辨體到涵濡：沈德潛格調說的理想與實踐

Abstract

沈德潛雖未以格調論者自居，然學界多將他畫入「格調派」之畛域，然歷來學人對其詩學主張雖有不少精闢析論，但對「格調」之定義及所指並無統一。本文欲從當時詩學背景考量沈德潛教人為詩的企圖與手段，並推測沈德潛「格調」說之作用與內涵。並透過沈德潛之詩歌創作的觀察，進一步探求沈氏之用心與侷限。是知「格調論」在創作上固然主張摹擬前賢之格調，但主要理想是希望學詩人能藉此辨體之高下，進而從摹體之神髓而契合前賢，進而提升自我藝境，終能突破窠臼而獨自成體。沈德潛論詩最高陳義在於對第一等襟抱之完成，也可以說是向儒家傳統詩教回歸之詩論。然當時根柢不深又急求速成的學詩者，多只能達於摹體之階段，於變體、成體一無所識；因此「格調說」終不免流於優孟衣冠、畫虎類狗之譏。然其欲掙脫傳統的內省歷程，許多論詩意見深切獨到，對傳統詩學提供了反省的契機。

The Japanese scholar Suzuki Torao described Shen De-qian as a poet of ‘the moderate ‘Gediao’ （style） school’. Throughout the ages, many brilliant analyses of Shen De-qian’s “Gediao doctrine” have been made by scholars. This article takes as a starting point Shen De-qian’s stance on teaching poetry as a means to observe how his theories affected the development and opinions of the “Gediao doctrine” from the aspect of writing poems. The ‘Gediao doctrine’ hoped that poetry scholars could begin by learning to differentiate qualities of good and bad poetry; learn to imitate the essence and style of good poetry; from this, proceed to develop their individual skill; and finally break through the set patterns to form a mature style of their own. Most poets, however, only reached the ’imitation’ stage, so the “Gediao doctrine” was mocked for producing parrot-like poets who could only create poor imitations of great works. In spite of this, the “Gediao doctrine” still offered a mechanism for poets to free themselves from traditional ways of thinking, and many of its theories were incisive and unique, and represent a turning point in traditional poetry.