The Second Integration and the Interpretive Orientation of Research on the Value Thought of Excellent Traditional Chinese Literature and Art

The “Second Integration,” namely the thesis of integrating the basic principles of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture, was put forward by General Secretary Xi Jinping in his important speech at the Symposium on Cultural Heritage

习近平总书记在文化传承发展座谈会上发表的重要讲话中提出的“第二个结合”，即把马克思主义基本原理同中华优秀传统文化相结合的论断，对于中华传统文艺思想史研究而言，在学术导向和方法论建构两个方面具有极其重要的导向作用，在阐释学层面更具有拓展思想空间和理论维度的启迪性意义。因此学界应该以此为引领，在具体的研究中校正我们的阐释向度，从而使我们的研究成为贯彻“第二个结合”的学术实践过程。推进中国式现代化进程，实现中华民族伟大复兴，新时代的中华优秀传统文艺思想研究在这方面承担着重大时代使命和文化职责，要发挥文学艺术作为“国之大者”的重要历史职能与现实意义，不可避免地需要树立科学的文艺价值观念，以充分发挥其对于文艺健康发展的评价、定向、调节等功能。中国传统文艺有着悠久的历史，引导并规范文艺创作与批评的文艺价值观念同样有着悠久的历史传承，形成了富有特色的思想体系，体现着几千年来古人创造和积累的诗性理论智慧，从而为当下文艺价值观念体系创新性建构提供了丰富的理论资源。本文就“第二个结合”与中华优秀传统文艺价值思想研究的阐释向度这一问题进行专门论析。

I. The Connotation and Function of Traditional Literary and Artistic Value Concepts from the Perspective of Cultural Inheritance and Development

一、文化传承发展视域中的传统文艺价值观念的内涵及其功能

Regarding the concept of literary and artistic value, the author once offered the following defining interpretation in *Reflections at the Intersection of History and Reality: An Exploration of Theoretical Issues in Literary Studies from a Contemporary Intellectual Perspective*, published in 2017: “The concept of literary value is a series of general views and overall opinions about literary value formed by the literary reception subject in the process of repeatedly cognizing literary value. It is a system of concepts formed by the subject integrating the value relationship between subject and object on the basis of, or with reference to, its own system of needs (need model). It comprehensively embodies the wishes, demands, ideals, etc., of the literary reception subject in terms of value and meaning.” This is intended to indicate that literary and artistic value belongs to the category of the subject-object relationship. From the perspective of theoretical speculative analysis, literary and artistic value mainly analyzes and reveals what the literary reception subject deems as ought or ought not to be regarding the literary and artistic works that serve as the object of reception, as well as the evaluations and judgments formed by the reception subject based on the degree to which the works satisfy its needs, and it manifests as a conceptual system with a certain degree of stability. There is a direct and quite close connection between the concept of literary and artistic value and the concept of literature and art. However, to speak more clearly about the boundary of the concept of literary and artistic value, we need to distinguish it from the general concept of literature and art. Briefly put, the concept of literary and artistic value is essentially a criterion for evaluating the function, role, and significance of literature and art, embodied as a value belief with a basic evaluative standard at its core. The concept of literary and artistic value contains the concept of literature and art; the two are both distinct and interconnected, with one capable of transforming into the other. For example, “literature takes *qi* as its master” [n1] belongs to the general concept of literature and art, but when Cao Pi [n2] used this as a critical yardstick to evaluate and judge certain poets and their works of his time, it transformed into a concept of literary and artistic value. The same applies to “wind and bone” (*fenggu*), “imagery” (*yixiang*), “artistic conception” (*yijing*), and so on. They belong to the general concept of literature and art, but when people use them as evaluative criteria to measure the quality of poetic works, they transform into concepts of literary and artistic value.

关于文艺价值观念，笔者曾经于2017年出版的《在历史与现实交汇处沉思——当代思想视野中的文学理论问题探析》中作过这样的界定性阐释：“文学价值观念是文学接受主体在反复认知文学价值的过程中所形成的一系列关于文学价值的总观点、总看法。它是主体以其需求系统（需求模式）为基础或参照系，对主客体之间的价值关系进行整合而形成的观念系统，它综合地体现了文学接受主体在价值、意义方面的愿望、要求、理想等等。”意在说明文艺价值属于主客体关系范畴，从理论思辨分析层面来讲，文艺价值主要分析和揭示文学接受主体对于作为接受对象的文艺作品之应该与不应该，以及接受主体对于作品满足自己需要的程度高低而形成的评价与判别，并且呈现为一种具有一定稳定性的观念系统。文艺价值观念与文艺观念之间有直接的、相当密切的联系，但是，我们为了更清晰地言说文艺价值观念的义界，需要将其与一般文艺观念予以区别。简要地说，文艺价值观念本质上是一种关于文艺功能、作用、意义的评价尺度，体现为一种以基本评价标准为核心的价值信念，文艺价值观念中包含了文艺观念，二者既有区别，又有相互联系、相互转化的一面。比如，“文以气为主”属于一般文艺观念，但当曹丕以此作为批评尺度来衡量品评当时的一些诗人及其作品时，它就转化为一种文艺价值观念了。“风骨”“意象”“意境”等亦如此，它们属于一般的文艺观念，但是当人们将其作为衡量诗歌作品品位高下的评价标准时，它就转化为一种文艺价值观念了。

Neither literary and artistic value nor the concept of literary and artistic value are products of subjective fabrication; they are cognitive results with objective standards and possess specific social-historical characteristics. Therefore, to analyze and interpret literary and artistic value and the concept of literary and artistic value, we should uphold the principles and methods of historical materialism and place them within the perspective of social history, so that a thorough analysis and explanation can be achieved. The concept of literary and artistic value is not only the cognitive result of the subject of literary and artistic activity, as a member of society, regarding the value attributes of the object; it is also generated within a real social, political, and cultural space shaped by multiple factors such as social psychology, the spirit of the times, political and ethical thought, religious concepts, and material life. The process by which mediating factors such as social psychology influence and constrain the concept of literary and artistic value is quite complex. These mediating factors may function together, or one particular factor may play a more prominent role. Although the influence and constraint brought by these mediating factors are often difficult to grasp, such influence and constraint do in fact exist. For example, during the Wei and Jin dynasties, the value orientation of literature and art in terms of aesthetic taste and artistic style manifested as “unrestrained” (*tongtuo*) and “lofty and stern” (*qingjun*). Yet this value orientation was in fact intrinsically linked to the overall comprehensive social context of the Wei and Jin period. At that time, the Cao Wei faction implemented “rule by law,” politically opposed rigid adherence to ritual and custom, and in its personnel system practiced the promotion of talent based solely on ability. Particularly significant was the rise of Neo-Daoism (*xuanxue*) in the intellectual and cultural sphere, which fostered an academic atmosphere of “skimming over concrete matters and delving into abstract principles,” emphasizing the exploration of issues such as “being and non-being, root and branch,” “the four categories of talent and nature,” “the debate on words and meaning,” and “nature versus the Confucian ethical code,” thereby exerting a profound influence on the literary and artistic creation and theoretical criticism of the time. The value tendencies of Wei-Jin literature, which valued *qi*, emphasized “wind and bone,” and pursued “unrestrained,” “lofty and stern,” and “spirit and resonance” (*qiyun*) in aesthetic style, were sublimated from this context.

文艺价值与文艺价值观念均不是主观臆造的产物，而是具有客观标准的认知性结果，具有特定的社会历史性。因此，我们分析阐释文艺价值与文艺价值观念，应该秉持历史唯物主义的原则与方法，将之置于社会史的视野中来进行，方可以得到透彻的解析与说明。文艺价值观念既是作为社会成员的文艺活动主体对客体的价值属性的观念性认知结果，也是在基于社会心理、时代精神、政治伦理思想、宗教观念、物质生活等多重因素所形塑的现实的社会政治文化空间生成的。社会心理等中介因素影响与制约文艺价值观念的过程较为复杂，既可以是这些中介因素共同发挥作用，也可以是其中的某一因素更加突出地发挥作用。虽然这些中介因素所带来的影响和制约作用往往不易把握，然而这种影响和制约作用实际上又是存在的。比如，魏晋时期的文学艺术在审美趣味和艺术风格上的价值取向表现为“通脱”和“清峻”，而这种价值取向事实上却与魏晋时期整体的综合社会语境有着内在的联系。当时曹魏集团推行“法治”，在政治上反对拘于礼法，在用人制度上实行唯才是举。尤其是当时思想文化领域玄学兴起，形成了“略于具体事物而究心抽象原理”的学术风气，重视探讨“有无本末”“才性四本”“言意之辨”“自然名教”等问题，从而对当时的文学艺术创作和理论批评产生了深刻的影响。魏晋文学尚“气”、重“风骨”以及在审美风格上追求“通脱”“清峻”“气韵”的价值倾向，就是由此升华而来的。

Once formed, the concept of literary and artistic value constitutes a certain value tendency. It maintains the stability and continuity of the concept through the continuous generation of similar discourse, and promotes the stability and continuity of discourse through the similarity of concepts, thereby actively influencing and dominating people’s literary and artistic creation and criticism activities. In the development process of Chinese traditional literary and artistic value thought, this similarity and continuity of discourse, along with the stability and continuity of concepts, and the similarity and continuity of concepts, along with the stability and continuity of discourse, have contributed immensely to the formation of the stability and continuity of the root soul, lineage, and discourse genealogy of Chinese traditional literary and artistic thought. Saying this does not mean ignoring the pursuit of innovation in traditional literary and artistic thought over the five-thousand-year history of Chinese civilization. The fact that Chinese traditional literary and artistic thought and concepts of literary and artistic value have developed over thousands of years, with “the string of song never breaking” [n3], presenting a magnificent spectacle and converging into a great river, truly depends on this dialectical unity of continuity and innovation. However, in past research and cognition, dominated by so-called “Enlightenment” and “modernity” discourse, this point was repeatedly criticized. Therefore, it is necessary to be guided by Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, to conduct in-depth reflection from the perspective of cultural inheritance and development, and to return to the correct path of ideological and cultural development characterized by “tracing the source to clarify the root” and “upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground” [n4]. The influence and dominance of the concept of literary and artistic value manifest in many aspects, which can be specifically summarized into the following four points.

文艺价值观念一旦形成就构成了一定的价值倾向，并且通过相似性话语的不断生成来维系观念的稳定性与连续性，以及在观念的相似性中促进话语的稳定性与连续性，从而积极地影响、支配着人们的文艺创作与批评活动。在中国传统文艺价值思想发展过程中，这种话语的相似性、连续性与观念的稳定性、连续性，观念的相似性、连续性与话语的稳定性、连续性，对于中华传统文艺思想根魂和脉络以及话语谱系的稳定性、连续性的形成，功莫大焉。这样说，并非忽略中华五千年文明史过程中传统文艺思想的创新性追求，中华传统文艺思想、文艺价值观念经历数千年发展而“弦歌不断”，蔚为大观，汇为一条大川巨流，实有赖于这种连续性与创新性的辩证统一。然而，在以往的研究和认知中，受所谓“启蒙性”“现代性”话语宰制，这一点曾经屡屡遭到诟病，因此需要以习近平文化思想为引领，从文化传承发展的视角，深入地进行反思，回到正本清源、守正创新的思想文化发展的正途上来。文艺价值观念的影响和支配作用表现在很多方面，具体可以归纳为以下四点。

First, the function of judgment. The writer subject always unconsciously examines and evaluates the goodness or badness, good or evil, beauty or ugliness of the object to be represented from the perspective of his or her own aesthetic value concept, and expresses this value tendency through the work. The reading reception subject may also, due to differences in the concept of literary and artistic value, develop different evaluations of likes and dislikes toward the same reception object.

第一，评判功能。作家主体总是不自觉地从自己的审美价值观念出发来审视、评价所要表现的客体对象的好坏、善恶、美丑，并且将其价值倾向通过作品表现出来。阅读接受主体也会由于文艺价值观念的不同，而对同一接受对象产生不同的好恶评价。

Second, the function of guidance. What kind of value concept a writer holds determines what kind of aesthetic value creation activity he or she will engage in. Therefore, the concept of literary and artistic value has a strong guiding nature, leading the subject of creation or criticism to engage in what he or she considers meaningful creation or criticism. Artists create according to the direction guided by the literary and artistic concepts and value concepts they uphold. What they recognize, what they represent, and what they take as the object of aesthetic experience are all based on the concept of literary and artistic value. Similarly, the concept of literary and artistic value of the subject of literary and artistic appreciation also plays a guiding and normative role in their reception activities.

第二，导向功能。一个作家具有什么样的价值观念，就会有什么样的审美价值创造活动，因此文艺价值观念有着强烈的导向性，引导着创作或评论主体去进行自认为有意义的创作或评论。艺术家按照自己所秉持的文艺观念、文艺价值观念引导的方向进行创作，认识什么、表现什么、把什么作为审美体验对象等都以文艺价值观念为依据。同样，文艺鉴赏主体的文艺价值观念对其接受活动亦起着导向性的规范作用。

Third, the function of purpose-drivenness. Literary and artistic value concepts endow the subject’s literary activity—whether creation, criticism, or appreciation—with a certain purpose, that is, they propel literary and artistic activity toward a specific value goal. Hence, literary and artistic value concepts not only play a guiding role but also serve as an internal driving force, stimulating and encouraging the subject of literary and artistic activity to actively engage in creative aesthetic activity aimed at realizing specific value goals.

第三，目的驱动功能。文艺价值观念使主体的文学活动无论是创作还是批评、鉴赏都具有一定的目的，也就是使文艺活动朝着一定的价值目标前进。故而，文艺价值观念不仅具有导向的作用，还是一种内在驱动力，激发和鼓励着文艺活动主体积极主动地为实现特定的价值目标而展开创造性审美活动。

Fourth, the function of integration. Literary and artistic value concepts also possess a coordinating and regulating function, meaning that the subject of literary and artistic activity balances the many factors in the aesthetic process and adjusts the relationship between unity and multiplicity within aesthetic demands, thereby turning this process of literary and artistic activity into a process of aesthetic value identification and realization in which sensibility and rationality are harmoniously unified. In literary and artistic activity, when the subject actively pursues a certain value goal, various contradictions and conflicts inevitably arise between subject and object, and between the group and the self. The significance of literary and artistic value concepts lies in their ability to play a normative role, adjusting and correcting the value orientation of the subject of literary and artistic activity, and internalizing literary and artistic value concepts that have broad social significance into the subject, forming a psychological reality. This enables the activity both to fully embody the subject’s purpose and needs and to fully reflect the attributes and functions of the object; it is both imbued with the color of the subject’s individual experience and possesses a certain social significance—that is, the so-called unity of subject and object, coordination of the individual and the group.

