《夷堅志》中不公正的蒼天和軟弱的神仙

Divine Injustice and Frail Deities in the Stories of Hong Mai

Authors

  • 艾朗諾 (Ronald EGAN) 美國斯坦福大學東亞語言與文化系漢學

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24112/sinohumanitas.192179

Keywords:

洪邁, 《夷堅志》, 宋代民間宗教, 韓明士, 鬼魂, 動物神靈, Hong Mai, Yijian zhi, Song dynasty popular religion, Robert Hymes, ghosts, animal spirits

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

《夷堅志》是洪邁生前就已經廣爲流傳的神怪故事巨製,往往被用來重構宋代的民間宗教和鬼神觀念。這篇論文探討在《夷堅志》研究中被忽略的兩點:(1)故事中神靈常從事欺騙和不義的行爲;(2)神靈常顯露與普通人無異的弱點。《夷堅志》中有许多善有善報惡有惡報的故事,但也有違背因果報應的,告訴我們神靈有時任性、虚僞和不可靠,反映人們對神靈庇佑熱切渴望的同時,也對神的無常有深深的惶恐。我們可提出一個宋代神性觀念的不同思考模式,把正義和邪惡視爲坐標軸的兩端,將個别神靈的表現置於這兩極之間的横軸上。《夷堅志》還有許多故事中的神靈與凡人打交道時展現出人類的弱點,像凡人一般衝動和善變,讀者無法預測他們下一步會做什麽。這些人性的弱點賦予了故事的“人情味”,讓我們在他們身上看到了自己。從文學的角度來看,這是爲什麽洪邁40間年發表了至少32種版本的《夷堅志》,故事總數超過一萬則,而讀者仍對這部著作保持濃厚興趣的原因。

Hong Mai’s (1123-1202) Yijian zhi (Records of Yijian) is well-known as a rich source for Song dynasty popular religion and the beliefs about supernatural creatures. This paper looks at aspects of Yijian zhi stories that belong to such beliefs but are often overlooked in studies of Song popular religion: (1) actions by gods and supernatural creatures that are amoral and deceptive or even cruel and unjust; and (2) the human weaknesses often displayed by gods and other divinities. The first of these is analyzed as part of a continuum found in Hong Mai’s stories that stretches from divine justice (including karmic retribution) all the way to divine treachery and cruelty. This is explained as a projection of deep human ambivalence about the reliability of the divine. The second is a projection of human personality traits upon the divine, which makes them flawed, unpredictable and, in a word, “more like us.” The two traits are absolutely central to the nature of divine agents in Hong Mai’s tales and also help to explain their effectiveness as literature and their enduring appeal.

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Published

2013-10-01

How to Cite

艾 朗. (2013). 《夷堅志》中不公正的蒼天和軟弱的神仙: Divine Injustice and Frail Deities in the Stories of Hong Mai. 人文中國學報, 19, 43–56. https://doi.org/10.24112/sinohumanitas.192179

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論文