從稻穀到桑田的演化──論何乃健散文的稻田書寫

Evolution From Paddy to Paddy Field -- On the Paddy Field Theme of Ho Nai Kin's prose

從一九七○年代的《那年的草色》迄至二○○七年的《讓生命舒展如樹》，可以發現何乃健三十年書寫不輟的主題均圍繞在廣袤的田野世界。何氏藉由縱橫阡陌發生的一切來寄寓人生百態，時而直抒胸臆，時而針砭時弊，透過對稻田的觀察和生命經驗所得來傳達民胞物與、物我同一的自然倫理觀。本文即主要探討何乃健散文的稻田書寫，共分為幾個部分：一、討論《那年的草色》所描寫的稻穀，舉出何乃健早期文字所展現的天人合一色彩；二、九○年代的佛教散文，其稻田書寫融合了科學的實證精神和佛教哲理；三、論述稻田與中華文化的緊密關係，表達作者的歷史觀念和體察；四、綠色革命給予何乃健的啟示。何乃健早期的散文體現出文字與思想並重，進入後期的散文創作，其說理成分則明顯轉濃，此後的散文俱以思想取勝，而文字技藝則趨向平淡。

From the “The Grass Color of That Year” in the 1970s to the “Let the Life Stretch Like a Tree” in 2007, realised that the theme of Ho Nai Kin's prose over 30 years was surrounded by the theme of paddy field. Through his observation on paddy field as well as his own life experiences, he implied these into his prose and communicated to the public. This article mainly focused on few aspects of Ho Nai Kin's prose: (i) to discuss the writing of paddy as described in “The Grass Color of That Year”; (ii) the combination of writing on paddy field with Buddhist's philosophy in 1990s Buddhist's prose; (iii) to discuss the relationship between paddy field and Chinese culture and how the Ho Nai Kin expressed his historical concept and own observations; and (iv) Ho Nai Kin's inspiration arising from the Green Revolution. Ho Nai Kin emphasizes writing and thoughts in his early works, slowly evolved with greater narration and it turned out that his prose was filled with thoughts while literacy skill remained constant.