釋「放蕩」 : 兼論六朝文風

Abstract

Hsiao Kang (503-551), Emperor Chien-wen of the Liang Dynasty, wrote in a letter to his son that "literary writing should be fang-tang (unrestrained)." Since Hsiao Kang was an advocate of palacestyle poetry, it was quite natural for critics of later generations to take this saying as Hsiao's literary view. But it was not unusual that these critics misunderstood the original meaning of Hsiao's remark. For example, Kuo Shao-yü (1893-) regarded this as the origin of the theory of "pornographic literature." The present article is intended to argue that terms of traditional literary criticism should not be treated in the context of their modern usage. For this purpose the following questions have to be explored and answered : 1. In what occasion did Hsiao Kang put forward the word fang-tang? 2. What was the meaning of fang-tang in the context of Six Dynasties behavior and literature? 3. According to the understanding of that time, who were the writers that could properly be characterised as fang-tang? How did their contemporaries and later critics evaluate them? Studies revealed that in the Six Dynasties, fang-tang referred to conduct which was beyond social norms and to writings that were not restrained by conventional rules, to those bold in making innovations, and ashamed to follow outmoded customs in form, language, and content. In this regard fang-tang can be treated as the Zeitgeist of the Six Dynasties. Hsiao Kang was an innovator of that time, and so it is quite natural that he, as leader of the literary circle, should have confirmed that "literary writings should be fang-tang." In fact, successful writers of all generations were all ambitious in innovation. If this ambition went a little too far, people would regard it, in the terminology of the Six Dynasties, as fang-tang. Tu Fu (712-770) once claimed that "until my lines are astonishing, never will I give up." This is undoubtedly an echo of Hsiao Kang's advocation of fang-tang.