第四，整合功能。文艺价值观念还具有协调与规范功能，就是文艺活动主体平衡审美过程中的诸多因素，调校审美诉求中一与多的关系，从而使这一文艺活动过程成为一个感性与理性协调统一的审美价值认同与实现作用过程。在文艺活动中，当主体积极地追求一定的价值目标时，主客之间、群己之间会不可避免地产生种种矛盾冲突，而文艺价值观念的意义在于其能够发挥规范作用，对文艺活动主体的价值取向加以调节校正，并将社会性意义广泛的文艺价值观念主体内化，形成一种心理现实，从而使这种活动既能充分体现主体的目的与需要，又能充分地反映客体的属性与功能；既充满了主体个性体验色彩，又具有一定的社会意义，即所谓主客统一、个体与群体协调。

At present, the prevalence of artificial intelligence, electronic media, and consumerism has opened up new cultural spaces in the literary and artistic field. Various new forms of literary and artistic practice, new business types, new modes of literary and artistic dissemination, and new literary and artistic trends are constantly emerging and engaging in market competition. The clashes and collisions that arise are essentially collisions and confusions of literary and artistic value concepts hidden behind literary phenomena. Under these circumstances, excavating the intellectual resources of traditional literary and artistic value concepts and integrating classical Marxist literary concepts with the essence of Confucian literary thought holds significant theoretical and practical importance for establishing a scientific system of literary and artistic value concepts. Its significance lies not only in keeping us mindful of the history and roots of culture but also in enabling us, from the interpretive dimension formed by the interweaving of historical depth and contemporary breadth, to see through the conflicts of literary and artistic value concepts hidden behind the collision of various literary phenomena and ideas. This allows us, when analyzing, interpreting, and constructing discourse on the new realities of literature and art, to fully draw on historical resources and classical spirit, actively practice the “Two Integrations” proposed by General Secretary Xi Jinping, especially “the Second Integration,”[5]5 The “Two Integrations” (两个结合) refer to the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with the best of traditional Chinese culture. “The Second Integration” (第二个结合) specifically refers to the latter. This formulation was elevated to a guiding principle at the 20th National Congress of the CPC in 2022. and, using creative transformation and innovative development (hereinafter referred to as “dual innovation”) as the methodological path, construct a system of literary and artistic value concepts that aligns with the direction of Chinese-path modernization and is imbued with the full spirit of the times. This will promote and advance the development and flourishing of literature and art in the New Era, and, on the basis of continuing the tradition, compose a new chapter in the spirit of Chinese aesthetics.

当前人工智能、电子媒介、消费主义的盛行为文艺领域开拓了新的文化空间，各种新的文艺实践形式和新的业态、新的文艺传播方式、新的文艺思潮不断涌现和展开市场竞争，所产生的交锋与碰撞实质上就是隐藏在文学现象背后的文艺价值观念的碰撞和困惑。在此情况之下，挖掘传统文艺价值观的思想资源，会通马克思主义经典文学观念与儒家文学思想精华，对于树立科学的文艺价值观念体系有着重要的理论与现实意义。其意义不仅在于使我们不忘文化的历史与根脉，更可以支持我们从历史的纵深度与现实广阔度之双向交织所形成的阐释向度，来透视各种文艺现象、文艺观念碰撞背后隐藏的文艺价值观念冲突问题，从而使我们在对新的文艺现实状况进行分析阐释和话语建构时，能充分汲取历史资源和古典精神，积极主动地实践习近平总书记所提出的“两个结合”，尤其是“第二个结合”，并且以创造性转化、创新性发展（以下简称为“双创”）为方法路径，构建与中国式现代化建设方向一致的具有充沛时代精神特色的文艺价值观念体系，以推动和促进新时代中国文艺发展和繁荣，在赓续传统的基础上谱写中国美学精神的新篇章。

II. Value Types of Traditional Chinese Literary and Artistic Value Concepts and Their Diachronic Development

二、中华传统文艺价值观念的价值类型及其历时性发展

The philosophical “theory of value” that serves as the foundation of general axiology arose in Germany and was initially established in Western academia in the second half of the 19th century. Value concepts and their systems have been gradually built up alongside the development and evolution of humanity and society. Although value philosophy as a discipline was formed in the West, this does not mean that value concepts and their doctrines belong exclusively to the West. In terms of historical depth, richness of forms, and abundance of content, traditional Chinese literary and artistic value concepts are in no way inferior to those of the West. The germination of traditional Chinese literary and artistic activities and literary and artistic value concepts gradually took shape and unfolded alongside the life and labor practices of the ancient people. In other words, the ancients’ understanding of the value and significance of literature and art gradually developed with the progress of early social material civilization and cultural-ethical progress. Of course, in the early period of the birth of traditional Chinese literature and art, many evaluative criteria were not extracted in the form of “theories” or “doctrines,” but their manifestation at the level of consciousness and concept was rich and varied. By combining extant pre-Qin documents and various excavated texts, as well as the development and evolution of Chinese characters and the expansion of lexical and semantic space in the pre-Qin period, we can glimpse the trajectory of their germination, development, and transformation. In the era of ancient ritual and music culture, the ancients’ literary and artistic activities, in which poetry, music, and dance were integrated, and their value demands and realization were reflected in all aspects of life. Therefore, they played an important role in social practices and daily activities such as religion, politics, life, and entertainment, manifesting as multiple value types.

作为一般价值论基础的哲学“价值论”兴起于德国，于19世纪下半叶在西方学界初步确立。价值思想观念及其体系是伴随人类、社会的发展演进而逐步得以建立起来的，虽然作为学科的价值哲学形成于西方，但这并不等于价值思想及其学说只属于西方。就历史之久远、样态之丰富、内涵之丰盈而言，中华传统文艺价值思想观念丝毫不亚于西方。中华传统文艺活动及文艺价值观念的萌发随着先民的生活和劳动实践而逐步形成并展开，换言之，古人关于文艺价值、意义的认识是随着早期社会物质文明和精神文明的发展逐步展开的。当然，在中华传统文艺诞生的早期，诸多评价尺度并未以“理论”“学说”的形式被拈出，其在意识、观念层面的呈现却是丰富多彩的，结合传世的先秦文献和各种出土文献，以及先秦时期的汉字发展演变和字词语用空间的拓展现象，我们可以窥见其萌生、发展、嬗变的轨迹。在上古礼乐文化时代，古人眼中的诗乐舞一体的文艺活动及其价值诉求与实现，体现在生活的方方面面，因此在宗教、政治、生活、娱乐等社会实践和日常活动之中发挥着重要的作用，表现为多种价值类型。

First, the value of primitive sorcery and primitive religion. Early music, poetry, and dance had a very important function, namely, the function of primitive sorcery and primitive religion. Take a well-known example: the primitive poem recorded in the *Liji·Jiaotesheng* [Book of Rites: The Single Victim at the Suburban Sacrifice]: “Let the soil return to its place, the water to its gully, let insects not arise, and let the grasses and trees return to their marsh.” This is actually a sorcerer’s incantation used by the ancient people during the *zha* festival [a year-end harvest sacrifice] to pray for a bountiful harvest the following year. It reflects the close relationship between poetry and primitive sorcery and early religious sacrificial activities, embodying a clear value demand.

其一，原始巫术和原始宗教价值。早期的音乐、诗歌、舞蹈有一个很重要的功能，即原始巫术和原始宗教功能。举一个人们熟知的例子，即《礼记·郊特牲》所记载的这首原始诗歌：“土反其宅水归其壑，昆虫勿作，草木归其泽。”这实际上是上古先民在蜡祭时的一种巫术咒语，用来乞求来年的丰收，体现的是诗歌与原始巫术、早期宗教祭祀活动的密切关系，具有明显的价值诉求。

Second, celebrating the joy of labor. For example, the “Song of the Bow” recorded in the *Wu Yue Chunqiu* [Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue]: “Cut bamboo, join bamboo, fly the mud, chase the meat [ancient character for meat].” It records the joy of labor in poetic form; the joy of the primitive hunt expressed in the ballad contains value and utilitarian consciousness.

其二，歌颂劳作的愉悦。如《吴越春秋》所载《弹歌》：“断竹、续竹、飞土、逐宍（古肉字）。”以诗歌的方式记录了劳动的欢悦，歌谣中表现的原始狩猎收获喜悦，其中包含了价值、功利意识。

Third, the function of edification. The most typical example is found in the *Shangshu·Yaodian* [Book of Documents: Canon of Yao]: “Kui! I command you to preside over music and to teach the young nobles. Be straightforward yet gentle, broad-minded yet solemn, firm yet not harsh, simple yet not arrogant. Poetry expresses intent, song prolongs the words, the voice follows the prolongation, and the pitch-pipes harmonize the sounds. Let the eight kinds of instruments be in harmony, without disturbing the order, so that the spirits and humans are harmonized.” Kui was a music official; Emperor Yao ordered him to use the combination of ballads, music, and dance to carry out the task of edification, cultivating the young nobles to be upright and gentle, broad-minded and solemn, firm without being harsh, and simple and modest without being arrogant. When discussing the formation of early Chinese literary and artistic value consciousness and concepts, people generally cite this passage to elaborate, believing that this record clearly shows that during the time of Emperor Yao, people had already developed an awareness and conceptual understanding of the value function of edification and guidance in literature and art. The trinity of poetry, music, and dance is the early form of traditional Chinese literature and art, and this characteristic is not unique to the Chinese nation; it is also reflected in early civilizations in other parts of the world.

其三，教化功能。最为典型者如《尚书·尧典》所云：“夔！命女典乐，教胄子。直而温，宽而栗，刚而无虐，简而无傲。诗言志，歌永言，声依永，律和声。八音克谐，无相夺伦，神人以和。”夔是一个乐官，帝尧命他以歌谣、音乐、舞蹈三者结合的方式行教化之事，培养贵胄子弟正直温和、宽宏庄严、刚毅不苛、质朴谦和而不傲慢的品行。在谈到中国早期的文艺价值意识和观念形成时，人们一般均援引此段话予以阐扬，认为这段记写清晰地表明了帝尧时期人们已经形成了对文艺的教化引导的价值功能的意识觉醒和观念性认识。诗、乐、舞三位一体是中华传统文艺的早期形态，而这一特点并非中华民族独有，在世界上其他地域的早期文明中亦有所体现。

Fourth, the function of political education. There was a clear recognition that literature and art had the value function of praising clear governance, lamenting current political ills, and satirizing faults. Examples of the former include the “Song of Continuation” [*Gengge*] attributed to the time of Yao and Shun: “The limbs are joyful, the head rises, the hundred crafts flourish,” and the *Daya·Songgao* [Greater Odes: Lofty Mount Song]: “Its style is excellent, to present to the Earl of Shen.” Examples of the latter include the “Song of the Five Sons” [*Wuzige*] attributed to the Xia dynasty: “The august ancestor had a lesson: The people may be approached, but not looked down upon. The people are the foundation of the state; when the foundation is firm, the state is at peace,” and the *Weifeng·Gelü* [Airs of Wei: Hempen Sandals]: “This is a narrow heart, and therefore I make this satire,” and so on, too numerous to list.

其四，政教功能。明确地认识到了文艺具有歌颂政治清明、伤感时政、讽刺过失的价值功能。前者如传为尧舜时的《赓歌》，“股肱喜哉，元首起哉，百工熙哉”，《大雅·崧高》，“其风肆好，以赠申伯”；后者如传为夏代时的《五子歌》：“皇祖有训：民可近，不可下。民惟邦本，本固邦宁”，《魏风·葛履》：“维是褊心，是以为刺”，等等，不一而足。

Fifth, the aesthetic function of emotional expression. As stated in the *Weifeng·Yuanyoutao* [Airs of Wei: There Is a Peach Tree in the Garden]: “My heart is grieved; I sing and chant.” This clearly declares that the purpose or function of writing poetry is to express emotional needs. Another example is from the *Xunzi·Yuelun* [Xunzi: Discourse on Music]: “Music is joy; it is something from which human emotions cannot escape, so people cannot be without music.” It holds that poetry and music are an inevitable release and expression of human emotions of joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness. These are all value cognitions of the function and role of literature and art.

其五，情感抒发的审美作用。如《魏风·园有桃》所言：“心之忧矣，我歌且谣。”明确地表白自己写诗的目的或功用是出于抒发情感的需要。又如《荀子·乐论》云：“乐者，乐也，人情之所必不免也，故人不能无乐。”认为诗乐是人的喜怒哀乐情感“必不免”的一种宣泄和抒发。这些均是对文艺功能与作用的价值认知。

Sixth, the function of physical and mental cultivation and regulation. The *Lüshi Chunqiu* [Spring and Autumn Annals of Mr. Lü] holds that music is beneficial for “nourishing life,” and therefore emphasizes that the value of literature and art in “nourishing life” should be fully utilized, opposing the excessive pursuit of sensory stimulation that harms life. Hence it states: “Music has its nature, just as the skin and body have their nature; if there is nature, then there must be the nurturing of nature”; “The task of music lies in harmonizing the mind; harmonizing the mind lies in appropriate conduct”; “When music is appropriate, the mind is also appropriate.” The intent of these words is very clear and requires no further explanation.

其六，身心修养和调节功能。《吕氏春秋》认为乐有利于“养生”的作用，因此强调应该充分发挥文艺在“养生”方面的功用价值，反对穷奢极欲地追求感官刺激从而害生，故而云为：“乐之有情，譬之若肌肤形体之有情性也，有情性则必有性养矣”；“乐之务在于和心，和心在于行适”；“夫乐有适，心亦有适”。这些话语的旨意非常明显，无须多作解释。

Thus it can be seen that, with the development of the material life and cultural-ethical progress of the ancient people, their understanding of the value and function of literature and art gradually expanded and enriched, gradually extending to all aspects of life, exhibiting the characteristic of multi-level development, and laying a solid foundation for the further development and evolution of literary and artistic value concepts in later periods.

由此可见，随着上古先民物质生活和精神文明的发展，对于文艺的价值和功能作用的认识也逐步地得到拓展和丰富，渐及于生活的各个方面，呈现了多层次发展的特点，为其后文艺价值观念的进一步发展演进奠定了坚实的基础。

The value concepts of traditional Chinese literature and art constitute a complex and multi-layered set of ideas gradually established with the development of the times and of literature and art themselves. They carry and reflect the philosophical thought, humanistic spirit, ethical and educational ideas, poetic spirit, and aesthetic norms of different historical periods. Below, taking the evolution of value concepts in traditional Chinese literature and art as the main thread, and following the chronological order of the eras, we will outline the most salient points in order to present the derivation and evolutionary process of literary and artistic value concepts.

中国传统文艺价值观念是随着时代及文艺的发展而逐步确立的一个繁复而多层次的观念群，承载反映的是不同历史时期的哲学思想、人文精神、伦理教化思想、诗学精神和美学规范。下面我们以中华传统文艺价值思想观念演进为主要线索，按照时代更迭顺序，举其荦荦大者进行梳理，以期呈现文艺价值观念衍生及其演化历程。

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, the more important views on the value and function of literature and art included the theory that “poetry expresses intent” (诗言志), the theory of “stimulation, observation, group cohesion, and grievance” (兴、观、群、怨), and the theory of “tender and gentle” (温柔敦厚). In this period, the ancients were primarily concerned with the political教化 and moral cultivation functions of poetry. The concept that “poetry expresses intent” represented the mainstream poetic concept from the late Spring and Autumn period to the Warring States period. Similar formulations such as “poetry is used to express intent,” “poetry conveys intent,” and “poetry speaks of one’s intent” were also current at the time, all holding that the value and function of poetry lay mainly in expressing political aspirations. In the pre-Qin period, the “intent” (志) in “poetry expresses intent” usually referred specifically to the poet’s political ambition and aspiration, which also corresponded to the use of poetry in the pre-Qin period: the court appointed专职 officials to collect folk poems, and the ballads concerning government affairs thus gathered were presented to the court, which used them as a form of criticism (remonstrance) to examine the successes and failures of governance. The theory of “stimulation, observation, group cohesion, and grievance” comes from the *Analects* (Yang Huo chapter). “Stimulation” (兴) means to inspire the will for self-cultivation; “observation” (观) means “to observe the flourishing or decline of customs” (Zheng Xuan’s commentary), i.e., what today is called the cognitive function of literature; “group cohesion” (群) refers to the function of uniting and bringing people together; “grievance” (怨) means that one can “express grievance against the government above” (Kong Anguo’s commentary). The theory of “stimulation, observation, group cohesion, and grievance” was Confucius’s summary of the value and function of literature based on past literary practice and the specific historical needs of the time, pointing out that the value of poetry lies in serving the political教化 of ritual and music.

