偽書爭議

一些人認為《列子》的原著在西漢以後便已散失，唐代柳宗元已經懷疑此書的來源，姚際恆《古今偽書考》首先認定《列子》是偽書，現存的《列子》已經不是原著，而是晉人湊雜道家的思想而寫成的，高似孫、黃震、葉大慶、錢大昕、姚鼐、何治運、俞正燮、吳德旋、汪繼培、鈕樹玉、章炳麟、陳三立、梁啟超等人都以為此書為偽。

楊柏峻《列子集釋》所附〈辨偽文字輯略〉亦引朱熹〈觀列子偶書〉作此書辨偽例證，以為《列子》剽竊佛書，然而實際上朱熹的意見正好相反。〈辨偽文字輯略〉引朱熹言：「又觀其言精神入其門，骨骸反其根，我尚何存者，即佛書四大各離，今者妄，身當在何處之所由出也。他若此類甚眾，聊記一二於此，可見剽掠之端云。」然而朱熹的意見是以為佛書剽竊《列子》，在《語類》中說得更為明白：「今看《圓覺》云『四大各散，今者妄，身當在何處』，即是竊《列子》『骨骸反其根，精神入其門，我尚何存』語。」（卷126）。

馬敘倫《列子偽書考》說：「蓋《列子》晚出而早亡，魏晉以來好事之徒聚斂《管子》、《晏子》、《論語》、《山海經》、《墨子》、《莊子》、《尸佼》、《韓非子》、《呂氏春秋》、《韓詩外傳》、《淮南》、《說苑》、《新序》、《新論》之言，附益晚說，假為向序以見重。」。錢鐘書在《管錐編》中提出《列子》受佛教思想影響，可知是魏晉時代的偽書，但也指出《列子》全書「竄取佛說，聲色不動」，「能脫胎換骨，不粘皮帶骨」。

現存《列子》的注本有晉代張湛注的《沖虛至德真經》八卷。清朝即有人懷疑是張湛作品。章太炎認為今本《文子》與《列子》「同出一手」，因此，「疑即張湛偽造」。。季羨林更指出《列子》的作者是張湛，他的《列子·湯問篇》第五事實上抄襲了太康年竺法護譯的《生經》卷第三，一個源自印度神話《國王五人經》裡機關木人的故事。這部書的纂成一定不會早於太康六年（285年）。季羨林請胡適斧正。胡適覆信：「《生經》一証，確鑿之至！」。錢鐘書《管錐編》中提出，「偽託者未必為作注者之張湛。」但如果《列子》真是張湛所作，「不足以貶《列子》，只足以尊張湛」。

現今學者對於列子偽書說分為三種意見：偽書、非偽書、包括列子本人的思想再加上後人整理。

本書相關之成語故事

• 卷一《天瑞》：杞人憂天、男尊女卑、宋人學盜

• 卷二《黃帝》：朝三暮四

• 卷三《周穆王》：

• 卷四《仲尼》：

• 卷五《湯問》：愚公移山、夸父逐日、小兒辯日、扁鵲捩心

• 卷六《力命》：

• 卷七《楊朱》：野人獻曝

• 卷八《說符》：歧路亡羊、亡鈇意鄰

譯本

相比其他道家典籍，《列子》英譯本的數量較少。1912年，翟林奈（Lionel Giles）首次將《列子》的第一至六章及第八章譯為英語，而安頓·弗克（Anton Forke）則負責第七章（楊朱）。後來A·C·格拉哈姆的譯本則極具學術價值。目前，最近期的版本是於2001年由Eva Wong所翻譯的。

Textual history

The first two references to the Liezi book are from the Former Han Dynasty. The editor Liu Xiang notes he eliminated repetitions in Liezi and rearranged it into eight chapters (pian 篇). The Book of Han bibliography section (藝文志) says it has eight chapters (篇) and concludes that since the Zhuangzi quotes Liezi, he must have lived before Zhuangzi. There is a three-century historical gap until the next evidence of the Liezi: the Jin dynasty commentary by Zhang Zhan 張湛 (fl. ca. 370 CE). Zhang's preface claims his Liezi copy was transmitted down from his grandfather. All received Liezi texts derive from Zhang's version, which is divided into eight chapters (juan 巻).

During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the Liezi was designated a Daoist classic, completing the trilogy with the more famous Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi, and it was honorifically entitled the Chongxu zhenjing (沖虛真經; "True Classic of Simplicity and Vacuity", that is, Classic of the Perfect Emptiness). This "Simplicity and Vacuity" is Wing-tsit Chan's translation; chongxu (literally "soar/young/simple empty/skies/modest") usually means "soar aloft, rise high; carefree, unburdened with ambition". During the reign of Emperor Zhenzong of Song, the Liezi was further honored as the Chongxu zhide zhenjing (沖虛至德真經; 「True Classic of Simplicity and Vacuity and Perfect Virtue」).

Contents

The eight Liezi chapters are shown below (with translations of titles adapted from Graham 1960).

Most Liezi chapters are named after famous figures in Chinese mythology and history. Either sage rulers like the Yellow Emperor (supposedly r. 2698?–2599? BCE), King Tang of Shang (r. 1617?–1588? BCE), and King Mu of Zhou (r. 1023?–983? BCE); or philosophers like Confucius (551–479 BCE) and Yang Zhu (fl. ca. 350 BCE).

