楊起元的思想發展及其對師門之學的塑造

The Development of Yang Qiyuan’s Thought and His Reshaping of the Learning of His Master

活躍於十六世紀下半葉的楊起元是泰州大儒羅汝芳的弟子。他於師教篤信弗疑，承繼與推廣師學的努力亦廣為傳頌，李贄言楊氏之學「大抵皆本父師之言而推衍之」。不過，前輩學者已經注意到楊、羅之間的思想間距。本文關注楊起元的思想發展，特重其師學塑造，以測定楊氏與其師思想與學說的距離。楊起元於羅汝芳過世後參與兩次師學塑造運動。第一次發生在羅汝芳的喪禮之上，同門弟子咸集驗證所得，以「明德」私諡羅汝芳，也以此為師門宗旨理解羅汝芳之學。喪禮後數年，楊起元閱讀其師遺集而感悟於「孝」，因此開啟《孝經》編纂工程。楊氏藉此發揚羅汝芳的孝弟慈論，但是比起羅氏孝論的源頭《大學》，他更為推崇《孝經》，也認為該經更為契合羅氏之學。師門孝論的核心經典，在楊起元手上完成從《大學》到《孝經》的轉換，是為楊氏參與的第二度師學塑造。本文認為，楊起元的案例顯示陽明學發展至十六世紀末，愈發鼓勵思想學說落實成具物質性之文本，而楊氏所塑造的師門之學正是在落實的過程中，漸與羅汝芳之學分離開來。

 

This paper examines the development of Yang Qiyuan’s (1547-99) thought with a special focus on his efforts in reshaping the learning of his master, Luo Rufang (1515-88), in order to assess the distance between the teachings of the two. Yang participated twice in events to reshape the teachings of his master. The first time was at the funeral for Luo Rufang, when Yang and the other disciples assembled together to consolidate Luo’s legacy. On their own they gave him the posthumous title of “Bright Virtue,” taken from the Great Learning, and regarded this as a representative element of Luo Rufang’s teachings. Years after the funeral, while reading through the master’s remaining works, Yang came to realize the significance of filial piety, and thereupon began a project to compile the Classic of Filial Piety, in which he emphasized the themes of filial piety, fraternity and kindness in Luo’s teachings. While Luo’s theories on filial piety were based upon the Great Learning, Yang instead pointed to the Classic of Filial Piety as more suited for Luo’s teachings. Thus, changing the textual basis for Luo’s theories on filial piety was Yang’s second reshaping of his master’s legacy. This essay argues that the case of Yang Qiyuan illustrates Wang Yangmingism (1472-1529) at the end of the sixteenth century developed to emphasize on rendering doctrine into textual form. Yang’s reshaping of his master’s legacy was part of this process, and led him to part ways with his master’s original teachings.