春秋战国时期，关于文艺的价值功能比较重要的有“诗言志”说、“兴、观、群、怨”说、“温柔敦厚”说等。在这一时期，古人较为关注的是诗歌的政治教化、道德修养功能。“诗言志”这一观念代表了春秋末期至战国时期这一时段的主流诗学观念，当时还流行“诗以言志”“诗以道志”“诗言是其志也”等类似说法，即认为诗歌的价值功能主要是抒发政治怀抱。在先秦时期，“诗言志”的“志”通常特指诗人的政治抱负、志向，这也符合先秦时期使用诗歌的情况，即朝廷设置专职官员负责采集民间诗歌，将采集而来的有关政事的歌谣献之于朝廷，而朝廷也将此作为一种批评（箴谏），用以考察政治之得失。“兴、观、群、怨”说出自《论语·阳货》，“兴”即感发修身的意志；“观”即“观风俗之盛衰”（郑玄注），也即今人所说的文学之认识功用；“群”则为合群团结的作用；“怨”则是可以“怨刺上政”（孔安国注）。“兴、观、群、怨”说是孔子根据以往的文学实践经验和当时特定历史需要而对文学的价值功用所作出的一种概括，指出诗歌的价值在于为施行礼乐政治教化服务。

From the time Emperor Wu of Han began to “revere only Confucianism,” the influence of Confucianism permeated the value concepts of literature and art and assumed a dominant position, manifesting in two ways. First, it was proposed that literature and art carry and manifest the functions of Confucian moral cultivation, political and educational utility, and ethical and educational norms. For instance, the *Mao Preface to the Book of Songs* states: “Therefore, for correcting the successes and failures, moving heaven and earth, and stirring the spirits and gods, there is nothing closer than poetry. The former kings used it to regulate the relations between husband and wife, to perfect filial piety and respect, to enrich human relations, to beautify education, and to transform customs.” Second, a new construction of the political function of literature and art emerged, which in its interpretive dimension further highlighted the public role of literary and artistic value. The *Mao Preface* further elaborated and constructed upon the theory that “poetry expresses intent” and Confucius’s theory of “stimulation, observation, group cohesion, and grievance,” placing greater emphasis on the political functions of literature and art in education, praise, satire, and remonstrance. Its statement that “the upper [rulers] transform the lower [people] through the wind [of influence], and the lower satirize the upper through the wind [of poetry], using refined language and indirect remonstrance; the speaker is without blame, but the hearer is sufficiently warned” had a profound influence and shaped the development and evolution of traditional Chinese literary and artistic value concepts. Furthermore, the relationship between moral cultivation and literary creation received greater attention. For example, Yang Xiong’s *Model Sayings* (Inquiry about Spirit) put forward the view that one’s moral character and literary works are unified: “Speech is the voice of the mind; writing is the picture of the mind. When the voice and picture are manifest, the gentleman and the petty person are seen.” He believed that moral cultivation was one of the important factors determining the quality of a literary or artistic work. The theory of “voice of the mind and picture of the mind” remains applicable today. As General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “If literature and art are to shape people’s hearts, the creators must first shape themselves. Nurturing virtue and cultivating artistry are inseparable.” What is emphasized here is precisely the influence of the artist’s own spiritual character and moral cultivation on literary and artistic creation.

自汉武帝开始“独尊儒术”，儒学的影响渗透于文艺价值思想观念并居于主导地位的表现有二。其一，提出文艺承载彰显儒家道德修养、政教功利、伦理教化规范的功能。如《毛诗序》言：“故正得失，动天地，感鬼神，莫近于诗。先王以是经夫妇，成孝敬，厚人伦，美教化，移风俗。”其二，文艺政治功能的新建构，在阐释向度上更加突出文艺价值的公共性作用。《毛诗序》对“诗言志”、孔子“兴、观、群、怨”说作进一步推衍式阐发与建构，更加强调了文艺的教化、美刺讽谏政治功能，所言“上以风化下，下以风刺上，主文而谲谏，言之者无罪，闻之者足以戒”影响深远，对中国传统文艺价值观的发展演进产生了形塑作用。此外，道德修养与文学创作的关系问题也更加受到重视，如扬雄《法言·问神》提出了人品与文品相互统一的观点：“言，心声也；书，心画也，声画形，君子小人见矣。”他认为道德修养是决定文艺作品高低的重要因素之一，“心声心画”说在今天仍然适用，正如习近平总书记所指出：“文艺要塑造人心，创作者首先要塑造自己。养德和修艺是分不开的”，强调的正是艺术家自身的精神品格、道德修养对文艺创作的影响问题。

The Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties were an era of Confucian decline, when literature broke free from its status as an appendage of classical studies and moved toward self-consciousness. It was an era when the subjective consciousness of literature, concepts of literary form, aesthetic characteristics, and the primacy of emotion were consciously recognized and confirmed. Closely related to this, the development of literary and artistic value concepts also underwent a turning point with new changes. For example, Cao Pi’s *A Discourse on Literature* states: “Now literary works are the great enterprise of governing the state, a splendid undertaking that does not decay. A lifespan has its end; glory and pleasure last only as long as the body. Both of these things are limited in time, unlike literary works, which are inexhaustible.” Lu Ji’s *Rhymeprose on Literature* states: “Poetry follows emotion and is exquisite and ornate.” Liu Xie’s *The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons* (Elucidating Poetry) states: “Poetry is that which holds; it holds human nature and emotions.” The term “holds” (持) here means to regulate, i.e., the view that the function of poetry is to regulate human nature and emotions. These concepts gradually broke free from the discipline and even the constraints of traditional Confucian values of education and remonstrance, elevating the value of poetry and prose to a new height and possessing positive historical significance. They thus marked a new period of creative development in traditional literary and artistic values. Subsequently, with the development of the ancient prose movement in the Tang and Song dynasties, views such as “literature illuminates the Way,” “literature conveys the Way,” and “literature threads through the Way” were vigorously promoted by ancient prose writers and Neo-Confucian scholars, becoming a distinctive discourse system of literary and artistic value concepts. It is worth noting that although the unity of “literature” (文) and “the Way” (道) was widely accepted by later writers and literary theorists, there were many differences in the understanding of “the Way” itself; it was not limited to the single meaning of the Confucian Way or Confucian orthodoxy. For example, the “Way” spoken of by Xunzi included the meaning of objective natural laws. He believed that one important connotation of the “Way” was the Way of nature, and that the Way of nature continuously developed through the opposition of “inheritance” (因) and “change” (革), and was not entirely the Way of Confucius. Another example is Liu Zongyuan’s “Way” in his statement that “the words of the sages are intended to illuminate the Way.” He believed that not only the doctrines of Yang Zhu, Mozi, Shen Buhai, Shang Yang, and the School of Names, but even Buddhism “are not different from the Way of Confucius.” Moreover, he emphasized “taking what assists the times and reaches things as the Way,” taking “benefiting worldly use” and “benefiting the people” as the “Way.”

魏晋南北朝是儒学衰落、文学摆脱经学附庸而走向自觉的时代，是文学的主体意识、文体观念、审美特征、情本宗尚自觉并得到确认的时代，与此密切相关，文艺价值观念的发展也出现了转折性的新变化。如曹丕《典论·论文》言“夫文章，经国之大业，不朽之盛事，年寿有时而尽，荣乐止乎其身，二者必至之常期，未若文章之无穷”；陆机《文赋》言“诗缘情而绮靡”；刘勰《文心雕龙·明诗》言“诗者，持也，持人情性”，所谓“持”者，即规范，亦即认为诗的功用是以规范人的情性为旨归的。以上观念逐渐摆脱了儒家传统教化讽谏价值观的规训乃至拘限，把诗文的价值提升到了一个新的高度，具有积极的历史意义，因此便成为传统文艺价值观创生性发展的一个崭新的时期。其后，随着唐宋代古文运动的发展，“文以明道”“文以载道”“文以贯道”等观点受到古文家和理学家的大力提倡，成为一种主旨鲜明的文艺价值观话语体系。值得注意的是，“文”与“道”的统一虽为后来的文学家和文学理论家普遍认同，关于“道”本身的理解却存在众多差异，并不只是儒家之道或道统单一方面的意义。如荀子所说的“道”就包含着客观自然规律方面的意义，他认为“道”的一个重要内涵是自然之道，而且自然之道是在“因”“革”的对立中不断发展的，并不完全是孔儒之道。再如柳宗元的“圣人之言，期以明道”之“道”，认为不仅“杨、墨、申、商、刑名之说”，以至“浮屠”都“不与孔子异道”，而且他还强调“以辅时及物为道”，以“益于世用”及“生民”为“道”。

From the Song to the Ming and Qing dynasties, regarding the value and function of literature and art, in addition to the already established system of literary and artistic value concepts continuing to play a normative role, the aesthetic spirit of “valuing intention” (尚意) and “valuing趣味” (尚趣) was advocated and entered the system of literary and artistic values. Furthermore, the understanding of the entertainment function of literature and art also received full attention. In the history of traditional Chinese literary and artistic thought, the understanding of the entertainment value and function of literature and art emerged relatively early at the level of consciousness and ideology. For example, Zhang Heng’s *Rhymeprose on Returning to the Fields* from the Han dynasty contains the phrase “there I roam at ease, briefly to delight my feelings” (于焉逍遥，聊以娱情). However, the affirmation of the function of literature and art to “delight the feelings” (娱情) was further consciously elevated and strengthened in the Song dynasty. By the Ming dynasty, especially the mid- to late Ming period, it underwent further development and derivation. For instance, the Northern Song Neo-Confucian Shao Yong’s poem *A Scroll of Poems in the Nest of Peace and Happiness* states: “A scroll of poems in the Nest of Peace and Happiness, I sing to myself and chant to myself, content and at ease.” Ming dynasty poets and prose writers also advocated the “delighting the feelings” function of literature and art. For example, Li Mengyang’s *Preface to the Sound of the Earthenware Jar* states that poetry can make “those who sing it feel joy in their hearts, and those who hear it are moved.” Wang Shizhen’s *Reply to Zhou Ju* states: “As for my poetry…, I merely take some pleasure in it for myself.” This was the case with poetry and prose. As for the literary forms that “excelled in their age,” such as the novel, drama, and the short essay, they placed even greater emphasis on the function of “delighting the feelings.”

宋至明清时代，关于文学艺术的价值和功用，除了业已建立起来的文艺价值思想体系继续发挥规范性作用之外，“尚意”与“尚趣”的文艺审美精神得到了倡导，并且进入了文艺价值观体系，而对于文艺的娱乐功能作用的认识亦得到了充分重视。中国传统文艺思想史中对于文学艺术娱乐性价值与功能的认识，从意识、观念形态层面来讲，萌发的较早，如汉代张衡的《归田赋》中就有“于焉逍遥，聊以娱情”之说，但对文学艺术“娱情”功能的肯定，在宋代得到了进一步的自觉、提升与强化，至明代，尤其是中晚明时期，则更有进一步的发展和衍生。比如，北宋道学家邵雍的《安乐窝中诗一编》有云：“安乐窝中诗一编，自歌自咏自怡然。”明代的诗文作家也倡导文学艺术的“娱情”功用，如李梦阳的《缶音序》言诗歌可以使“歌之者心畅，而闻之者动矣”；王世贞《答周俎》则认为“仆于诗……，聊以自愉快而已”。诗文如此，而作为“一代之胜”的小说、戏曲以及小品文等文体写作，则更是格外突出“娱情”的功能作用。

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “The rich philosophical thought, humanistic spirit, educational ideas, and moral concepts of China’s excellent traditional culture can provide useful inspiration for people to understand and transform the world, can provide useful insights for governance, and can also provide useful guidance for moral construction.” Based on the brief梳理 above, we can see that the system of value concepts of traditional Chinese literature and art reflects precisely the ancients’ ethical and educational ideas, philosophical wisdom, life experience, and aesthetic taste. It provides us with many pathways for outlining the ancients’ political ideals and grasping their spiritual world and wisdom for survival. The inheritance and development of excellent Chinese culture, the advancement of Chinese-path modernization, the consolidation of the roots of cultural confidence and historical confidence, the continuation of the Chinese cultural lineage and the permanence of its vitality and brilliance, and the innovative development of Chinese literary and artistic value concepts in the New Era all require that we do not forget the road we have come from, and do not forget our historical home. How the value concepts of excellent traditional Chinese literature and art can be better inherited and developed should rightfully become an important interpretive dimension in our current research on ancient Chinese literary and artistic values.

习近平总书记指出：“中国优秀传统文化的丰富哲学思想、人文精神、教化思想、道德理念等，可以为人们认识和改造世界提供有益启迪，可以为治国理政提供有益启示，也可以为道德建设提供有益启发。”基于上面的简单梳理，我们可以看出中华传统文艺价值观念体系折射的正是古人的伦理教化思想、哲学智慧、生命体验与美学趣味，为我们勾勒古人的政治理想，把握古人的精神世界与生存智慧提供了诸多路径。而中华优秀文化的传承发展、中国式现代化建设的推进，文化自信和历史自信的固本强根，中华文脉的延绵和生命活力与颜值的永驻，新时代中国文艺价值观念的创新性发展，均需要我们不忘来时之路，不忘历史家园。中华优秀传统文艺价值观念如何更好地得到传承发展，理应成为我们当下研究中国古代文艺价值观一个重要的阐释维度。

III. The Interpretive Dimension of Traditional Chinese Literary and Artistic Value Concepts and Their Contemporary Significance

三、中华传统文艺价值观念的阐释向度及其当代意义

Once cultural confidence became the “more fundamental, broader, and deeper confidence” of socialism with Chinese characteristics, the generation of contemporary significance from ancient Chinese literary and artistic value concepts—how to find new growth points for traditional excellent literary and artistic values in the contemporary literary and artistic field, how to enable them to gain new vitality in a context that connects past and present, at the intersection of history and reality, and through the process of integration with the original spirit of Marxist literary and artistic thought, and how to effectively participate in the practice of Chinese literature and art in the New Era, jointly coalescing into a spiritual force from the depths of history for contemporary China—became the main focus of research on and promotion of China’s excellent traditional literary and artistic values. To this end, adjusting the interpretive orientation in research is an extremely important issue.