The Liezi is generally considered to be the most practical of the major Taoist works, compared to the poetic narrative of Laozi and the philosophical writings of Zhuangzi. Although the Liezi has not been extensively published in the West, some passages are well known. For example, Gengsangzi (庚桑子; cf. Zhuangzi chap. 23) gives this description of Taoist pure experience:

My body is in accord with my mind, my mind with my energies, my energies with my spirit, my spirit with Nothing. Whenever the minutest existing thing or the faintest sound affects me, whether it is far away beyond the eight borderlands, or close at hand between my eyebrows and eyelashes, I am bound to know it. However, I do not know whether I perceived it with the seven holes in my head and my four limbs, or knew it through my heart and belly and internal organs. It is simply self-knowledge. (chap. 4, tr. Graham 1990:77–78)

Compare the Zhuangzi saying, "The Perfect Man uses his mind like a mirror — going after nothing, welcoming nothing, responding but not storing. Therefore he can win out over things and not hurt himself."

Authenticity

Liezi scholars have long recognized that it shares many passages with other pre-Han texts like the Zhuangzi, Daodejing, and Lüshi Chunqiu. Barrett (1993:298) says opinion is "divided as to whether it is an ancient work with later interpolations or a forgery confected from ancient sources." On the one hand, the Liezi could contain a core of c. 400 BCE authentic writings of Lie Yukou; on the other hand, it could be a c. 400 CE compilation forged by Zhang Zhan.

The Liezi is most similar with the Zhuangzi. They share many characters and stories; Graham (1990:12) lists sixteen complete episodes plus sections from others. (The Zhuangzi also mentions Liezi in four chapters and Lie Yukou in three, for example, the famous passage about Liezi's ability to ride the wind and go flying around in chapter 1. See Watson)

The final two chapters have heterogeneous contents that differ from the Daoism elsewhere in the book. Chapter 7 records the Hedonist philosophy of "Yang Zhu" (Yangzi), infamous for the criticism of Mencius that he, "believed in 'every man for himself.' If he could have helped the whole world by plucking out a single hair, he would not have done it." (chap. 7A, tr. Muller) Zhang Zhan speculates that this chapter, focusing on indulgence in physical and temporary pleasures, was from Lie Yukou's earlier years as a hedonist, before he became a Daoist. The well-known scholar of Chinese philosophy, Wing-Tsit Chan (1963:309) calls the "Yang Zhu" chapter "negative Daoism" in contrast with the Daoism of Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Huainanzi that were "all positive in that each represents something new." Chapter 8, "Explaining Conjunctions," is primarily taken from other early sources, not only Daoist but Confucian and Mohist texts, two philosophies that opposed the philosophical Daoism this book expounds.

A. C. Graham, Professor Emeritus of the School of Oriental and African Studies, illuminated the textual provenance. After translating Liezi (1960), which Barrett (1993:307) calls undoubtedly "the best translation into a Western language to date", Graham (1961) linguistically analyzed internal evidence and textual parallels. He discovered many cases where the Liezi is clearly secondary to other texts, but none where it is the primary source for a passage. The Preface to the revised Liezi translation (1990:xi-xv) explains his significant change in attitude.

Although in 1960 most scholars in China already recognized the late date of Liezi, most Westerners were still disinclined to question its antiquity. My own textual studies, not yet completed when this translation first appeared, supported the Chinese dating, which by now prevails also in the West. … One result of the textual investigation came as a surprise to me. The present book describes the hedonist 'Yang Zhu' chapter as 'so unlike the rest of Liezi that it must be from another hand … The thought is certainly very different, and it does show the signs of editing and interpolation by the Taoist author … But although close scrutiny generally reveals marked differences in style between the body of the book and passages borrowed from earlier sources, I could find none to distinguish the hedonist chapter from the rest. (1990:xiii)

Owing to occasional Liezi textual misunderstandings in Zhang Zhan's commentary, Graham concludes that the "guiding hand" probably belonged to Zhang's father or grandfather, which would mean c. 300 CE.

Suggestions of Buddhist influences in Liezi chapters 3 and 6 are potentially corroborating evidence for a late date of composition; see Buddhism in China. "King Mu of Zhou" discusses sense perceptions as illusions; "Endeavor and Destiny" takes a fatalistic (if not karmic) view of destiny, which goes against the traditional Daoist concept of Wuwei.

Influence

Liezi is known as one of the three most important texts in Taoism, together with the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi. Outside of Taoism, the biji genre story Yi Jian Zhi by Hong Mai borrowed the character of Yi Jian, a contemporary of the ancient mythical emperor Yu, from Liezi.

Translations

There are fewer English translations of the Liezi than other Taoist texts. The first were partial versions; Lionel Giles (1912) translated chapters 1–6 and 8, while Anton Forke (1912) covered chapter 7 ("Yang Zhu"). As mentioned above, A. C. Graham (1960, 1990) wrote a definitive scholarly translation. A recent Liezi rendition is a creative translation by Eva Wong (2001). In 2005, the Library of Chinese Classics published a translation by Liang Xiaopeng.