Chapter 11 classic work

——Professor Xia Zhiqing's "Chinese Classical Novels" Mr. Xia Zhiqing set up two milestones in the field of Western Sinology and Chinese literary criticism: A History of Modern Chinese Fiction and The Classic Chinese Novel: AC Critical Introduction. "History of Modern Chinese Fiction", published by Yale University in 1961, this book immediately caused great repercussions in the European and American academic circles.First of all, this is the first history of modern Chinese novels written in English. From the "May 4th" literary revolution, through the left-wing literary movement in the 1930s to the communist literature after 1949, it makes a comprehensive and meaningful overview of modern Chinese literary and artistic trends. System introduction and review.At that time, due to the rise of the CCP, European and American academic circles began to have a strong interest in the study of modern China. Modern Chinese literature, especially novels reflecting modern Chinese political society, naturally became one of the important research departments.Mr. Xia's "History of Modern Chinese Fiction" can be said to have emerged as the times require, and has become a standard reference book for the study of Chinese fiction in American universities.

In 1968, Mr. Xia Zhiqing's "Chinese Classical Fiction" was published by Columbia University. The publication of this book should be an epoch-making event in the history of Chinese literary criticism.The book consists of 413 pages and is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter is "Introduction", and the remaining six chapters are divided into ,,,, and, and a thesis is attached: "Society and Individuals in Ancient Chinese Short Stories".First of all, Mr. Xia’s choice of the title of the book as "Chinese Classical Novels" has a profound meaning. Modern Chinese scholars are used to calling novels before the "May Fourth Movement" "old novels", "traditional novels" or "chapter novels", which are different from "May 4th". The "new novels" since "Fourth" are used to show the difference. These titles are more or less derogatory, while "classic", especially the English word Classic, refers to classics that have passed the test of time and are recognized. Mr. Xia will wait for these six novels. The works are called "classical novels", which of course affirms the classic status of these six novels in the Chinese literary tradition.In fact, Mr. Xia’s selection criteria are very strict. In the first chapter "Introduction", he made a merciless criticism of the shortcomings of Chinese novels. Compared with Western novels, Chinese novels, except for artistic achievements, are There are indeed many shortcomings.However, the six novels he selected can be regarded as classics of Chinese novels in any respect, and are "the most important milestones in the history of this genre of literature. Each work has opened up a new realm in its own era. , expanded a new and important field for Chinese novels, and deeply influenced the later development of Chinese novels".The famous book "The Great Tradition" (The Great Tradition) by the British literary critic FR Leavis is extremely harsh, and only Jane Austen (Jane Austen), George Eliot (George Eliot), Henry James (Henry James) are selected A handful of people, as representatives of English novelists.Mr. Xia Zhiqing arranged "Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", "Journey to the West", "The Golden Ping", "The Scholars" and "Red Mansion"-the six peaks of Chinese novels in a row, and also constructed the "greatness" for Chinese novels. tradition of".

Since the "May 4th Movement", Chinese scholars such as Hu Shi, Zheng Zhenduo and others have made great contributions to traditional Chinese novels, but their research tends to be "textual research", while Mr. Xia focuses on "justification".Of course, Mr. Xia is by no means ignoring the importance of "textual research". In fact, at the beginning of each chapter, Mr. Xia must first clearly explain the evolution of the various versions of the work and the source of the novel's subject matter.Because, like, ,, and even, the difference in version affects the content to a great extent.But the criticism of "giri" is the essence of "Chinese Classical Novels".

The review criteria of "Classical Chinese Novels" can be roughly divided into the following four directions: The first is the cultural connotation of the work.Mr. Xia places his works in the cultural tradition of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in China, to examine the phenomena and their meanings of Chinese philosophy, history, religion, society, and politics reflected in the novel, and interpret, compare, and criticize them. .The six novels he selected are the most profound projections of our national culture and national spirit, and because they have been deeply loved by Chinese readers for hundreds of years, coupled with the dissemination of storytellers and adapted operas, they have long been It goes deep into the people and lasts for a long time.Try to watch the TV series, , , and TV series adapted in mainland China in recent years, which have received unprecedented warm welcome, which fully proves the tenacity of the cultural vitality of these classic novels.The typical characters in these novels such as Zhuge Liang, Guan Yunchang, Song Jiang, Li Kui, Sun Wukong, Zhu Bajie, Pan Jinlian, Jia Baoyu, etc. have already evolved into cultural prototypes of our national character.With a macro perspective, Mr. Xia raised these six novels to the height of the great tradition of Chinese culture to position them. Cultural Treatise.

Different from the style of "History of Modern Chinese Fiction", "Classical Chinese Fiction" is not a history of fiction, but each of the six selected novels is a milestone in the development of Chinese vernacular novels. Therefore, Chinese The evolution of the novel is also one of the important arguments of this book.In addition to Mr. Xia's general introduction to the origin and evolution of Chinese vernacular novels in the "Introduction", in the sub-discussion, he also analyzed in detail the special contribution and importance of each work in the development of Chinese novels: from We can see how Chinese novels have changed from relying on historical legends and religious fables and fantasies to the portrayal of daily life, and how to gradually get rid of the cumbersome influence of story books in form and transform into independent and complete works of art.In fact, each chapter of the sub-theory can be an independent article, which is a complete monograph, but the six chapters are arranged together, echoing and reflecting each other, running through the evolution of Chinese vernacular novels for more than 400 years, which makes this book The book suddenly increases the depth of history.Therefore, "Chinese Classical Novels" can also be said to be a history of the development of Chinese novels.