当文化自信成为中国特色社会主义“更基础、更广泛、更深厚的自信”之后，中国古代文艺价值观念之当代意义生成，如何为传统优秀文艺价值观在当代文艺场域中找到新的生长点，如何使其在古今贯通的语境中、在历史与现实的交汇处、在与马克思主义文艺思想原典精神的相互结合过程中获得新的生命力，如何有效地参与到新时代中国文艺的实践中来，共同凝聚为当代中国的来自历史深处的一种精神力量，便成为研究和阐扬中华优秀传统文艺价值观的主要着力点。为此，调整研究中的阐释向度便是一个极其重要的问题，而以习近平文化思想为引领，以“第二个结合”为方法路径，传统中华优秀文艺价值观念的当代意义才可以得到生成和呈现。

The construction of contemporary Chinese literary and artistic value thought and theoretical system cannot be nourished without China’s excellent traditional literary and artistic thought and aesthetic spirit. Therefore, paying attention to the interpretive orientation of research on traditional literary and artistic value thought, and establishing interpretive principles that possess new contemporary significance, public character, and a high degree of theoretical systematization, should become one of the focal issues for academic attention and discussion. When contemplating how the value concepts of China’s excellent traditional literature and art can adapt to contemporary society and cultural contexts, as well as contemporary literary and artistic practice, and when considering how to discover, through in-depth and meticulous research, the points of convergence between the value thought of excellent traditional literature and art and the original literary and artistic thought of Marxism, we must first engage in profound reflection on the modes of thinking and interpretive concepts employed in past research. This question arises because our research and elucidation are often confined by the limitations of Western cultural centrism, habitually placing Chinese traditional literary and artistic thought and concepts on the platform of Western epistemology and values for judgment, thereby leading to a severe lack of confidence in assessing the ontological position, theoretical characteristics, and contemporary significance of Chinese traditional literary and artistic value concepts. Consequently, the knowledge characteristics, ideological principles, modes of expression, and even the academic commitment and value evaluation of traditional literary and artistic value thought and concepts, which are integrally connected to the root and soul of Chinese culture, have been obscured within the mistaken approach of interpreting China through the West and measuring China by the West, due to a lack of cultural confidence and historical confidence. Such an interpretive method not only fails to fully demonstrate the knowledge tenets and spiritual characteristics of China’s excellent traditional literary and artistic thought but also causes traditional literature and art, aesthetics, and traditional literary and artistic value concepts to be viewed, through the so-called “Enlightenment” and “modernity” lens of Western cultural spectacles, as a cultural relic that has no connection to contemporary literary and artistic reality and is outdated. It is further believed that they lack the capacity to actively and effectively respond to contemporary literary and artistic issues, thus advocating that the only way forward is to continue trampling tradition underfoot and to take Western literary and artistic value concepts as the sole guide. Topics such as “Enlightenment modernity” and “aesthetic modernity,” which use Western concepts as the yardstick, have persisted for a long time, while cultural confidence and historical confidence have gradually been lost; the reason lies precisely here. Such understanding is far too superficial, and the symptoms of Western centrism it manifests are quite evident. Of course, we do not overlook the significance of mutual learning among Chinese and foreign civilizations, nor do we fully affirm the positive role of “stones from other hills” [n]; we merely advocate that the innovative construction of the literary and artistic value thought system in the New Era and the discursive construction of the 21st-century Sinicized Marxist literary theory system should highlight the ontological nature and localization of Chinese culture. Under the illumination of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought, through creative interpretation and innovative transformation that “understands the substance and grasps its function” (明体达用) [n], we should enliven the ancient and transform it into the contemporary, enabling the value thought of China’s excellent traditional literature and art to serve as an important ideological and cultural resource for Chinese-path modernization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and allowing the long-standing, uninterrupted river of Chinese traditional culture and literature and art to flow even more smoothly and magnificently. Therefore, it is time for research on traditional literary and artistic thought and aesthetics in the New Era to truly establish and consolidate cultural confidence and historical confidence. To this end, the following issues deserve full attention.

中国当代文艺价值思想和理论体系的建构不能没有中华优秀传统文艺思想和美学精神的滋养，因此关注传统文艺价值思想研究的阐释向度，建立具有时代新义和公共性特点的、学理化程度高的阐释原则，应该成为学界关注和讨论的焦点问题之一。在思考中华优秀传统文艺价值观念如何与当代社会和文化语境、当代的文艺实践相适应这一叩问，以及如何通过深入而细致的研究而发现优秀传统文艺价值思想与马克思主义原典文艺思想之间的契合点时，我们首先需要对既往研究中的思维方式和阐释理念进行深刻的反思。这一问题的提出基于我们的研究阐发往往囿于西方文化中心主义的拘限，习惯于将中国传统文艺思想观念置于西方知识论和价值观的平台上说长论短，从而导致对中华传统文艺价值观念的本体位置、理论特质及其当代意义的估量严重不自信，而与中华文化根魂、血脉一气贯注的传统文艺价值思想观念的知识特性、思想义理、言说方式，乃至学术担当与价值意义的评价，自然就因缺乏文化自信、历史自信而一度被遮蔽在以西解中、以西绳中的误区之中。这样的阐释方法非但不能充分展现中华优秀传统文艺思想的知识宗旨与精神特质，而且使得传统文艺和美学、传统文艺价值思想观念在戴着西方文化眼镜的所谓“启蒙”“现代性”知识目光中，被看成一种与当代文艺现实毫无联系、过时了的文化遗存物，进而认为其缺乏对当代文艺现实问题作出积极而有效的回应功能，从而主张只有继续将传统踩在脚下，必须以西方文艺价值观念马首是瞻，才是唯一的出路。以西方观念为标尺的“启蒙现代性”“审美现代性”等话题便经久不衰，文化自信、历史自信便逐渐丧失，究其原因正在于此。这样的认识太过于浅表化，其所表征的西方中心主义的症候也是相当明显的。当然，我们并非忽视中外文明互鉴的重要意义，亦充分地肯定“他山之石”的积极作用，而只是主张新时代文艺价值思想体系创新性建构、21世纪中国化马克思主义文艺理论体系话语建构，要彰显中华文化的本体性、本土化，要在习近平文化思想的烛照中通过“明体达用”的创造性阐释和创新性转化，活古而化今，使中华优秀传统文艺价值思想为中国式现代化、中华民族伟大复兴发挥积极的重要的思想文化资源作用，使历史形成的源远流长、未曾中断过的中国传统文化、文艺的长河流淌得更加畅达、更加波澜壮阔。因此，新时代传统文艺思想和美学研究是到了真正建立和筑牢文化自信、历史自信的时候了。为此，如下的几个问题值得充分重视。

(I) The Issue of Interpretive Orientation and Speculative Stance in Research on Traditional Literary and Artistic Thought and Value Concepts

（一）传统文艺思想和价值观念研究中的阐释向度和思辨立场问题

The question of the interpretive orientation and contemporary significance of Chinese traditional literary and artistic value concepts arises primarily from the phenomenon, to varying degrees in our past research, of contempt for traditional literary and artistic value thought and outright denial of its contemporary significance. “The Second Integration” is conducive to correcting the interpretive direction and value objectives of research on Chinese traditional literary and artistic value thought, improving the chosen knowledge tools and even research paradigms, and rationally handling the constructive relationship among “Marxism, China, and the West” with full cultural confidence and historical confidence, as well as the practical issue of cultural inheritance and innovative development in the construction of Chinese-path modernization. This enables our research and interpretation to exert effective driving force for the construction of a culturally strong nation. Therefore, taking “the Second Integration” as the guiding principle, in the ideological, cultural, and academic context of the New Era, upholding the academic rational spirit of “upholding fundamental principles and breaking new ground” (守正创新) and “understanding the substance and grasping its function” (明体达用), we must deeply explore and elucidate the contemporary significance of Chinese traditional literary and artistic value thought, obtain historical wisdom from China’s excellent traditional literary and artistic value thought and poetic spirit, and achieve the effect of enlivening the ancient and transforming it into the contemporary through creative interpretation and innovative transformation of traditional resources. This will allow Chinese traditional poetic wisdom, including literary and artistic value thought, to find fertile soil for growth in actual literary and artistic practice and to rekindle the vitality of thought. This is indeed of critical significance for promoting the adaptation of traditional literary and artistic value thought and traditional aesthetic spirit to contemporary culture and the development of contemporary literature and art, for their coordination with contemporary society, and for their entry into the literary and artistic practice and even the entire spiritual life of contemporary people.

中华传统文艺价值观念的阐释向度及其当代意义问题的提出，主要基于我们以往的研究中程度不等地存在着对传统文艺价值思想的轻蔑和彻底否定其当代意义现象。“第二个结合”有利于校正研究中华传统文艺价值思想的阐释方向、价值目标，改善所选择的知识工具乃至研究范式，以充分的文化自信、历史自信理性地处理“马、中、西”三者之间的建构性关系，以及中国式现代化建设中的文化传承与创新发展这一实践性问题，从而使我们的研究和阐释为文化强国建设发挥有效的驱动力量。因此，如何以“第二个结合”为旨归，在新时代的思想文化和学术语境中，秉持守正创新、“明体达用”的学术理性精神，深入探析和阐发中华传统文艺价值思想的当代意义，从中华优秀传统文艺价值思想和诗性精神中获得历史智慧，通过对传统资源的创造性阐释与创新性转化而达致活古化今的功效，从而使包括文艺价值思想在内的中华传统诗性智慧在现实的文艺实践中找到生长的土壤，重新焕发思想的生命力。 这对于推动传统文艺价值思想、传统美学精神与当代文化、当代文艺发展相适应，与当代社会相协调，并且进入当代人的文艺实践活动乃至整个精神生活中来，确实具有关键性意义。

The generation of contemporary significance in Chinese traditional literary and artistic value concepts involves a problem of the fusion of horizons between “past” and “present.” The proposal of the “Second Integration” [n15] as a cultural choice and methodological path provides a clear direction and plan for resolving this cultural difficulty that has long troubled academic circles, and therefore holds extremely important significance for the top-level design of cultural development. In concrete research, regarding how to effectively inherit and develop traditional literary and artistic thought and aesthetic spirit, and how to achieve a state of integrating ancient and modern, enlivening the ancient and transforming it for the present, the following passage from Marx is profoundly enlightening: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.” [n16] The traditional literary and artistic resources and their value-thought systems, transmitted down through thousands of years of historical vicissitudes, constitute a cultural heritage rich in content, abundant in meaning, and diverse in textual form. Within them are accumulated and condensed the substantial literary and artistic thought, aesthetic spirit, and poetic wisdom created over the five-thousand-plus years of the Chinese nation’s civilizational development. Moreover, throughout their long evolutionary process, development and innovation have never ceased; they have always been in a process of inheritance and development. The very reason the meaning of “tradition” holds is precisely that it has always been developed through inheritance and inherited through development. The core essence of inheritance and development is that it must unfold and be realized through the continuous interpretive activity of interpreters, and the orientation of interpretation must be adjusted as reality and cultural-temporal space shift. Only then can innovative interpretation and innovative transformation be spoken of. Therefore, promoting the ontological interpretation of China’s excellent traditional literature and art, and strengthening the awareness of cultural autonomy in research and interpretive activities, not only meets the needs of constructing contemporary theoretical and academic discourse in literary and artistic research but also conforms to the epochal positioning of cultural construction under socialism with Chinese characteristics in the New Era. We can take this interpretive orientation as the basic path for the “creative transformation and innovative development” [n17] of the value thought of Chinese traditional literature and art and for the continuous realization of its contemporary significance, adjusting and optimizing the interpretive direction and speculative stance in concrete research, and scientifically handling the complex relationships among such interpretive elements as subject and text, subjective and objective, tradition and modernity, and even theory and reality. At the same time, it is also necessary to point out that in the ontological interpretation of traditional literary and artistic value concepts with the “Second Integration” as the core meaning, the intellectual aim pursued by this interpretive direction is value significance. It is not merely a simple restoration and reproduction of history, but rather a two-way gaze and two-way fusion between the life-spirit experience of contemporary individuals and the meaning-world of classical texts, breaking through the barriers between ancient and modern, removing the various cultural and ideological obstructions between ancient and modern that have formed over more than a century, and forming an interpretive pattern of two-way interaction and internal-external linkage. In this way, a successful connection between factual cognition and value cognition, and between factual judgment and value judgment, can be achieved, presenting the integral meaning of the value thought of excellent traditional literature and art. We believe that when General Secretary Xi Jinping, in his speech on cultural inheritance and development, elevated the “Second Integration” to the level of “ideological emancipation” and the creation of an “organically unified new cultural life entity,” [n18] the intellectual courage, theoretical originality, and far-sighted insight he demonstrated lie precisely herein.

中国传统文艺价值观念当代意义的生成，存在着一个“过去”与“现在”之间的视域融合问题，作为文化选择与方法路径的“第二个结合”的提出，为解决这一困扰学界时日已久的文化难题提供了明确的方向与方案，因此具有极其重要的文化发展顶层设计意义。在具体研究中，如何有效地传承发展传统文艺思想和美学精神，如何达到古今融通、活古化今的境地，马克思所说的这一段话深具启迪性：“人们自己创造自己的历史，但是他们并不是随心所欲地创造，并不是在他们自己选定的条件下创造，而是在直接碰到的、既定的、从过去承继下来的条件下创造。”作为经历了数千年历史风雨流传下来的传统文艺资源及其价值思想体系，是一笔内涵充实、意义丰盈、文本形态多姿多彩的文化遗产，其中积淀和浓缩了中华民族五千多年来的文明发展过程中创造出来的质地丰厚的文艺思想、美学精神和诗性智慧，并且在其漫长的演进过程中，发展与创变从来也没有止息过，始终处于传承发展的过程之中。传统的命义之所以成立，正在于其一直是在传承中得以发展、在发展中得以传承的，而传承发展的核心要义则是需要在阐释者的不断阐释过程中得以展开、得以实现，并且随着现实和文化时空的转换而调整阐释的向度，如此方有创新性阐释和创新性转化可言。所以，推进中华优秀传统文艺的本体性阐释，强化研究阐释活动中的文化自主性意识，既为适应当前文艺研究中的理论、学术话语建构所需，又符合新时代中国特色社会主义文化建设的时代定位。我们可以把这种阐释向度，作为中华传统文艺价值思想“双创”并不断实现其当代价值意义的基本路径，在具体的研究中调校、优化阐释方向和思辨立场，科学地处理主体与文本、主观与客观、传统与现代乃至理论与现实等诸阐释要素之间的复杂关系。同时，还有必要指出，在对传统文艺价值思想观念进行以“第二个结合”为核心命意的本体性阐释中，这种阐释方向所追求的知识宗旨是价值意义，并非仅仅是对历史进行简单的复原与再现，而是将当代人的个体生命精神体验与经典文本的意义世界双向对视、双向融汇，打通古今藩篱，解除一个多世纪以来形成的古今之间的种种文化和意识形态方面的阻隔，形成双向互动、内外联动的阐释格局，以此实现事实认知和价值认知、事实判断和价值判断的成功契接，呈现优秀传统文艺价值思想的整全意义。我们认为，习近平总书记在文化传承发展讲话中将“第二个结合”提升到“思想解放”、造就一个“有机统一的新的文化生命体”层面来论析，所体现的思想胆识、理论原创、高瞻远瞩之见正在于此。

