簡本《水滸傳》王慶部分探幽

Disclosing the Mysteries of the Wang Qing Story in the Simplified Editions of 'Water Margin' (水滸傳)

簡本《水滸傳》的故事發展至王慶部分，梁山人物大多退居後備，重任實際落在田虎降將身上，他們成為了宋軍的主力並對剿王戰事發揮了重大的作用，所以本文以田虎降將為線索，探查簡本王慶故事中一些鮮為人知的真相，當中牽涉的問題包括：１）情節的刪削、２）田虎降將的總數、３）簡本王慶故事與田虎部分的關係、４）王慶故事前後兩部分的真偽問題，以及５）插增本與各簡本的關係。經詳細的查證後，本文發現現存最早的兩種插增本與後來的簡本在情節上有很大的出入，而且王慶部分是個刪節出來的故事。此外，由於王慶後半部分與田虎故事及降將的數目都表現得高度一致，相反在前半部的「王慶出身傳」既與後半部抵觸，又存在一些有別於《水滸》的慣常用字，因而使筆者認為王慶前半部分是搬回來的假貨。最後，本文亦發現馬靈十八將均在准西戰事同告缺陣，其結局可能早安排在方臘部分，這對探討《水滸傳》征寇部分的演變過程幫助甚大。

In the novel Water Margin (水滸傳), Tian Hu's (田虎) victories over his opposing generals play a significant role in the insurrection of Wang Qing (王慶) - the generals are in fact the anchors of Song Jiang's (宋江) legion, as most of the Liang-shan (梁山) members have largely retreated by then. This paper focuses on the surrenders of these generals and examines the underlying threads of the Wang Qing story: 1. the abridgement of the plots; 2. the total number of victories by Tian Hu; 3. the relation between the stories of Tian Hu and Wang Qing in the simplified editions of Water Margin; 4. the authenticity of the first and second halves of the Wang Qing story; and 5. the relationship between the simplified versions and the apocrypha. The study pinpoints the many incongruities found between the two earliest apocrypha and the simplified versions of Water Margin that appeared later and argues that the story of Wang Qing is in fact an abridged form of Water Margin. Moreover, there is a close relationship between the story of Tian Hu and the second half of the story of Wang Qing. This second half, however, is curiously not in line with the first half, and it is highly possible that the first half was actually not in the original. This paper also discusses the absence of Ma Ling (馬靈) and his eighteen generals in the war against Wang Qing and proposes that the story's conclusion may have been prearranged in the story of Fang La (方臘). All of these findings, I hope, will increase our understanding of the second part of Water Margin.