《論語‧八佾》繪事後素異詮比較

The Comparison of Different Interpretation on the Theory of ''Laying Colors on the Plain ground'' in Confucian Analects: Ba Yi

「繪事後素」是《論語．八佾》孔子以繪事喻詩，子夏由詩悟禮提出的一個問題，〈碩人〉這首詩所採用的描寫方法，和繪畫的方法差不多，這些形容女子美麗的詞彙，都同樣有「白（素）」這個詞彙。有了美好的質地，加以適當的修養裝飾，才能描繪出漂亮的畫面來。本文試圖從詩經的本意，探析經學從漢學、宋學到清學，逐漸形成了兩種主流詮釋：一是肯定漢代鄭玄之說，抑或贊同南宋朱熹之說，學術界衆說紛紜，錢穆《論語新解》、劉寶楠從鄭注，楊伯峻《論語譯注》、李澤厚《論語今讀》、全祖望從朱注。孔子認爲禮就是「文」，以仁德作爲基礎就是「質」，所以「禮後」即「禮後於仁」，是儒家賦予「禮」豐富的道德精神，學界的基本共識是「質先文後」。本文認爲除了逸詩說法不同之外，朱熹的詮釋很接近孔子「素以為絢兮」的本意。

'Laying colors on the plain ground'' is one of the concepts raised in Confucian Analects: Ba Yi. In the dialogue between Confucius and his student Zi Xia, painting is used as a metaphor to explain the concept of ritual-custom. In the Ode ''Shuo Ren'' from the Book of Songs, the beauty of femininity is also rendered from a painting pespective with the characters white and plain. These characters illustrate a finely prepared white plain ground as primer layer in painting. This concept is used to explain a beautiful scene can only be presented by cultivating the quality on a well-prepared white ground. This study intends to explore and analyse Confucius's concept of ''Laying colors on the plain ground'' form the original intention of the Book of Songs. Although the annotations differ widely, two mainstream interpretations of Confucian Classics has gradually formed over the studies of Han, Song, and Qing Dynasties. The first interpretation follows the explanation of Han Dynasty Confucian scholar Zheng Xuan, and is agreed upon by scholars Qian Mu in ''A New Interpretation of The Analects'' and Liu Baonan. The other interpretation echoes with Song dynasty scholar Zhu Xi, and is followed by Yang Bojun in ''Annotations on Analects Translation,'' Li Zehou in ''Reading the Analects Today, and Quan Zuwang. Confucius believes the concept of ritual-custom is the ''form.'' With the concept of benevolence and virtue as foundation of the ''form'', ''quality'' arises. Therefore, ''Ritual-custom comes after'' means ''Ritual-custom comes after benevolence.'' Confucianism embodies the concept of ritual-custom with rich moral and spiritual meaning through this concept. Nowadays, studies commonly recognise the idea of ''Form comes after Quality''. This study purports that notwithstanding differences among the different versions of the Book of Songs, Zhu Xi's interpretation is much closer to Confucius' original intention of ''the plain ground for the colors.''