臺灣地區光復前基督徒的儒家經學傳播一斑——李春生著作中的詩經學訊息

The Presence and Meaning of Shijing in the Writings of the Taiwanese Christian Li Chun-sheng

本文旨在分析探討李春生（1838-1924）這位來自福建定居臺灣，且自學有成的基督徒現存著作引述應用《詩經》文本的狀況及其在《詩經》傳播史上的意義與價值。經由閱讀《李春生著作集》引述《詩經》文本的實際表現，發現其在437處行文中，借用了《詩經》62個篇章助其表達思想，其中以〈大雅．皇矣〉和〈大雅．蕩〉各57次的引述最多。李春生引述《詩經》的理由除不證自明的經典性價值外，同時也和其欲證明基督天道思想是中國古已有之的企圖相關。李春生這個企圖除了傳布推廣基督教的基本目的外，同時也是他在本質上自居於「華人」身分，提供積弱中國改革富強的方案。李春生經由文本論證、列強侵略和日本崛起等，證明信仰基督教必然國強民富，不信基督教必受上帝懲罰而被列強殖民甚至亡國，用以推銷其中國必須「基督化」的改革主張。李春生固然在思想表達上多取儒家經典，在身分認同上傾向中國，但虔誠的基督徒纔是其最終極的認同。本文所得研究成果，除有助於李春生學術的了解外，對基督徒如何利用《詩經》狀況的了解，自然也有實質的幫助。因而對於宗教、經學、《詩經》研究、臺灣學等相關研究者，應該也具備提供某些有效答案的實際功能。

This essay is an analytical exploration of the presence and meaning of Shijing 詩 經 (the classic of Poetry) in the writings of Li Chun-sheng 李春生（1838-1924）, a self-taught Christian’ who had migrated from Fu-Jian to Taiwan. Among Li’s writings, were 437 quotes from 62 chapters of Shijing. The two most quoted chapters were “Daya-Huangi” 〈大雅．皇矣〉 and “Daya-Dang” 〈大雅．蕩〉, each being quoted fifty-seven times.
By analyzing possible reasons behind the use of these quotes, the author proposes that in addition to using classical texts to illuminate universal and perennial truths, Li intended to prove that the Christian view of Heavenly truth and Chinese thought were similar in their origins. Li’s use of classical Chinese reflected both his strategy of preaching Christianity and his patriotic concern for providing an agenda for enriching and strengthening China. Following Western expansion in the East and the Japanese rise to power, Li was convinced that Christianity was the key to a rich and powerful China. He believed that without Christianity, a nation would be punished by God-that is, be colonized and eventually perish. Thus China had to be Christianized to survive. While Li used Confucian classics as the tool of expression and identified himself as a Chinese, nonetheless, Christianity was his ultimate concern.
In addition to explicating Li’s scholarship, this essay aims to provide insights into how the use of Shijing may contribute to the study of Christianity, and will be of interest to researchers concerned with the relationship between the study of religion, the Classics, Shijing, as well as Taiwan-related research.