一般而言,道家對語言的權力宰控和意識形態具有高度的批判性,「道」本身則因為超越語言而具有不可言說性。然而道家並不走向絕對的語言否定論,在面對傳道而不得不有所說的情況下,筆者認為道家至少展現幾種態度:(一)絕對沈默、(二)詩性隱喻、(三)故事敘述、(四)概念辯證。本論的重點,一則討論《老子》為何、如何使用「詩性隱喻」來開顯「道體」;其次,要特別討論《莊子》如何以故事的策略,將《老子》對「道體」的「隱喻」轉化為「體道」的「敘事」;在筆者看來,還是《莊子》突破《老子》語言風格的一大創新,從此我們才看到一個個求道故事的上演。為說明《莊子》以「敘事見道」的用意和深義,本文將分析本雅明(Walter Benjamin)對說書人和講故事的精采洞見,以做為發明《莊子》放事學之詮釋視域,並將兩者做一呼應對話。由此一來,莊周及其傳人便具有說書人的性格,《莊子》一書便可看成求道、體道、說道的連環故事之集成。
Generally speaking, Daoism strongly criticizes the power and ideology of language. Dao cannot be spoken about because of its transcendent nature. However, Daoism is not completely negative about language. In my opinion, Daoists exhibit at least four attitudes toward language: (1) absolute silence, (2) poetic metaphor, (3) story narration, and (4) conceptual dialectic. In this paper, I first discuss why and how Laozi uses poetic metaphor to reveal Dao. Second, I explore the process by which Laozi's poetic metaphors are transformed into Zhuangzi's stories. That is to say, the entity of Dao in Laozi becomes stories of seeking Dao in Zhuangzi. Narrative skill is a breakthrough linguistic style in Zhuangzi that did not exist in Laozi. In order to explain the significance of narrative philosophy, this article analyzes Walter Benjamin's insights about narrators and narratives. Finally, I conclude that Zhuangzi and his students are great narrators and the book of Zhuangzi is a collection of stories about Dao.