Tracing Controversies of Understanding in Traditional Commentaries to “Lord Amidst Clouds” from the Songs of Chu

Abstract

Using the example of the song “Lord Amidst Clouds” (Yunzhong jun) from the “Nine Songs” (Jiuge) chapter of the Songs of Chu (Chuci), this study examines how commentators from the Han to the Qing dynasty engaged with interpretations of their predecessors at the micro level of their commentaries in a non-canonical textual environment. To go beyond the macro level overviews provided by commentary histories of the Chuci, the interpretations of Wang Yi (2^nd cent.), the Five Ministers (7^th–8^th cent.), Zhu Xi (1130–1200), Wang Yuan (d. 1565), and Lin Yunming (1628?–1697) are compared line by line in chronological order to better understand their motives for writing new commentaries, their exegetical techniques, and their exegetical decisions. The broader question underlying this study is whether it is possible to determine which parts of the understanding of the song remained controversial as opposed to what was accepted as understanding over the period of commentary production.

本研究以《楚辭 · 九歌》中的《雲中君》為例，探討從漢代到清代評注者在非經典語境中如何辯證地看待前代評注，並對《雲中君》進行微觀層面的細緻解讀。為突破現有《楚辭》學史提供的宏觀敘事框架，本文按照時間順序對王逸（2世紀）、五臣（7–8世紀）、朱熹（1130–1200年）、汪瑗（卒於1565年）以及林雲銘（約1628–1697）的解讀進行逐行比對，深入分析其新詮釋的動機、釋文技巧及釋經決策。本研究旨在探討在時代變遷中，《雲中君》某些內容的解讀是否持續存在爭議，還是逐漸形成了較為一致的詮釋傾向。這一研究不僅為理解《楚辭》評注傳統的歷史演變提供新的見解，同時也為古代文學作品的詮釋研究提供了新的方法論視角。