論《水滸傳》和《西游記》的神學問題

Theological concepts in Water Margin and Journey To the West

Abstract

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

該文以神學問題作切入點，比較了《水滸傳》和《西遊記》思想和寫法的異同，論證了《易•觀•象》所云「聖人以神道設教而天下服矣」是這兩部作品「神道」描寫的真髓和旨歸。

該文認為《水滸傳》和《西遊記》中的英雄人物，既具「神性」的特點，又具「魔性」的特點，明顯地呈現出一種「神」→外「魔」而內「神」→「神」否定之否定三段式生命歷程。執柄者用之則社稷從今化為禮樂笙鏞治，棄之則乾坤由此變作兵戈劍戟叢，這就是作者通過他筆端的英雄人物這一三段式生命歷程所欲曉諭的濟世哲理和療國良方。

該文認為《水滸傳》和《西遊記》中的「神諭」實即作者的自諭。其主要作用有三：一是借以匡范英雄人物的人生道路，二是借以充當英雄人物公義觀念的辯護士，三是借以宣泄作者的難言之隱或暗示作品的創作本旨。

該文還認為《水滸傳》和《西遊記》雖則同以「神境→人境→神境」作為自己敘事結構的三段式構架，而由於作者審美情感、審美理想、審美心理定勢的不盡相同，其所包蘊於這三段式構架中的思想亦呈現出同中之異。

This paper approaches the similarities and differences in the concepts and the narrative methods of Water Margin and Journey To the West from the perspective of theology. It purports to show the didactic purpose and function of the two works.

The heroes in the two works show characteristics of the divine and of evil. They move in a three-phase progress: from the divine to a manifestation of evil and then back to the innate divinity. Rulers who use them wisely do so and create a cultured, peaceful, prosperous realm, and those who do not know how to use them turn the world into a battlefield. This is how the two authors use the three-phase progress of their heroes as an exemplar of good governance.

The concept of the divine in the two works is an expression of the authors’ concept of what is right. The concept serve three functions: a) as guiding principles for the progress of the heroes, b) as advocacy for the sense of justice in the heroes, and c) as an expression of the unstated purpose of the authors in the creation of the works.

While both works use the “divine-human-divine” three-phase structure as the narrative structure of the novel, differences exist because of the differences in the aesthetics of feeling, of ideals and of psychology in the two authors.