世變與玩物－－略論清初文人的審美風尚

Radical Change and Connoisseurship - A Discussion of Early Qing Aesthetic Style

本文擬探討晚明談物的論述在清初的轉化。文人通過玩物、體物、觀物之「自我建構」，在易代之際融入興亡之感與歷史記憶，是以第一節先從前朝遺物談起。在清初的政治氛圍，談物實界定一種文化空間，呈現其社會效用。這是遺民相濡以沫之情懷，亦往往是遺民與清臣交往的線索之一，而明清之際士人進退出處的抉擇，又經常可從其談物賞鑒品第的語彙中察見端倪，所以第二節論及玩物在不同的文人集團所衍生的多層聯繫。玩物的政治寓意可濃可淡，「風流遺民」在文酒社集中托物寄興，是別有深心的鬱勃憤懣，還是「雖不得志，亦且快意」的放浪？此又牽涉清初對明末文人文化任性恣情的反思。第三、第四節所討論的，便是風雅與氣節的關係，藝術境界與道德境界的相反相成。How the early Qing continued and transformed the late Ming discourse on collecting and connoisseurship provides interesting perspectives on the early Qing evaluation of, and nostalgia for, late Ming culture. 'Objects from the fallen dynasty' became a venue for historical memory and reflection. They derive their value from the history they embody, the lives of their owners, and (or) their intrinsic aesthetic attributes. Their social functions allow us to assess the self-definition of loyalist communities as well as the literary-social ties between loyalists and those who directly or indirectly participated in the new order. The varying political meanings of the 'discourse of things' encompass a range of emotions, from vague nostalgia to a strong sense of alienation. Of special interest is the group of 'romantic loyalists' who affirm the continuum between loyalist sentiments and romantic-aesthetic sensibility. They define themselves as 'remnants' not only of the fallen Ming but also of late Ming culture, with all its valorization of refinement and intense emotions. By this logic, aesthetic communion over historical objects and cultural artifacts is a mode of loyalist lament. In conclusion, we thus consider the balance and tension between aesthetic sensibility and political integrity in early Qing historical memory and judgment of the fallen Ming.