中国古代文体互参中“以高行卑”的体位定势

文体互参是中国古代文学创作中的一个习见现象,古人很早就注意到在诗词曲之间,在古文和时文、辞赋和史传之间,甚至在韵文和散文两大文类之间,普遍都存在着互参现象,并且互参之际显示出以高行卑的体位定势,即高体位的文体可以向低体位的文体渗透,而反之则不可。这种定势及其艺术效果因为在书法中表现得最为直观易解,所以古代批评家常用书法来比喻和说明文体互参中的这种体位定势。书法术语破体也在唐代被引入文论,又在宋代浓厚的辨体意识中与本色构成一对有关文体互参的互补性概念,左右着人们对具体文体相参的审美评价。以高行卑的美学依据,实质就是木桶原理,即作品整体的风格品位取决于体位最低的局部,以高行卑可以提升作品的风格品位,反之就会降低作品的风格品位。不过问题的复杂在于,在跨文类互参之际,由于涉及文体的功能,也存在不同程度的例外。

From the Higher to the Lower:A Convention in Referencing between Literary Forms in Ancient China

Referencing between literary forms was quite common in ancient Chinese literary writings. The prevalence of referencing between different forms, such as ci and qu (two verse forms), classical and popular texts, fu (a prose poem) and historical biography, and even between the two literary categories of verse and prose was noted very early on. In such referencing, there was a convention that it was desirable to use the superior literary form to polish the inferior one, while the reverse was unacceptable. This...