主要有二端：一則考詮阮元纂刻《古韻廿一部》之原委，並辨正王國維《觀堂集林》相關論述之舛誤。蓋王氏於阮元刻書一事，實未深考，僅憑臆懸揣，故所論多誣枉。再則藉阮元、王引之商討刻書事，以論王引之對其父晚年古韻學之改變，實無所悉。蓋其時王引之歷官樞府要職，政務煩冗，不復能用心於學，父子共研經義之事，殆不可復得。今詳考其事歷，及王念孫與諸友論學書翰，乃知今本《經義述聞》較二刻本所增多之條目，實多出王念孫之手，特王氏託名歸美其子引之耳。

This paper examines two issues. The first studies the origin of the publication of Ku Yun Er Shih Yi Pu (古韻廿一部, The Twenty-One Rhyme Categories of Ancient Phonology) by the famous Ch'ing philologist Yuan Juan (阮元, 1764-1849). This study corrects an error that Kuo-wei Wang made on the very subject in his Kuan T'ang Chi Lin. The other issue, which is even more important, concerns the authorship of Ching Yi Shu Wen (經義述聞, Report of the Interpretations of the Classics That Were Heard). From the correspondence between Juan and Yin-chih Wang (王引之, 1766-1834) on the publication of Ku Yün Er Shih Yi Pu, one finds that Wang knew little about the research of his father Nien-sun Wang (王念孫, 1744-1832). This finding leads to the doubt that the most famous work of the Classics Studies of the Ch'ing Dynasty, namely Ching Yi Shu Wen, was indeed a product of the joint study of the father and son, as the literature commonly suggests. Based on tedious examinations, I argue that this book was mainly the work of Nien-sun alone. He was the author of most of the ideas in the book that were ascribed to his son Yin-chih, misleading ascriptions that were apparently made to increase his son's fame as a scholar.