语:一种古老的文类——以言类之语为例

“语”是一种古老的文类,是古人知识、经验的结晶和为人处事的准则,其中蕴含着民族精神,充满了先民的经验和智慧,是当时人们的一般知识和共同的思想、话语资源。其体用特征是“明德”,这一体用特征是“语”区别于同期其他文类的身份证明。它大致可分为重在记言和重在叙事的两类,每类又表现为散见的或结集、成篇的两种。散见言类之“语”的文字标志是“语”、“言”、“谚”和部分“闻之”;结集成篇的言类之“语”则集中地保存在先秦迄两汉的文献中。探讨“语”这种文类的体用特征、存在形式、渊源与流变、思想史、学术史和文献学意义,藉此展现当时人们的一般知识和思想,尤其是春秋战国思想家的知识背景和思想平台,进而揭示在“语”的传播过程中若干文化现象的现代启示,具有重要的学术意义。

Saying as an ancient category of discourse: focusing on the proverb

This thesis takes saying, which is found in all the handed down documents and unearthed materials belonging to pro-Qin dynasty period, as the object. Through the notes to Shen Shushi's (申叔时) reply to the Duke of Chu (楚), the author draws a conclusion, that is: saying is a kind of ancient discourse category. It brews our national spirit as the quintessence of the ancients' knowledge and principle of practice. It is the common knowledge and common thoughts of our forefathers. What's more, it also embodied their common topic and had been quoted again and again in those ages. The characteristic of its function is to cultivate character and morals. This can be considered as its identity, which makes it stand out from all other categories in the same period. Generally, saying can be classified into two types: one is close to adage, the other is happenings and comments (事语). These two types can also be subdivided into two kinds: the scattered ones and the organized ones. The literal symbol of adage is the saying (语), the word (言), the proverb and the “hear that” (闻之), coming respectively from the delicate words belonging to the aristocratic culture (those words that stem from documents, virtuous persons, historiographers, thinkers , etc.) and proverbs belonging to the folk culture. Happenings and comments are mainly about history and folklores. Regarding saying as a category of discourse, we can not only reconstruct its original shape, but also solve many academic problems, such as the relationship between Guoyu (《国语》) and Zuozhuan(《左传》).