本文從「身體表演」的角度重探魏晉人物品鑒，一方面希望突顯身體並非只是心神的外貌或承載才性的生物體，身體藉助音聲、眼光、貌色、儀形、舉止等「體現的」訊息，就可以成為意義傳遞與接收的所在；另一方面強調在社會運作結構中扮演意義傳輸管道的身體表現，已經成為種種價值象徵，透過各種體勢姿態就可以劃分類別與區分高下，換言之，身體就是論述，就是非口頭形式的語言，社會上流行的身體慣用語就形塑了某一種特殊的身體表演範式與認同意義。如此，人物品鑒中論及的「自我」、「個性」，也許可以視為種種不同的身體表演模式選擇下的結果，個體在進入系列的身體實踐模式中，由生澀到精熟、由刻意到遊刃有餘的種種臺前經驗，才構成了所謂「我」的存有，同時也成為被他人理解或記憶的獨特焦點。經由這樣的詮釋，如果可以讓所謂「自我」的觀念論述，落實到系列相關的「身體表演」的經驗與成果，那麼未嘗不是重探人倫品鑒中「自我體現」的一個新起點。

This article explores the appreciation and classification of historical personalities of the Wei-Jin period from the perspective of body performance. One of the aims of this article is to show that the body is not only the spiri’s outer appearance or a physical representation of persona1ity. Through sound quality, facial expression, physical appearance, gesture, and other “embodiments,” the body can become the base for expressing and gathering meaning. This article also stresses that the role of body performance in society as a channel for communication has already become the symbol of various value-systems. Based on various body postures, we can group and c1assifypeople. In other words, the body is discourse and is a non-verbal form of language. Society’s popular body language becomes a certain special form of body performance as its meanings become popularly accepted. Accordingly, the “self” also can be seen as the result of choosing amongst various different ways of body performance. This theoretical framework then provides us with a new starting point for exploring “self-embodiment” in early Chinese culture.