清代筆記小說中的精怪與鬼魅——以《諧鐸》、《履園叢話》、《庸庵筆記》為主

Abstract

中國的志怪筆記淵遠流長，進入清代，志怪筆記小說在內容題材與思想內涵上均呈現出更為複雜多元的發展態勢，除學界普遍關注的《聊齋誌異》、《閱微草堂筆記》等經典之作外，尚有一批具有重要研究價值的筆記小說有待發掘。本文選取新興書局《筆記小說大觀》叢刊中三部清代筆記——沈起鳳《諧鐸》、錢泳《履園叢話》與薛福成《庸庵筆記》為研究對象，通過系統梳理其中關於精怪鬼魅的書寫內容，深入解讀這些志怪文本所呈現的敘事特徵，進而探討清代文人對異類世界的認知模式。 沈起鳳《諧鐸》將寓言式書寫轉化為以志怪為載體的道德訓誡實踐，其塑造的異類形象多呈現鮮明的符號化特徵，實乃儒家倫理觀念的敘事性投射，顯示出清代中葉志怪小說道德教諭功能的強化趨勢。錢泳《履園叢話》則展現出迥異於傳統勸懲筆記的審美取向，其敘事重心由道德說教轉向知識考辨與文人雅趣，反映了乾嘉時期筆記文體向學術化、閒適化的轉型。薛福成《庸庵筆記》通過系統輯錄怪異敘事，構建了一個融攝儒家倫理與幽冥想像的闡釋體系，體現出晚清知識分子調和理性認知與神秘體驗的獨特思維範式。 考察這三部筆記小說的深層意蘊，可以發現它們既體現了傳統文人以神道設教的淑世情懷，又展現了士人階層寓莊於諧的審美趣味。在這些志怪書寫中，既蘊含著對現實社會的道德勸誡與秩序維護，又隱晦地寄託著文人士大夫對時局的憂思、對現實的批判，乃至對自身處境的深刻反思，從而構成了清代知識階層複雜精神世界的文學投射。

China has a long history of weird writing, and in the Qing Dynasty, the anecdotal novels have shown a more complex and diversified development in terms of subject matter and ideological connotations. In addition to the classic works such as Liao Zhai Zhi Yi and Yue Wei Cao Tang Notes, which are the subjects of general concern in the academic circles, there are still a number of anecdotal novels of important research value to be explored. In this paper, we have selected three Qing dynasty notes, Shen Qifeng's Xie Duo, Qian Yong's Lv Yuan Cong Hua, and Xue Fucheng's Yong An Notes, as the objects of our study. By systematically combing through the contents of their writings about monsters and ghosts, we have deeply interpreted the narrative characteristics of these strange and mysterious texts, and then explored the mode of cognition of the literati of the Qing dynasty towards the world of the otherworldly. In this way, we will explore the Qing literati's mode of cognition towards the alien world. Shen Qifeng's Xie Duo transforms allegorical writing into the practice of moral admonition through the use of the weird as a carrier, and its portrayal of alien images shows clear symbolization, which is in fact a narrative projection of Confucian ethical concepts, reflecting the trend of strengthening the moral teaching function of the weird novels in the middle of the Qing Dynasty. Qian Yong's Lv Yuan Cong Hua, on the other hand, exhibits an aesthetic orientation that is quite different from that of traditional persuasive and punitive notes, with its narrative focus shifting from moral preaching to intellectual discernment and scholarly interest, reflecting the transformation of the written style of notes into an academic and leisurely one during the Qianlong-Jiaqing period. Xue Fucheng's Yong An Notes, through systematic editing of strange and bizarre narratives, constructs an interpretive system that integrates Confucian ethics and the nether worldly imagination, and embodies the unique mode of thinking of late Qing intellectuals in reconciling rational cognition and mystical experience. Examining the deeper meaning of these three novels, it can be found that they not only embody the traditional literati's sentiment of teaching the world by means of Shinto, but also show the aesthetic interest of the scholarly class in the serious whit humor. In these books, they not only imply moral advice and maintenance of order in the real world, but also implicitly entrust the literati with their worries about the current situation, criticism of reality, and even profound reflection on their own situation, thus constituting a literary projection of the complex spiritual world of the intellectual class in the Qing Dynasty.