英文摘要 |
Yushi Mingyan (喻世明言, Clear Words to Inform the World), Jingshi Tongyan (警世通言, Common Words to Warn the World), and Xingshi Hengian (醒世恆言, Constant Words to Awaken the World) were written by Feng Menglong (馮夢龍, 1574-1646) and published during the Tianqi period in the Ming Dynasty (明朝天啟年間). The succeeding generations collectively referred to them as San-yan (三言). The publishers of San-yan had 'commercial interests' in mind and aimed to reach a maximum 'economic consensus.' Therefore the author of this paper regards San-yan as the reflection of collective consciousness of the civil society and treats the vernacular novel collection as historical data to observe the ideals Daoism represent. The author also intends to comprehend the Daoist culture during the Ming Dynasty. Although Buddhism inherited many thoughts from Daoism, the competition between them is visible in San-yan which attempts to manifest that Daoism overpowers Buddhism. The Daoist stories in San-yan propagates miraculous events of becoming immortal and the triumphs over monsters and demons. It manifests the teachings of reward and punishment and the crackdown on evils with 'miraculous feats,' 'overpowering demons,' and 'the immortal belief.' On the whole, the complex and mixed nature of Daoism reduces its essential teachings. San-yan depicts common people's ignorance about the essence of Daoism. As a result, even the intellectuals are confused about Daoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Generally speaking, the Theories of Daoism presented in San-yan are not as sophisticated as Confucian and Buddhist doctrines. This novel reflects the people's keen interest in Daoist deities' magical power; however, the practice of Daoism is rendered impossible as the vernaculars on the methods have been 'simplified.' |