In "History of Modern Chinese Fiction", the art of fiction is the highest standard set by Mr. Xia when he criticizes writers and their works, and Mr. Xia has the strictest checks on the art of fiction.He believed that Ba Jin, Mao Dun, and Ding Ling's artistic achievements in novels were not as good as those of Zhang Ailing, Shen Congwen, and Qian Zhongshu, so their status evaluation in "History of Modern Chinese Fiction" was not as good as that of Zhang, Shen, Qian and others.Mr. Xia himself was born in the English Department of Yale, which was the stronghold of the "New Criticism" school back then, and was the only leader in American academic circles. The "New Criticism" school attaches great importance to the artistic form of literature, and strictly examines the text structure of works.Mr. Xia's standards for the art of novels are of course not limited to the narrow "New Criticism", but his requirements for the text structure of novels are strict.In "Classical Chinese Novels", Mr. Xia finally appraised and evaluated the six classic Chinese novels as literature and art.In this regard, as a literary critic, Mr. Xia has the most skill, and this literary criticism shines everywhere with his unique insights.Taking traditional Chinese novels as a serious literary art, and comprehensively and systematically discussing and analyzing them, "Chinese Classical Novels" should be the first, laying the foundation for the later research on Chinese classical novels, especially in the Western Sinology circle.

"Classical Chinese Novels" is written in English, and the first readers are of course mainly Westerners. One of the purposes of Mr. Xia's writing this book is probably to promote Chinese classical novels to the world, leaving the classic Chinese novels behind. On the balance of world literature, make a horizontal comparison.Therefore, a large number of methods and examples of Chinese and Western literature comparisons are used in the book.When Western readers study Chinese novels, cultural barriers are unavoidable. Mr. Xia quotes many Western literary works in the book and compares them properly, so that Western readers can draw inferences from one instance and draw inferences by analogy.For example, Mr. Xia compares John Bunyan's "The Pilgrim's Progress" (The Pilgrims Progress). These two religious fables are compared with each other. effect.Of course, Western scholars have been interested in these Chinese novels for a long time, and the full and abbreviated versions of English and German translations have long been popular. A new bridge has been built to guide more western readers into the rich world of Chinese classical novels.

The book "Chinese Classical Novels" not only runs through Chinese cultural traditions and the development history of Chinese novels from a macro perspective, but also penetrates into the connotation of the works from a micro perspective, revealing the subtle meaning and artistic ingenuity hidden in it; Literature, which is thought to borrow mirrors and look at each other, has a broad structure, profound content and self-contained system. It should be Mr. Xia Zhiqing's outstanding work.The book itself has long been recognized as a classic of Chinese literary criticism.In 1988, the Chinese translation of the mainland edition was published by Anhui Literature and Art Publishing House, and was co-translated by Hu Yimin and others. The German edition came out in 1989, and the main translator was Eike Schnfeld.The Chinese translation of the Taiwan edition, led by He Xin, will soon be published by United Literature Publishing House.

The emergence of the novel compiled by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century was the first grand event in the history of Chinese vernacular novels. This great historical novel is our (Iliad).However, Hu Shi was quite critical of it. He criticized it in "The Preface to the Romance of the Three Kingdoms": "Stories that stick to history are too strict, while too little imagination and creativity are too weak." Moreover, he also disagreed with Hu Shi's views above.He believes that the strength of the "Three Kingdoms" story is precisely that Luo Guanzhong can delete some weird and rough plots added by the storyteller, and try to get as close as possible to the official history of "Three Kingdoms", while maintaining the simplicity and unity of the "Three Kingdoms" narrative.What Luo Guanzhong inherited was actually the tradition of historians of Sima Qian and Sima Guang. The real source is "Historical Records".If Western novels originated from epics, then Chinese novels were conceived in our history books. The Chinese people’s sense of tragedy is all in our history.

In fact, Luo Guanzhong's creativity is by no means as "weak" as Hu Shi said. Mr. Xia cited the very famous "Battle of Red Cliff" in Cao Mengde's feast of civil and military generals and poems written by Cao Mengde to illustrate the art of Luo Guanzhong's novels. superb.There is no official history of this banquet, and it may have been recreated by Luo Guanzhong with the materials of a storyteller.Of course, Cao Cao's famous poem "Duan Ge Xing" was not necessarily completed on the eve of the "Battle of Red Cliff", but it was cleverly used by Luo Guanzhong in the text, which greatly helped the plot atmosphere of the novel.Cao Cao's overlord's self-satisfied image, the desolation of the hero who "sings to wine, and the geometry of life" is getting old, his complex character of assassinating admonitors in anger, and regretting after waking up. Open and close, ups and downs.This scene has extraordinary momentum, blending scenes, distinct characters and full drama tension, all of which demonstrate Luo Guanzhong's outstanding and sophisticated novel techniques.

