帛書老子文體考

Abstract

This article considers the style of the Po-shu text of the Lao Tzu, recently discovered in the Han Tomb No. 3 at Ma-wang-tui 馬王堆, Ch'angsha 長沙. This text was copied in about 200 B.C. and differs in some important respects from other extant texts (for instance the Wang Pi 王弼 text). The style of the Lao Tzu is composed of several sub-styles. These are not dispersed randomly but are mutually related, each occupying its respective place in the work. Taken as a whole, they form the overall style of the text. They may be divided into four large groups, called here Styles A, B, C and D, which develop in layers. In Style A, the core of the Lao Tzu, the influence of mysticism is strong. Here, mystical experience is spoken of and an attempt is made to express verbally "the Way" (tao 道), perceiveable only through intuition and essentially beyond words. Style B develops from Style A. Here, the human embodiment of "the Way", the Sage 聖人, appears and the "actionless activity 無爲 of the Sage" is particularly stressed. Later, various sub-styles spring forth from this philosophy of actionless activity, but all belong, in a large sense, to Style B. The aspect of wisdom dominates this style, and neither the first person "I" (wu 吾) nor emotion are expressed here. Style D is an undercurrent of Style B. Not all of the mystical experience in the Lao Tzu is sublimated into the role of the Sage. In this style, the author speaks of his own solitude and despair, insisting on the strength of the weak (weakness probably describing the author's own true situation). This style evinces emotion and uses the first person "I". The Sage is not present here. Style C, situated at the merging point of Styles B and D, forms the outer rim of the Lao Tzu. Becoming more political in nature, it approaches the point of view of the people. At the same time, several styles alien to the Lao Tzu (as, for example, the sayings of the strategists) creep in here. Style A may be said to be Chaos. From its midst emerged B, Wisdom. As B was establishing its footing, the dynamics of feeling were set in motion, bringing forth D, Emotion. The unsettled division of Emotion and Wisdom was resolved in Style C. Style A was thus reconsolidated in a fuller dimension, and some language of great beauty came forth. With this, the style of the Lao Tzu, completing its self-generation, draws itself to a close. Whether or not the Lao Tzu is the work of a single author is difficult to determine. But the existence of an editor possessing a sure sense of a language should, in all probability, be acknowledged.