亂離與歸屬──清初文人劇作家之意識變遷與跨界想像

Diaspora and Belonging: The Transformation of Consciousness and Boundary–Crossing Imagination in The Early Qing Literati's Plays

對於親歷明、清鼎革的傳統中國士人，尤其是那些懷有某種「前朝意識」與「遺民情結」的士人而言，由明入清，伴隨著輿圖換藁而來的，不只是政治立場的新定位，同時也是價值觀念、情感世界與生活方式的選擇。甚至從某種精神意義來說，他們在「自我想像」的層次中，常憑藉著意識之流動，進行著一種「時」「空」界域的重構。無論是隱於市井，還是遁入山林，始終處於「生」或「死」之意義辯證的遺民，就其為前朝之所「遺」的身分而言，實際上選擇的，是另一種形式的「死」；而就其為新朝之「逸」的邊緣身分論，其實也可說是另一種形式之「生」。尤其在世變滄桑的動盪中，明清之際的文人，經歷了國破家亡、身世飄零與人世無常的迷惘，在劇作中反映了一個極其特殊的心靈傾向。亦即在來自時代變遷的動盪擾攘，以及個人之出處困頓等外緣條件的錯綜影響下，他們找不到自己生命安頓的中心，亦無法感受世界之希望。他們不僅面臨了時空的消逝錯置、正統的替換遞嬗，甚且顛覆了對於實存世界的既有認知，因而在洩漏心靈狀態的創作中，展現了「迥異於常」的內涵。而在這些迥異於常的「跨界想像」中流動的心靈，不論其內在的特質，有多少是出於時代環境的形塑，或源自時代精神的共同性，有多少是出於作家個人特殊情志的發展，在在都表現了一種對此一「非現實性」世界的眷戀與執著。
我們若進一步探究戲曲中「意識表徵」與「跨界想像」之運用所達致的效果，則可發現清初劇作家如何藉深化戲曲中的時空想像的藝術特質，來敘寫其心靈漂泊與追尋的軌跡。本文所選擇的劇作實例，如丁耀亢《化人游》中所呈現的幻游變異與幽邈之思；黃周星《人天樂》中對於典型文人幻想樂園的塑造，以及尤侗劇作《讀離騷》、《弔琵琶》、《桃花源》、《鈞天樂》中所透露出的逐臣之恨與出世寄託，在不同程度上都展現了清初文人揉合儒、釋、道三教思想的人生態度。而這種人生態度，事實上呈顯了此一時期處於特殊心態中的傳統文人，其人生價值追求的兩個側面：一是如何在充滿痛苦回憶的現實生活處境中，安頓徬徨的自我？一是如何透過「救贖」的可能，想像一種重建「破碎的自我」與「世界」間的關連？而這兩個側面，正好在「時間」與「空間」的意義上，形成了某種對照：即「過去已失落之理想的追憶」相對於「未來理想之追尋」；「入世的現實羈絆」相對於「出世的精神呼喚」；「外在歷史遺跡之遞嬗」相對於「內在心靈空間之轉化」。

The fall of the Ming was not only a national crisis; it also seemed to contemporaries to mark the dissolution of the Chinese world. The literati who witnessed the dynastic transition have experienced complex feelings of being able neither to accept nor reject the Qing, and these contradictory impulses produced the painful and tragic consciousness that was expressed in early Qing drama. For those literati who still held loyalty to Ming after the dynastic changeover, what they had to confront is not only the change of political standpoint, but also the change of value concept, emotional state and their ways of living. Whether they identified themselves as city hermits or isolated recluses, they always had to confront with the contradictory tension between “to live” or “not to live” and “to die” or “not to die.” While identifying themselves as Ming loyalists who felt their lives were merely left behind of the Ming, the lives they chose are similar to another form of “death.” On the other hand, if they regarded themselves as marginal “retreated” people, what they chose turns out to be another form of “living.”
This paper takes the transformation of consciousness and boundary-crossing imagination as points of convergence to explore how these playwrights employed drama as an intimate vehicle for expressing their lament for the late Ming and their sentiments about dynastic changeover. My discussion focuses on the plays by Ding Yaokang (1599-1670), Huang Zhouxing (1645-1704) and You Tong (1648-1718). The issues addressed are: How did Ding Yaokang, after leading a frustrated life, relocate his sense of direction by depicting a fantastic wandering in a fluctuated ocean? how did Huang Zhouxing entrust his lament for the Ming by building an imaginary garden with Buddhist vision through play writing? How did You Tong convey his bewail as a demoted subject and his yarning for another world? I will analyze how the authors' different perceptions and distinct treatments of “boundary-crossing” in their plays indicated dissimilar levels of identification for the new Dynasty. How distinctly the authors expressed their boundary-crossing imagination has, in a sense, embodied the fact that different levels of identification have been transformed into a new stage during the dynastic transition period.