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為什麼他不肯明白地說？就因為他生活的時代背景所致。當時劉宋代替了東晉，劉宋的第一個皇帝是劉裕；劉裕的天下，是篡奪來的。一個人如果能夠平平靜靜地度過自己的一生，那真是很幸福的事情。可是有很多人在一生中要經過一些考驗，那和學校的考試不一樣，因為它關係你一生人格的評價，有些人就沒有通過這些考驗。當政治上產生某些大的變動時，當你不跟隨人家走，你的身家性命就有危險時。你明明知道那條道路是不對的，你肯不肯跟著人家走呢？當然一個人不遇上這樣的危險最好，可是如果遇上了，你怎麼辦？你採取什麼態度？你做什麼樣的選擇？我從很早就念陶淵明的詩，那時候我對陶詩的語言文字雖然都懂，可是還沒有真正體會到他所說的這種考驗，是怎樣一種感受。什麼時候這種考驗是最多的？陶淵明說了，是「三季多此事」。
這個「季」，不是春夏秋冬季節的季，而是次序的意思。假如一個家庭有兄弟四個人，按次序排就是伯、仲、叔、季。「季」，是最末的一個。因此，中國古人說到「三季。的時候，他們有一個特別的所指，就是指「三代的季世」，也就是三代的末世。「三代」，是中國歷史上夏、商、周三個朝代。夏朝之前的歷史太古遠了，那些「開天闢地」之類的傳說都是神話，而夏商周三代的歷史就比較可信了。夏朝的最後一個天子夏桀，據說是一個昏庸殘暴的人，於是商湯就起來革命，把夏桀推翻了；商朝最後一個天子是商紂，據說也很壞，所以周武王起來革命把他也推翻了。夏商周最後都滅亡了，在每一個朝代滅亡之時，都是對每一個臣子的考驗。當然，三季時候人們的選擇，跟陶淵明這個時候的選擇還是有所不同的，從東晉到劉宋，這裡涉及是非判斷更為複雜一些，你更難說清前一個朝代的帝王，跟後一個朝代的革命者，到底哪個是對哪個是錯。
可是，儒家裡邊保守的一派認為：不管天子怎麼樣，當臣子的也不應該起來革命；縱使商朝的紂王不是不一個好天子，那起來革他的命的臣子也不是一個好臣子。這就是伯夷、叔齊的觀點，他們不贊成反抗與篡奪。不過儒家裡邊也有比較開放的一派，比如孟子就是。有一次齊宣王問孟子：「湯放桀，武王伐紂，可乎？」商湯驅逐了夏桀，武王推翻了商紂，當巨子的可以做這種事嗎？孟子就回答：「聞誅一夫紂矣，未聞弒君也。」（《孟子‧梁惠王》）「一夫」，是殘暴而孤獨的，沒有人擁護的人，也就是「獨夫」的意思。他說商紂王昏庸殘暴，失去了臣民的擁護，所以武王伐紂殺掉的那個人只是一個獨夫，不能算弒君。孟子還說過：「君之視臣如土芥，則臣視君如寇讎。」（《孟子‧離婁》）說是如果君主把我們這些當臣子的，都視為地上的草一樣隨便踐踏，那麼我們就可以把他也視為強盜與仇人。所以你們看，不但儒家跟墨家思想不同，連儒家內部也有各種思想的不同。那麼，在夏商周三代的時候，像夷、齊那樣不擁護武王才對呢？還是像姜太公那樣輔佐武王伐紂才對呢？其實不只在三代，在後世每一個改朝換代的時候，人都面臨一個擁護新朝代，還是擁護舊朝代的考驗。所以，陶淵明所指的其實也不是三代，而是他所在的晉宋之間的改朝換代。
我剛才說，我年輕時讀陶淵明的這些詩，表面的意思我都懂，可是那時候我不知道他所說的那種考驗，在感情上是怎樣一種體會。近年來我倒頗有一些體會。這體會並不是從我自己的什麼選擇中得來的，而是從我的一個研究課題中得來的。這個研究課題就是清末民初的學者王國維，他最後是投水自殺死了。王國維為什麼要自殺？就是因為他捲到清末民初這種改朝換代的是非之中去了。他無法擺脫，所以只好自殺。
待續
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Why couldn't he be more explicit in his expressions? It was because of the circumstances then. At that time, the Liu Song Dynasty had replaced the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The first emperor of the Liu Song Dynasty was Liu Yu who founded his empire by usurping the throne. If a person could live out his life peacefully, that would be very fortunate. However, many people have to undergo some trials and tribulations in their lifetime. This is different from taking an examination in school because it concerns the evaluation of a person's character. There are some people who do not have to undergo such appraisal. Take for instance when political upheavals occur, and if you do not follow the crowd, your life and family will be in danger. If you know very well that that particular path is wrong, will you still follow along? It will be best if a person doesn't have to meet with such danger, but if you do, how will you react and what sort of choices will you make? At an early age, I had already read Tao Yuanming's poems. Even though I understood the language of Tao's poems, I had not actually experienced such trying times. When would such tests usually occur? Tao Yuanming said that such things happened at the end of the three dynasties.
