時間與不朽──中國魏晉以前不死的追求

The Pursuit of Immortality in China Before Wei and Chin Dynasties

中國人對不朽的追求歷史悠遠，深信形體可以不朽的用盡辦法養生，相信靈魂不滅的則尋求死後魂魄的安頓。對大部分士大夫而言，不朽的捷徑無非立功、立德、立言。唯先秦迄漢，形體不朽是否可能，一直是個爭論不休的問題，從中國思想史上看，我們發覺孔子對死後世界的看法，影響後世知識份子甚鉅，而和知識階層相反的信仰則在民間頗為流行。孔子所關心的是今生而非來世永生的問題，他對祭禮的重視著眼在於其社會禮儀的功能，而非真信來生者也。孔子這種態度，基本上也是後世知識份子對人死後的看法。
從先秦以迄魏晉，中國人對靈魂與形體不朽的追求不曾稍止，而從戰國以前的追求長壽，到秦漢的追求長生不死原是很自然的演變，學者一般認為神仙不死的追求，起於人超越俗物羈絆的欲望和掙脫有限時空束縛的夢想，進而可以長視久生於無何有之鄉，不再受時間的驅策。面對時間長河，人類每有勞生有限之嘆，因而尋求生之意義，企圖超越時空，思能長生不朽。中國人之於不朽，有識之士者固在立德、立功、立言，一般人率流為形體或死後靈魂不朽的尋求，其形式雖不一，但挑戰時間的動因則同。

Chinese have a long history of pursuing immortality. People who believe in the immortality of body tend to prevent themselves from aging while people who believe in the immortality of the soul try to defend their afterlife. For the intellectuals, the way of immortality is through leaving their merit, virtue, and writings to the coming generations.
From Ch’in to Wei and Chin dynasties, the pursuit of immortality never ends. Scholars are the opinion that the pursuit of immortality is people's dream of going beyond the limit of time and space and having the freedom of enjoying their life in the never-never land. It is a dream of going beyond the life span of man.