溫庭筠辨疑

Abstract

溫庭筠將文筆探入閨帷，深入女性的內心世界，以「男子作閨音」的抒情方式，引領詞壇風騷，成為《花間》鼻祖，千古詞宗。惟其生平，一如其詞，幽隱深邃，索解不易。舊史、小說塑造的人品形象，始終如影隨形，橫阻於讀者與作品之間，成為審美的障礙。歷來論者輩出，但爭論的問題大多是非難定，迄今猶缺乏客觀而有系統的論析辨疑，因此本文擬致力此。所謂「辨疑」，涉及其人其詞，從傳記、詞作，到前輩時賢的研究得失，多方面考察取捨，先就關鍵性、根本性的問題徹底加以解決。期能掃清誤說，揭開迷障，為飛卿及其詞所引發的困惑與爭議，提供若干新的研究成果。 由於飛卿的生命悲劇，根源於自負高才，自期經世，「自知終有張華識，不向滄州理釣絲」的執著，而故事發生的主要場景，一在揚州，一在京城科場。故首先辨析飛卿在「揚州」、「科場」發生的情事，以及由此衍生的事件與影響；並將研究所得，於探討「寄託說」時，再聯繫其形跡與心跡，建構立體的生命圖象，以為論證的依據。論文分為三部分： 第一章〈溫庭筠與揚州〉。飛卿在揚州，發生了兩起受辱事件：一是少年時，初從鄉里舉，客游江淮，為揚子留後姚勗笞逐一事(簡稱笞逐事件)；一是晚年時，失意歸江東，「丐錢揚子院」為虞候所擊一事(簡稱廣陵事件)。兩則故事，相互呼應，成為後人論定飛卿「無行」的重要憑據。本章首先探討揚子與揚子院在唐代鹽業、漕運的地位，以及飛卿在揚州的政治活動，其次分就「笞逐事件」、「廣陵事件」商榷舊說，並考析其發生的時間、原因及影響。 第二章〈溫庭筠與科場〉。敬宗寶曆二年(826)，飛卿在揚州初應進士科，因姚勗笞逐而不第；歷經失意後，約於太和四、五年(830-831)間投筆從戎，出塞從軍。而自太和六年(832)由塞上返回京師，至於大中十三年(859)貶尉隋縣，期間經歷了從游莊恪、京兆等第、罷舉南遁、游於令狐、獻〈菩薩蠻〉等事。本章辨疑，即以京城科場事為重點，概括為〈從游莊恪〉、〈神州就選〉、〈貶尉隋縣〉等三節探討。 第三章〈溫庭筠與歌詞〉。飛卿詞多寫美女與愛情，自清張惠言以「感士不遇」說〈菩薩蠻〉詞以來，「寄託說」始終是詞壇爭議的焦點。由於飛卿兼擅詩、詞，他在詞中注入的感情內容，建構的格律體式，開拓的風格意境，使文人雅詞進入了一個新的境界，脫離詩歌的羈絆而成為一種新的抒情文體。因此除了探討爭論最熾的寄託說，釐清飛卿如何從詩到詞，開拓詞境以及建構詞調譜式，也是本章的用心所在。 本文從飛卿的形跡與心跡入手，再及於飛卿詞的寄託、詞調等研究，終能釐清以下問題：其一，就飛卿生平言，訂補、辨正舊說的缺陋、訛誤，約有二十餘事。據此勾勒其形跡與心跡，知飛卿自許高才，雖執著於仕途，卻堅貞守志，不肯同流合污，剛直敢言，不平則鳴。歷經誣謗、死生、貶謫，晚年主國子監秋試，仍不畏時忌，張榜進士邵謁等人諷刺時政的詩文於禮部都堂。這是飛卿向世局痛下的最後一劑針砭，他因此再貶，流落而終。在世人熟知博學多才，狂放不羈的形象下，其實掩藏著無比的勇敢與堅貞。其二，就詞作言，寄託說論證的爭執焦點，在於飛卿的人品。然而在勘謬正訛，掃清誤說之後，展現於其人品方面的卻是在濁世中懷抱高才良圖，堅持經世濟民之志，歷經困阨挫折，始終堅持理想，最終以生命實踐「唯有荷花守紅死」這種人格理想的飛卿。因此綜合飛卿人格與際遇，及〈菩薩蠻〉的創作背景、作品表現，恐怕很難只是單純視為情詞。飛卿今存詞六十八闋，比較相同題材的詩詞，可以發現追尋與失落，幽怨、迷離、感傷，是共同的主旋律。從詩到詞，明顯由主觀轉為客觀，抒情重心轉向女性，尤其是女性心曲。多用比興，取象更為精美，多用跳接、留白，抒情反復纏綿，意境更為窈深幽約。至於所用十八詞調，或自創新調，或用舊曲填詞，或沿用舊調，其詞調之豐富，當時無人能比。他力求格律之規範化，不但建立個人風格，更建立了「詞」這種文體的風格；而所確立的詞調體式，所開拓的詞境，也為後繼者開啟津途。因此，可以說文人填詞不自飛卿始，但自飛卿逐音填詞，其面目方才與詩「別是一家」。

