文明差異與現代性——泰戈爾的政治理想及其對中國文明的期盼

Abstract

1924年泰戈爾訪華前後於中國知識界引發的論戰，在當代中國大陸學界多以「誤解」的角度評述，認為泰戈爾實被無端捲入當時中國知識分子間的鬥爭。然而在誤解論之外，當代學界仍有著難以定位泰戈爾思想的問題，而多以「矛盾」來解釋泰戈爾思想。 然而正如同十九世紀後所有面對西方文明強勢入侵的非西方知識分子，泰戈爾與中國的批評者們分享了相同的問題，亦即如何在追求「現代性」以跟上西方腳步的同時，又不損害自身文明的特殊性以維繫認同和尊嚴。從此問題出發，可發現泰戈爾的思考也有相當的邏輯性，而他與其中國批評者之間在文明觀上有諸多共識，但卻因為各自的「現代性」前景大不相同，才造成彼此之間的深刻歧見。 本文欲重新審視泰戈爾所處的印度殖民地情境、所繼承的東方主義知識生產脈絡，了解泰戈爾文明觀下的理想為何，又如何把他的普世理想、對印度文明特殊性的定義與世界政治局勢整合描繪，開展出具有「泛亞洲主義」精神的東西方文明觀與政治理想。最後，審視1920年代的中國知識分子處在什麼樣的情境下理解泰戈爾的思想，以說明當時的論爭其實反映出泰戈爾與其批評者之間對「現代性」的不同展望。

For most of the contemporary Chinese scholars, the tempestuous debates among Chinese intellectual community induced by Rabindranath Tagore’s visit to China in1922 is no less a misunderstanding of Tagore’s words than a burst of blind hostility against Tagore. However, beyond the ‘misunderstanding’, it remains a difficult problem to locate Tagore’s thoughts in any intellectual or political position; hence numerous researchers take “ambivalence” as the character of Tagore’s thought. Tagore and his Chinese criticizers shared a common problem besides the pressure of the invasion of Western civilization: to compete with the West in the name of “modernity” without losing their civilization particularity, identities and dignities. However, the perspectives on civilizations Tagore and his Chinese criticizers share were not in agreement, inconsonance was obvious among them since their visions of “modernity” were divergent. To understand Tagore’s ideals developed from his perspective on civilizations, this thesis will first analyze how Tagore had been influenced by India’s colonial circumstances and the circulation of Orientalism knowledge. Secondly, it will elucidate how Tagore integrated his universal ideals, particularity of Indian civilization and the picture of world-politics together, and then developed his civilization perspective and political ideal of “Pan-Asianism.” Finally, through analyzing how 1920s Chinese intellectuals understand Tagore, I will argue that the debates aroused by Tagore’s visit represented different expectations of “modernity” among Tagore and his criticizers.