Based on Wang Bi's "Laozi Zhilue", the transcendence of "Yi" is similar to the transcendence of "Tao". Both are ultimate and transcendent, and have the characteristics of "formless and nameless" , beyond both image and language. On the other hand, images and language are unable to express the ultimate, infinite, and holistic way due to their finite nature. This is exactly what the saying goes: "It cannot be named appropriately, and it cannot be called it." Wang Bi’s reason for the limitations of language is that “names must have their own classification, and titles must have their reasons.” Famous quotes all refer to something, but because they refer to limited and specific things, they cannot refer to anything. Tao is powerless. Not only that, the titles are all interpreted, but because they are all attributes of one or some aspects of things, the true essence of things is inexhaustible. Therefore, what Wang Bi calls "meaning" is closer to an ultimate experience and realm of life, either a whole or a personal experience, and the language expression is analytical and impartial. , so "meaning" itself cannot be said. The focus of Wang Bi's "Distinguish between Words and Meanings" is not to explain the relationship between thinking - language - the world, but to define the relationship between things and myself, so as to solve the problem of how people should live in this world. problem. Therefore, Wang Bi did not stand on the stance of language ontology and language centrism from the beginning, but always adhered to the instrumentalist view of language. It can be said that most Chinese thinkers, including Wang Bi, strongly question the possibility of using language to fully express the ultimate meaning. The ultimate understanding of "Tao" requires people to cross the gap between words and things, so that people and things can interact directly, and achieve a state of blending of things and myself. Wang Bi's understanding of the ultimate origin made his philosophy of language not only attach importance to the subject of thought, but also imply a modern thinking that goes beyond the subject itself and has an "intersubjectivity" between subject and object. Characteristics of the pattern.
Ji Kang (223 AD to 262 AD) also realized the limitations of language. He said in "Soundless Sadness and Music": "Husband's words are not natural and certain things, they are different from the five directions, and they have different names. I would like to give a name to identify the ear." He clearly pointed out that famous quotes are only symbols to identify things, and they exist. Formality and regional differences themselves do not have real or absolutely universal significance. Ji Kang also analyzed the relationship between "speech" and "heart", that is, the relationship between language and thinking. He advocated that "the heart is not tied to what is said, and words may not be enough to prove the heart." He believed that the subject's mind is not limited by what is said or what is said, and the language used to identify things is not enough to express people's subjective consciousness and mind. Feelings emphasize the limitations of language and the free nature of the thinking subject. Regarding the theory of language tools, Ji Kang and Wang Bi's views are consistent, but they are in sharp contrast with the ontological view of language insisted on by contemporary hermeneutics - thinking is the process of choosing words and making sentences.
The proud and forgetful theory of language tools was not only the mainstream of language thought in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, but also the keynote of language thought in subsequent dynasties. But there are exceptions. During this period, Ouyang Jian (? A.D. 300) clearly put forward the "theory of full expression and meaning".
The early view of characters, which benefited from the reaction against Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty and the influence of the "proud and forgotten words" thinking mode, generally paid more attention to the meaning behind the phonetic and morphological elements of characters. At the end of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, there began to be calls to pay attention to the phonetic and morphological elements of characters. Yan Zhitui has already pointed out the importance of familiarity with characters (especially the shape and pronunciation of characters) in the interpretation of classics in his "Yan Family Instructions: Encouraging Learning Chapter". He no longer blindly emphasized the use of classic principles, but instead focused on understanding the pronunciation, form, and meaning of words, which heralded the emergence of a new view of language and characters that was closely related to the interpretation of classics.
4. Issues in the philosophy of language in literature and translation
There are also inextricable connections between the literature, art and philosophy of language in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. It is precisely because of the above-mentioned "forgetting to speak when one is too proud" thinking about language tools that there was a highly developed literary and artistic tradition in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Whether it is Lu Ji's matter-text-meaning issue or Liu Xie's matter-word-emotion issue, it obviously has the same language philosophy background as the Wei-Jin language-meaning-image distinction. Liu Xie said: "Moreover, articles are based on describing aspirations. Words are contrary to aspirations, so writing is not enough to express them?" The article is based on "narrating aspirations", which clearly shows that he adheres to the literary tradition of "poetry expressing aspirations". Language and writing have the ultimate goal of gaining love, success, and satisfaction. Once this ultimate goal is achieved, language and writing itself will be dissolved into the purpose it wants to achieve. Since the entire era tends to use literary language to express self-emotions and the writer's personal free will, it promotes the tradition of "poetry expresses ambition", making the literature and art of this era show the unique style of spirituality, meaning and nature, and ultimately points to It captures the wordless beauty and the wordless artistic conception.
In addition, the translation process of Buddhist scriptures during this period also involved some linguistic philosophy issues. For example, Daoan proposed in the "Preface to the Copying of the Mahabharata Paramita Sutra" that the translation process of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese The existence of the "Five Lost Originals" and "Three Difficulties" principles systematically summarizes for the first time the difficulties and causes encountered in the pursuit of accuracy in the translation of Buddhist scriptures, showing a high degree of awareness of the differences between different language systems. conscious. The problem of "the false names of all dharma are not true" raised by Seng Zhao in the process of explaining "emptiness" also involves issues in the philosophy of language. Because all dharmas are empty, the name as the ultimate form of all dharmas is not real, it is just a temporary tool. Seng Zhao also believes that "verb traces" cannot express "the ultimate truth", which is similar to the distinction between words and meaning in metaphysics. What Seng Zhao said about "asking for words that cannot be said" and "seeing things outside the text" is actually the reappearance of Wang Bi's thought of "forgetting to say something when you are proud" in Buddhism. Both of them regard famous quotes as just tools, and the meaning behind the words is the language. the ultimate goal. The Buddhist philosophy’s view of language enriched the language philosophy of medieval China from one aspect.
It should be said that the language turn in modern Western philosophy has the great ambition to turn philosophy into a rigorous science, or the attempt to base philosophy on a solid foundation of language science. This perspective on language ontology is obviously very different from the functionalist and instrumentalist views on language in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Philosophers in the Wei and Jin Dynasties had a deep understanding of the limitations of language and believed that "silence", that is, silence and understanding, is also a kind of "speech", and "words without words", that is, it cannot be said, and it is a form of expression that obscures interpretation. And counter-interpretation, the purpose is to pursue the tacit understanding and understanding of the unspoken sound, the unspoken meaning, and the unspoken state. Regarding the issue of artistic conception that transcends language, modern Western language philosophy either considers it to be metaphysically dogmatic and psychological, or leaves it aside. However, modern philosophy of language’s relentless pursuit of the meaning of names or propositions reflects the philosophy of language’s anxiety about the appropriate relationship between language, the object world, and the subject’s experience. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the dialectical linguistic philosophy of speech and silence was proposed, which undoubtedly provided us with a profound resource of linguistic philosophy.