(II) The Issue of Inheriting and Developing the Classical Thought of Literary and Artistic Value Concepts in Historical and Contemporary Contexts

（二）历史与现实情境中的文艺价值观念经典思想的传承发展问题

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “The reason classics can become classics is that they inevitably contain enduring beauty, eternal emotion, and vast spirit. Through thematic connotation, character portrayal, emotional construction, artistic conception creation, and linguistic rhetoric, classics accommodate a profound and flowing inner world and a vivid and full authentic life, encompassing the connotations of history, culture, and human nature, possessing the penetrating power of thought, the insight of aesthetics, and the creativity of form.” [n19] Reflecting on the interpretive direction of Chinese traditional literary and artistic value concepts, and through the ontological interpretive path oriented by the “Second Integration,” enabling the contemporary significance of traditional literary and artistic value thought to be generated and fully manifested, is not for the purpose of simply describing and restoring literary and artistic thought events that have already occurred. Rather, it is through contemporary theoretical research activities that take inheritance and development as the interpretive dimension to observe the spiritual world, aesthetic experience, and emotional expression of the ancients, and to make this a spiritual nourishment, an inner, deep, and stable cultural force. Its importance for the construction of the inner spirit and meaning-world of contemporary people, and for the construction of the Chinese literary and artistic value system in the New Era, is self-evident. The reason tradition is tradition lies in its function of enabling us, through continuous interpretation, to recall and narrate, trace origins and savor, draw upon and utilize traditional resources. This not only allows us to understand more deeply, in the process of inheritance and development, the significance of tradition for the past, present, and future, so that the spiritual bloodline of Chinese traditional culture and aesthetics flows within our thought values and theoretical body, but also gives us a more definite expectation for Chinese-path modernization and the construction of a culturally strong nation. The distinct epochal characteristics and core essence of the propositions of the “Second Integration” and cultural inheritance and development lie precisely herein. The value thought of China’s excellent traditional literature and art is contained in a series of classic literary theory masterpieces written and transmitted by the ancients. If we say that traditional classics are a kind of cultural event, then our research on the value thought of traditional literature and art, and on these most precious historical and cultural heritage masterpieces, should not be merely descriptive and explanatory, but interpretive and constructive. While embodying interpretive individuality, it should also pursue the publicness and shareability of interpretation to the greatest extent, dialectically and uniformly handling the relationship between individual interpretation and public interpretation. Through such interpretation, the value thought and contemporary significance contained in classic literary theory masterpieces and classic literary and artistic works are revealed, thereby making the classics a meaning-world that is constantly renewed through interpretation, fully open, and with ever-realizing possibilities. The function of classics in cultural creation, literary profundity, and spiritual guidance requires interpretation of this orientation to be achieved.

习近平总书记指出：“经典之所以能够成为经典，其中必然含有隽永的美、永恒的情、浩荡的气。经典通过主题内蕴、人物塑造、情感建构、意境营造、语言修辞等，容纳了深刻流动的心灵世界和鲜活丰满的本真生命，包含了历史、文化、人性的内涵，具有思想的穿透力、审美的洞察力、形式的创造力。”思考中华传统文艺价值思想观念的阐释方向问题，以及通过“第二个结合”为指向的本体性阐释路径，使传统文艺价值思想的当代意义得以生成并充分彰显，不是为了单纯地描述和还原业已发生过的文艺思想事件，而是通过以传承发展为阐释维度的当代理论研究活动来体察古人的精神世界、审美体验及其情感表达方式，并且使之成为一种精神滋养，成为一种内在的、深沉而稳固的文化力量，这对当代人内在精神和意义世界建构而言，对于新时代中国文艺价值体系建构而言，其重要性是不言而喻的。传统之所以为传统，其作用正在于可以使我们通过不断地阐释，追忆和讲述、溯源与回味、汲取与利用传统资源，这样不但使我们在传承发展中更深层次地理解传统对于过去、现在、未来的意义，使我们的思想价值和理论肌体中流淌着中华传统文化与美学的精神血脉，并且对中国式现代化和文化强国建设有着更加确切的预期。“第二个结合”命题、文化传承发展命题的提出，其鲜明突出的时代特点与核心要义正在于斯。中华优秀传统文艺价值思想蕴含在古人书写、流传下来的一系列经典文论名篇中，如果说传统的经典是一种文化事件的话，那么我们对传统文艺价值思想的研究、对这些最为珍贵的历史文化遗产的经典名篇的研究，不应该仅仅是描述性和说明性的，而应是阐释性和建构性的，并且在体现阐释个性的同时又能最大限度地追求阐释的公共性与共享性，辩证统一地处理个性阐释与公共阐释之间的关系。通过这样的阐释而揭示经典文论名篇、经典文艺作品中所蕴含的价值思想和当代意义，从而使经典成为一种常阐释常新的、充分敞开的、可能性不断实现的意义世界。经典所具之文化创生、文章奥府、精神风标作用的发挥，需要这种向度的阐释来达致。

Gadamer believed: “The true object of historical understanding is not events, but the ‘meaning’ of events.” [n20] The formation of classical texts of traditional literary and artistic value thought is closely related to the specific political, economic, cultural, and literary-artistic phenomena of their time. Therefore, our interpretation should fully explain the literary and artistic value orientation and aesthetic essence contained in the classic works. We should adopt a positive interpretive attitude, positioning the goals of annotation, deduction, elaboration, and the promotion of principles and meanings in concrete research towards discovering the profound meanings within the classics, as well as the extension and derivation of their significance in the current real-world field and the process of inheritance practice. We should fully demonstrate the richness and universal significance of the value concepts of excellent traditional literature and art, and fully affirm their indispensable positioning and role within the spatiotemporal structure of contemporary thought creation characterized by “Marxist soul, Chinese substance, Western utility” (马魂、中体、西用). [n21] Recognizing this is very necessary. The excellent traditional literary and artistic value concepts in classic works constitute a thought complex. When conducting contemporary interpretation of them, one’s own questions and value evaluations cannot be absent. However, they should not be posed according to the problem consciousness and questioning methods of Western culture and literary theory, nor should they be judged entirely according to Western cultural and literary evaluation standards. Instead, questions should be raised based on problems generated from contemporary Chinese, indigenous cultural and literary-artistic practical activities, and analysis and evaluation should be conducted based on how they benefit the understanding and interpretation of indigenous, real-world literary and artistic development issues. Only in this way can our interpretation of the value thought of excellent traditional literature and art possess a certain degree of practical relevance and academic originality. To achieve this goal, the author believes that stepping out of the closed world of the former “pure aesthetics” and “narrow literary theory” and adopting an interpretive horizon and space composed of “broad literary theory,” “sinological vision,” and “cultural general knowledge” to examine the research object is also worthy of full attention. The author has mentioned and elaborated on this point in a series of previously published papers, so it will not be repeated here.

伽达默尔认为：“历史理解的真正对象不是事件，而是事件的‘意义’。”传统文艺价值思想经典文本的形成，与当时特定的政治、经济、文化、文艺活动现象之间有着密切的关联性，因此我们的阐释应该充分解释经典论著中所蕴涵的文艺价值向度和美学精义，应该持以积极的阐释态度，在具体的研究中将诠解、推绎、衍论的目标和义理阐扬，定位于发现经典中的深刻奥义，及其在当今现实场域和传承实践过程中的意义延伸和衍生，充分展示优秀传统文艺价值思想观念的丰富性和普遍性意义，充分肯定其在“马魂、中体、西用”这一当代思想创生的时空结构中所具之不可或缺的定位与作用，认识到这一点是非常必要的。经典论著中的优秀传统文艺价值观念是一个思想的综合体，对其进行当代阐释时，自身提问和价值评价是不可以不在场的，但是又不应该按照西方文化与文论的问题意识和提问方式来进行，更不可以完全按照西方文化与文艺的评判标准来进行评判，而应该根据从中国当代的、本土的文化、文艺实践活动中生成的问题来进行提问，以如何有益于理解与阐释本土的现实的文艺发展问题来进行分析评价，因为唯有这样，才能使我们对优秀传统文艺价值思想的阐释具有一定的现实针对性和学术原创性。欲达致此目的，笔者以为走出既往的“纯审美”“小文论”的封闭天地，以由“大文论”“国学视野”“文化通识”三者构成的阐释视域和阐释空间来审视研究对象，亦值得充分重视，关于这一点，笔者在既往发表的一系列论文中曾有提及和阐发，这里不赘。

It must be pointed out that, whether from the perspective of classical studies or from that of canonical studies, the discovery and presentation of the contemporary significance of literary and artistic value thought in traditional canonical works is a process in which thought is constantly generated. It is not ready-made, still less immutable, but requires us to delve vertically into the historical situation while not forgetting the real situation in which we ourselves are situated. Through the fusion of the two dimensions and two horizons of the historical situation and the real situation, we discover the essential meaning contained in the canonical works through interpretation, and manifest it through unveiling. The actuality and the normativity embodied therein, and their dialectical unity, must be grasped through deep reflection. Only in this way can our interpretation become a process of theoretical and academic innovation that discovers and generates the contemporary significance of the classics. Classics are ever new when read anew; the value and meaning of classics are embodied in the continuous process of interpretation. In short, the contemporaneity of literary and artistic value thought in canonical works is not a ready-made state; it awaits us to cast our gaze on the intersection of history and reality, to take “the Second Integration”[22]22 “The Second Integration” (第二个结合) refers to the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s excellent traditional culture, as proposed by Xi Jinping. It is distinguished from the “First Integration,” which was the combination of Marxism with the concrete practice of the Chinese revolution. as a methodological guide and a goal of theoretical construction, to take the courage of “ideological emancipation,” and to actively discover the points of “mutual compatibility”[23]23 “Mutual compatibility” (相互契合) is a term used in official discourse to describe the inherent affinity between Marxism and China’s traditional culture, suggesting they are not externally imposed on each other but share fundamental points of convergence. with Marxism with keen thought and theoretical vision. In the process of interpretation, we grasp the whole through details and, conversely, understand details in light of the whole. We value the classical spirit without being rigidly bound to antiquity; we always uphold the guiding position of the basic principles of Marxism while being adept at discovering the points of mutual compatibility that actually exist between Marxism and excellent traditional literary and artistic thought, as has been proven by the development process of Sinicized Marxist literary and artistic theory over the past century. This enables the activation and release of those resources in traditional literary and artistic value thought that still possess explanatory efficacy and paradigmatic significance for contemporary social spiritual life and contemporary literary and artistic phenomena. It allows the precious cultural heritage of excellent traditional literary and artistic value thought left to us by the ancients to be inherited and developed, thereby regaining vitality in the real cultural soil and gradually radiating enduring cultural vitality through participation in and integration into reality. At the same time, it can further enable our interpretation of traditional literary and artistic value thought to promote the Sinicization of Marxist original literary and artistic thought, enabling traditional literary and artistic value thought to gain new cultural vitality in the process of integrating with basic Marxist literary and artistic thought. In this regard, we need to learn from Mao Zedong’s *Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art* and Xi Jinping’s *Talks at the Forum on Literature and Art*.[24]24 Mao Zedong’s *Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art* (1942) and Xi Jinping’s *Talks at the Forum on Literature and Art* (2014) are foundational texts for the Chinese Communist Party’s cultural policy, each articulating the Party’s line on the relationship between literature, art, and politics in their respective eras. By studying these two classic texts and the thought and theoretical paradigms they provide, we can grasp their essence to enhance the quality and substance of our research and interpretation.

需要指出的是，无论是从古典学研究、还是从经典学研究的角度来看，传统经典论著中的文艺价值思想的当代意义的发现和呈现，均是一个思想不断生成的过程，其并非现成的，更不是一成不变的，而是需要我们在纵向地深入到历史情境中的同时，又不能忘记自己所身处的现实情境，在历史情境与现实情境两个维度、两重视界的融合中，通过阐释而发现经典论著中的精义所在，通过解蔽而彰显之，其中所体现的实然性与应然性及其二者的辩证统一，需要通过深思而体悟。如此，庶几可以使我们的阐释成为发现、生成经典的当代意义的理论与学术创新过程。经典常读常新，经典的价值意义体现在不断的阐释过程中。总之，经典论著中的文艺价值思想所具的当代性并不是一种现成的状态，其有待于我们将目光投射于历史与现实的交汇之处，以“第二个结合”为方法指南和理论建构目标，以“思想解放”的勇气，以积极地发现其与马克思主义“相互契合”点的敏锐思想和理论目光，在阐释的过程中通过细节来把握整体，反过来又根据整体来理解细节，既重视古典精神而又不拘泥于古，既始终坚持马克思主义基本原理的指导地位，又善于发现业已被百余年来的中国化马克思主义文艺理论发展历程所证明了的马克思主义与优秀传统文艺思想之间实然性地存在的相互契合点，使传统文艺价值思想中那些对当代社会精神生活、当代文艺现象仍然具有解释效应和范式意义的资源得以激活和释放出来，使古人留给我们的优秀传统文艺价值思想这一宝贵的文化遗产得以传承发展，从而使其在现实的文化土壤中重新获得生机，并且在参与、融入现实的过程中逐步焕发持久的文化生命力。同时，更可以使我们对传统文艺价值思想的阐释，在促进马克思主义原典文艺思想中国形态化，使传统文艺价值思想在与马克思主义基本文艺思想相结合的过程中获得新的文化生命力。在这一方面，我们需要向毛泽东《在延安文艺座谈会上的讲话》、习近平《在文艺工作座谈会上的讲话》学习，通过对这两个经典文本及其所提供的思想和理论范式的学习，得其精髓，以资提升我们的研究与阐释的思想和理论的质性、质地。

Chinese literary and artistic thought has a long history and is broad and profound. The rich and splendid principles contained in traditional canonical literary and artistic works require constant review, reflection, and analogical interpretation, and must be endowed with new contemporary meanings through creative interpretation and innovative transformation. This is precisely the intention behind our advocacy that the interpretation of classical classics should actually become a link that activates them. In the value system of excellent traditional literary and artistic thought, whether it is the “Way” (道) as the highest truth, “vital energy” (气) as the optimal mode of existence, or the “aspiration” (志) as the literary and artistic value and aesthetic ideal that unifies “virtue as root” (德本) and “emotion as root” (情本) and takes the mutual embodiment of beauty and goodness as its ultimate归宿,[25]25 The term *归宿* (guīsù), here translated as “归宿,” refers to a final destination, home, or ultimate belonging. In this context, it denotes the ultimate goal or resting place of literary and artistic value. all are contained within traditional classical literary theory. Our task as interpreters is primarily to reveal and manifest the subtle and profound meanings contained therein through the path and method provided by “the Second Integration.” The French philosopher Paul Ricoeur once said: “The aim of all interpretation is to conquer the remoteness and distance between the past cultural epoch to which the text belongs and the interpreter himself.”[26]26 This is a paraphrase of a key idea in Paul Ricoeur’s hermeneutics, particularly his work on the task of interpretation as overcoming temporal and cultural distance. The exact wording may vary across translations of Ricoeur’s works. Therefore, our study of the interpretive dimension of traditional literary and artistic value thought and the discovery and activation of its contemporary significance is not like extracting some element from a research object in a natural science experiment. Rather, it should be a process of obtaining and refining meaning from traditional classical resources, based on respect for their objective original meaning, through a positive interpretive attitude. “Literary and artistic works are not products of mysterious inspiration; their artistry, ideology, and value orientation are always embodied through the writer’s or artist’s grasp of history, era, society, life, characters, and other aspects.”[27]27 This quotation appears to be a general statement about the nature of literary and artistic creation, likely drawn from contemporary Chinese literary theory or official documents, though its precise source is not identified in the original text. Is this not also the case for classical literary theory? In terms of process, the interpretive process cannot avoid incorporating the researcher’s individual social experience, life experience, and so on from real-life practice. In terms of the purpose of interpretation and the significance of research, this interpretive process is not merely a one-dimensional exegesis of the classics; it is also a process in which the interpreter discovers and understands the self and the world through the mutual gaze and dialogue between ancient and modern. We live and think in the present of history; our research and interpretive objects represent the present of history. Any interpretive activity is always in flux and can never be external to history.

