嚴復《莊子評點》緣中西會通所析釋之｢道｣論

嚴復為晚清介紹西學的先驅人物，但嚴氏並非只以翻譯西書為專門，亦致力於中西學術之調和，其會通中西學的貢獻在於使學界耳目一新，並使學人之援用西方理論有所依據，蓋晚清至民初數十年間學術思想之丕變，則嚴氏之影響實有其特殊的意義。本文欲經由嚴復《莊子評點》的義理思想，論述嚴氏中西會通的理念，再加以釐清其中西會通的學術價值。根本上，嚴氏之學雖以儒學為基礎，但大抵能兼採道、釋觀點並用以闡述西學之學說，其認為道家與儒、釋的義理實可與部份西學說法統一，故可知嚴氏並不囿於中西學的藩籬，取其可用之概念進行會通是為其鵠的。如其《莊子評點》乃結合《莊子》哲學、儒家的「易道」與西方哲學之「天演」、自然科學，欲架構一特殊的宇宙論，以至於演繹「道」化之下所派生的種種社會現象。故《莊子評點》非但是嚴氏闡述其經世致用的一大著作，亦是嚴氏調和中西哲學的一大發揮，而嚴氏最終的目的則在於雜糅《莊子》與西學「天演」的終極「道」說，進以成就一家之言。

關鍵字

嚴復；《莊子評點》；中西會通；天演論

並列摘要

Yan Fu was a pioneer figure in introducing Western learning in late Qing Dynasty. However, Yan not only specialized in translating Western books, but also endeavored to integrate Chinese and Western academic research. His contribution of a harmonious blend and a thorough grasp of Sino-Western studies resulted in making the academic circles undergo a pleasant change of atmosphere, thus enabling the scholars to have a basis in citing Western theories. Therefore, for the immense change of academic thought in the hundreds of years from the late Qing Dynasty to the early years of the Republic of China, Yan's influence actually had special meaning. This thesis would like to expound Yan's idea of a harmonious blend and a thorough grasp of Sino-Western studies from the argumentation and thought of Yan Fu's Comment on Zhuang Zi, and make clear his academic value of a harmonious blend and a thorough grasp of Sino-Western studies.Basically, although Yan's research took Confucianism as a foundation, generally speaking, he could adopt the viewpoints of Daoism and Buddhism, and use them to expound the theories of Western studies; he thought that the argumentations of Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism could be united with the partial theories and methods of Western learning; hence, we can know that Yan was not confined by the hedge between Sino studies and Western learning, and taking usable concepts to create a harmonious blend and a thorough grasp was his target. For example, his Comment on Zhuang Zi was to combine the philosophy of Zhuang Zi the Dao of Zhou Yi of Confucianism, and theory of ”evolution” and natural science of Western philosophy, with the desire to construct a special cosmology, in order to deduce all kinds of social phenomena derived under the theory of ”Dao.” Therefore, Comment on Zhuang Zi was not only a great work of Yan's by expounding his statecraft, but also a great elaboration of Yan's integrating Chinese and Western philosophy, and Yan's final objective was to mix and blend Zhuang Zi and ”evolution” of Western learning to create the ultimate theory of ”Dao” so as to further expound his theory.