論《紅樓夢》的三世生命説與兩種聲音 ——説《紅樓夢》思想之精髓

Dream of the Red Chamber: Reincarnations & Voices

Abstract

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

本文認為：《紅樓夢》中有個相似於佛敎三世生命觀的三世生命説，即大觀園中的「風流冤孽」們，他們來自「太虚幻境」，歷劫「詩禮簪縷之族」，最後又復歸「太虚幻境」，而不論他們在「現世」其「業」如何。與此相應的是，作品也以三段式情境結構線索作為它的基本構架，即以「幻境」起，以「幻境」結，其間以主要篇幅寫發生在「王道樂土」上的一切。於是，書中也就發出了兩種聲音：一是令人熱耳酸心的，那就是「救救青年」，這是在整個大觀園變作一座「花塚」時發出的；一是令人如飲清泉的，那就是「四海之內皆姊妹也」，這有別於「四海之內皆兄弟也」的聲音是從太虚幻境發出的。一個反映了作者對現實的認識，ー個反映了作者對「花塚」那邊的遐想。因此，如果説，這三世生命説是把握作品創作本旨的通幽曲徑，那麼，這兩種聲音則是探得的作品創作本旨的精髓。它與「色空觀念」是無緣的，所謂「太虚幻境」只不過是種「以神道設敎」而已！

This paper argues that, in The Dream of the Red Chamber, there is an assumption about reincarnations which is very similar to the concept of reincarnations in Buddhist theology. That means the characters in the novel originated in the Ethereal World of the Immortals, who lived for a while in a cultivated and elegant milieu, and then returned to the Ethereal World, whatever their attainment or experience in the mortal world. The narrative structure is also modelled on the three-phase progress between these two realms: beginning with the Ethereal World and ending with the same Ethereal World, while the main action takes place in the mortal world.

It follows then that there are two voices in the novel. One is the pitiful voice which pleads for the salvation of the young people as the whole mansion (that is the whole world in the novel) turns into “one vast grave for the flowers within”. The other is the pristine voice from the Ethereal World, counterpointing it with the observation that “all the blossoms are sisters” though not in the same way that “All men are brothers” in the novel Water Margin. One voice reflects the author's realization about the realities of this world, the other voice tells about the author’s reveries on the other side of “the grave for flowers”. If the idea of reincarnation is the clue to the point of the novel, then the two voices are the guides to that point. The novel is not a treatise on the illusory nature of life. The Ethereal World is used only as a vehicle to convey a didactic message.