中华文艺思想源远流长、博大精深，作为经典的传统文艺论著，其所具有的丰富而精彩的义理需要不断地温习、体悟、格义，并且通过创造性阐释和创新性转化来赋予其时代新义，这就是我们倡导对于古典经典的阐释实际上应该成为一个使其活化的环节之用意所在。在优秀传统文艺价值思想体系中，无论是作为最高真理的“道”、最佳存在的“气”，还是“德本”与“情本”统一、美与善体用相兼为归宿的文艺价值、审美理想之“志”，都蕴含在传统经典文论之中，我们作为阐释者的任务，主要就是要通过“第二个结合”所提供的路径与方法，在阐释过程中将其所蕴含的微言大义揭示出来，使其得到彰显。法国哲学家保罗·里克尔曾经这样说道：“所有诠释的目的，都是要征服存在于经典所属的过去文化时代与诠释者本身之间的疏远和距离。”因此，我们研究传统文艺价值思想的阐释向度以及发现与激活其当代意义，并非像自然科学实验中所进行的那种从研究试验对象物质中提取某种元素那样，而应该是从传统经典资源中在尊重其客观原意之基础之上，通过积极的阐释态度，来获取、提炼某种意义的一个过程。“文艺作品不是神秘灵感的产物，它的艺术性、思想性、价值取向总是通过文学家、艺术家对历史、时代、社会、生活、人物等方方面面的把握来体现。”对于传统文论经典而言，又何尝不是如此呢。从过程来看，阐释过程不可能不融入研究者个体在现实生活实践中的社会经验、生命体验等；从阐释目的和研究的意义来看，这一阐释过程便不仅仅是为了单向度地诠解经典，同时也是阐释者在古今互视、对话的过程中发现和理解自我、发现和理解世界的过程。我们生活和思考在历史的今天，我们的研究、阐释对象代表着今天的历史，任何阐释活动永远处于变化之中，并且时时刻刻不能外在于历史。

(3) Properly Handling the Relationship between the “Present Horizon” and the “Past Horizon” and Their Fusion in Research and Interpretation

（三）处理好研究、阐释中的“现在视域”与“过去视域”及其融合关系问题

We view past literary and artistic value thought from the “present horizon,” while the historical texts that serve as objects of interpretation represent the “past horizon.” If the “present horizon” and the “past horizon” are severed, and modern and contemporary literary and artistic thought is regarded as unrelated to traditional literary and artistic thought, or the connection between them is broken, making them isolated existences—so that studying modern and contemporary literary and artistic value thought only requires focusing on the present without regard to history, while studying traditional literary and artistic value thought stops at ancient texts without regard to the present—this is all unacceptable. Mr. Chen Yinke once said: “Anyone who studies ancient Chinese philosophy must have sympathetic understanding of the doctrines of the ancients before they can set pen to paper.”[28]28 Chen Yinke (1890–1969) was a preeminent Chinese historian and philologist. This quotation reflects his methodological principle of “sympathetic understanding” (*了解之同情*) in the study of historical texts. Therefore, to understand and interpret the meaning of historical canonical texts on traditional literary and artistic value thought and to obtain their contemporary significance, one must not regard the “past horizon” as a “other” isolated and alienated from the “present horizon.” Instead, one should treat and interpret traditional canonical texts as historical events based on the continuity and fluidity that objectively exist between ancient and modern, as presented through the role of tradition. One must not adopt an arrogant modern attitude or rely on fanciful imagination to engage in interpretive activities that are in name interpretation but in reality rewriting, still less must one historicize nothingness.[29]29 “Historicize nothingness” (历史虚无化) is a term of critique in Chinese political discourse, referring to the denial or distortion of established historical narratives, particularly those concerning the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese revolution. The effect of such radical interpretations, which are thin in cultural rationality, often backfires and ultimately degenerates into negative interpretation. Researching and interpreting traditional literary and artistic value thought is not an act of discourse replication, but should be a kind of theoretical and academic creative act in a broad sense. Its main goals include, but are far from limited to, merely knowing the intentions or propositions of the ancients. It should also tell people what is most valuable and worth activating in traditional literary and artistic value thought today, thereby playing a deep role in consolidating the foundation for the construction of contemporary literary and artistic value thought. This enables the system of Chinese literary and artistic value thought in the New Era to guide the people in establishing a correct view of history, view of the nation, view of the country, view of culture, and view of literary and artistic values, using the unique thought, emotions, and aesthetics of the Chinese people. This is the purpose of activating the ancient to transform the present.

我们从“现在视域”看待过去的文艺价值思想，而作为阐释对象的历史文本则代表着“过去视域”。如果将“现在视域”与“过去视域”割裂开来，把现当代文艺思想与传统文艺思想看作彼此不相联系，或曰隔断两者之间的相互联系，使其成为各自孤立的存在，研究现当代文艺价值思想仅需盯着当下无须关注历史，研究传统文艺价值思想止步于古代文本而不必关注当下，均属不可取。陈寅恪先生曾经如是说：“凡治中国古代哲学者，其对于古人之学说，应具了解之同情，方可下笔。”所以，理解和阐释传统文艺价值思想之历史典籍文献的意义以及获致其当代意义，不可以将“过去视域”看成与“现在视域”相互隔绝、相互异化的“他者”，而应该从事实上客观存在于古今之间的、在传统的作用下所呈现的连续性和流变性中来对待、阐释作为历史事件的传统典籍文本，而不能以一种今人的傲慢姿态和凭空的想象来进行名曰阐释而实为改写的阐释活动，更不能使历史虚无化。那些激进的、文化理性淡薄的阐释，其效果往往适得其反，最终必将沦为一种消极阐释。研究阐释传统文艺价值思想不是一种话语复制行为，而应是一种广义上的理论学术创生行为，主要目标包括但又远远不止于仅仅知道古人的意图或主张，同时还应该告诉人们传统文艺价值思想在今天来看最有价值、最值得使之活化的东西，从而对当代文艺价值思想建构发挥培根固本的深层作用，使新时代的中国文艺价值思想体系达到用中国人独特的思想、情感、审美来引导人民树立正确的历史观、民族观、国家观、文化观以及文艺价值观的目的，是为活古而化今。

The interpretive orientation of traditional Chinese literary and artistic value thought and the generation of its complete meaning require that historical documents and classics handed down through the ages be understood and interpreted within the current field of literary and artistic practice, presenting the contemporary significance of traditional classics through an interpretation that merges the “present horizon” and the “past horizon.” “We must be adept at organically unifying and closely integrating the promotion of excellent traditional culture with the development of contemporary culture, developing through inheritance and inheriting through development.” [30]30 Xi Jinping, “Speech at a Forum on Literature and Art,” October 15, 2014. As for the interpretive effect of traditional literary and artistic value thought, “the true historical object is not an object at all, but the unity of oneself and the other, or a relationship in which the reality of history and the reality of historical understanding both exist.” [31]31 Hans-Georg Gadamer, *Truth and Method* (Chinese translation), p. 305. The “effective history” [32]32 “Effective history” (Wirkungsgeschichte) is a key concept in Gadamer’s hermeneutics, referring to the idea that history is not a fixed object but a process of effects in which the interpreter is always already situated. of traditional Chinese literary and artistic value thought is precisely the dialogical process between the interpreter and the object of interpretation, between the subjective world and the objective world—that is, by returning to a specific historical field and closely integrating current practical experience and the generation of its problem-consciousness, one carries out understanding, judgment, interpretation, and evaluation. This is a process of thought generation. From the perspective of never severing the organic connection with history, new principles and new value meanings can all draw resources from classical literary and artistic thought and classic literary and artistic works and be transformed and obtained through the “Second Integration” [33]33 The “Second Integration” (第二个结合) refers to the combination of the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s excellent traditional culture, as proposed by Xi Jinping. The “First Integration” is the combination of Marxism with China’s concrete realities. and active, creative interpretation, and they receive “legitimacy” verification and support. That is to say, the interpretation of resources of traditional literary and artistic value thought should be carried out through the integration of the “past horizon” and the “present horizon.” Therefore, in the theoretical and academic practice of interpreting traditional Chinese literary and artistic value thought and enabling its inheritance and development, to obtain correct understanding and cognition, one must first overcome the “prejudices” or “biases” in the process of research and interpretation, avoiding judging the ideological implications in traditional classics with a preconceived approach.

中华传统文艺价值思想的阐释方向及其完整意义的生成，需要将流传于世的历史文献典籍置于当下的文艺实践场域之中来体认和阐释，在“现在视域”与“过去视域”会通融合的阐释中呈现传统经典的当代意义。“我们要善于把弘扬优秀传统文化和发展现实文化有机统一起来，紧密结合起来，在继承中发展，在发展中继承。”就对传统文艺价值思想的阐释效果而言，“真正的历史对象根本就不是对象，而是自己和他者的统一体，或一种关系，在这种关系中同时存在着历史的实在以及历史理解的实在”。中华传统文艺价值思想的“效果历史”其实就是理解者和理解对象、主观世界与客观世界之间的对话过程，即通过回到具体的历史场域中，紧密结合当下的现实体验及其问题意识生成，来进行理解、判断、阐释和评价，这是一个思想生成的过程。从不割断与历史的有机联系这个层面来说，新的道理、新的价值意义，通过“第二个结合”及积极的、创造性的阐释，皆可从经典文艺思想、文艺作品典籍作品中汲取资源并予转化而获致，且得到“合法性”印证与支持。这也就是说，对于传统文艺价值思想资源的阐释，应该在“过去视域”与“现在视域”的融会贯通中进行，所以在对中华传统文艺价值思想的阐释并且使之得以传承发展的理论学术实践中，欲想得到正确的认识和理解，首先要克服研究阐释过程中的“前见”或“偏见”，避免以先入为主的方式判断传统典籍中的思想意蕴。

General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasizes: “All artistic creation is an interaction between the subjective world and the objective world of human beings… Only by embracing the era with a broad mind, observing reality with a profound gaze, experiencing life with sincere feelings, and capturing the beauty of the world with artistic inspiration can one create great works.” [34]34 Xi Jinping, “Speech at the Opening Ceremony of the Tenth National Congress of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the Ninth National Congress of the China Writers Association,” November 30, 2016. Through the re-reading and interpretation of classic literary and artistic value thought works, through concrete understanding and contextual analysis of excellent traditional Chinese literary and artistic value thought and aesthetic spirit, and through deeply recognizing the unique cognitive methods, discourse types, modes of existence, and knowledge tenets of ancient Chinese literary and artistic value thought resources themselves, one can break free from the framework of Western-centrism and dogmatic constraints, thereby presenting the original ideological genealogy of traditional Chinese literary and artistic value thought and the features and character of its knowledge landscape. Wang Fuzhi [35]35 Wang Fuzhi (1619–1692) was a late Ming and early Qing dynasty Chinese philosopher and historian, known for his materialist and dialectical thought. said: “Place oneself in the circumstances of antiquity, as if one personally encountered them; ponder the plans and actions of antiquity, as if one personally undertook them.” [36]36 Wang Fuzhi, *Du Tongjian Lun* (On Reading the Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government), vol. 10. This is an empathetic method of experience and interpretation that “connects past and present in deliberation,” [37]37 This phrase is also from Wang Fuzhi, *Du Tongjian Lun*. communicating the ancients with modern people, merging the past and the present, and observing the phenomena of past and present within an interpretive horizon where all things are interconnected. It both “puts oneself in the place” of the ancients to imagine their circumstances and brings oneself back to the “past horizon,” thereby possibly overcoming the interpretive presuppositions that actually exist in contemporary interpretive activities, such as the separation of past and present, judging the past by the present, or constraining the present by the past. The reason modern people can understand or interpret traditional documents and classics lies in the continuity of history; the factual existence of our cultural tradition is actually a continuous, uninterrupted, and inherited developmental whole process. Therefore, interpreting the system of excellent traditional literary and artistic value thought through the “Second Integration” should proceed from the concrete reality of constructing the contemporary Chinese literary and artistic value system, fully drawing on research results at the level of modern and contemporary hermeneutic principles, but avoiding the blind imitation and simple application of the kind that “imitates the Handan walk,” [38]38 “Imitating the Handan walk” (邯郸学步) is a Chinese idiom from the *Zhuangzi*, referring to someone who tries to imitate another’s mannerisms and loses their own ability to walk. not mechanically copying, and transcending the trivial entanglements of “losing the essence by focusing on details” [39]39 “Losing the essence by focusing on details” (谨毛失真) is a Chinese idiom meaning to pay excessive attention to minor details and thereby miss the main point or distort the truth. in the interpretation of traditional literary and artistic value thought classics, even misunderstandings, arbitrary misinterpretations, and superficial interpretations. It should activate traditional resources from the deep level of ideological principles, producing a localized understanding and interpretation of traditional literary and artistic value thought resources that aligns with the cultural power support needed for the advancement of Chinese-path modernization. [40]40 Chinese-path modernization (中国式现代化) is the official term for China’s model of modernization, which is defined by the CPC as socialist modernization with Chinese characteristics, distinct from Western models.

