科舉鬼路綻放聊齋奇文：蒲松齡研究──考運坎坷

Research on Pu Sung-lin, A Great Writer of Supernatural Literature

清代的文學大師蒲松齡，寫了一本傳世名著《聊齋誌異》，但他一生的科舉考試之路，卻是坎坷辛酸，只有初試秀才，獲得榜首，以後的舉人考試，全是連番敗北。《聊齋》作者蒲松齡（1640-1715），生於明崇禎十三年，逝於清康熙五十四年，活了七十六歲。終身處於窮困潦倒之中，以設帳授徒或作幕賓維生。他一生三分之二的歲月，都用在追求功名，結果卻是水中撈月，空忙一場。五十年的尋尋覓覓，中舉之夢終不得圓。這半個世紀的折磨，時間的耗費，身心的壓力。秋圍之年，總是乘興而去，敗興而歸。他看盡了科場的黑暗，卻無力改進，獨抱憤悒。考場的次次鎩羽，已讓他身心俱疲。而在生活上，年年憂稅，憂荒、憂貧，又是多麼辛酸。在如此悲憤的情懷中，卻能幾十年如一日，殫精竭慮寫出創新，奇特，優美，生動的《聊齋》。《樂記》說：「詩言其志也。」在本篇論文，從蒲松齡的詩中，可以透視這位一代大師的心懷。亦探討出這本「孤憤之書」──《聊齋誌異》是如何形成的。

This article is a research study on the greatest supernatural literature writer Pu Sung-lin's unfortunate experience in taking the civil examination. His failure in passing the examination, which was his life goal, led him to write the superb novel Lao Chai, a collection of more than 400 short stories about ghosts, fox fairies, and other satirical pieces. His creativity and his beautiful writing skill made this an excellent piece of literature. Pu Sung-lin (1640-1715) was born during the Ming dynasty, but grew up in the Ching dynasty. When he was 19 years old, he passed the first level of the civil examination for educated men ''hsiu chia'' with the highest score. Subsequently, he tried for about a half century to pass the second level of the civil examination ''chu jen;'' however, he failed each time. Since he failed the second level of the examination, he could never take the final examination ''chin shi.'' To pass this civil examination was very important for the scholar at that time, because it was the only way to become an official. Many of Pu's poems describe his disappointments and sadness in failing the ''chu jen'' examination. Although he was unable to become an official, his novel brought him fame in the history of Chinese literature.