韓愈《送窮文》及其傳衍體式與抒寫意義探析
Authors: 鍾 志偉 
Published: November 2022

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

“送窮鬼”是古代新年歲俗，以求袪癘禳災，迎富納吉。送窮成型於六朝，唐宋蔚爲風氣，流傳至今。唐憲宗元和六年，韓愈首創《送窮文》，除記録當時儀式，進而與窮鬼問對，抒情寫志，歷代續衍不絶。令人好奇的是，文人爲何一再摹寫與重述？書寫樣態具有哪些承傳與嬗變？至今未獲學界關注。本文以《送窮文》爲依據，上下求索。因韓愈仿自《逐貧賦》，首要分析揚雄寫作心態與辭賦手法，爲韓文立下基調，其次，《送窮文》在韓集中歸入“雜文”，體式介於數種文體之間，乃借鑒賦體、祝文與唐代小説，完成了以袪癘爲基型的傳衍體式。由此進入本文重心，後世仿效，常見作者身分處境與心聲，自傳性强，故以創作心態爲視角，發現抒寫類型有四：一是炫才，展示異代文人的競寫現象；二是娱情，受揚、韓二家影響，具有抒放自我的自娱需求；三是淑世，部分賡續文章跳脱“悲己”情調，兼懷天下，格局宏大；四是傳世，看似是仕途失敗者，卻從道德倫理獲得補償，重獲定位與自我認同，盼能託言垂後。探索韓愈《送窮文》文章傳衍，可以檢視書寫創變，發現遺落已久的書寫譜系。相關續衍不應視爲疊床架屋，而是不得不作，體現多元敘事心態，而且集體證明韓愈《送窮文》藴藏的修辭力量與存在價值。

The ritual of “sending off ghosts of poverty” was a New Year custom in ancient China: a means to ward off plagues and disasters, and pray for good health and luck. The ritual emerged during the Six Dynasties era, became popular in Tang-Song times, and has been passed down to the present. In the sixth year of the Yuanhe reign-period of the Tang (811) , Han Yu (768 一 824) wrote an essay entitled “Sending off Poverty,” the first such writing that records the ritual of the time. It initiated a tradition of writing conversations with poor ghosts. One feels curious to ask why authors of later times rewrote and retold this piece of work over and over again. In these activities，what remained intact and what changed from the original writing style? These questions have hitherto remained unheeded in relevant scholarship. Therefore, this article takes Han's “Sending off the Ghosts of Poverty” as the basis for investigation. As the piece was an imitation of Yang Xiong's (58 BC - 18 AD) “Rhapsody on Expelling Poverty,” our first task is to analyze Yang's motives behind this work as well as his use of rhetoric, to see in what ways this piece set a foundation for Han Yu's emulation. Secondly, Han's piece is classified under “ miscellaneous essays” in his collected works. Its form and structure reveal a combination of multiple literary styles, and it achieved a synthesis of prose, prayers, and novels of the Tang. Since these works deal mostly with the position, situation, and thoughts of their authors, they are full of autobiographic elements. Four categories are observed according to the motives behind creation. The first is flaunting one's literary talents. It demonstrates a competition with authors of previous times. The second is entertaining. Influenced by Yang Xiong and Han Yu, these writers developed self-entertaining as a means to express their inner feelings. The third is meliorism. Some authors set themselves free from self-sympathy and instead set out to care about the world, and thus achieved a grandiose style. The fourth is transmission of learning to later generations. This seems to result from the authors' failed career path. By instead seeking remedy from achievements in noble ethics and morality, they thereby regain their position and self-recognition, hoping to pass down their words to later generations through literary works. The study of this tradition formed around Han Yu's “Sending off Poverty” shall show the changes of writing in every era and discover the long-lost lineage of this writing tradition. These kinds of imitations should not be considered redundant but a corollary. They reflect diverse narrative psychological statuses, which collectively attest to the rhetoric power and enduring value of Han Yu's “Sending off Poverty.”