Chinese classical novels win by portraying characters, so Mr. Xia puts a lot of ink into interpreting the characters in the novels.Especially the intricate relationship between Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Zhuge Liang, the loyalty of monarchs and ministers, and brotherhood and adversity, there are very incisive analysis and comments.The general structure of the book is to describe the general trend of the world and the division and integration of history, but its central theme is the traditional Chinese Confucian ideals of loyalty between monarchs and ministers, and brotherhood.We can't help but sigh after reading the book, because Liu, Guan, Zhang, and Zhuge Wuhou, a group of lonely ministers and evil sons, devoted themselves to revitalizing the Han Dynasty but fell short in the end.In fact, Luo Guanzhong had already laid the groundwork for the final defeat of the Shu Han in the first round.Liu Guan and Zhang Taoyuan are sworn three times, "I don't want to be born on the same day in the same year, but I hope to die on the same day in the same year." Liu Beixue's younger brother hated him and attacked Soochow in spite of the advice of military adviser Zhuge Liang, which broke Zhuge Liang's painstaking strategy of uniting Wu to Wei, and finally led to the downfall of Shuhan.Mr. Xia pointed out that defeating the Eastern Wu is the key point of the book. This chapter echoes the first episode of Taoyuan's three knots, which shows that Liu Bei's "failure in politics is flaunting his integrity in personality". Liu Bei’s defeat in battle and his death in Baidi City is the essence of the whole book. Mr. Xia quoted the whole paragraph to discuss in detail, especially the section about Liu Bei’s tuogu in Yong’an Palace, which is a hidden mystery and worthy of deliberation: The former master ordered his servant to help Kongming up, hid his tears with one hand, held his hand with the other and said, "I am dead now, and I have something to tell you from my confidant!" Kongming said, "What is the holy order?" If you are better than Cao Pi, you will surely be able to stabilize the country and make great decisions. If your heir can help you, then you can help him; if he is not talented, you can be the master of Chengdu." After hearing this, Kong Ming was sweating all over his body, lost his hands and feet, prayed to the ground and said : "Chen An dare not exhaust the strength of his thighs and arms, do his loyalty, and then die!" After saying that, he kowtowed and bled. Liu Bei was determined to restore the Han Dynasty, and he had the ambition to win the world, so passing on the throne to his heirs was of course the top priority.However, Liu Bei also knew that his heir was weak and weak, and nothing would be possible without Kong Ming's swearing of allegiance to the death.Liu Bei wants Kong Ming to replace him, and he is probably also testing his loyalty. He is as smart as Kong Ming and understands it in his heart, so he has a strong reaction of "sweating all over his body and losing his hands and feet". , Sure enough, he no longer insisted on abdication.This is Mr. Xia's extremely profound and meticulous view. Luo Guanzhong is a writer who is proficient in Chinese people's sophistication and deep knowledge of Chinese political culture, so it is possible to write the delicate and complicated relationship between Liu Bei, Kong Ming, the monarch and his ministers so closely.Mr. Xia concludes this chapter as follows: There is no other scene in Chinese history where there is such a touching farewell between the monarch and his ministers.Luo Guanzhong aptly described the eternal friendship established between the two for the common cause.At the same time, however, he did not ignore the political implications of this sad and moving scene.In this way, he made Liu Bei a memorable and believable historical figure. For hundreds of years, Chinese readers have sympathized with the failed heroes of the Shu Han, because Luo Guanzhong wrote Zhuge Liang's loyalty and Liu Xuande's righteousness so touchingly. It has pushed the development of Chinese vernacular novels one step further.I began to use a lot of lively colloquial Chinese, and to create characters and tell stories, so that I was not limited to historical facts, but closer to the novel style.Mr. Xia Zhiqing affirmed the importance in the history of the development of the novel and the achievements in the art of the novel. He also praised the heroes Lin Chong, Wu Song, Lu Zhishen, Li Kui, etc. for their outstanding characterization and vivid characterization. The novel reveals the dark side hidden in the heart of our nation: a collective subconscious impulse of bloodthirsty, indiscriminate killing, cruelty and savagery, which is severely criticized.On this point, Mr. Xia expressed many original ideas that previous people failed to achieve, which enabled us to have a deeper understanding of the complexity of the law, and clarified some moral confusion in our judgment. Commentators who have always praised this book have praised this book as a chivalrous novel in which the reckless heroes in Liangshanbo forced the people to turn against the sky.This reckless group in Liangshanbo is very special, thieves have their own way, and