幾社八股文的思想——以陳子龍為考察中心

Political Thought in the Jishe Society’s Eight-legged Essays: With a Focus on Chen Zilong

明末崇禎年代，文人結社在文化、政治方面皆有著深遠影響。當時的文人結社中，「幾社」是最富盛名且最具影響力的團體之一。同時，明末的文社活動與明清科舉的特殊文體「八股文」息息相關。因此，本文擬以幾社的核心成員陳子龍為中心，考察幾社八股文的反理學思想及其背景，以及八股文與時代思潮之關係等問題，以闡明八股文相關活動之意義。本文的研究指出，幾社八股文活動有兩種意義：第一，幾社藉由八股文而有效率地傳播其反理學的經世思想。第二，幾社的八股文相關活動對盛行於明末經世思潮的形成有一定作用。幾社藉由八股文傳播其經世思想，影響到崇禎朝末期考生之思潮。

The Jishe Society 幾社 was one of the most culturally and politically influential literati groups of the late Ming. Chen Zilong 陳子龍 (1608-1647) was a leading member of Jishe and a popular author of eight-legged essays. The eight-legged essay 八股文 was a style of essay required to pass the imperial examinations during the Ming and Qing dynasties, and one which played an important role in the activities of late Ming literary societies. This article examines the ideological content of Jishe’s eight-legged essays by focusing on those written by Chen Zilong, particularly his criticisms of Song Neo-Confucianism and the relationship between the eight-legged essay and late Ming thought, in order to clarify the significance of activities related to this literary form. Jishe’s eight-legged essays were significant in two ways: first, they were an efficient vehicle for disseminating the group’s anti Neo-Confucian thinking on statecraft; second, the eight-legged essays written by members of Jishe influenced the formation of late Ming political thought through the candidates who took the imperial examinations during the Chongzhen 崇禎 period.