＂Roaming the Infinite＂: Liu Xiang as Chuci Scholar and Would-be Transcendent

In the Han dynasty there were numerous imitations of Qu Yuan's 屈原＂Li sao＂離騷, many of which did not emphasize his political stance, biography, or suicide, but rather praised him as an explorer of the divine who had attained at least a symbolic kind of immortality. Using the ＂Fisherman＂漁父 and ＂Far Roaming＂遠遊 to sketch the early elaboration of these themes, this article then proceeds to examine the complex response to Qu Yuan's legacy in the writings of Liu Xiang 劉向. Liu was one of the key scholars and transmitters of Qu Yuan's work in the Han, but he also wrote a rarely-studied set of ＂Nine Threnodies＂九歎, which present a distinctive interpretation of Qu Yuan and the ＂Li sao.＂ Apart from more familiar themes, these poems follow the ＂Far Roaming＂ in concluding with a Daoist apotheosis, departing from the troubled sphere of contemporary politics to join the immortal sages of the past. Moreover, this interpretation has a textual basis, since the term ＂Peng Xian＂ in the ＂Li sao＂ does not necessarily refer to a political figure, but may instead represent a divine figure who attained transcendence through aquatic immersion.

關鍵字

Liu Xiang 劉向； Qu Yuan 屈原； Chuci 楚辭； Daoism 道教； Han literature 漢朝文學； Peng Xian 彭咸

並列摘要

漢代有不少規模〈離騷〉之作，這些詩文往往側重於屈原作品中的神遊而非其政治諷喻，看重屈原代表的神巫傳統而非其貴族身份，頌揚其超越古今的意志而非自沉的決意。本文首先以〈遠遊〉和〈漁父〉等作品為例，概述漢人對〈離騷〉作出的不同詮釋，為隨後深入研究劉向及其〈九歎〉作鋪墊。劉向素來熱衷於煉金術，所以當他仿〈離騷〉而作〈九歎〉，焦點自然也落在超自然元素之上。他自覺地模擬經典之作，但遠非陳陳相因，反而用更高雅的風格、更瑰麗的詞藻進行再創作，傳達出新的創作意圖：歌頌道家的精神超越。一如屈原那樣，劉向固然在作品中常常言及肉體的速朽，但另一方面提出對長生不死的追求和神遊物外的逍遙。這種對〈離騷〉的改造其實有一定文獻根據，以屈原推崇備至的彭咸為例，王逸注指他是忠君愛國的「殷賢大夫」，劉向卻視為深諳「水遊」之術的靈巫和仙人。