they are not ordinary mobs.They are organized, disciplined, and have faith. They advertise a "heroic code."The characteristics of this "hero creed" in the book are: abide by loyalty, advocate martial arts, generously donate money, not be close to women, but indulge in wine and meat.Mr. Xia pointed out that the most peculiar thing about this purely male-centered group is that it hates women and sees women's temptation as the biggest threat to heroism. Therefore, several "harlots" in the group must be eradicated. Both Pan Jinlian and Pan Qiaoyun received the worst punishment of cutting their hearts out. As for the dominatrixes, dominatrixes, and Yizhangqing in the Liangshanpo team, they were already "female husbands", so naturally there would not be a problem of sexual temptation.In fact, using modern psychology to explain, there is a causal relationship between the extreme asceticism of Liang Shanbo's male group and the brutal killing of heroes. Before they joined the Liangshanbo Group, such as Lin Chong, Wu Song, and Lu Zhishen could abide by the "creed of heroes" and were dignified husbands, but once they joined the group, their personal identities disappeared, so this group of Liangshanbo grass bandits and their collective actions. What they abide by is just a kind of "guild rules". Mr. Xia thinks that the "hero creed" they flaunt has become a kind of irony.Once these evil stars gather together, their individuality will disappear. Under the guidance of a collective consciousness, under the banner of "walking for the sky", like a huge killing machine, they will go down the mountain to recruit soldiers and buy horses to rob houses.Song Jiang led his troops to attack Zhujiazhuang three times and wiped out Zengtou City. It was a scene where many people were killed and innocent women and children were brutally exterminated.Mr. Xia commented on China's wanton description of these brutal incidents: Storytellers recited these stories in the market back then, only to please the audience, and may not be able to understand the difference between individual heroic deeds and collective tyranny.But these stories are still circulating today, and they do show the insensitivity of the Chinese people to suffering and cruelty.But just because the book's celebration of tyranny is unconscious, modern readers can see the seventy chapters as a political parable full of paradoxes (once the heroes are all assembled, they become effective tools of the government. And lose the gang character): The injustice of the government is the condition to inspire individual heroism, but once the heroes form a group, it is enough to destroy this heroism and create a reign of terror that is more evil than a corrupt government .In fact, this is the old story of the underground political party: in the struggle for survival and development, it often goes to the opposite of what it claims to pursue. The heroes of Liangshanbo have a particularly fierce revenge heart. Once this hatred is burned, these heavenly gangsters will show their original form as demons and start killing.In the book, Wu Song's blood splattered in the mandarin duck building is a famous killing scene. After Wu Song took revenge and killed Zhang Dujian, he began to massacre Zhang Dujian's family, even the girls who sang songs at the scene. Said: "If you don't do it, you don't stop. If you kill a hundred, you will only die once!" Perhaps the most shocking part about the cruel scenes of revenge and murder in the whole book is the section where the black whirlwind Li Kui eats Huang Wenbing.Huang Wenbing, the general judge, once framed Song Jiang, and of course he must avenge this revenge.After Huang Wenbing was caught, under Song Jiang's instigation, Li Kui cut Huang Wenbing alive and ate him: Then he cut the sharp knife from the leg first.When you pick a good one, burn it on the charcoal fire in front of you to drink.Cut one piece, baked one piece, and when there were no more pieces, Huang Wenbing was cut off. Li Kui just cut open the chest with a knife, took out the heart and liver, and made hangover soup with the leaders. Mr. Xia quoted these two examples to compare with "Historical Records".Sima Qian recorded that Empress Lu was jealous of Mrs. Qi: "So she cut off Mrs. Qi's siblings, removed her eyes, ears, and drank medicine, and made her live in the toilet. She was ordered to be 'human pig'." This is one of the most famous cruel incidents in Chinese history, but Sima Qian used Empress Lu's son Huidi's words: "This was not done by human beings." Then he condemned Empress Lu to the ages.Mr. Xia believes: ""Historical Records" affirms the righteous way of human civilization, but it is not true to praise the brutal acts of revenge committed by those reckless heroes." The boundary between the "heroic world" and the "barbaric world" in the book is quite blurred. On the surface, it praises the heroic deeds of the heroes in Liangshanbo under the banner of "walking for the sky", but the actual actions of these heroes are extreme. Barbaric cruelty violates civilization. When all the heroes in the "Loyalty Hall" drink cups and drink blood to form an alliance, the black shop in Liangshanbo is doing business in selling human flesh buns.When scholars have