Wen Tingyun was remarkable for his ability to take his writings into the women’s quarters in the sense of displaying a deep understanding of the inner workings of the female mind. His style of writing from the female perspective was a leading force in the literary world of his day and eventually cumulated in the Huajian ci, a compilation of ci that served as a point of reference for all ci written thereafter. Unfortunately, the details of his life are much like his ci – cloaked in a heavy veil that makes them difficult to get a handle on. As a result, the image of him that was created by traditional historians and story tellers, inasmuch as it has persisted through the ages, now stands between the reader and his works as an aesthetic obstacle. And while there has been no shortage of scholars who have taken an interest in Wen, many points of contention about his life remain unresolved. In fact, to date there has not been one objective and systematic attempt to deal with these questions. This dissertation represents an effort to thoroughly resolve the most crucial and basic questions about his life and works through a extensive examination of existing biographical works, his own ci, and recent scholarship. It is hoped that the results will provide a new perpsective on a number of puzzles and controversies surrounding Wen and his works and that in the process, some misunderstandings as well as mysteries will be cleared up. The tragedy of Wen’s life stemmed from the high estimation he had of his talent and his desire to have an impact on the world, on his insistence that his talent would be discovered and put to use. There were two stages on which this tragedy took place, one in Yangzhou and the other in the imperial testing rooms of the capital. As such, our first task is to examine what happened in Yangzhou and the imperial testing rooms and the consequences and influences of those events. Based on these results, we will bring together both factual details and pyschological aspects to put together a picture of his life which will be used to offer a new appraisal of Wen’s life and character as well as the idea that his works were allegorical in nature. This dissertation is divided into three chapters, as follows: Chapter One: Wen Tingyun and Yangzhou. While he was in Yangzhou, Wen experienced two humiliating experiences. First, as a young man who had just passed the examinations at the local level, he travelled to the area between the Huai and Jiang Rivers only to be chased and lashed by an official. The second experience occurred late in life, when he returned to the area filled with dissapointment only to be beaten, this time while begging for money. These two events, one at the start of his adult life and the other towards its end, have become important evidence for scholars who argue that Wen’s life was marked by a lack of accomplishment. In this chapter, we look at the importance of this region in the salt trade and imperial transhipments, Wen’s political activities in the area. We then move on to examine the traditions that have accumulated around these events in order to determine when they occurred and why and what impact they had on Wen. Chapter Two: Wen Tingyun and the Imperial Examination. Wen sat for his first imperial examination in 826, but was unable to pass on account of his run in with the official. After getting over his disappointment, he served as a soldier in border areas between the years 830-831, only to return to the capital in 832. This chapter will focus on his encounter with the imperial examination and his subsequent experiences. Chapter Three: Wen Tingyun and his Works. Wen’s works deal mainly with lovely women and love. Despite that, there has been a controversy as to whether Wen intended his ci as an allegory for his sense of disappointment ever since the Qing dynasty scholar Zhang Huiyan interpreted his work Pusa man as being the work of an educated man who had not had the chance to live up to his potential. Wen composed both poems and ci. But he was able to invest his ci with an emotional content and establish a lyrical mode that opened up new stylistic possibilities and helped move the genre of the ci away from the restrictions imposed on traditional poetry and into a new realm of literary expression. Therefore, in addition to discussing the hotly debated issue of whether or not his ci were allegories, we will also look at Wen’s transition from the genre of the poem to the ci and the contributions he made to the expressive content of the ci and its lyrical form. In this dissertation we draw the following conclusions. First, in terms of his life story, we amend or otherwise clarify mistakes or inadequacies in the traditional version with regards to roughly 20 details of Wen’s life. As a result of this effort, we can see that while Wen had a very high view of himself and was indeed smitten with the idea of pursuing the life of the official, he remained true to himself until the very end, never mixing himself up with inferior elements and always saying what he thought. This remained the case throughout the course of his life, despite facing slander, death, and demotion, until the final act of defiance when, late in life, he used his position as a testor for imperial candidates to post works poking fun at the political situation in the halls of the Ministry of Rites. This brought about what was to be his last demotion, one that ended up pushing him into the grave. While Wen was and is widely known for his breadth of knowledge and unrestrainable personality, in truth under this we can see that he was possessed of an incomparable courage and decency. Second, in terms of his ci, we see that arguments about whether his works were allegories stem from differing interpretations of his character. However, once we were able to brush away the errors and rectify mistaken impressions, we see Wen as an upright and noble character in a fallen world who never lost sight of the ideal of making a contribution to his country, a man who lived his life in accordance with his own verse “only the stays red until it dies”. Furthermore, by bringing together aspects of his life and character, together with the backdrop against which the Pusa man was written as well as its contents, we find that it is difficult to see this work as simply being about love. Some 68 of Wen’s ci have been passed down to the present. Looking at poems and ci with similar themes, we find that there is a common element of search and loss, a veiled resentment, and sorrow. In the transition from poem to ci, there is a clear move from the subjective to the objective, one in which the locus of expression moves towards the feminine, and especially the inner workings of the feminine mind. We also see an increased use of traditional modes of poetic analogy, an increased aestheticism in terms of the images used, and more subtle, shaded meanings. In terms the tunes to which the ci were set, the 18 different tunes that Wen used in his works, some original, some already existing, and some reworkings of older tunes, represents a diversity unparalleled by his peers. In his quest for a standardization of ci lyricism, Wen not only created his own personal style, but also created a style for the entire genre; at the same time, he helped to open up new areas of expression for ci that could be taken up by later generations of writers. As a result, we can say that although the practice of literati writing ci did not begin with Wen, the innovation that Wen made of emphasizing the lyrical nature of ci in his compositions opened up the way for ci to become a genre independent of traditional poetry.