金聖歎《小題才子書》評語初探

On Jin Shengtan's ＂A Collection of Exquisite Xiaoti Essays＂

金聖歎（1608-1661），或稱金采、金人瑞、唱經先生。學界過去關注金氏對於戲曲小說評點者，所在多有，惟不見進一步討論金氏的「八股評點」有何具體內容。今傳清光緒十五年（1889年）掃葉山房石印本《小題才子書》，早經亡佚，近年始為學界所發現，金聖歎收錄了169篇八股文名作（其中有目無文6篇，實共163篇），逐篇皆有評點。金聖歎於八股文壇雖非主流領袖，不過他對於《六才子書》的跨文類評點，實可具見八股文於其他辭章評點的重要影響。因此，本論文分析《小題才子書》相關評點意見，嘗試作以下幾方面的考察：一、確認其編輯動機與選篇內容；二、收錄時文篇章包括了哪些文家？嘗試說明金氏隱伏的選文標準？三、就文體型式而言，金氏如何以評點具體構築、實際操演其文法觀點？四、就文類交涉影響而言，金氏時文評點如何取材於古文、詩賦、小說及戲曲等文類？五、就義理面而言，檢覈金氏評點意見是否受到當日流行之佛道思想影響？

Jin Shengtan (1608-1661) was one of the most significant critics in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. His commentaries on literary works were widely read. He elevated both the genre of novels and Chinese opera scripts into the literary realm, and made a profound and everlasting impact on them. Jin thought that there must be some rigorous method to an ingenious essay, regarding the finished work as a perfect form, and thus proceeded on an accurate and meticulous analysis of the structure of these essays. Quite a few scholars have pointed out that Jin was the leading critic of traditional novels. In 1920, Hu Shih stated that when Jin analyzed novels, he did so in ＂the anthological style of the eight-legged essay＂. However, one hundred years that have since passed, there has been much focus on Jin's commentaries on drama and novels, but no further discussion on what ＂the anthological style of the eight-legged essay＂ really consisted of. The 1889 version of ＂A Collection of Exquisite Xiaoti Essays＂ was lost until 1990. It contains 169 examples of ＂eight-legged essays＂. This thesis aims to analyze his commentaries and discuss the characteristics of this anthology.