commented on the cultural spirit of this novel, there have been considerable contradictions and differences, and the focus of the contradictions is obviously concentrated on Hu Baoyi, the leader of the village in Liangshanbo, and Song Yusong Gongming.Li Zhi, a thinker in the Ming Dynasty, praised Song Jiang as the embodiment of "loyalty", but Jin Shengtan degraded Song Jiang as a hypocrite with hypocrisy and hypocrisy.In the analysis of the leading figure in Song Jiang's book, Mr. Xia Zhiqing raised a very important point: he believes that trying to analyze the meaning of Song Jiang's character should not stop at Song Jiang himself, but must link Song Jiang with Li Kui. The role of Song Jiang is complex and contradictory The meaning side may have a more complete explanation.In fact, Timely Rain Song Jiang and Black Whirlwind Li Kui complement each other, forming a pair of composite and complementary characters, just like the "Double Character" in Dostoevsky's novels.Tuo is good at studying the good and evil of human nature, and often designs "dual characters" with ambiguous and complicated relationships in his novels to explain the mutual generation and restraint of good and evil in human nature.Since Li Kui and Song Jiang hit it off in the 38th episode, they have sworn allegiance to Song Jiang to the death.If the gang-like loyalty and morality of "walking for the sky" in Song Jiang's representative is timely, then the black whirlwind Li Kui symbolizes another dark, barbaric and primitive turbulent force.Tiankui star and Tiansha star seem to be the north and south poles, but in fact they echo each other and restrain each other.As the leader of the gang, Song Gongming must maintain the image of Timely Rain as the leader of the group, and must not openly rebel, but as far back as the thirty-ninth chapter, Song Jiang wrote an anti-poetry on the Xunyang Tower: "At that time, if Ling Yunzhi was up, dare to laugh at Huang Chao Not a husband!" It turned out that Song Jiang had already turned his back on his ambitions, and wanted to surpass the traitor and murderer Huang Chao.Li Kui repeatedly encouraged Song Jiang to rebel and seize the great Song Jiangshan to be the emperor himself, which is actually speaking of Song Jiang's heart.In fact, Li Kui can be said to be the projection of Song Jiang's rebellious will, the embodiment of Huang Chao in Song Jiang's heart.Many cruel and savage killings were done by Li Kui under Song Jiang's instigation and acquiescence. Li Kui's eating of Huang Wenbing was equal to Song Jiang's will to carry out acts of revenge.This pair of "double characters" is actually two sides of the image of traitors in the movie, the "heroic world" and the "barbaric world" respectively represented by Song Jiang and Li Kui, the black whirlwind. It was a "reign of terror".In the end, Song Jiang was framed and poisoned. Before he died, he poisoned Li Kui together. Song Jiang had to live and die with Li Kui, because Li Kui was his other self.No wonder Li Kui died willingly for Song Jiang, fulfilling their brotherhood of "died in the same year, same month, same day".The complex relationship and multiple meanings of the two characters Song Jiang and Li Kui run through the whole novel, making this work with complicated plots and many characters unified in theme.To understand the deeper meaning of this novel, one must first understand the relationship between Song Jiang and Li Kui, a pair of "dual characters", and Mr. Xia's theory of Song Jiang and Li Kui's characters is no different from a key to reading. Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty Li Shimin sent the eminent monk Xuanzang to India to learn Buddhist scriptures. This is such a solemn and grand event in the history of China and Buddhism. However, Wu Chengen, a novelist of the Ming Dynasty, rewrote this history into a very lively and harmonious story. A hilarious comedy novel.This is a work of genius, and there is probably no comedy novel that has been more popular with Chinese readers in hundreds of years.The success of this novel is attributable to Wu Chengen's creation of two most prominent comedic characters: Monkey King and Zhu Bajie. The monkey and pig have already become the two main characters of our folk culture.Mr Xia compares the Sun Wukong-Zhu Bajie darling to another famous pair of complementary characters in Western fiction, Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, both equally memorable.It is also one of the most acceptable Chinese classical novels for western readers. Arthur Waley's abridged translation has always been very popular in the West, and Yu Guofan's complete translation is a grand event in the literary exchange between China and the West. The sources of the book are complex: there are historical records, Buddhist legends, and Indian epics.Mr. Xia took the trouble to clarify these sources one by one.Then he analyzed and explained the significance of Tang Sanzang Xuanzang in the novel.Xuanzang in the novel has at least three identities: According to folklore, Xuanzang is the son of Chen Guangrui, the number one scholar.But myths and legends say that Xuanzang’s predecessor was the elder Jin Chan, a disciple of the Tathagata Buddha. Because he did not listen to the