以美為尊——張競生「新女性中心」論與達爾文「性擇」說

Beauty Rules: Zhang Jingsheng's Gynocentrism and Darwin's Sexual Selection

一九二○年代中期張競生提倡「美的人生觀」與「美的社會」，積極參與五四「科學與人生觀論戰」的論爭：「理性」與「情感」究竟孰重？這個論爭是啟蒙時代以來連結歐亞的跨文化現象。張競生主張「美的社會」應以女性為中心，因女子長於「情愛」及「美趣」，而男子重「理智」及「實用」。為何女性富於情感，就是未來「美的社會」的中心？ 究竟「情愛」與「美趣」如何產生連結？張競生的「美的社會」概念，受到達爾文的啟發。本文探討十九世紀中葉以來達爾文主義所衍生的解讀，如何對現代美學、現代哲學、心理學、社會學、甚至女性主義等，產生重大影響；張競生並非特例。而「女性中心說」這個中文詞彙，是從英文原文翻譯成日文後，中國知識分子—包括張競生—直接挪用的。這是一個跨文化的社會學概念，連結了歐洲、美國、日本及中國鼓吹改革兩性關係的知識分子。

During the May Fourth Movement of the mid-1920s, Zhang Jingsheng advocated ＂an aesthetic outlook on life＂ and ＂an aesthetic society＂ while actively participating in the debate on ＂outlook on science and life,＂ i.e., on reason and feelings. This post- Enlightenment debate was in fact a transcultural phenomenon across Europe and Asia. Zhang maintained that women should be the center of the ＂aesthetic society＂ because they are endowed with ＂feeling and love＂ and ＂beauty,＂ while men are more prone to ＂reason＂ and ＂pragmatism.＂ Why should women, with their penchant for ＂feeling and love,＂ lead the future aesthetic society? What is the connection between ＂feeling and love＂ and ＂beauty＂? Since Zhang's idea of an ＂aesthetic society＂ was inspired by Darwin, this paper is focused on how diverse interpretations of Darwinism exert significant influence on modern aesthetics, philosophy, psychology, sociology, and even feminism. The Chinese term ＂nüxing zhongxin shuo＂ (gynocentrism) was first translated from English into Japanese, and then adopted by Chinese intellectuals. It was a transcultural concept that connected intellectuals who called for the reform of gender relations in Europe, America, Japan and China.