This character ji does not mean the four seasons, but rather it refers to a sequential order of things. For example, if there are four brothers in a family, they are ranked in the order of
bo, zhong, shu and ji. Ji refers to the youngest brother. That's why when the ancient Chinese mentioned the three
ji, they were referring specifically to the end of die three periods, which were the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties in China. The history prior to the Xia Dynasty is too antiquated and folklore such as 'the creation of heaven and earth' are only myths. However, the histories of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties are more factual. It is said that the last king of the Xia Dynasty, Xia Jie, was a fatuous and cruel person and that's why Shang Tang rose in revolt and overthrew him. The last king of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Zhou, was also a tyrant and as a result, King Wu of Zhou raised a rebellion and had him overthrown. Finally, all three dynasties were annihilated and the end of each period proved to be a test for all the officials. Certainly, there were differences in the choices made by the people at the end of the three dynasties and that made by Tao Yuanming. From the Eastern Jin to the Liu Song Dynasty, the additional factor of passing judgment on rights and wrongs has made matters more complicated. By comparing the emperors of the previous dynasty with the revolutionaries of a later era, it is very difficult to say with certainty who was right and who was wrong.
However, the conservatives of the Confucian school were of the opinion that regardless of the conduct of the Son of Heaven, the officials must not rebel against him. Even though King Zhou of the Shang Dynasty was not a benevolent king, those officials who rose in revolt against him were not good subjects either. This was the viewpoint of Boyi and Shuqi who disapproved of rebelling and usurping power. However, among the Confucians were some individuals who were more open-minded and Mencius was one of them. Once, King Xuan of Qi asked Mencius, "Was it right for King Tang to banish Jie and King Wu to send an expedition against Zhou?" King Tang of Shang banished King Jie of Xia and King Wu overthrew King Zhou of Shang. Could officials do such a thing? Mencius replied, "I have heard that, Zhou, the despot forsaken by all, was killed, but not that the killing was regicide." [Mencius - King Hui of Liang]. "Yi fu" refers to a solitary despot who does not have the support of anyone. Mencius said that King Zhou of Shang was fatuous and cruel and had lost the support of his subjects. That's why the person whom King Wu killed was only a forsaken person and this was not considered as regicide. Mencius also said, "If a ruler regards his officials as clay and grass, then they will regard him as their enemy." [Mencius - Li Lou]. This is to say if a ruler treats us subjects as grass and tramples on us, then we can regard him as a bandit and our enemy. So you see, not only is Confucian thought different from Mohist ideology, even within the Confucian school, there are various ways of thinking. In that case, during the end of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, was it right for Boyi and Shuqi not to support King Wu, or was it right for Lord Jiang to assist King Wu in attacking King Zhou? Actually, apart from these three eras, whenever there were dynastic changes in later periods, people were confronted with the dilemma of whether to support the old regime or the new one. Hence, Tao Yuanming was referring not only to the three eras, but also to the Jin-Song transitional period in which he lived.
Just now I said that I studied Tao Yuanming's poems when I was young and understood them only superficially. At that time, I did not comprehend the emotional experiences that he was referring to. It was only in recent years that I had some understanding. This did not come about from my own experiences but through one of my research topics. This research topic was on the scholar, Wang Guowei, who lived at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the early Republican period. In the end, he committed suicide by drowning. Why did he commit suicide? It was because he was embroiled in the political changes during the transitional period. He was plagued by the political vicissitudes of his time and so he committed suicide.
To be continued
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