衛德明《變易──易經八講》研究述評

Abstract

衛德明《變易──易經八講》為今日西方學《易經》的主要入門書，構成了西方對《易經》的認識基礎。本文試圖通過《易經八講》一書內容架構的安排，以探討西方人是在什麼基礎上認識《易經》，而衛德明如何克服中西思維的差異，將複雜的《易經》介紹給西方讀者。其次，根據書中衛德明對《易經》基本問題的討論，觀察衛德明關注的問題和研究方法，與中國傳統《易》學有何不同？最後，將《八講》置於西方《易》學的發展脈絡中，觀察書中所呈現的研究視角和問題意識與西方《易》學研究者有何差異。筆者希望藉此全面性的觀照，得以探知《變易──易經八講》一書在西方《易》學史上的意義。

Hellmut Wilhelm’s Change ─ Eight Lectures on the I Ching is the main introductory book for the West to study I Ching today and formulates the West’s basic understanding of I Ching. This essay attempts to discuss on what basis the West understands I Ching through the arrangement of the content structure of Change ─ Eight Lectures on the I Ching. Also, how Wilhelm overcomes the conceptual differences between the East and the West to introduce the complex I Ching to the readers in the West. Next, according to Wilhelm’s discussion on thebasic problems of I Ching in his book, this essay would also discuss how Wilhelm’s concerns and methodology differ from that of the traditional Chinese study of I Ching. Finally, putting Change ─ Eight Lectures on the I Ching in the chronology of the West’s study of I Ching, this essay would observe the differences between Wilhelm’s perspectives and problem consciousness from that of other I Ching scholars in the West. Through such holistic study and investigation, I would thus like to define the historical significance of Change ─ Eight Lectures on the I Ching in the West’s study of I Ching.