由彈詞編訂家侯芝談清代中期彈詞小說的創作形式與意識型態轉化

Hou Chih and the Transformation of the Tanci Narrative in Form and Ideology in the Mid-Ch’ing

本文首先試圖重新思考彈詞小說與實際演出及市場價值的複雜關係，繼而探索清代中期女作家侯芝的彈詞編訂事業及其所反映的彈詞觀與時代思潮。彈詞小說雖然是案頭化的文本，也陸續出現典雅藻麗的作品，卻無法割斷與市井講唱的淵源，其出版與流傳的過程更與大眾閱讀市場息息相關。職此，吾人對女性彈詞小說的研究，亦當在探討其內在之作者心志與情節人物之外，一併考慮時代思潮、文化網絡、乃至市場需求等相關外在因素。本文即在這種思索取徑之下，討論清代中期彈詞編訂家侯芝的代表意義。出身於詩禮之家的侯芝懷抱正統思想，雖然由詩詞創作轉向彈詞小說，但一直堅守載道的文學觀，尤其對傳統婦德的闡揚更不遺餘力。因此，侯芝對稍早陳端生具有爭議性的彈詞作品《再生緣》懷有極為複雜的矛盾情緒。在寫作風格方面，侯芝強烈批判流行彈詞小說的情節結構、行文用語、結局安排等等，而她本人的作品則以情節新奇但文字平易為準則。凡此皆昭示了侯芝對大眾閱讀市場的關係，以及面對大眾婦女讀者所採取的教導者姿態。侯芝的個案不但代表女性彈詞小說史上的一次重要轉折，也有助於吾人對清代中期女性價值觀之養成，以及其與文化市場之互動關係的觀察。

This paper first attempts to reconsider the tanci narrative and its complex relationship with performance and market value, and then goes on to explore Hou Chih's editorial career in the tanci, as well as the contemporary thoughts and views on tanci it reflects. Tanci narratives are certainly written texts, and writers in the Ch'ing began to create works that were elegant and refined; however, the tie between the genre and popular performance could not be broken. The publication and transmission of the tanci was also closely related to the popular book market. Considering this, our research on women's tanci narratives should pay more attention to extrinsic factors such as contemporary thoughts, cultural networks and market, in addition to intrinsic ones such as the author's ideas, plots, and characters. With the above considerations in mind, this paper discusses the tanci editor Hou Chih of the mid-Ch'ing and the significance she represented. Hou Chih was raised in a genteel family, and was imbued with orthodox ideas. When her writing switched from poetry to the tanci, she never gave up her didactic views on literature and exposition of traditional women's virtue. As a result, she had a very complicated and ambivalent reaction toward Tsai-sheng yuan, an earlier controversial tanci by Ch'en Tuan-sheng. In terms of writing style, she strongly criticized the plot, language, and ending in popular tanci works, whereas her own works were based on the principle of novel plot and plain language. All the above discussion demonstrates that Hou Chih cared about the popular book market and assumed the role of an instructor of the woman reading public. The case of Hou Chih not only represents a significant transformation of women's tanci, it also helps us to observe the cultivation of women's values in the mid-Ch'ing and its relationship with the culture market.