Dharma and despised the great teaching, he was punished by the Buddha to descend to the world.Because of Xuanzang's innocence in the tenth life, he could live forever if he got his meat and ate it, so monsters from all walks of life were aroused to compete for the Tang monk's meat-this is the main plot of the story.But in fact, Wu Chengen wrote Xuanzang as a mortal with a sense of comedy in the novel, which is not similar to the eminent monk Tang Sanzang in history.The comic character Xuanzang is the key to this novel. If Wu Chengen had written it as a serious biography of an eminent monk, the story of Tang Sanzang’s journey to the West for Buddhist scriptures might not attract much interest from readers.Mr. Xia described Xuanzang in the novel in this way: He is irritable, prim, blind to his lack of leadership, and favors the laziest member of his team, and, as a religiously formal monk, although he pretends to be fasting and unfeminine, he is not No real sincerity.He will definitely not remind people of the brave Xuanzang in history. Only Xuanzang in his novel is just a mortal, with many weaknesses of mortals, which expands its universality as a religious fable. The fable of Buddha.Just like the Western morality drama "Everyman", the "mortal" in it has to go through various trials before he can realize the Tao, or like the Christian in "The Pilgrim's Progress", he has to overcome various obstacles and traps before he can find the kingdom of heaven.As a religious fable, Mr. Xia put forward an important clue for interpretation: "Prajna Paramita Heart Sutra".Mr. Xia believes that Wu Chengen wrote the whole novel as a philosophical commentary.He compared Wu Cheng'en's works with those of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky: George Steiner has so brilliantly observed that the main characters of Tolstoy's and Dostoevsky's novels often recite or discuss passages from the New Testament when they are faced with moral issues at stake. Some passages, which in turn set the tone of the novel, explain its meaning.In the book, it is the subject of repeated discussions between Tang Seng and Monkey King, and it has the same novel function. This is the crucial point of Mr. Xia Zhiqing's argument. Only by mastering this point can we have a deeper understanding of the meaning of religion.It is the essence of the Mahayana Buddhist scriptures. Its central idea is: "Form is emptiness, and emptiness is form." Only when the body and mind are in place, it is possible to have "no hindrance to the mind; no hindrance, so there is no fear; stay away from reversed dreams" and "final nirvana".This is the "mental journey" Tang Seng must go through to learn from the West.The Eighty-One Difficulties designed by Wu Cheng'en in the novel are used to test various "obstacles" and "terrors" in Xuanzang's mental journey. In the 19th chapter, Zen Master Wuchao presented Xuanzang with a volume, and said: "If you encounter a miasma, you can recite this sutra without harm." Since then, it has become an important spiritual support for Xuanzang along the way.Mr. Xia's comment has such a function in the novel: The fact that has been ignored by contemporary critics so far is that, just like those monster apprentices under Tang Sanzang, they themselves were designated as Sanzang's spiritual companions to bless him on his journey to learn Buddhist scriptures.From the perspective of the composition of Buddhist fables, it is far more important than any disciple.Because if a monk really understands its teachings, he will not need the protection of his disciples, and he will realize that the disasters he encounters are actually illusions. Sun Wukong is the most intelligent character in the novel, he is the "heart ape", representing the wisdom of the soul, and he can best comprehend the truth of "color and emptiness", so he is named "Wukong".In the forty-third chapter, Tang Seng suffered repeated disasters and was frightened by the demons, making all the grass and trees dare not move forward. Wukong quoted words to persuade his master: Master, you have forgotten "no eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind".We who are monks don’t see color with our eyes, don’t hear with our ears, don’t smell with our nose, don’t taste with our tongue, don’t know cold and heat in our body, and don’t have delusions in our mind—this is what we call dispelling the six thieves.If you seek scriptures like this, you care about it; you are afraid of demons, you dare not give up your life; you want to eat fast, you move your tongue; you like sweets, you touch your nose; you hear sounds, you startle your ears; Buddha? Wukong reminds Tang Seng here that he is so "terrified" and "inverted" because of the disturbance of the "six thieves".In this way, the monsters vying to eat his meat are all hallucinations summoned by Tang Seng's own "inner demon". Wukong exhorted his master to "get rid of the six thieves", and these monsters disappeared naturally.Of course, Xuanzang in the novel is just an ordinary monk. To reach this point in his cultivation, he must go through the "nine-nine" and eighty-one difficulties designed for him by the author Wu Chengen, in order to achieve the consummation of merit and virtue, enlightenment and