A Discussion on the Origin of ″Xing″from the ″Hermeneutic Circle of ″Bi-Xing″in The Book of Songs:A Case Study of Three Odes,Guanju, Hanguang, and Jiumu
The phenomenon of ″Bi-Xing(analogy and metaphor)″hermeneutic circle can be traced back to the interpretations of The Book of Songs. This paper intends to probe into this phenomenon by a thorough discussion of the interpretations by ancient scholars in classics of three odes: Guanju, Hanguang, and Jiumu in The Book of Songs.Three types of moral explanations about Guanju existed from the middle and late Warring States to Western Han Dynasty. These explanations were based on two interpretation models, namely, the model of dramatic narration from se(lust)to li(ritual), and the model of juxtaposition of natural objects and human affairs. We can find relevant evidence in Confucius's Review on the Book of Songs, Five Elements from the silk manuscripts of Mawangdui tomb and Xunzi to support the first model. Meanwhile, the poems of Four Schools in Han Dynasty used ″Bi-Xing″to interpret Guanju and their interpretation structure was the juxtaposition of natural objects and human affairs, in which″Bi(analogy)″or″Xing(metaphor)″was applied according to the different intent of ″Meici″(glorification or criticism). Consequently, Guanju became one classic case of″yi se yu li″(comparing ritual to lust)in pre-Qin period and″Meici″served as an example of the hermeneutics of Chinese Confucianism for The Book of Songs.The conflict between the moral theme and the marriage theme can be detected in the interpretation of Hanguang in Maoshi and Zhengjian. The moral theme in Stanza One prohibited the man in the poem from offending the ritual by chasing the″You nü″(swimming girl), but the marriage theme in Stanzas Two and Three allowed the man to do so. The reason behind the conflict of the interpretation is that Maoshi's interpretation emphasized the moral theme while Zhengjian used ″Bi″to interpret ″Xing.″Maoshi's interpretation of Jiumu reverses the position of the vine and the tree by interpreting the theme as the tree's spontaneous protection of the vine, which is totally different from the ancient″theme of the vine strangling around the tree for ″Bi.″Such interpretation became an example of the ″ hermeneutic circle of ″Bi-Xing.″However, the original metaphor of the vine tangling around the tree was preconceived in readers' mind, so that they found it hard to adapt themselves to the theme of the tree protecting the vine. Chen Huan cited many examples where Maoshi used ″ruo″(like),″ru″(like),″yu″(like)and ″you″(like), to demonstrate the relationship between″Xing″and″Bi″, i. e. using Bi″to interpret″Xing″with the intention of seeking back the balance between the juxtaposition of natural objects and human affairs through ″the hermeneutic circle of ″Bi-Xing.″Both ″Bi″and″Xing″are based on a juxtaposition of natural objects and human affairs and follow the principle of analogy. The foundation of this juxtaposition is″Bi(analogy).″In the explanation of poems, if ″Bi″and ″Xing″are balanced, such as the interpretation of Maoqiu, it is not hard to understand ″Xing(metaphor).″If the balance is broken, such as the interpretation of Jiumu, difficulties in understanding may arise.
张节末. 从《诗经》比兴循环解释现象探究“兴”的起源——以《关雎》《汉广》《樛木》三诗为例[J]. 浙江大学学报(人文社会科学版), 2017, 3(1): 195-.
Zhang Jiemo. A Discussion on the Origin of ″Xing″from the ″Hermeneutic Circle of ″Bi-Xing″in The Book of Songs:A Case Study of Three Odes,Guanju, Hanguang, and Jiumu. JOURNAL OF ZHEJIANG UNIVERSITY, 2017, 3(1): 195-.