陳世驤 (1912-1971) 從英譯〈文賦〉開始，至於論「姿」、「詩」、「興」，乃至 於論「時」，都企圖透過「之」所蘊含的複合意義的身體力動，如「進／止」、「停／ 動」、「蓄／發」、「斷／連」等，來喚醒字裡行間相反相成的游旋姿態。而正是以此 能動迴旋的身心姿態，譬喻一種在往復與歧異間讓人驚動的創作節奏，不但建置了古典 抒情傳統的身體動力學，也同時以漢語的「可體現性」，隱隱然回應了五四以來對於詩 的「音節」或「節奏」的思索。

In this essay, I explore Chen Shih-hsiang’s “detour” around classical Chinese literature and his efforts to reveal the multi-layered significance implicit in the character zhi (之). Beginning with his English translation of Lu Chi’s 陸機 “Rhapsody on Literature” (Wenfu 文賦), and continuing through his discussions of “gesture” (zi 姿), “poetics” (shi 詩), “emotional association” (xing 興) and even “time” (shi 時), Chen sought to demonstrate the corporeal meaning inherent in the term. By employing opposing conceptual pairs such as “advance/still,” “stop/move,” “hold back/let out,” and “disconnected/connected,” he sought to highlight the character zhi’s contrary yet complementary back and forth dynamic. This active to-and-fro gesturing between the body and mind is a metaphor that symbolizes the amazing rhythm of literary creation. This gesturing not only establishes the body dynamics present in the lyrical tradition of classical Chinese literature, but it also implicitly, via the “embodiment” of Chinese language, echoes the efforts of May Fourth intellectuals to break through the language’s set metrical patterns and call for the re-establishment of a more natural rhythm. Through the embodied gesture, Chen attempts to build a rhythmic ontology that belongs exclusively to Chinese poetics.