Buddhahood. However, no matter how mysterious the religious connotation is, it is still a witty and vivid comedy novel.The two apprentices of Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie, have always been the most popular comic characters among Chinese readers, because Wu Chengen wrote the monkey and pig so humanely.If Sun Wukong represents the human soul, then Zhu Bajie is the symbol of flesh and blood.Zhu Bajie is lustful, greedy, lazy, greedy for life and afraid of death, jealous of slander, and not enthusiastic about the ascetic life of seeking Buddhist scriptures. He has the weaknesses of ordinary people. Mr. Xia praised Zhu Bajie as Wu Chengen's "leading comedy creation". Song and Ming Neo Confucianism dominated the Chinese ideological circle for a long time, and its lessons of "preserving the principles of nature and eliminating human desires" became too extreme and suffocated people's normal desires.Some enlightened thinkers in the late Ming Dynasty advocated individual freedom and individual liberation, and held high the "banner of love and truth" in literary creation, which was a big reaction to Neo Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties.Dramatic novels of this period are characterized by romance and eroticism.The former reached the highest level with Tang Xianzu's work, while the latter gathered its great achievements.Of course, Chinese literature has always had a lot of pornographic works, but in comparison, all of them are eclipsed.It is a product of the literary trend of thought in the late Ming Dynasty, and it is also an anomaly in Chinese literature.However, Mr. Xia pointed out that this work, which has always been regarded by Chinese readers as a "obscene book", has an epoch-making importance in the history of Chinese novel development: As far as the subject matter is concerned, it is undoubtedly a milestone in the history of the development of Chinese novels. It has broken away from the influence of history and legends to deal with a world completely created by the author himself. and glorious middle-class surroundings.Although the predecessors have also written pornographic novels, this book can describe the dirty and depraved daily details of a Chinese family in detail, but it is revolutionary, and in the development of Chinese novels, it can be said that there is no one behind . It is a strange book, if it is a male-centered barbaric primitive world, it is about a corrupt end-time society dominated by women.In this novel, the author can abandon all moral taboos and describe the physical reality of human beings at will, from the beginning to the final horror and grievance. No evasion, no mercy, it can only be said that the author of the novel is a cruel genius.In describing the female world, in promoting the progress of the novel story with the details of daily life, and in flaunting the time course of the novel with festival birthdays-these novel techniques all point to the birth of another greater work.Created a realistic style of describing daily life in Chinese novels. However, in terms of the structure and concept of the novel, there are many disadvantages. Mr. Xia analyzed all these disadvantages one by one.According to the research of expert Professor Patrick Hanan, there are as many as eight categories: short stories in vernacular Chinese, public case novels, erotic novels in classical Chinese, history of the Song Dynasty, operas, folk songs, and Buddhist "precious scrolls" and so on.The combination of these genres may not necessarily be integrated into an organic whole, and sometimes conflict with each other, which will damage the realistic structure of the novel.For example, a large number of popular lyrics and music were quoted at that time. These songs are magnificent, but not necessarily helpful to the content of the novel.Moreover, there are some inconsistencies in the details of the novel, especially the 20 chapters after Ximen Qing's indulgent death. There are more flaws.Conceptually, it should be a warning novel that expounds the karma of Buddhism. In fact, the author slanders monks and nuns in the novel. In the end, he hastily designed that Ximen Qing was reincarnated as a filial brother, and was rescued by Master Pujing to resolve his injustice. The results of the family's karma and atonement are really hard to convince. This novel is lacking in both structure and concept, but its portrayal of characters, especially female characters, is unprecedentedly successful.In the book, although Li Ping'er, Chunmei, and Song Huilian have the same voice and appearance, even the second- and third-rate "sluts and prostitutes" Wang Liuer, Li Guijie, and Mrs. Lin are all flesh and blood.Moreover, Wu Yueniang and Meng Yulou, a few decent women in the book, also write very well.Of course, the fame is mainly due to the excellent creation of the character Pan Jinlian. Although the character of Pan Jinlian originated from the novel, it has been transformed into the chief "harlot" in the history of Chinese literature after being rendered by the author.The author writes Pan Jinlian's lewdness, viciousness, treachery, and viciousness vividly and vividly. In Chinese novels, such a complex and multi-faceted combination of "prostitute", "poisonous woman", "diagnosed woman" and "shrew" like Pan Jinlian roles are rare.