「四庫學」研究的反思

Reflections on the Research of the Ssu-k’u Studies

本文主要在觀察歷來「四庫學」研究者的研究範圍和研究態度，並探討其在研究上的得失，肯定其成就，指出其疎失，最後更提出改進意見，以期「四庫學」的研究能夠更深入，所獲得的結論能夠更確實。本文以為「四庫學」研究者的研究範圍，大致集中在「誰促成編纂」、「思想的歸屬」、「《總目》的名稱」、「刻本和抄本」、「成書的時間」、「編纂的動機」、「內容的刪改」、「文字獄的關聯」、「學術的影響」、「價值的評量」等十大問題上，另外對《永樂大典》輯本的問題，也有部分學者注意。至於研究態度上，則以「先入為主」、「輕信權威」、「規過前人」及「內容偏向」等四個值得商榷的問題最明顯。本文以為現今「四庫學」研究最大的貢獻是在「糾繆補闕」上，尤以《四庫全書總目》為然，但這僅是外圍的研究，不足以概括「四庫學」。更積極有效的方式是：從「文化史」的角度著手，直接由《四庫全書》和《四庫全書總目》本身切入，以便突顯其內容所具的意義和價值。

This paper aims to investigate the research fields and the attitudes of the scholars of the Ssu-k'u studies 四庫學, explore their merits and demerits, confirm their accomplishments, point out their mistakes, and finally offer some opinions for improvements, so that the research of the Ssu-k'u Studies can be thoroughgoing and the conclusion be more affirmative. The author maintains that the fields of the researchers of the Ssu-k'u Studies were generally centered around issues like, who facilitates the Ssu-k'us compilation, the belonging of its thoughts, the title, the block-printed editions, and the hand-copied editions of the General Catalogue (tzung-mu), the publication date, the motivation of compilation, the correction of its content, its association with the literary inquisition, its scholarly influence, and the evaluation of its value. In addition, some scholars also paid attention to issues about the collections of the Yung-1e Ta-tien 永樂大典. The most obvious problems of the scholars’ attitudes which need further discussion and consideration are their being prejudiced by preconception, readily believing the authorities, putting the blame on the predecessors, and erroneous tendency in the content. The author points out that the greatest contribution of the research of the Ssu-k'u Studies is “correcting mistakes and supplying deficiencies,” which is mainly accomplished by Ssu-k'u Ch'uan-shu Tzung-mu 四庫全書總目(The Outline for the General Catalogue of the Complete Works of the Ssu-k'u). However, an outside research, it is not enough to generalize the research of the Ssu-k'u Studies. A more active and effective way is to start from the angle of “cultural history，” that is, directly from the Ssu-k'u Ch'uan-shu 四庫全書 and the Ssu-k'u Ch'uan-shu Tzung-mu, so as to highlight the significance and the value of the Suu-k'u Studies.