天地之文与人文的贯通——论《文言传》题名的真实内涵

《文言传》为何以“文言”名篇,历代学者论述各异。陈鼓应“文”本于“天地之文”的观点颇有启发性,但过于简略。“天地之文”是“文言”之“文”取义所本。《易》中有天地之文,亦有人文。天地之文即天地生物、成物之象,人文是圣王法天牧民,使天地生机昌茂、万有和谐有序之象。《文言传》以“文德”贯通天地之文与人文、天地之道与人道。“文德”即易道生生之德,其所反映的深层精神品质即“仁”。乾坤二卦作为生生之本,最为集中地体现了生生之易道、天人贯通之“文德”,故阐释乾坤二卦德义之辞题曰“文言”。

Threading through the“Patterns of Heaven and Earth”and the“Patterns of Humans”:The True Connotations of the Title of Wenyan zhuan

For the reason the chapter was named Wenyan zhuan(Commentary on the Words of the Text)and its profound implications,scholars have many different views,among which,only Chen Guying’s view that here wen(lit.,pattern,culture,civilization)was based on the“patterns of Heaven and Earth”is much inspiring.However,his demonstration was too simple and many important questions remained to be discussed.Based on the fact this chapter specially extends the connotations of hexagrams Qian■,The Creative,1]and Kun■,The Receptive,2],this paper starts from the“patterns of Heaven and Earth”,establishes in the system of Yi zhuan(including the Mawangdui Silk Version of Yi zhuan),adopts predecessors’interpretations and discusses the meaning of the name in the view of Confucian subjective spirit.This paper holds that the wen in the Wenyan zhuan was derived from the“patterns of Heaven and Earth”.In the Changes,there are both“patterns of Heaven and Earth”and“patterns of Humans”.The former refers to the image of generating things by Heaven and Earth and the latter the image of a vibrant world with a harmonious order under the sages’governance.The interpretation of Qian and Kun in the chapter applied“the virtue of wen”to thread through the two kinds of patterns.“The virtue of wen”means the virtue of sheng sheng(ceaseless producing)and the indepth spiritual quality it reflects is ren(benevolence).As the basis of sheng sheng,Qian and Kun epitomize the Dao(Way)of sheng sheng and the virtue of wen integrating Heaven and Humans,hence the name of Wenyan.In other words,Wenyan zhuan is about sages’discourse on Qian and Kun’s virtue of wen.