一點情千場影戲——論《南柯夢》裏的視覺與宗教啓悟的關係

Vision and Religious Enlightenment in Tang Xianzu’s Nanke Meng

Abstract

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

本文旨從視覺與宗教啓悟的角度，探析晚明戲曲家湯顯祖在《南柯夢》裏的獨特藝術構思與思想内涵。《南柯夢》裏的禪師與凡人，悟道與癡迷的界線主要繫於眼光的差異；而戲外觀戲，是人是蟻？是夢是真？觀看的方式如此撲朔迷離，此中的設計又該如何詮解，而與“夢了爲覺，情了爲佛”的意旨相聯繫？“臨川四夢”之中，《南柯夢》向來最不爲人所重，但誠如吳梅所言：“‘四夢’中惟此最爲高貴。蓋臨川有慨於不及情之人，而借至微至細之蟻，爲一切有情物説法；又有慨於溺情之人，而託喻乎落魄沉醉之淳于生，以寄其感喟。”《南柯夢》實乃湯顯祖嘔心瀝血之作，其中對情、對戲劇、對宗教的啓示意義，以及三者間千絲萬縷的聯繫，都藉由視覺而有獨特而深刻的展現。

This article aims to explore the artistic conception and intellectual content of Nanke meng (The Dream of the Southern Bough), the least discussed play from the late Ming dramatist Tang Xianzu. In this play the two most important male characters, the Chan master Qixuan and the knight errant Chunyu Fen represent different pursuits in life at the beginning of the play but are joined in the end when Chunyu too, has reached Buddhist enlightenment upon seeing the illusory nature of all dharma. As argued in the paper, Tang Xianzu ingenuously employs the motif of vision no less than dream as the way to spiritual enlightenment via emotional attachment and delusion. Evidently, this narrative progress from attachment to enlightenment was very significant for Tang in terms of his view on qing (committed affection), his idea of drama and theater as well as his personal relationship with the well-known monk Daguan, his close friend and teacher.