白居易是唐朝著名的詩人，在中國詩史上也佔有崇高的地位。他所創作詩歌不僅在當時即被普遍傳唱，而且題材廣闊，體裁眾多。本文以這位詩歌數量獨居中國詩史鰲頭的「詩人」「對詩的看法」為考察課題，董理出其基本認知為詩歌具有強烈的「實用性」。對他而言，因詩歌確實與他能通過科考，進入官場，結識好友，與博得大名等有關，其實用性當然勿庸置疑；但若我們把觀察點集中到「詩歌功能的類別」時，應可發現對白居易而言，此功能還可細分為「兼濟」與「獨善」兩種，前者是為了「表達他關懷社會的志向」，是他青壯時期的寫作重心，而後者則是「娛悅他自己的情性」，是他失意與晚年時期的主要書寫內容。這一寫作觀念，顯然與儒家傳統的「達則兼善天下，窮則獨善其身」的「士」相符；而若以此觀念來審視流行於台灣半世紀的「中國抒情傳統論」，則該說似有過於重視「獨善」之嫌。

As a famous Tang poet, Bai has occupied an honorable position in the history of Chinese poetry. His poems were not only popularly recited shortly after they were composed, but also contained the features of profound content and various literary forms, such as style and meter and literary composition. Since Bai was a poet who composed poems throughout his whole life, this paper examines Bai’s major beliefs about poetry in order to determine why he was such a prolific writer. This research suggests that the answer is simple in that his poems consist of a strong pragmatic function. To Bai, writing good poems enabled him to have a career as an official, which in turn allowed him to make close and talented friends and receive great fame. This research also proposes that Bai’s concept of poetic functions can be divided into two kinds or purposes: the first being to help others and the second to enable him to relax. Analysis of Bai’s career reveals that he tended to compose the former types of poems when he was young and in an authoritative position, and the later types of poems when he became older or was exiled from the court. This point of view of poetry is exactly matches the legitimate tradition of Confucian thought. That is an official-scholar, must “serve the world when he is in power, but maintain his good character after he leaves office”. Based upon this examination, the claim in Taiwan academic circles that “lyrical tradition has occupied an outstanding position in the history of Chinese literature” should also be seriously re-evaluated.

白居易;諷諭詩;詩言志;抒情傳統

Bai Ju-yi; parable poems; poems expressing wills; lyrical tradition