习近平总书记强调：“一切艺术创作都是人的主观世界和客观世界的互动……只有用博大的胸怀去拥抱时代、深邃的目光去观察现实、真诚的感情去体验生活、艺术的灵感去捕捉人间之美，才能够创作出伟大的作品。”通过对经典文艺价值思想典籍作品的重新解读与阐释，对中华优秀传统文艺价值思想、美学精神作具体的理解和语境分析，深入体认中国古代文艺价值思想资源自身所独具的认知方式、话语类型、存在样态和知识宗旨，摆脱西方中心主义的框架及教条束缚，从而呈现中国传统文艺价值思想本原性的思想谱系及其知识图景的貌相和品格。王夫之有云：“设身于古之时势，为己之所躬逢；研虑于古之谋为，为己之所身任。”这是一种设身处地“通古今而计之”的体验和阐释方法，沟通古人与今人，融合过去与现在，在万有相通的阐释视域中看古今事相，既“设身处地”而遥想古人之处境，又将自身带回“过去视域”，庶几可以克服当代阐释活动中事实上存在的古今隔绝、以今度古或以古绳今的阐释预设。今人之所以能理解或解释传统文献典籍，在于历史具有连续性，我们的文化传统的事实性存在，实际上是一个连续而不间断的、传承发展的整体过程。因此，通过“第二个结合”来阐释优秀传统文艺价值思想体系，应该从当代中国的文艺价值体系建构的具体现实情境出发，充分借鉴现当代阐释学原理层面的研究成果，但是又杜绝邯郸学步式的照搬照抄和简单套用，不可依样画葫芦，并且超越对传统文艺价值思想典籍阐释中的那些“谨毛失真”的细节性纠缠，乃至误解、率意歧解和皮相之解，从思想义理的深层面激活传统资源，对传统文艺价值思想资源作出本土化的、与中国式现代化推进所需之文化力量支持的理解和阐释。

In summary, the creative interpretation and innovative transformation of excellent traditional Chinese literary and artistic value thought under the guidance of the “Second Integration” have their foothold in the construction of socialist culture with Chinese characteristics for the New Era, in the formation of cultural power in the process of advancing Chinese-path modernization, and in promoting the growth and strengthening of literary and artistic value thought that is vibrant, richly endowed, and diverse in form in the New Era. The contemporary significance of traditional literary and artistic value thought does not only exist in static piles of old papers; it also “exists” in the “generative” interpretations of interpreters. As interpreters, our explanations of any traditional documents and classics are inevitably influenced by factors such as our own era roles, knowledge backgrounds, ideological value orientations, and cultural emotional modes. Consequently, the depth and breadth of our understanding will inevitably exhibit certain, even significant, differences. It is precisely these differences, which form and exert influence through the ideological atmosphere of the times and even the intellectual journeys of interpreters, that constitute an important component of the research and interpretation of excellent traditional literary and artistic value thought and the generation of its contemporary significance. Therefore, in our interpretive activities, we should attach great importance to the theoretical paradigms, ideological concepts, and moral norms condensed in classic traditional literary and artistic works, and cross-validate them with the aesthetic experiences provided by classic artworks, in order to regulate our discursive behavior in the interpretive process. This will enable the most basic cultural genes embodied in traditional literary and artistic value thought to adapt to contemporary culture and literature and art, to coordinate with the spiritual life of people in modern society, and to be promoted and disseminated in ways that are popular with the people and allow for broad participation. Therefore, verifying the interpretive orientation of excellent traditional Chinese literary and artistic value and promoting the generation of its contemporary significance is not simply about strengthening so-called “Chineseness” or “national character.” Rather, it is to inject a more fundamental and sustainable cultural foundation into the cultural construction in the process of Chinese-path modernization and into the innovative development of the contemporary Chinese Marxist system of literary and artistic value thought. This is precisely the realistic and contemporary purpose of deepening the study of traditional Chinese literary and artistic value thought and discovering its contemporary significance. And the proposal of the “Second Integration” undoubtedly endows us with ample intellectual courage and theoretical construction space for creative interpretation in this regard.

总之，在“第二个结合”指引下的中华优秀传统文艺价值思想的创造性阐释与创新性转化，其落脚点在于新时代中国特色社会主义文化建设，在于中国式现代化推进过程中的文化力量形成，在于促进新时代活力弥漫、底蕴丰厚、姿态多样的文艺价值思想成长与壮大。传统文艺价值思想及其当代意义并不仅仅存在于静态的故纸堆中，同时亦“存在”于阐释者的“生成”式解释之中。我们作为阐释者，对于任何传统文献典籍的解释，均无可避免地受到自身的时代角色、知识背景、思想价值取向、文化情感方式等因素的影响，因而所理解的深度和广度便不可避免地会存在着一定的甚至是较大的差异，而正是这种差异所形成并发挥作用的时代思想氛围乃至阐释者的心路历程，构成了对于优秀传统文艺价值思想及其当代意义生成研究阐释的一个重要组成部分。因此，我们在阐释活动中理应高度重视凝结在经典的传统文艺论著中的理论范式、思想理念和道德规范，并与经典艺术作品所提供的美学经验相互印证，以规范我们阐释过程中的话语行为，从而使传统文艺价值思想所体现的最基本的文化基因与当代文化和文艺相适应，与现代社会中人们的精神生活相协调，以人民喜闻乐见并且具有广泛参与性的方式予以推广传播。因此，校验中华优秀传统文艺价值的阐释向度以及促进其当代意义生成，并不仅仅是简单化地强化所谓的“中国性”或“民族性”，而是为了给中国式现代化进程中的文化建设，为了给当代中国马克思主义文艺价值思想体系的创新性发展，注入更为本源也更具可持续性的文化底蕴，这正是深化中国传统文艺价值思想研究和发现其当代性意义的现实的、时代的命意所在。而“第二个结合”的提出，在这方面无疑赋予了我们充分地进行创造性阐释的思想勇气和理论建构空间。

IV. The “Continuity and Change” (通变) View of Development in the Traditional Literary and Artistic Value Thought System and Its Contemporary Significance

四、传统文艺价值思想体系中的“通变”发展观及其当代意义

The creative interpretation and innovative transformation of excellent traditional literary and artistic value thought and the generation of their effects within the horizon of the “Second Integration” come from the exchange and integration of ancient and modern thought, and Chinese and Western thought. Therefore, how to achieve integration and mastery between the ancient and the modern becomes an unavoidable important issue. The relationship between the ancient and the modern, and between China and the West, has always been a core topic in the theoretical construction, system construction, and discourse construction of modern Chinese literary theory and literary and artistic value thought research. When considering and handling this century-old issue, the thought of “continuity and change” in traditional literary theory criticism provides us with many resources that can be utilized, and it is therefore discussed here in particular. In exploring the developmental veins and trends of literature and art, the ancients conducted numerous investigations around phenomena such as the ancient and the modern, substance and ornamentation (质文), [41]41 “Substance and ornamentation” (质文) is a classical Chinese aesthetic and philosophical pair, where *zhi* (质) refers to the substantive content or inner quality, and *wen* (文) refers to outward form, refinement, or ornamentation. and the refined and the popular, forming an interpretive and discursive discourse system with a principled and universal nature. The theory of “continuity and change” constitutes the ideological genealogy and basic discursive form of the traditional Chinese view of literary and artistic development. In studying and interpreting traditional literary and artistic value thought, deeply recognizing and elucidating this can not only activate tradition from a contemporary perspective but also help respond to various symptomatic issues emerging in contemporary literary and artistic development, and can deepen our reflection on some of the dilemmas and problems presented in the current process of literary and artistic development.

“第二个结合”视域中的优秀传统文艺价值思想的创造性阐释与创新性转化以及效应产生，来自古今思想、中西思想的交流融汇，因此古今之间如何融会贯通便成为一个无法避开的重要问题。古与今、中与西的关系始终是中国现代文艺理论、文艺价值思想研究中理论建构、体系建构、话语建构中的一个核心话题。在思考和处理这一世纪性问题之时，传统文艺理论批评中的“通变”思想，为我们提供了诸多可资利用的资源，因此特予论之。古人在探寻文艺发展脉络及其趋势的过程中，围绕着古今、质文、雅俗等现象展开了诸多探究，形成了具有原理质性、普遍意义的阐释言说话语体系，“通变”论构成了中华传统文艺发展观的思想谱系和基本话语形态，我们在研究阐释传统文艺价值思想时对此进行深度体认和阐发，既能以当代视野激活传统，又有利于回应当代文艺发展所出现的种种表征性问题，并且可以深化我们对当前文艺发展过程中呈现的一些困境和问题的反思。

Chinese civilization and Chinese literature and art have been able to continue unbroken and be transmitted down to the present day over several millennia. One important reason for this is that traditional Chinese literature and art possess a tenacious capacity for self-renewal, and the same is true of the formation and development of the value system of traditional literary and artistic thought. The “continuity and change” (通变) view of literary development took shape and became fixed during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, marked by Liu Xie’s chapter “Continuity and Change” (通变) in *The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons* (文心雕龙). Before the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, the view of literary development was centered mainly on the “change and continuity” (变通) theory of the *Book of Changes* (周易) and the Confucian cyclical view of history regarding substance and form, a value orientation largely constructed by Confucius. When collating and transmitting the classical texts of high antiquity, Confucius claimed to “transmit but not create, believing in and loving antiquity.” [42]42 Confucius, *Analects* (论语), “Shu Er” (述而). This phrase expresses Confucius’s self-professed role as a transmitter of ancient culture rather than an innovator. This subsequently gave rise to the veneration of antiquity and respect for the ancients within Confucian literary and artistic value theory, and the emulation of the sages and reverence for the classics became the universally followed paradigm of thought and value norm for ancient writers and critics inclined toward Confucianism. After Confucius, Mencius, Xunzi, Yang Xiong, and others, proceeding from a Confucian standpoint, advocated revering the classics and restoring antiquity in various discursive postures. Among the Hundred Schools of Thought in the pre-Qin period, the Legalists represented by Han Feizi, the Daoists represented by Zhuangzi, and the Mohists represented by Mozi all explicitly opposed the Confucian restorationist view of literary and artistic value. Of course, Daoism also displayed a certain tendency to revere antiquity and emulate the sages in its philosophy of history, but the “antiquity” and “sages” of Daoism differed from those of Confucianism at the level of thought and value. Moreover, because Mohism and Zhuangzi’s teachings often stood in direct opposition to Confucianism in terms of value pursuits, they formed a tension of both antagonism and complementarity with Confucian literary and artistic value thought, and this flowed into the stream of the traditional theory of “continuity and change.”

中华文明、中华文艺历经数千年而能弦歌不断、流传至今，其中一个重要的原因便在于中华传统文艺具有生命力顽强的自我革新能力，传统文艺价值思想体系的形成和发展亦同样如此。“通变”论文艺发展观形成、定型于南北朝时期，以刘勰《文心雕龙·通变》篇为标志。在魏晋南北朝之前，文学发展观主要以《周易》的“变通”说以及孔门之文质循环历史观为核心，这一思想价值倾向主要是由孔子建构起来的。孔子在整理与传授上古典籍文献时，自称“述而不作，信而好古”，其后形成了儒家文艺价值思想学说中的尊古、崇古观念，而征圣、宗经便成为具有儒家思想倾向的古代作家和批评家们所普遍遵循的思想范式与价值规范。在孔子之后，孟子、荀子、扬雄等从儒家立场出发，话语姿态各有不同地提倡宗经复古。在先秦诸子百家中，以韩非子为代表的法家、以庄子为代表的道家、还有以墨子为代表的墨家，均明确反对儒家的复古主义文艺价值思想。当然，道家在历史哲学观上也体现出了一定的崇尚复古征圣思想，但是道家之“古”之“圣”在思想和价值层面与儒家的又存在着分野，而且由于墨家、庄学在价值追求方面与儒家往往针锋相对，便形成了与儒家文艺价值思想之间一种既相拮抗又互补的张力关系，并且汇入了传统“通变”说的溪流之中。

During the Western Han period, especially after Emperor Wu of Han proposed the ideological and cultural policy of “dismissing the hundred schools, revering only Confucianism,” [43]43 This refers to the policy adopted by Emperor Wu of Han (r. 141–87 BCE) to elevate Confucianism to the status of state orthodoxy while suppressing other schools of thought, a key move in establishing Confucian ideological dominance. Confucian value thought achieved a supreme position in terms of discursive power. Consequently, classical studies flourished and became exuberant, and the restorationist and classic-revering trend of thought became the mainstream, with Yang Xiong’s propositions on emulating the sages and revering the classics being the most representative. By the Eastern Han period, due to changes in social currents, while the trend of apocryphal texts (谶纬) [44]44 Apocryphal texts (谶纬) were a genre of prophetic and esoteric writings that flourished in the Eastern Han, often combining Confucian classics with mystical and cosmological speculation. was pervasive, a critical force against Confucian restorationist thought emerged in the ideological and cultural sphere. The most notable were the views of literary development and value of the outstanding Eastern Han thinkers Huan Tan and Wang Chong, who criticized restorationism and strove for innovation. Huan Tan’s *New Discourses* (新论), chapter “Mourning Friends” (闵友), states: “The world all honors the ancient and belittles the present, values what is heard and despises what is seen, and therefore treats it lightly.” Wang Chong, with his sharp critical spirit of “detesting falsity and distinguishing truth from falsehood,” launched a trenchant critique of restorationist literary thought and value tendencies. For example, in *Balanced Discourses* (论衡), chapter “Examining Texts” (案书篇), he writes: “The vulgar custom is to treasure the ancient and not value the present, saying that today’s writings are inferior to ancient books. The ancient and the present are one. … Talent has its shallows and depths, but there is no ancient or present; writing has its true and false, but there is no old or new.” It can be seen that Wang Chong did not simply negate restorationism but viewed the relationship between ancient and present dialectically, holding that “the ancient and the present are one.” He elucidated the relationship between ancient and present literature in a relatively rational and comprehensive manner, with a strong value-theoretical coloring, and thus wrote an important chapter in the history of Chinese traditional literary and artistic value thought.

在西汉时期，尤其到了汉武帝提出“罢黜百家，独尊儒术”的思想文化政策之后，儒家的价值思想在话语权方面取得了至高性地位，由此经学繁荣炽盛，复古宗经思想成为主流思潮，其中尤以扬雄所提出的征圣、宗经主张最具代表性。到了东汉时期，由于社会思潮的变化，在谶纬思潮弥漫的同时，思想文化领域产生了对于儒家复古思想的批判力量，其中最引人瞩目的是东汉杰出思想家桓谭、王充的批判复古、力求创新的文学发展观、文学价值观。桓谭《新论·闵友》言：“世咸尊古卑今，贵所闻贱所见也，故轻易之。”王充以“疾虚妄、辨然否”的锐利批判精神，对复古主义文学思想与价值倾向进行了犀利的批判，如《论衡·案书篇》曰：“夫俗好珍古不贵今，谓今之文不如古书。夫古今一也。……善才有浅深，无有古今；文有真伪，无有故新。”可以看出，王充并不是一味地否定复古，而是辩证地看待古今关系，认为“古今一也”，比较理性而全面地阐明了文学的古今关系，价值论的色彩较为浓重，在中国传统文艺价值思想史上书写了重要的一笔。

During the Wei, Jin, and Northern and Southern Dynasties, a trend of thought emphasizing “continuity and change” emerged in the field of literary theory and criticism. At that time, the political situation was chaotic, Confucian concepts of ruler and subject were weak, and in the ideological and cultural sphere, classical studies gradually declined while various new ideas and concepts surfaced, with Neo-Daoism (玄学) being the main trend. Because the literary and artistic situation at the time had undergone great changes, the Confucian value concepts centered on ethical indoctrination could no longer effectively explain the new phenomena and their value significance that had emerged in literary creation and theoretical criticism. Hence, various value-critical discourses analyzing and evaluating these new literary phenomena appeared one after another, and the one who integrated them into a comprehensive system was Liu Xie, whose theory of literary development and values centered on the idea of “continuity and change” in *The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons*. Cao Pi’s *A Discourse on Literature in the Classical Tradition* (典论·论文) took the attitude of contemporaries toward ancient texts as its starting point, explicitly opposing the value attitude of “honoring the ancient and belittling the present,” thereby displaying a certain awareness of seeking innovation and change. Lu Ji’s *Rhymeprose on Literature* (文赋) contains the elegant phrases “nourishing one’s feelings and aspirations on the classics and canons” and “rejecting the morning blossoms that have already bloomed, and opening the evening buds that have not yet burst forth,” [45]45 These two phrases from Lu Ji’s *Rhymeprose on Literature* (文赋) metaphorically advocate for rejecting stale, conventional expressions (“morning blossoms that have already bloomed”) and cultivating fresh, original ones (“evening buds that have not yet burst forth”). expressing an awareness of “continuity and change” at the level of creative theory. Ge Hong, in *The Master Who Embraces Simplicity* (抱朴子), chapter “Commensurate with the Age” (钧世), explicitly expressed a view of literary development and value in which the present surpasses the ancient: “Today’s poetry and ancient poetry both possess principle and meaning, but they differ in degrees of beauty.” On the premise that both ancient and contemporary poetry have value, he further made a value judgment that contemporary poetry’s richness and ornamentation surpass ancient poetry’s simplicity and purity—that is, he held that there is no hierarchy of superiority or inferiority between ancient and contemporary poetry at the level of writing. Although the discursive field of literary value evaluation before Liu Xie had not yet explicitly proposed a systematic view of “continuity and change” development and value theory that was complete and comprehensive in terms of principle, fragmentary concepts of literary “continuity and change” development did appear in discussions of the laws of literary development, thereby laying the foundation for Liu Xie’s theory of literary “continuity and change” development and value. As stated in the “Postface” (序志) chapter of *The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons*, “Cao Pi’s *Discourse on Literature*” and “Lu Ji’s *Rhymeprose on Literature*” were all ideas concerning literary development and value evaluation with which Liu Xie was familiar. It was precisely on the basis of these earlier discourses—which, though “each illuminated a corner but rarely saw the thoroughfare,” were not without reference value—that Liu Xie, with a broader historical vision, discussed literature and prose, remedied the deficiencies of previous theories, and innovatively proposed his own view of literary development and value based on “continuity and change.”

