摘要
从隐喻的视角看,《庄子》中"休乎天钧""和以天倪""卮言日出""始卒若环"这类提法的背后存在一个圆环喻根.《庄子》借由运转不息、中虚不滞、平衡不偏的圆环来论天喻道,"钧""倪""卮""环"等意象皆取法于此.圆环的意象贯穿《庄子》论宇宙、时间、生死、语言与理想人格,足证其修辞之密、运意之圆."始卒若环"意味着万物与时间之化如圆环般无端,同时体现出《庄子》与先秦及汉初其他文本对万物变化、循环和以圆象天的共识.区别于儒墨"规矩绳墨"式的意象,《庄子》之"环"彰显出对不知循环、不通生死、法度规训下"中规中矩"式的生命形态深刻的现实关怀与政治批判.隐喻地说,人在大化中的理想处所便是"环中".从"始卒若环"到"得其环中",《庄子》以"环"论道,指向了知循环、齐死生、不中绳墨的理想生命形态.
Abstract
In Zhuangzi,the image of the"circle"appears in phrases like"heavenly potter's wheel","division of nature","daily increasing random speeches"and"beginning and ending like a circle".The image of an endless,hollow and balanced circle is a metaphor for the operations of the Dao in Zhuangzi.It appears in the discussions of the universe,time,life and death,language and ideal personality,showing Zhuangzi's powerful eloquence and rhetoric."Beginning and ending like a circle"implies the operation of milliards of things and flow of the time are circular and indicates similar accounts of the changes and circulation of things and the image of sky in Zhuangzi and other classical texts in pre-Qin period and the early Han Dynasty.In Zhuangzi,however,the usage of the image of the circle differs from its usage in Confucian and Mohist texts where the circle is measure and rule exemplified by the"compass".It shows Zhuangzi's profound practical care and political criticism towards life forms that neglect the circulation,life or death but just follow the rule of the"compass"of law and language.According to Zhuangzi,the ideal dwelling place for human beings is"the center of the circle".From"beginning and ending like a circle"to"finding the center of the circle",Zhuangzi discusses the Dao with the"circle"and states an ideal life form that knows the circulation of all the things,equates life and death,and ignores the rule of"compass".