從「近代詞人」到「人文世界」：錢謙益〈論近代詞人〉組詩考論

崇禎十三年（1640）秋，錢謙益（牧齋，1582－1664）作有〈姚叔祥過明發堂共論近代詞人戲作絕句十六首〉。錢氏此十六絕，興到筆到，近乎藝苑卮言，其體式近傳統論詩絕句，而其評點對象，則為「近代詞人」，乃錢氏「近代文學批評」之一特殊文獻。讀者覽之，可窺見明清之際文壇領袖錢謙益對明中葉以降，以迄於明季崇禎朝諸多文壇人物的評價。本文梳理相關文獻，對此十六絕逐一箋釋，批郤導窾，以為後之研讀牧齋詩者之一助。依詩之內容、所涉及人物的背景，以及錢曾詩注的引導，錢氏此十六絕所評論的對象可歸納為：錢氏之文學導師，教其離棄復古派者；錢氏景仰之前輩詩人；吳中詩學繼承人；嘉定歸有光文脈；復古派以前之文壇領袖；復古派領袖；竟陵派領袖；公安派領袖，反竟陵派者；不屑為竟陵派詩者；風流博物之士；當代名家；當代選家，共廿餘人。錢氏宣稱，此十六絕有其「挽回大雅」之宗旨，都關係到「一代詞章」。細味各詩，讚揚文壇「大雅」之士確為貫徹此十六絕的主軸，而「嗤點」復古派、竟陵派及其追隨者則為各詩之微意。細究錢氏此十六絕，復可發現其賦詠對象，至少有六、七人並非以詩文擅名當世者。推尋考索，知錢氏眼中的理想型「詞人」，乃非徒以文辭專門名家者。錢氏推揚之「風流」文士兼擅詩文、書畫，博學洽聞，為人則儒雅大度，落落穆穆，不隨世俯仰。由此可見，吾人考論明中葉以降的文壇及文學現象，不宜自囿於「純文學」的概念，或僅從事於「文辭」或「文獻」式的探究，而應盡量循錢氏點撥的「山水、靈心、書畫、彝鼎、學問」各方面展開聯繫，舉一反三，觸類旁通，以期呈現一個更為豐富、活潑、真實的「文人／人文世界」。

關鍵字

錢謙益；絕句十六首；近代詞人；人文世界

並列摘要

In late 1640, Yao Shilin (1559-?), an old writer of some fame and accomplishment, paid a visit to Qian Qianyi (1582-1664), who had immense impact on the literary world of his day. This occasioned the composition of sixteen quatrains on ＂modern＂ poets on Qian's part. Seemingly light-hearted and in the conventional playful manner of ＂poems on poetry,＂ these poems actually revolve around major poets and often contesting poetic schools from the mid- to late Ming dynasty, and can be taken as an alternative form of literary criticism of Qian. This paper provides critical running commentaries on all these sixteen poems, which shed light on Qian's attitudes and opinions, positive and negative, about the so-called Chaling, Archaic, Gong'an and Jingling schools of poetry, as well as recent and contemporary poets of various fame and renown. This paper also argues that in Qian's vision, a true poet is not one who only strives for literary excellence, but a gentleman/gentlelady who is nurtured, moulded and informed by many powers, such as natural landscape, a divine mind, calligraphy and painting, antiques and curios, and knowledge and book-learning. Qian espouses an aesthetic which blends scholarly enthusiasm and graces of spontaneity in one's artistic or literary expression. What emerges from the source materials of this study is a rich and multifarious literati culture and aestheticized world. It invites us to envision, for a better understanding of late Ming literary phenomena, a new paradigm that transcends the disciplinary boundaries between literature, art, music, history, politics, sociology, etc., in their modern construction.