黑格尔的汉字观及其知识来源与后世论争

陈俊早

语言战略研究 ›› 2025, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (4) : 75-83.

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语言战略研究 ›› 2025, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (4) : 75-83. DOI: 10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20250408
专题研究

黑格尔的汉字观及其知识来源与后世论争

  • 陈俊早
作者信息 +

Hegel’s View of Chinese Characters: Sources of Knowledge and Later Controversies

  • Chen Junzao
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文章历史 +

摘要

18、19世纪,德国哲学界掀起语言哲学风潮,关注语言与思想的关系,并试图从欧洲之外的语言中获得启发,建立表达普遍性真理的语言基础。黑格尔是其重要代表。他的汉字观包含3个层次:汉字的性质和定位,符号特征,文化效果。他认为,汉字是象形文字的典型代表,“通过空间的图形来标志表象”,与通过声音来标志表象的字母文字相对立。声音在语言符号中更加直接和具有精神性,因此字母文字更具确定性和纯洁性。而汉字与字音、与口头语言之间的关系是松散和不确定的,符号数量庞大,而且构形复杂。汉字的这种特征导致了中国文化进展的缓慢和停滞。综合而言,他是把汉字放在以“精神”的发展和显现为核心的理论体系中进行评判,但他对汉字和中国文化的理解比较刻板。梳理他的著作和演讲笔记中可见,他对汉字和中国文化的知识来源于当时欧洲传教士和汉学家的著作。他对汉字做出的消极判断,是当时欧洲知识界的汉字知识水平与他个人的哲学观念共同作用下的产物。从近代到现代,欧洲哲学家对汉字的论争,都是把汉字作为外来资源和补充,来“捍卫”或者“颠覆”已有的以西方、逻各斯以及语音为中心的哲学传统。

Abstract

During the 18th and 19th centuries, German philosophy experienced a surge of interest in linguistic-philosophical inquiry, centering on the relationship between language and thought. Philosophers sought inspiration from non-European languages in the hope of constructing a linguistic foundation for expressing universal truths. Hegel was one of the leading figures in this movement. His view of Chinese characters encompasses three levels: the nature and positioning of Chinese characters, their symbolic characteristics, and cultural consequences. Hegel regarded Chinese characters as typical examples of ideographic writing which “signifies representations through spatial imagery”, contrasting it with alphabetic systems that rely on phonetic symbols tied to sound, as Chinese characters function through visual forms. Hegel argues that, sound as a linguistic medium, is more immediate and spiritual in language symbols, thus making alphabetic scripts more definite and spiritually pure. The relationship between Chinese characters, pronunciation, and spoken language is loose and uncertain, with a large number of symbols and complex graphic structures. These features of Chinese characters have led to the slow progress and stagnation of Chinese cultural development. In summary, he evaluated Chinese characters from within a theoretical framework centered on the development and manifestation of “spirit”; but his understanding of Chinese characters and Chinese culture was rather rigid and stereotypical. A close examination of his works and lecture notes shows that his knowledge of Chinese characters and Chinese culture came from the writings of European missionaries and sinologists at the time. His negative judgments about Chinese characters were the result of both the level of knowledge about Chinese characters in the European intellectual community at the time and his personal philosophical convictions. From the modern period to the present, European philosophers’ engagement with  Chinese characters has always been treated as an external resource and supplement, used to “defend” or “subvert” existing Western philosophical traditions centered on the logoscentric and phonocentric philosophical traditions.

关键词

黑格尔 / 汉字 / 语音 / 象形文字

Key words

Hegel / Chinese character / sound / pictographic writing

引用本文

导出引用
陈俊早. 黑格尔的汉字观及其知识来源与后世论争[J]. 语言战略研究. 2025, 10(4): 75-83 https://doi.org/10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20250408
Chen Junzao. Hegel’s View of Chinese Characters: Sources of Knowledge and Later Controversies[J]. Chinese Journal of Language Policy and Planning. 2025, 10(4): 75-83 https://doi.org/10.19689/j.cnki.cn10-1361/h.20250408
中图分类号: H002   

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