中國古代闡釋學的個例研究 : 闡釋 「興、觀、群、怨」 的三種模式

孔子就《詩經》所作的「興、觀、群、怨」四字評語，其含義如何，是兩千年來歷代解經家、哲學家、和文論家一向所關注的對象；而對此四字的解釋活動，恰可以用作闡釋學研究的一個典型例子。首先，這種解釋活動本身即是一闡釋過程。新觀點雖然不斷產生，但並未形成一言堂而壓制更新的見解；所以在歷來對此四字論的解釋中，我們至少能發現三種迥然不同的解釋方式：即宋之前與清代經學家的語義模式，宋明兩代新儒家的思辨模式，及王夫之（1619-1692）的循環模式。 其次，若仔細推敲第三種模式中王夫之 對四字論的解釋，我們即能領略到中國 傳統文論中最清晰的闡釋學觀念表述。它不同於其時占主導地位的遞進式解釋觀念，即讀者由外而內依次遞進地逐步挖掘作者的意圖、情感或精神，而是視解釋活動為一循環過程，其中讀者起著創作者的作用，並且持續地消除主導與從屬、整體與個體這一類二元對立的差別。

To interpret the four terms (xing 興, guan 觀, qun 群, yuan 怨) with which Confucius depicts the Book of Poetry (Shi jing 詩經, hereafter the Poetry) is an unending exercise for Chinese exegetes, philosophers, and literary critics for more than two millennia. This interpretive exercise makes a fine case study of hermeneutics. First, the exercise itself is a hermeneutic process: it never ceases to generate fresh insights but admits of no definitive conclusions. Surveying the important glosses and commentaries on the four terms, we can discern three distinctive interpretative approaches: the semantic approach employed by Pre-Song and Qing exegetes, the analytical approach championed by Song and Ming neo-Confucian thinkers, and the circular hermeneutic approach developed by Wang Fuzhi 王夫之 (1619-1692). Then, as we closely examine Wang's comments on the four terms, we will see the clearest exposition of hermeneutic ideas of interpretation in traditional Chinese literary criticism. To challenge the predominant ideas of interpretation as a linear process to recover the authorial intent, emotions, or spirits, Wang re-conceptualizes interpretation as a circular process of pure readerly creation, characterized by a persistent leveling of dichotomies and differences of various kinds.