情以物迁,辞以情发 – Chinese philosophy and culture

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qíng yǐ wù qiān, cí yǐ qíng fā 情以物迁,辞以情发

Feeling Varies with Scenery and Verbal Expression Arises from Feeling.

情志随着自然景物而变化,文辞则由心中的情志而生发。自然物象和社会生活图景激发主体的情志,从而诉诸文字。由南朝刘勰(465?—520)《文心雕龙·物色》提出。该术语揭示了文学构思时主观情志随自然景物和社会生活图景变化而变化的特征。刘勰关于情、物、辞三者的关系论源自哲学和语言学上的言、意、象关系的命题,但有其特殊的内涵:就学术文章和应用文写作而言,先在心中形成意义,然后用合适的言辞表意,即使涉及到某些物象或场景,亦是用言辞说明,目的在于说明既有主旨,通常不会存在意义随事物或场景变化的情况;而文学创作则是表现主观感受的过程,所以会随时根据依外物而变化的感情来安排文辞。刘勰的这一论述既揭示了文学发生的原理,又解释了文学构思的特征,表明了六朝文学的创作自《文心雕龙》开始上升为理论上的自觉。

Natural or societal phenomena trigger a subjective feeling, which in turn expresses itself in words. This term was first raised by Liu Xie (465?-520) of the Southern Dynasties in his critical work on literature and writing, The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons. It reveals the fact that subjective feeling varies with the changes in natural or societal phenomena. This relation between sentiments, natural or societal phenomena, and verbal expressions originates from the relation between speech, meaning, and phenomena in philosophical and linguistic inquiries, but it has its own peculiar implications. Where academic or practical writing is concerned, meaning takes shape in the mind first, and then it finds expression through words; even when it involves objects or scenery, words are employed to explain and support the existing meaning. In such a process, meaning will not change with external objects or scenery. However, literary creation is a process of expressing subjective feelings; therefore its wording sentimentally varies with external objects or scenery. Liu Xie’s observation both reveals the origin of literature and explains the features of literary conception; it made literature conscious of its own subjective status. The Six Dynasties’ writings reflect this new trend, as noted by Liu in his The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons.

引例 Citations:

◎岁有其物,物有其容;情以物迁,辞以情发。(刘勰《文心雕龙·物色》)

(一年四季有不同的景物,每种景物各有不同的形貌;人的感情随着景物变化,文辞则是由心中的感情生发。)

Scenery varies with seasons; each scene features different contours and shapes. Human feeling changes with scenery, with words arising from the bottom of the heart. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)

◎人禀七情,应物斯感。感物吟志,莫非自然。(刘勰《文心雕龙·明诗》)

(人具有喜、怒、哀、惧、爱、恶、欲等七种情感,受到外物的刺激而心有所感,心有所感而吟咏情志,所有的诗歌都出于自然情感。)

People have the seven emotions of joy, anger, sadness, fear, love, loathing and desire. He expresses his feelings and aspirations in a poetical way when he is stimulated by the external world and his heart is touched. All poems come from natural emotions. (Liu Xie: The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons)

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