潘金莲可以说已经成为女性反面角色的原型了。 夏先生论，最后焦点聚集在潘金莲这个小说人物身上，尤其是西门庆与潘金莲之间逐步主奴易位的复杂过程，做了十分精细的分析，他如此形容潘金莲： 她是其中头脑最冷静，最工心计的人物，她出身为奴，调教成婢，她的残酷是奴隶式的残酷：自私中表露着卑鄙，为了求安全争权力不惜奸诈，对待情敌仇人却残忍无情。 虽然情节庞杂，但是故事的主轴还是落在西门庆与潘金莲这对男女的关系上，这也是小说中最饶兴味值得深究的两性关系。这是一场两性之间的战争，这场战争在某层意义上是动物性雌雄交媾的生理战。小说开始西门庆征战于众妻妾娼妓之间，雄风凛凛，潘金莲仅是他一个曲意逢迎的性奴隶，第二十七回潘金莲被西门庆绑在葡萄架下，甘心接受性虐待，这时西门庆完全占上风，但是潘金莲凭着她的狡狯色诱一步步往上爬，最后终于骑到西门庆身上，反奴为主。第七十九回，西门庆贪欲丧命是全书写得最惊心动魄的一回，这时跨在西门庆身上的潘金莲已经变成一只女王蜂，在残杀与她交媾过后的雄性配偶。一场两性战争，雌性动物终于赢得最后胜利。同时西门庆与潘金莲之间的强弱对调也是一场心理拉锯战。潘金莲不仅在生理上降服了西门庆，在心理上也逐渐主宰了他的心灵，他对潘金莲的嚣张跋扈愈来愈无法约束，到最后，西门庆似乎中了邪，竟任她随意摆布了。心理学家荣格(CarlJung)的一个理论，有些男性的潜意识里，对某类女人的色诱，完全无法抗拒，失去主宰意志，如同中魔，荣格把这类女人，称为男性潜意识心理投射的“女魔”(Succubus)。中国传统小说中，也经常出现由妖魔幻化而成的美女，迷惑男人，然后盗其元阳，使其精枯髓尽而亡。中便常有这类女魔争相盗取唐僧的元阳。中的潘金莲到了最后已经被夸大描写成吸人精髓的女魔头了。 的世界是一个完全沉沦于肉欲无法自拔的“感官世界”，小说最后草草出现佛家救赎的意旨，恐怕也难解书中人物积重难返的业障。然而作为一部世情小说，作者惊人的写实功夫，不能不令人叹为观止，替晚明社会精雕细镂出一幅俗艳华丽的浮世绘。 从到清朝乾隆时代的，其中相隔一百四五十年。吴敬梓的把中国小说艺术又推前了一大步。历来论者评《儒林》，多以其讽刺中国传统社会科举制度为主要论题。夏志清先生虽然也花相当篇幅探讨这部小说中“仕”与“隐”——中国传统社会士大夫两种理想之抉择的主题，但他同样重视在中国小说艺术发展上的重要性。已经脱离明朝小说说唱传统的影响，写景写情，不再依赖诗词歌曲，完全运用白话散文，书中方言及文言片语并不多用，的小说语言是一种具有作者个人风格的白话文体，夏先生称赞这种白话语文的精纯度，超过其他几本古典小说，连也不例外。吴敬梓的白话散文风格，对晚清及民初的小说家，影响深远。 夏先生更进一步分析小说叙述的方式，他发现作者吴敬梓刻划人物、推展情节的技巧是革命性的。以往的作者介绍小说人物登场叙述故事情节，喜欢现身说法，作者夹评夹叙，把人物当作木偶操作，而且随时抒发议论，主导读者判断，而的作者却是隐身的，让小说人物自己登上舞台，由他们的举止言行，逐渐展现他们的性格，由读者自行推断小说发展情节。这种“戏剧法”的使用，使得中国小说又提升到另一层境界，可以说是开始进入“现代”了。的作者在小说中自始至终“神龙见首不见尾”，运用的全是这种“戏剧法”，王熙凤的出场，便是一个著名的例子。夏先生举了《儒林》第二回《王孝廉村学识同科，周蒙师暮年登上第》为例：几个村人聚集在观音庵里，商议正月闹龙灯之事，人物先后登场，作者仅寥寥数笔介绍了他们的外貌，然后便把他们推上舞台，完全由他们彼此之间的举止言语，读者渐渐领悟这些人物各别的身份、个性、互相关系等等，而且同时又十分微妙地透露出作者对这些人物势利眼的讽刺。夏先生在这里论到小说艺术十分重要的一个议题，也就是“新批评”学派重视的所谓小说观点问题，如果没有受过“新批评”训练的评论家，恐怕不会注意到这种革命性的小说技巧，也就容易忽略了许多作者苦心经营隐含不露的小说艺术了。 开宗明义标榜王冕隐而不仕的高风亮节，这当然是作者吴敬梓对隐士的尊崇，而书中热中于科举名利汲汲求进的几个人物匡超人、牛浦郎等都被他狠狠的损了一顿。小说最后一回，作者以四个市井小民的小传作为全书的结束，这些小传看起来似乎不经意而为，事实上暗寓深意。夏先生点明，这四个人物的喜好各为琴棋书画——正好代表中国传统社会作为雅士必备的文化修养，这些隐于市的雅士，就如同小说第一回楔子中的王冕一样，是作者吴敬梓向往的理想。 十八世纪中叶，在中国文学创作的领域里涌现出最高的一座山峰：，然而同时也成为我们数千年文明的一首“天鹅之歌”，之后，我们民族的艺术创造力，似乎就再也没有能达到这样高的巅峰。由于的内容是如此丰富广博，“红学”专家们的论著，汗牛充栋，可谓“横看成岭侧成峰”，各成一家之言。 夏志清先生论，有几点观察特别值得注意。夏先生认为在哲学思想的悲剧精神上，固然非其他中国小说所能比拟，在心理写实上，也是成就空前的。尤其在前弗洛伊德时期，竟然已经触及人类潜意识的心理活动了。他引述八十二回《病潇湘痴魂惊恶梦》，层层分析林黛玉这场写得令人胆颤心惊的梦魇。一般论者多注意第五回贾宝玉神游太虚幻境，但宝玉的梦只是一则寓言，是虚梦，黛玉的这场噩梦才是心理写实，黛玉压抑在心中潜意识里种种恐惧欲望都以各种扭曲后的象征情节在梦中出现：黛玉朝朝夕夕欲获得宝玉的心，在梦中宝玉果然把自己的胸膛血淋淋的打开找心给黛玉，情节如此恐怖，难怪黛玉惊醒后一口鲜血。这场噩梦写得这样真实可怕，而且涵意深刻复杂，完全合乎现代心理学潜意识梦境的分析，大概只有陀思妥耶夫斯基小说中一些梦魇堪与相比。 早期王国维在《〈红楼梦〉评论》一文中应用叔本华的悲观哲学来诠释的悲剧精神。那是中国学者第一次引用西方哲学的观点来评论这部小说，其开创性当然重要。虽然王国维引用叔本华“生活之欲”的观点不一定能圆满解释遁入空门的解脱之道，但对于的研究，的确开拓了一面新的视野。循着这条途径，夏志清先生引用另外一位西方作家的作品陀思妥耶夫斯基的《白痴》(TheIdiot)与曹雪芹的相比，这项比较，对于的解读，尤其是对西方读者，有重大启示： 在一篇杰出的书评中，韦斯特先生(AnthonyWest)评论这部小说的两个英译本，将宝玉比之于德米特里?卡拉玛佐夫(DmitriKaramazov)，然而我觉得虽然这两个都是心灵深受折磨的人，但宝玉并不具有德米特里那份世俗热情及生命活力，亦不似其经常摆荡于爱恨之间，徘徊于极度的谦卑与叛逆。以宝玉的率真娇弱，以及他善解人意，心怀慈悲，倒更近似陀思妥耶夫斯基笔下另外一位主人公米希金王子(PrinceMyshkin)，他们两人都自处于一个堕落世界，在这个世界里，慈悲爱人反而遭人怀疑以为白痴。他们两人都发觉这世上有着无法忍受的痛苦，因而都经历长时期神思恍惚丧失心智的折磨。他们各自分别与两位女性发生痛苦的情缘，但最后都全然辜负了她们的一番心意。米希金王子最后变成白痴，因为随着娜丝塔西亚之死，他认识到基督之爱对于这个贪婪淫荡的世界毫无效用。而当宝玉由痴呆恢复正常后，他也同样了悟到爱情的彻底幻灭。但不同的是，宝玉最后遗弃红尘，采取了出家人对于世情的冷漠。 很早便有王际真以及德文版翻译过来的英译节本，后来更有众口交誉霍克思(DavidHawkes)主译的全本，但据我在美国教授这本小说多年的经验，一般西方读者对的反应，崇敬有余，热烈不足，反而不如对、直截了当。当然，西方读者要跨入的世界的确有许多文化上的阻隔，但我发觉西方读者一大困惑在于如何去理解贾宝玉这个“无故寻愁觅恨，有时似傻如狂”的奇特人物，用西方标准，很难替这位“痴公子”定位。夏先生以陀思妥耶夫斯基小说《白痴》中的主角米希金王子与贾宝玉互相观照，便使宝玉这个人物，从宗教文化比较的视野上，刻划出一个较为容易辨识的轮廓。陀氏撰写《白痴》，设想米希金王子这个角色时，一度曾称其为“基督王子”，可见陀氏本来就打算把米希金写成基督式的人物。虽然后来米希金变成了一个白痴的“病基督”，无法救世，但米希金满怀悲悯，企图救赎苦难中人的爱心，这种情怀则完全是基督式的。王国维在里赞美李后主的词“以血书者”，而且认为后主“俨有释迦基督担荷人类罪恶之意”。我觉得王国维这句评语用来评曹雪芹的尤其是贾宝玉这个人物，可能更加恰当。宝玉怜悯众生，大慈大悲，一片佛心。如果米希金是陀思妥耶夫斯基笔下基督式的人物，那么曹雪芹有意无意也把贾宝玉塑造成释迦式的人物了。事实上宝玉与悉达多太子的身世便有许多相似之处，生长在富贵之家，享尽世间荣华，而终于勘破人世生老病死苦，最后出家悟道成佛。从宗教寓言的比较角度，来诠释贾宝玉，恐怕西方读者对这个中国“白痴”容易接受得多。在基督教文化熏陶下，产生了陀思妥耶夫斯基的伟大作品，佛教文化却孕育出曹雪芹的这块光芒万丈的瑰宝来。 夏志清先生这部《中国古典小说》与我个人却有一段特殊的文学因缘，这本书曾经使我受益良多。远在六十年代中期，我正常为《现代文学》筹稿源所苦，论文方面，《现文》多刊登翻译的西方文学评论，而论评中国文学有分量的文章十分缺乏。我们很兴奋在一九六五年第廿六期上，首次刊出夏先生那篇《〈水浒传〉的再评价》，这篇论文是他《中国古典小说》中论那一章的前身，由何欣先生翻译，何先生在译之前有这样一段引言： 我国旅美学人夏志清教授近年来对中国新旧小说的研究，早已赢得中外学者的钦敬。他的论文经常发表在国外的权威刊物上，他的《现代中国小说史》(AHistoryofModernChineseFiction)早已为士林所推崇。我觉得他的论著实在有介绍给我国读者的必要，从他的论著中，我们可以看到研究中国文学的途径，我们不能只在“考证”的圈子里转来转去。 何先生这一段话，很能代表我们最初接触夏先生研究中国古典小说论著感受到的启发。接着《现文》第廿七期又刊出夏先生的《〈红楼梦〉里的爱与怜悯》，这篇论文后来扩大成为他书中论的一章。那时我已知道夏先生在计划撰写《中国古典小说》这本书，等他书刚完成正在付印，我就请他将样稿先寄给我阅读，因此我可能是最早看到这本书的读者之一。一来我希望先睹为快，二来我也希望将此书各章尽快请人译成中文在《现文》发表。我记得那大概是一九六八年的初春，我接到夏先生寄来厚厚一叠样稿，我花了两三天时间不分昼夜，一口气看完，看文学批评论著，我还很少感到那样兴奋过，书上所论的六部小说，本来早已耳熟能详，许多地方视为当然，可是阅读《中国古典小说》，却好像顿感眼前一亮，发觉原来园中还有那么多奇花异草，平时都忽略了，那种意外的惊喜，是令人难忘的阅读经验。 除了那一章是请庄信正译出刊在《现文》第三十八期(一九六九)外，其余各章仍由何欣先生翻译，刊登《现文》的有五章：《导论》(第三十七期，一九六九)，(第四十三期，一九七一)，(第四十五期，同年)，(第五十期，一九七三)。何先生本来把及也译出来了，打算刊在第五十二期，但是当时《现文》财源已尽，暂时停刊，所以、《儒林》这两章中译始终未在台湾的刊物上出现过。但夏先生这些论中国传统小说的文章，对当时台湾学界，已经起了示范作用。那时台湾的大学中文系课程，还相当保守，小说研究，不是主课，教授的人很少。台大中文系柯庆明教授曾经担任《现代文学》后期的主编，他那时还在台大当助教，由他一手策划，在《现文》四十四、四十五两期上，登出了“中国古典小说研究专辑”，撰稿者多为台大及辅仁中文系师生，两期上论文共二十四篇，包括由先秦到明清的文言白话小说，夏先生的也在里面。这是破天荒头一次，台湾大学的中文系如此重视小说研究。整个专辑的大方向皆以文学批评为主，脱离了考据范围，这些论文的基本精神，是与夏先生论中国古典小说相吻合的，可以说，夏先生的小说论著，在台湾当了开路先锋。 《中国古典小说》的中译虽然未能完全登载，我本人却一直有心将夏先生这些中译论文结集成书出版，后来因为我自己创办晨钟出版社，便自告奋勇征得夏先生同意，打算由“晨钟”出版这部书。因为夏先生出书谨慎，出版中译本须得自己仔细校对，时间上便拖延下来，一直到“晨钟”因经营不善而停业，这本书仍未能付梓，这件事，我一直耿耿于怀，有愧于心。一九八八年大陆版的中译本倒捷足先登出版了，中国大陆研究明清小说的学者人数甚众，相信夏先生的《中国古典小说》也会成为大陆学者们的重要参考。欣闻这部书即将由《联合文学》付印出版，其实这部长久为西方学者推重的小说论著早就该与台湾的读者见面了，延误了这些年，实在可惜。经过三十年时间的研磨，重新细读夏志清先生这部研究中国古典小说的经典之作，更感到当初夏先生确立的研究方向之可贵，他的许多真知灼见，迄今启人深思。