在魏晋南北朝时期，文艺理论批评领域出现了强调“通变”的思潮。彼时政局混乱，儒家君臣观念淡薄，在思想文化领域，经学日渐衰落，各种新的思想观念陆续浮出水面，而其中尤以玄学为主要思潮。由于其时的文艺现状发生了极大变化，儒家的以伦理教化观为基本内核的价值思想观念，已经很难有效地解释当时文艺创作和理论批评所呈现的新现象及其价值意义所在，故而如何分析评说新的文艺现象的价值批评言说相继出现，通过整合而集其大成者便是刘勰《文心雕龙》中的以“通变”思想为核心的文学发展论和价值观。曹丕《典论·论文》从今人看待古文的态度立意，明确反对时人“贵古贱今”的价值态度，展现了一定的求新求变意识。陆机《文赋》有“颐情志于典坟”“谢朝华于已披，启夕秀于未振”的隽语，在创作论层面表现了“通变”意识。葛洪在《抱朴子·钧世》中明确表达了今盛于古的文学发展观和价值观，“今诗与古诗俱有义理，而盈于差美”，在认为古诗、今诗都具有价值的观念前提下，又作出了今诗之博富和雕饰胜于古诗之醇素的价值评价，亦即认为古诗与今诗在文章层面并无高下之别。刘勰之前的文学价值评价话语场域虽然未能明确提出在义理方面具有完整性、周全性的系统性的“通变”发展观和价值论，但在探讨文学的发展规律时也出现了片段式的文学“通变”发展观念，从而为刘勰的文学“通变”发展论、价值论的提出奠定了基础。正如《文心雕龙·序志》篇所言，“魏文述典”“陆机文赋”等都是刘勰所熟知的事涉文学发展和价值评判的思想观念，而刘勰正是在前人的虽说是“各照隅隙，鲜观衢路”而又不无参鉴意义的言说的基础上，以更为宏通的历史眼光论文叙笔，弥补前代理论的不足，创新性地提出了自己的“通变”文学发展观和价值论。

The issues of ancient versus modern, substance versus form, and others that are the focus of the traditional view of literary development and value in “continuity and change” have a relatively close and similar internal logical connection and mutual illumination with the development and evolution of modern and contemporary Chinese culture and literature and art, as well as with the many problems facing current literary and artistic development. By drawing on tradition, fully absorbing traditional intellectual resources, and following the path guidance of the Two Integrations, especially the Second Integration, we can provide many intellectual resources and insights for innovatively reconstructing a system of literary and artistic value thought that corresponds to the developmental trends and value demands of literature and art in the present era. Thus, by engaging in dialogue with traditional literary and artistic value thought and using history as a mirror, we can clarify a series of complex problems currently surrounding the evaluation of literary and artistic value and provide some useful historical experience. In the more than one hundred years of development of Chinese literary thought and values, various concepts and theoretical doctrines have collided, stirring up wave after wave of trends and triggering one debate after another. Moreover, the divergent opinions have arisen not primarily at the level of facts or knowledge but at the level of values, and thus have deeper significance. In this process, which continues to the present day, the pair of categories “ancient and modern,” or “tradition and modernity,” has always occupied a “keyword” position, becoming a foundational question concerning the direction of modern and contemporary Chinese culture and literature and art. It can be said that, to a considerable extent, the entire development and evolution of Chinese literary and artistic trends since the 20th century, including literary and artistic values, has unfolded and advanced around this focal issue. Looking comprehensively at the various debates and constructions surrounding the view of literary development and the theory of literary function since the 20th century, if we detach from or evade the dimension of value theory, then our analysis and evaluation of the issues cannot achieve precise positioning or substantive explanation. Regarding the relationship between ancient and modern in literary development, a considerable number of people in the past have often fallen into the cognitive error of a binary opposition between ancient and modern, or between China and the West, once forming a confrontation between radicalism and conservatism. The former advocated wholesale Westernization, adopting a value attitude of historical nihilism; the latter clung to the old ways, styling themselves as defenders of national essence and cultural “night watchmen.” We can summarize these two excessively rigid value cognitions and confrontational concepts as the developmental values of “glorifying the present and abusing the past” and “glorifying the past and abusing the present.” Between them lies a deep chasm in value cognition and value choice, leading to fierce disputes and mutual attacks. The proposal of the Second Integration provides us with an intellectual key to transcend this binary opposition in literary and artistic development, offering a scientific solution to cultural difficulties that conforms to the general trend of the times.

传统的“通变”文学发展观和价值论思想中所聚焦的古今、质文等问题，与中国现当代文化、文艺的发展演进，及其当下文艺发展所面临的诸多问题，在逻辑层面上有着较为相近、相似的内在关联性和互照性，而比照传统、充分汲取传统思想资源，遵循“两个结合”，尤其是“第二个结合”之路径导引，可以为我们创新性重构与当下时代的文艺发展趋向和价值诉求相互称符的文艺价值思想体系，提供诸多思想资源和启迪，因此而与传统文艺价值思想展开对话，以史为鉴镜，便可以为我们厘清当下关于文艺价值评价方面的一系列错综复杂的问题，提供一些有益的历史经验。在百余年来的中国文艺思想和价值观的发展历程中，种种观念和理论学说相互冲撞，激起了此起彼伏的一波又一波思潮，引发出一次又一次的论争，而且各种分歧意见主要不是在事实、知识层面上产生的，而是在价值层面上产生的，因而更具有深层意义。在一直延宕至今的过程之中，古与今、或曰传统与现代这一对范畴，始终居于“关键词”的位置，从而成为一个关乎中国现当代文化、文艺走向的原点性问题。可以说，在相当大的程度上，整个20世纪以来的中国文艺思潮，包括文艺价值观在内的发展演变，就是围绕着这一焦点问题而展开、推进的。综观20世纪以来围绕文艺发展观和文艺功能论问题所发生的种种论争与建说，如果脱离或者回避价值论这一维度，那么我们对问题的解析和评价就无法得到精准的定位和实质性的说明。对于文艺发展的古今关系，以往的相当一部分人在价值判断与选择方面，往往陷入古今、中西二元对立的认识误区，曾经形成过激进主义与保守主义的两军对垒，前者主张全盘西化，持一种历史虚无主义的价值态度；后者因循守旧，以国粹主义、文化“守夜人”自持，我们可以将这样两种过于偏执的价值认知和价值对抗观念，概括为“荣今虐古”与“荣古虐今”两种发展价值观，彼此在价值认知和价值选择上存在着一道深深的鸿沟，以致输攻墨守，争端大起。而“第二个结合”的提出，为我们超越文艺发展中的这种二元对立的价值思想观念，提供了科学的、符合时代发展大趋势、解决文化难题的一把思想钥匙。

If the creative interpretation and innovative transformation of excellent traditional literary and artistic value thought from the perspective of “the Second Integration” has already become an important proposition in literary and artistic theory research, then the turn and reconstruction of the theoretical and discursive system of contemporary Chinese literary and artistic value thought under the guidance of Xi Jinping’s cultural thought should also be included within this proposition. It likewise requires reflection on how to open up and integrate the relationships between the ancient and the modern, China and the West, clarifying the substance and applying it to practical use. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “Internet technology and

如果“第二个结合”视域中的优秀传统文艺价值思想创造性阐释与创新性转化业已成为一个重要的文艺理论研究命题，那么在习近平文化思想引领下的当代中国文艺价值思想的理论和话语体系转向与重构，亦应该包含在这一命题之中，同样需要思考古与今、中与西、明体与达用之间如何打通、融通的关系问题。习近平总书记指出：“互联网技术和新媒体改变了文艺形态，催生了一大批新的文艺类型，也带来文艺观念和文艺实践的深刻变化。由于文字数码化、书籍图像化、阅读网络化等发展，文艺乃至社会文化面临着重大变革。”如何理解文艺发展中的古今、中西、体用问题，如何守正创新，是文论界面对当今全球多元文化相互碰撞、相互渗透局面时，不得不深入思考参悟的问题，而中国传统文艺价值思想中的“通变”论发展观，正可以提供一个来自历史维度的参鉴。因此，我们在习近平提出的“第二个结合”的引领下，反思、校正、重构中国传统文艺价值思想研究中的阐释向度问题时，传统的关于文艺发展、文艺价值评说之“通变”论，可以亦完全应该出现在话语场域之中。

General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: “We must adhere to making the past serve the present and using the past to illuminate the present, adhere to treating things with discrimination and inheriting them with a critical eye, and must not indulge in extolling the past at the expense of the present or using the past to negate the present, and strive to realize the creative transformation and innovative development of traditional culture so that it merges and interconnects with contemporary culture.” He has also pointed out: “Inheriting Chinese culture is by no means a simple return to antiquity, nor is it a blind rejection of foreign things; rather, it means making the past serve the present and making foreign things serve China, making dialectical choices and discarding the old to bring forth the new, discarding negative elements and inheriting positive ideas, ‘using the rules of the ancients to open up one’s own new realm,’ and realizing the creative transformation and innovative development of Chinese culture.” This interpretation, rich and subtle in its meaning, possesses an inherent affinity at the ideological level with the traditional theory of cultural development known as “mastery through change” (通变); thus it can be said to be the intellectual crystallization of the General Secretary’s practice of “the Second Integration.” Therefore, for the interpretive study of the value of traditional literary and artistic thought within the perspective of “the Second Integration,” and for the mission of the times and cultural responsibility that the development and advancement of Chinese-path modernization impose on the development of Chinese literature and art in the New Era, if the consideration of issues and the adjustment of the interpretive orientation in research are brought back to the intellectual dimension of “mastery through change,” this can undoubtedly enhance the focal point, cultural autonomy, and historical initiative in research and interpretation.

习近平总书记指出：“要坚持古为今用、以古鉴今，坚持有鉴别的对待、有扬弃的继承，而不能搞厚古薄今、以古非今，努力实现传统文化的创造性转化、创新性发展，使之与现实文化相融相通。”又指出：“传承中华文化，绝不是简单复古，也不是盲目排外，而是古为今用、洋为中用，辩证取舍、推陈出新，摒弃消极因素，继承积极思想，‘以古人之规矩，开自己之生面’，实现中华文化的创造性转化和创新性发展。”这一义理丰厚而精微的阐释与传统的文化发展“通变”论在思想层面有着内在的相契性，因而可以说就是总书记践行“第二个结合”的思想结晶。所以，对于“第二个结合”视域中的传统文艺价值思想阐释性研究而言，对于中国式现代化发展与推进对新时代中国文艺发展所提出的时代使命和文化担当而言，如果将对于问题的思考、对于研究中阐释向度的调整归结到“通变”这个思想维度上来，无疑可以增强研究阐释中的聚焦点和文化自主性、历史主动性。

The important speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping on cultural inheritance and development, together with the proposal of “the Second Integration,” plays a leading role from both the academic conceptual and methodological perspectives in resolving the cognitive misunderstanding of the binary opposition between the ancient and the modern, and between China and the West, which has perplexed the academic community for a century; in how to promote, inherit, and develop the subjective spirit of Chinese culture and the excellent traditional literary and artistic thought; in how to enhance historical initiative and cultural self-confidence; and on this basis, in looking out at the world with a vision of mutual learning among civilizations, broadly adopting and absorbing, carefully discriminating, integrating China and the West, categorizing the ancient and the modern, and highlighting innovation. Activating the value of excellent traditional literary and artistic thought, fully exploring the resources of traditional literary and artistic value thought, integrating the ancient and the modern, creating works that both inherit the value of excellent traditional literary and artistic thought and incorporate the spirit of the new era; both cultivating and strengthening the root and pulse of Chinese literature and art, and enhancing the role of literary and artistic value concepts that cultivate the mind and nourish the spirit, and reconstructing the interpretive orientation—these should become an important topic and domain in the current study of traditional literary and artistic thought, including the value of literary and artistic thought.

习近平总书记关于文化传承发展的重要讲话精神和“第二个结合”的提出，对于解决曾经困惑了学界一个世纪之久的古今、中西二元对立的认识误区问题，对于如何弘扬和传承发展中华文化主体精神和优秀传统文艺思想，如何增强历史的主动性和文化的自信心，并且在此基础上以文明互鉴的眼光放眼世界，广采博纳，审慎辨析，融通中西，列类古今，突出创新，从学术理念和方法论两个方面均具有引领作用。激活优秀传统文艺价值思想，充分发掘传统文艺价值思想资源，融汇古今，创造出既传承优秀传统文艺价值思想，又融入了新的时代精神；既培植壮大中华文艺之根脉，又可增强陶冶心灵、滋养精神的文艺价值观念作用，重构阐释向度，应该成为当下包括文艺价值思想在内的传统文艺思想研究中的一个重要的论题与论域。

(Author’s biography: Dang Shengyuan, Research Fellow at the Institute of Foreign Literature, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences; selected scholar for the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences “Great Wall Scholar Program” (2024); Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Liberal Arts, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

（作者简介：党圣元，中国社会科学院外国文学研究所研究员，中国社会科学院“长城学者计划”（2024年度）入选学者，中国社会科学院大学文学院教授，博士生导师）

Online editor: Jing Mu

网络编辑：静穆